Planar and non-planar ion acoustic shock waves in electron–positron–ion plasmas

Ion acoustic shock waves (IASW's) are studied in an unmagnetized plasma consisting of electrons, positrons and adiabatically hot positive ions. This is done by deriving the Kortweg–deVries–Burger (KdVB) equation under the small amplitude perturbation expansion method. The dissipation is introduced by taking into account the kinematic viscosity among the plasma constituents. It is found that the strength of ion acoustic shock wave is maximum for spherical, intermediate for cylindrical, and minimum for planar geometry. It is observed that the positron concentration, ratio of ion to electron temperature, and the plasma kinematic viscosity significantly modifies the shock structure. Finally, it is found that the temporal evolution of the non-planar IASW's is quite different by comparison with the planar geometry. The relevance of the present study with regard to the dense astrophysical environments is also pointed out.