The Open Plasma Physics Journal

2014, 7 : 199-204
Published online 2014 July 11. DOI: 10.2174/1876534301407010199
Publisher ID: TOPPJ-7-199

Some Aspects of the Shock Wave in Pair Plasma

Behrooz Malekolkalami and Taimur Mohammadi
Department of Physics, University of Kurdistan, P.O. Box 66177-15175, Sanandaj, Iran.

ABSTRACT

This article presents an analytic investigation to calculate the width of the shock in pair plasma. A solitary electromagnetic wave is propagated obliquely in the plasma where the wave direction is characterized by a propagation angle from direction of a background (constant) magnetic field. Based on Sagdeev method, the shock wave is determined by oscillation of pseudo--particle in pseudo--potential well. It is shown that for any fixed value of the propagation angle, the width of the shock becomes an explicit function of Alfe'vn Mach number of plasma. Graphs of the width of the shock versus Mach number represent a rapid montonous decreasing functions.

Keywords:

Pair plasma, Sagdeev potential, shock wave.