The structure of a hydromagnetic shock front wherein an electrostatic turbulence continuously develops from a two-stream instability, is investigated to aim at orders of magnitude for the width of the front, the heating of electrons and ions, and the magnitude of excitation of fluctuations. Use is made of a stationary macroscopic model that includes two phenomenological parameters. The meaning of these is examined on the basis of a microscopic theory of weak turbulence; an argument is put forward which shows that an appreciable heating of electrons can be consistent with such a regime. Conditions entailing a turbulent shock are given.
Laminar theory of shock waves in plasma in the absence of collisions