MHD intermediate shocks in coronal mass ejections

Abstract

A simplified model of coronal mass ejections is considered in which at least a portion of the interaction with the background corona involves a shock wave, and the allowable shock solutions and their compressive signatures are examined. The MHD shock-jump equations have a maximum of three possible types of solutions with an entropy rise for fixed values of the physical variables (slow, intermediate, and fast shocks). However, one of the three solution classes (the intermediate shock) is widely believed to not occur in nature and is regarded as nonevolutionary or extraneous. Without the intermediate shock, there is no multiplicity of solutions in that only one shock (or none) can occur for given physical values. All three potential shock types are considered, and it is shown solely on the basis of the shock-jump equations, that intermediate shocks must exist along some segment of the shock front for certain parametric regimes and for conditions that probably occur in some coronal mass ejections.