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Nonrelativistic electrostatic unmagnetized shocks are frequently observed inlaboratory plasmas and they are likely to exist in astrophysical plasmas. Theirmaximum speed, expressed in units of the ion acoustic speed far upstream of theshock, depends only on the electron-to-ion temperature ratio if binarycollisions are absent. The formation and evolution of such shocks is examinedhere for a wide range of shock speeds with particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations.The initial temperatures of the electrons and the 400 times heavier ions areequal. Shocks form on electron time scales at Mach numbers between 1.7 and 2.2.Shocks with Mach numbers up to 2.5 form after tens of inverse ion plasmafrequencies. The density of the shock-reflected ion beam increases and thenumber of ions crossing the shock thus decreases with an increasing Machnumber, causing a slower expansion of the downstream region in its rest frame.The interval occupied by this ion beam is on a positive potential relative tothe far upstream. This potential pre-heats the electrons ahead of the shockeven in the absence of beam instabilities and decouples the electrontemperature in the foreshock ahead of the shock from the one in the farupstream plasma. The effective Mach number of the shock is reduced by thiselectron heating. This effect can potentially stabilize nonrelativisticelectrostatic shocks moving as fast as supernova remnant (SNR) shocks.

Parametric study of non-relativistic electrostatic shocks and the structure of their transition layer