An Introduction to the Physics of Collisionless Shocks

Collisionless shocks are important in astrophysical, heliospheric and magnetospheric settings. They deflect flows around obstacles; they heat the plasma, and they alter the properties of the flow as it intersects those obstacles. The physical processes occurring at collisionless shocks depend on the Mach number (strength) and beta (magnetic to thermal pressure) of the shocks and the direction of the magnetic field relative to the shock normal. Herein we review how the shock has been modeled in numerical simulations, the basic physical processes at work, including dissipation and thermalization, the electric potential drop at the shock, and the formation of the electron and ion foreshocks