Ion-acoustic shock waves in a magnetized plasma featuring super-thermal distribution

TL;DR

This paper theoretically examines ion-acoustic shock waves in a magnetized plasma with super-thermal electrons and positrons, revealing how parameters like oblique angle and viscosity influence shock profiles.

Contribution

It derives a Burgers' equation for shock waves in a complex plasma with super-thermal particles, highlighting new effects of oblique angle and ion mass on shock characteristics.

Findings

Oblique angle increases shock amplitude.

Viscosity decreases shock steepness.

Positive ion mass increases shock height.

Abstract

A theoretical investigation has been made on the propagation of ion-acoustic (IA) shock waves (IASHWs) in a magnetized pair-ion plasma having inertial warm positive and negative ions, and inertialess super-thermal electrons and positrons. The well known Burgers' equation has been derived by employing the reductive perturbation method. The plasma model supports both positive and negative shock structures under consideration of super-thermal electrons and positrons. It is found that the oblique angle ($\delta$) enhances the magnitude of the amplitude of both positive and negative shock profiles. It is also observed that the steepness of the shock profiles decreases with the kinematic viscosity of the ion, and the height of the shock profile increases (decreases) with the mass of the positive (negative) ion. The implications of the results have been briefly discussed for space and laboratory plasmas.