The present book provides a contemporary systematic treatment of shock waves in high-temperature collisionless plasmas as are encountered in near Earth space and in Astrophysics. It consists of two parts. Part I develops the complete theory of shocks in dilute hot plasmas under the assumption of absence of collisions among the charged particles when the interaction is mediated solely by the self-consistent electromagnetic fields. Such shocks are naturally magnetised implying that the magnetic field plays an important role in their evolution and dynamics. This part treats subcritical shocks which dissipate flow energy by generating anomalous resistance or viscosity. The main emphasis is, however, on super-critical shocks where the anomalous dissipation is insufficient to retard the upstream flow. These shocks, depending on the direction of the upstream magnetic field, are distinguished as quasi-perpendicular and quasi-parallel shocks which exhibit different behaviours, reflecting particles back upstream and generating high electromagnetic wave intensities. Particle acceleration and turbulence at such shocks become possible and important. Part II treats planetary bow shocks and the famous Heliospheric Termination shock as examples of two applications of the theory developed in part I.

The 4th IGPP Astrophysics Conference proceedings discuss various aspects of collisionless shock physics in solar system plasmas, including: the microstructure of collisionless shocks, wave activities at and near shocks, particle acceleration at collisionless shocks and collisionless shocks in the outer heliosphere. This volume can serve both as a summary of the current understanding of collisionless shock physics and as a starting point for future research, especially for young scientists in this field.

Shock waves are an important feature of solar system plasmas, from the solar corona out to the edge of the heliosphere. This engaging introduction to collisionless shocks in space plasmas presents a comprehensive review of the physics governing different types of shocks and processes of particle acceleration, from fundamental principles to current research. Motivated by observations of planetary bow shocks, interplanetary shocks and the solar wind termination shock, it emphasises the physical theory underlying these shock waves. Readers will develop an understanding of the complex interplay between particle dynamics and the electric and magnetic fields that explains the observations of in situ spacecraft. Written by renowned experts in the field, this up-to-date text is the ideal companion for both graduate students new to heliospheric physics and researchers in astrophysics who wish to apply the lessons of solar system shocks to different astrophysical environments.

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Geophysical Monograph Series, Volume 35. Violent expansions of the solar corona cause transient shock waves which propagate outward from the sun at hundreds to thousands of kilometers per second; simple solar wind velocity gradients at the surface of the sun lead to high-speed streams overtaking slower streams, forming corotating shocks; and steady state supermagnetosonic solar wind flow past objects such as the planets lead to standing bow shocks. However, the solar wind plasma is so hot and tenuous that charged particle Coulomb collisions produce negligible thermalization or dissipation on scale sizes less than 0.1 AU. The irreversible plasma heating by these shocks is accomplished by wave-particle interactions driven by plasma instabilities. Hence these shocks are described as "collisionless."

The 59 papers in this volume include discussions on the processes occurring in planetary foreshocks, the physical processes at the shock, processes downstream from the bow shock in the magnetosheath, interplanetary shock processes, and other shocks such as slow and supernova shocks.