Turbulence generation by a shock wave interacting with a random density inhomogeneity field

When a planar shock wave interacts with a random pattern of pre-shock density non-uniformities, it generates an anisotropic turbulent velocity/vorticity field. This turbulence plays an important role in the early stages of the mixing process in a compressed fluid. This situation emerges naturally in a shock interaction with weakly inhomogeneous deuterium-wicked foam targets in inertial confinement fusion and with density clumps/clouds in astrophysics. We present an exact small-amplitude linear theory describing such an interaction. It is based on the exact theory of time and space evolution of the perturbed quantities behind a corrugated shock front for a single-mode pre-shock non-uniformity. Appropriate mode averaging in two dimensions results in closed analytical expressions for the turbulent kinetic energy, degree of anisotropy of velocity and vorticity fields in the shocked fluid, shock amplification of the density non-uniformity and sonic energy flux radiated downstream. These explicit formulae are further simplified in the important asymptotic limits of weak/strong shocks and highly compressible fluids. A comparison with the related problem of a shock interacting with a pre-shock isotropic vorticity field is also presented.