SOME REMARKS ON THE STRUCTURE OF INTERMEDIATE MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC SHOCKS

Though being unstable in the framework of ideal dynamics, intermediate MHD shocks can often be realized in the presence of dissipative effects. Numerical experiments by Wu which predict this phenomenon have an analytical counterpart: Mathematical proofs are reported here for the fact that for arbitrary positive values of the four dissipation coefficients (two coefficients of fluid viscosity, one for electrical resistivity, and one for heat conductivity) many shocks of the types 0 --> 3, 0 --> 2, and 1 --> 2 possess structure. Consequently, this is the case for physically interesting values of these coefficients.