PreprintarXiv licencearXiv
Effects of Coulomb Collisions on the Structures of Fast Magnetosonic Shocks
Abstract
We present fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations to demonstrate qualitative effects of binary Coulomb collisions on fast magnetosonic shocks. We find that with sufficiently high collisional frequencies, shock rippling and reformation can be inhibited, leading to stationary, laminar shock fronts. We observe that ion-ion collisions disrupt the motion of particles reflected back upstream that is the key for cyclical reformation. Meanwhile, the electron-ion collisions provide a Spitzer resistivity that can dissipate energy from the instability that causes shock rippling. This result helps us understand the role of collisions in laboratory shocks and possibly the outer heliosphere.
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BibTeX
@misc{farnell2026effects,
title = {{Effects of Coulomb Collisions on the Structures of Fast Magnetosonic Shocks}},
author = {Michael B. Farnell III and Fan Guo and Yi-Hsin Liu and Xiaocan Li},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.17594},
eprint = {2610.17594},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.17594},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Effects of Coulomb Collisions on the Structures of Fast Magnetosonic Shocks
AU - Michael B. Farnell III
AU - Fan Guo
AU - Yi-Hsin Liu
AU - Xiaocan Li
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.17594
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.17594
AB - We present fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations to demonstrate qualitative effects of binary Coulomb collisions on fast magnetosonic shocks. We find that with sufficiently high collisional frequencies, shock rippling and reformation can be inhibited, leading to stationary, laminar shock fronts. We observe that ion-ion collisions disrupt the motion of particles reflected back upstream that is the key for cyclical reformation. Meanwhile, the electron-ion collisions provide a Spitzer resistivity that can dissipate energy from the instability that causes shock rippling. This result helps us understand the role of collisions in laboratory shocks and possibly the outer heliosphere.
ER -