Work

Shock Propagation in a Driven hard-sphere Gas: Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Hydrodynamics

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The continuous injection of energy in a stationary gas creates a shock wave that propagates radially outwards. We study the hydrodynamics of this disturbance using event driven molecular dynamics of a hard-sphere gas in two and three dimensions, the numerical solution of the Euler equation with a virial equation of state for the gas, and the numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations, for the cases when the driving is localized in space and when it is uniform throughout the shock. We show that the results from the Euler equation do not agree with the data from hard-sphere simulations when the driving is uniform and has singularities when the driving is localized. Including dissipative terms through the Navier-Stokes equations results in reasonably good description of the data, when the coefficients of dissipation are chosen parametrically.

Source: Journal of Statistical Physics

DOI: 10.1007/s10955-025-03503-z

Authors: Amit Kumar, R. Rajesh

Institutions: Homi Bhabha National Institute, Institute of Mathematical Sciences

Language: English

Topic: Gas Dynamics and Kinetic Theory

Subfield: Applied Mathematics

Field: Mathematics

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,090

Funder: Division of Mathematical Sciences