Structural relations for time‐dependent intermediate shocks

Abstract

A quantitative description of time‐dependent magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) intermediate shocks is formulated. In non‐coplanar Riemann problems, time‐dependent 2 → 3 intermediate shocks evolve in time as a localized self‐similar structure whose strength decreases as and whose width expands as . We derive structural relations, similar to Rankine‐Hugoniot relations, between the plasma properties and the magnitude of the transverse magnetic field, which we hope can help identify time‐dependent 2 → 3 intermediate shocks at the magnetopause, in the solar wind, and elsewhere in space. The analytic forms of the structural relations agree with our numerical results.