  We present a general formulation for stability analyses of radiative shocks
with multiple cooling processes, longitudinal and transverse perturbations, and
unequal electron and ion temperatures. Using the accretion shocks of magnetic
cataclysmic variables as an illustrative application, we investigate the shock
instabilities by examining the eigenfunctions of the perturbed hydrodynamic
variables. We also investigate the effects of varying the condition at the
lower boundary of the post-shock flow from a zero-velocity fixed wall to
several alternative type of boundaries involving the perturbed hydrodynamic
variables, and the variations of the emission from the post-shock flow under
different modes of oscillations. We found that the stability properties for
flow with a stationary-wall lower boundary are not significantly affected by
perturbing the lower boundary condition, and they are determined mainly by the
energy-transport processes. Moreover, there is no obvious correlation between
the amplitude or phase of the luminosity response and the stability properties
of the system. Stability of the system can, however, be modified in the
presence of transverse perturbation. The luminosity responses are also altered
by transverse perturbation.
