Collision between Radiative and Adiabatic Supersonic Flows

The self-similar dynamics of the collision between radiative and adiabatic supersonic planar flows are performed assuming homogeneous radiation cooling. New self-similar solutions relevant to both astrophysical objects and laboratory experiments are derived. Numerical simulations investigate the formation of the radiative cooling shock in the interstellar medium and laboratory Xenon plasma to demonstrate the self-similarity of the interaction in the special case of balanced ram pressure. When the radiation cooling is inhomogeneous, the flow can become thermally unstable and deviate from the self-similar solution.