Acoustic instability in the neutral precursor region of collisionless shocks propagating into partially ionized plasmas

Abstract

Recent studies about collisionless shocks in partially ionized plasmas showed that some of neutral particles leak into the shock upstream region from the downstream region. In this paper, we perform a linear analysis and show that acoustic waves are unstable in the neutral precursor region. The acoustic instability amplifies fluctuations of magnetic field and density in the upstream region. The fluctuations are indispensable for the diffusive shock acceleration and could be important for the downstream turbulence. © 2014 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.