  Relativistic blast waves can be described by a mechanical model. In this
model, the "blast" -- the compressed gas between the forward and reverse shocks
-- is viewed as one hot body. Equations governing its dynamics are derived from
conservation of mass, energy, and momentum. Simple analytical solutions are
obtained in the two limiting cases of ultra-relativistic and non-relativistic
reverse shock. Equations are derived for the general explosion problem.

Astrophysics