Shocks in dusty plasmas: Theory and experiment

The main theoretical and experimental results on ion acoustic shock waves i n dusty plasmas are reviewed. Two situations are considered: when the dust charge variation is caused by only the microscopic electron and ion current s at the grains and when it is caused by the microscopic currents and the p hotoelectric current of electrons. The possibilities of observation of shoc k waves related to the dust charging process in laboratory experiments, in active geophysical rocket experiments, and in astrophysical phenomena are d iscussed.