The Quasi-stationary Structure of Radiating Shock Waves II. The Two-temperature Fluid
Abstract
We solve the equations of radiation hydrodynamics in the two-temperature fluid approximation on an adaptive grid. The temperature structure depends upon the electron-ion energy exchange length,
l
ei
, and the electron conduction length,
l
ec
. Three types of radiating shock structure are observed: subcritical, where preheating of the unshocked gas is negligible; electron supercritical, where radiation preheating raises the temperature of the unshocked electron fluid to be equal to the final electron temperature; supercritical, where preheating and electron-ion energy exchange raise the preshock
T
e,i
to their final post shock values. No supercritical shock develops when
l
ei
is larger than the photospheric depth of the shocked gas because a negligible amount of the ion energy is transferred to the electrons and the shock is weakly radiating. Electron conduction smooths the
T
e
profile on a length scale
l
ec
, reducing the radiation flux.