Numerical simulation of converging nonlinear wavefronts

Abstract

The propagation of a two-dimensional weakly nonlinear wavefront into a polytropic gas in a uniform state and at rest has been studied. Successive positions of the wavefront and the distribution of amplitude on it are obtained by solving a system of conservation forms of the equations of weakly nonlinear ray theory (WNLRT) using a TVB scheme based on the Lax-Friedrichs flux. The predictions of the WNLRT are found to be qualitatively quite different from the predictions of the linear theory. The linear wavefronts leading to the formation of caustics are replaced by nonlinear wavefronts with kinks. By varying the initial shape of the wavefront and the amplitude distribution on it, the formation and separation of kinks on the wavefront has been studied.