Structure of a Centered Rarefaction Wave in a Relaxing Gas

Abstract

The structure of a centered rarefaction wave in a relaxing ideal gas is studied theoretically, both analytically and numerically, with neglect of the Navier‐Stokes terms (viscosity, etc.) in the hydrodynamic equations. The role of the ``frozen'' sound speed is clarified, in that it is shown that there is a transition from ``frozen'' flow at short times to equilibrium flow at long times.