Diffraction of a weak shock by a wedge in a van der Waals gas

Abstract:   In this talk, we present the problem of a weak shock, reflected and diffracted by a wedge, for the two-dimensional compressible Euler system. Some recent developments are overviewed and a perspective is presented within the context of a real gas, modeled by a van der Waals type equation of state. It is well known that at high pressure or low temperature, the behavior of gases deviates from the ideal gas-law and follows van der Waals type gas that deals with the possible real gas effects. Some basic features of the phenomenon and the nature of the self-similar flow pattern are explored using asymptotic expansions. The analysis presented here predicts several inviscid flow properties of the real gases undergoing shock reflection-diffraction phenomenon.