Multiphase shock-turbulence interactions in decaying magnetohydrodynamic turbulence*

Studies of shock-turbulence and shock-vortex interactions in sub- and super-Alfvénic magnetised turbulence have major importance in astrophysical plasma flows within the interstellar medium (ISM). Here we conduct high resolution implicit large eddy and direct numerical simulations of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence with Lagrangian tracers to investigate the propagation of a cylindrical shock into an inhomogeneous, multiphase medium and study the turbulence and magnetic field amplification in the post-shock mixed region, replicating a similar shock tube experiment being performed at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Simplified theoretical models based on curved shock induced vorticity and Favre-averaged MHD Rankine-Hugoniot relations are used to predict the post-shock Reynolds stress and velocity dispersion, which varies nearly linearly with the average Atwood number in the inhomogenous medium, consistent with the impulsive model for the growth rate of Richtmyer-Meshkov instabilities (RMI) forming in the outer extent of the turbulent, shocked gas. Furthermore, the long-time behaviour of the decay of shock-driven turbulence is also briefly explored.