On the structure of ionizing shock waves in magnetofluiddynamics (Q1607867)

Summary: Ionizing shock waves in magnetofluiddynamics occur when the coefficient of electrical conductivity is very small ahead of the shock and very large behind it. For plane motion of plasma, the structure of such shock waves is described by a system of four ordinary equations. In this paper, we show that for the above coefficient of electrical conductivity in limiting cases, that is, when this coefficient is zero ahead of the shock and/or is infinity behind it, ionizing fast, slow, switch-on and switch-off shocks admit structure. This means that physically these shocks occur.