Self-similar imploding relativistic shock waves

Self- similar solutions to the problem of a strong imploding relativistic shock wave are calculated. These solutions represent the relativistic generalization of the Newtonian Gouderley- Landau- Stanyukovich problem of a strong imploding spherical shock wave converging to a center. The solutions are found assuming that the preshocked flow has a uniform density and are accurate for sufficiently large times after the formation of the shock wave. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.