Simple waves in a plasma with anisotropic pressure

Abstract

Fast and slow simple waves are studied in the framework of the anisotropic magnetohydrodynamics of Chew, Goldberger, and Low [1]. Baranov [2] has constructed fields of integral curves for fast and slow waves and in two special cases has shown that such waves break in the compression section. The possibility of breaking of a slow wave in a rarefaction section was noted by Akhiezer et al. [3]. However, their general relations in simple waves [3] have been shown to be incorrect [2, 4]. In the present paper the nature of the variation of the longitudinal and transverse plasma pressures is determined, and the problem of the breaking of fast and slow waves is completely solved. Conditions under which a slow wave breaks in a rarefaction section are found. A fast wave always breaks in a rarefaction section.