Issue |
EPL
Volume 97, Number 1, February 2012
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | 15001 | |
Number of page(s) | 5 | |
Section | Physics of Gases, Plasmas and Electric Discharges | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/97/15001 | |
Published online | 29 November 2011 |
The formation of electrostatic shocks in quantum plasmas with relativistically degenerate electrons
1
Institut für Theoretische Physik, Fakultät für Physik und Astronomie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum D-44780 Bochum, Germany, EU
2
RUB International Chair, International Centre for Advanced Studies in Physical Sciences, Fakultät für Physik und Astronomie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum - D-44780 Bochum, Germany, EU
3
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, San Diego - La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
a
bengt@tp4.rub.de
b
profshukla@yahoo.de
Received:
25
October
2011
Accepted:
16
November
2011
The formation of electrostatic shocks in a super-dense plasma composed of relativistically degenerate electrons and fully ionized ions is theoretically investigated. We find analytic solutions in the form of simple waves and derive expressions for shock speeds in limiting cases. The theory has applications to large-amplitude acoustic waves excited in white dwarf stars due to dramatic events such as collision with other astrophysical bodies or supernova explosions.
PACS: 52.35.Tc – Shock waves and discontinuities / 52.35.Fp – Electrostatic waves and oscillations (e.g., ion-acoustic waves) / 97.20.Rp – Faint blue stars (including blue stragglers), white dwarfs, degenerate stars, nuclei of planetary nebulae
© EPLA, 2012
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