Deflagrations and discontinuities in laser-produced plasmas

The structure of deflagrations in one-dimensional flow is examined in detail. It is shown that the rule that deflagrations be weak or Chapman-Jouget must be obeyed unless a non-hydrodynamic discontinuity occurs. Such flows are shown to be unique and stable, once the downstream expansion is specified. It is shown that non-hydrodynamic discontinuities, if strong, are accompanied by a compression leading to a weak termination. The application to plasmas produced by laser irradiation of a solid is investigated and the flow structure in the presence of flux limitation evaluated. (author)