Vacuum formation at an accelerating withdrawing piston

ID: vacuum-formation-at-an-accelerating-withdrawing-piston

An initially resting perfect gas with adiabatic index next to a piston develops a smooth rarefaction. The incoming invariant gives . Pressure falls as until , when the piston speed is . Thereafter the gas edge moves at that limiting constant speed while the piston accelerates away, opening a vacuum gap.

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