Physics of Collisionless Shocks

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XII

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2. Collisionless Shock Theory

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Introduction

      • André Balogh, Rudolf A. Treumann

      Pages 3-5

   3. The Shock Problem

      • André Balogh, Rudolf A. Treumann

      Pages 7-43

   4. Basic Equations and Models

      • André Balogh, Rudolf A. Treumann

      Pages 45-123

   5. Collisionless Subcritical Shocks

      • André Balogh, Rudolf A. Treumann

      Pages 125-148

   6. Quasi-perpendicular Supercritical Shocks

      • André Balogh, Rudolf A. Treumann

      Pages 149-220

   7. Quasi-parallel Supercritical Shocks

      • André Balogh, Rudolf A. Treumann

      Pages 221-331

   8. Particle Acceleration

      • André Balogh, Rudolf A. Treumann

      Pages 333-398

   9. Final Remarks

      • André Balogh, Rudolf A. Treumann

      Pages 399-403

3. Applications: Two Kinds of Collisionless Shocks in the Heliosphere

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 405-405

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   2. Introduction

      • André Balogh, Rudolf A. Treumann

      Pages 407-409

   3. Planetary Bow Shocks

      • André Balogh, Rudolf A. Treumann

      Pages 411-461

   4. The Heliospheric Termination Shock

      • André Balogh, Rudolf A. Treumann

      Pages 463-494

4. Back Matter

   Pages 495-500

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The present book provides a contemporary systematic treatment of shock waves in high-temperature collisionless plasmas as are encountered in near Earth space and in Astrophysics. It consists of two parts. Part I develops the complete theory of shocks in dilute hot plasmas under the assumption of absence of collisions among the charged particles  when the interaction is mediated solely by the self-consistent electromagnetic fields. Such shocks are naturally magnetised implying that the magnetic field plays an important role in their evolution and dynamics. This part treats subcritical shocks which dissipate flow energy by generating anomalous resistance or viscosity. The main emphasis is, however, on super-critical shocks where the anomalous dissipation is insufficient to retard the upstream flow. These shocks, depending on the direction of the upstream magnetic field, are distinguished as quasi-perpendicular and quasi-parallel shocks which exhibit different behaviours, reflecting particles back upstream and generating high electromagnetic wave intensities. Particle acceleration and turbulence at such shocks become possible and important. Part II treats planetary bow shocks and the famous Heliospheric Termination shock as examples of two applications of the theory developed in part I.

• Bow Shocks
• Collisionless Shocks
• Internal and External Shocks
• Interstellar Matter
• Particle Acceleration
• Solar Corona
• Stellar Winds
• Supercritical Flows
• Supercritical Shocks
• Termination Shocks

• , The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Berkhamsted, United Kingdom

  André Balogh

• International Space Science Institute, Bern, Switzerland

  Rudolf A. Treumann

André Balogh is Emeritus Professor of Space Physics in Imperial College London and a past Director of the International Space Science Institute, Bern, Switzerland. He has participated in numerous scientific space missions since the mid‐1960s and has been a Principal Investigator on the Ulysses and Cluster missions. His principal research interest is the observation and study of magnetic fields in the heliosphere and in planetary environments. He is author and co‐author of over 450 scientific publications and editor of seven books on solar system topics.

Rudolf Treumann is retired faculty from the Department of Geophysics and Environmental Sciences, Ludwig‐Maximilians‐University Munich. Munich, Germany. He has published widely on plasma physics and astrophysical topics. He is an author of a two‐volume textbook on space plasma physics and coeditor of several books on fundamental physics and astrophysics.

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