Nonlinear radiative transfer in high temperature plasmas

- An approximation to the nonlinear radiative transfer equation is considered in the context of magnetohydrodynamics.
- The Doppler frequency shift results in the additional Compton plasma heating term, which may not be negligible in the case of dense high temperature plasma.
- Radiation-plasma coupling has a damping effect of small scale instabilities and modifies the shock wave structure.

An approximation to the nonlinear radiative transfer equation is considered in the context of magnetohydrodynamics. This approximation retains nonlinear terms which are responsible for the Compton plasma heating in addition to the radiation cooling. The effect is studied numerically. In particular, the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and the Dai-Woodward case are modeled. It is shown that radiation-plasma coupling results in damping of small scale instabilities and alters the shock wave structure.