Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 March 2009
The shock conditions for a perfect gas in aligned-fields magnetogasdynamics are solved to give all variables downstream as rational functions of the density ratio. The thermodynamically admissible, evolutionary shock solutions are exhaustively classified into seven shock polar types, including a new type of supersonic, sub -Alfvénic polar. Example polars of each type are presented in the magnetograph (dimensionless magnetic induction vector plane) and in the Taniuti–Resler diagram (M, A plane) in order to display, respectively, the shock geometry and the state of the gas. A short discussion of the relation of the shock properties to flow over bodies is presented.