Nonlinear breaking of waves in an electrically conducting and radiating gas

The effects of radiative transfer are treated by the use of a differential approximation which is valid over the entire optical depth range from the transparent limit to the optically thick limit. The singular surface theory is used to determine the modes of wave propagation and to evaluate the behaviour at the wave head. It is shown that there are two modes of wave propagation namely (i) the radiation induced waves which are always damped, and (ii) the modified magnetogasdynamic waves which break at the wave front if the initial discontinuity is sufficiently strong. The effects of thermal radiation, the magnetic field intensity, the finite electrical conductivity and the initial wave front curvature on the non-linear breaking of modified magnetogasdynamic waves are discussed.