| Abstract: | In this talk I describe previous work done by the Technion and Imperial College London plasma physics teams on the subject of High-Energy-Density (HED) physics, and explain how it is related to potential future laboratory astrophysics experiments. In this work pulsed power generators were used to deliver high current (>20 kA) pulses to thin metal wires and wire arrays immersed in water, in order to obtain HED conditions using the shock waves generated from the explosion of the wires which resulted from the high current pulse. For example, cylindrical and spherical wire arrays are used to generate converging shock waves in the vicinity of implosion. Cylindrical wire array experiments show good symmetry of the imploding shock waves near the axis, and spectroscopic studies of spherical wire arrays show similar emission properties to the sun. X-ray radiography images obtained at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) demonstrate the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability generated in an exploding wire by the shock wave launched from a second wire nearby. These results can be used to generate conditions in the lab which are scalable to astrophysics conditions and for example explain not yet understood processes related to supernovae explosions. |
