Composite self-similar solutions for relativistic shocks: the transition to cold fluid temperatures

The flow resulting from a strong ultrarelativistic shock moving through a stellar envelope with a polytrope-like density profile has been studied analytically and numerically at early times while the fluid temperature is relativistic–that is, just before and just after the shock breaks out of the star. Such a flow should expand and accelerate as its internal energy is converted to bulk kinetic energy; at late enough times, the assumption of relativistic temperatures becomes invalid. Here we present a new self-similar solution for the post-breakout flow when the accelerating fluid has bulk kinetic Lorentz factors much larger than unity but is cooling through $p\mathrm{/}n$ of order unity to subrelativistic temperatures. This solution gives a relation between a fluid element’s terminal Lorentz factor and that element’s Lorentz factor just after it is shocked. Our numerical integrations agree well with the solution. While our solution assumes a planar flow, we show that corrections due to spherical geometry are important only for extremely fast ejecta originating in a region very close to the stellar surface. This region grows if the shock becomes relativistic deeper in the star.