Contact and Tangential Discontinuities
Contact and tangential discontinuities are transition layers across which there is no particle transport. Thus, in the frame moving with the discontinuity, .
Contact discontinuities are discontinuities for which the thermal pressure, the magnetic field and the velocity are continuous. Only the mass density and temperature change.
Tangential discontinuities are discontinuities for which the total pressure (sum of the thermal and magnetic pressures) is conserved. The normal component of the magnetic field is identically zero. The density, thermal pressure and tangential component of the magnetic field vector can be discontinuous across the layer.
Read more about this topic: Shocks And Discontinuities (magnetohydrodynamics)
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