Undercompressive shock waves in Hall‐magnetohydrodynamics

Abstract

We study the propagation of nonlinear waves in a Hall‐magnetohydrodynamic model. An asymptotic method is used to derive the Gardner‐Burgers equation for fast magnetosonic waves; here, the flux function is nonconvex with both quadratic and cubic nonlinearities, and the evolution equation involves both second‐ and third‐order derivatives representing diffusion and dispersion terms, respectively. Effects of Hall parameter are discussed on the evolution of waves and their interaction by solving a pair of Riemann problems both analytically and numerically. It is shown that the Hall parameter is responsible for shock splitting—a phenomenon that is completely absent in ideal magnetohydrodynamic; indeed, the Hall parameter plays a significant role in deciding about the structure of the solution that involves undercompressive shocks and their interaction with refracted waves and the Lax shocks. It is found that increasing Hall parameter means increasing dispersion that triggers the physical mechanism causing speed and strength of an undercompressive shock to increase and the wave‐fan width to decrease; numerical solutions substantiate these features predicted by the analytical solution.