Nonregular interaction of shock waves in magnetohydrodynamics (Q1316806)

(From the authors' abstract.) The nonregular quasisteady interaction of plane-polarized shock waves in a magnetic field is considered. Within the framework of the magnetohydrodynamic approximation, a Mach interaction pattern is proposed and investigated. This pattern contains the Mach shock wave moving between the initial shocks and connecting their branch points. Unlike the gasdynamic case, in the vicinity of both branch points the flow contains, in addition to the Mach shock, up to five waves whose qualitative structure cannot be predicted in advance. Numerical methods of solving the problem are elaborated.