Relativistic blast waves in two dimensions. I. The adiabatic case.
Abstract
Approximate solutions are presented for the dynamical evolution of strong adiabatic relativistic blast waves which result from a point explosion in an ambient gas in which the density varies both with distance from the explosion center and with polar angle in axisymmetry. Solutions are analytical or quasi-analytical for the extreme relativistic case and numerical for the arbitrarily relativistic case. Some general properties of nonplanar relativistic shocks are also discussed, including the incoherence of spherical ultrarelativistic blast-wave fronts on angular scales greater than the reciprocal of the shock Lorentz factor, as well as the conditions for producing blast-wave acceleration.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- November 1979
- DOI:
- 10.1086/157446
- Bibcode:
- 1979ApJ...233..831S
- Keywords:
-
- Hydrodynamics;
- Quasars;
- Relativistic Effects;
- Shock Wave Propagation;
- Adiabatic Conditions;
- Approximation;
- Partial Differential Equations;
- Astrophysics;
- Relativity:Shock Waves;
- Shock Waves:Hydrodynamics