Marciante M, Murillo MS. Thermodynamic and Kinetic Properties of Shocks in Two-Dimensional Yukawa Systems.
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2017;
118:025001. [PMID:
28128627 DOI:
10.1103/physrevlett.118.025001]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Particle-level simulations of shocked plasmas are carried out to examine kinetic properties not captured by hydrodynamic models. In particular, molecular dynamics simulations of 2D Yukawa plasmas with variable couplings and screening lengths are used to examine shock features unique to plasmas, including the presence of dispersive shock structures for weak shocks. A phase-space analysis reveals several kinetic properties, including anisotropic velocity distributions, non-Maxwellian tails, and the presence of fast particles ahead of the shock, even for moderately low Mach numbers. We also examine the thermodynamics (Rankine-Hugoniot relations) of recent experiments [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 015002 (2013)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.111.015002] and find no anomalies in their equations of state.
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