As Emile Jouguet remarked, "the shock wave flew off the tip of the pen of a theoretician for the first time" about a hundred years ago. The physics of shock waves has since grown into an independent branch of science closely linked with a wide range of research areas, from astrophysics and plasma physics to solid-state physics. Since the beginning, theoretical investiga­ tion has kept its leading role. The present book is devoted to actual problems of the theory of shock waves in gases and plasmas, that are of general interest to physicists. It con­ tains the results of studies on shock structure, stability, evolutionarity and dynamics. Of special interest is the theory of shock phenomena in mag­ netic fields, which is important for applied research on controlled nuclear fusion. A substantial contribution to this theory has been made by these authors. This monograph is the first attempt in the literature to make a systematic presentation of the shock-structure theory.The theory is consistently sub­ stantiated by relevant experimental results obtained recently with the use of high-power electromagnetic shock tubes. The material contained here is applicable to the solution of a wide variety of problems arising in plasma physics, nuclear fusion and cosmic gasdynamics. I believe that this book will be of help and interest for a broad circle of research workers (physi­ cists, astrophysicists and engineers concerned with energy accumulation, shock phenomena and other related problems of plasma hydrodynamics) as well as for university staff, post- and undergraduates.

Translated by: A.S. Dobroslavsky