Roles of arbitrarily charged heavy ions and degenerate plasma pressure in cylindrical and spherical IA shock waves

Abstract

A rigorous theoretical investigation has been made to study the existence and basic features of the ion acoustic (IA) shock structures in an unmagnetized, collisionless dense plasma system containing degenerate electron and ion fluids, and arbitrarily charged static heavy ions. This investigation is valid for both the non-relativistic limit and the ultra-relativistic limit. The reductive perturbation technique has been employed to derive the standard Burgers equation. The solution of this equation has been analyzed both for planar geometry and for nonplanar geometry. The basic features (speed, amplitude, width, and so on) of these electrostatic shock structures have been briefly discussed. The basic properties of the IA shock waves are found to be significantly modified by the effects of arbitrarily charged static heavy ions. It has also been found that the properties of IA shock waves in nonplanar (cylindrical or spherical) geometry significantly differ from those in planar (one-dimensional) geometry. The implications of our results for space and interstellar compact objects such as white dwarfs, neutron stars, black holes, and so on have been briefly discussed. Full Text Link: http://doi.org/10.1088/0031-8949/89/10/105603