On the generation of magnetized collisionless shocks in the large plasma device
Abstract
Collisionless shocks are common phenomena in space and astrophysical systems, and in many cases, the shocks can be modeled as the result of the expansion of a magnetic piston though a magnetized ambient plasma. Only recently, however, have laser facilities and diagnostic capabilities evolved sufficiently to allow the detailed study in the laboratory of the microphysics of piston-driven shocks. We review experiments on collisionless shocks driven by a laser-produced magnetic piston undertaken with the Phoenix laser laboratory and the Large Plasma Device at the University of California, Los Angeles. The experiments span a large parameter space in laser energy, background magnetic field, and ambient plasma properties that allow us to probe the physics of piston-ambient energy coupling, the launching of magnetosonic solitons, and the formation of subcritical shocks. The results indicate that piston-driven magnetized collisionless shocks in the laboratory can be characterized with a small set of dimensionless formation parameters that place the formation process in an organized and predictive framework.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Mar 22, 2017
- Source ID
- 10.1063/1.4978882
Entities
People
- A. S. Bondarenko
- C. G. Constantin
- Christoph Niemann
- D. Winske
- David Jeffrey Larson
- Derek Schaeffer
- Misa Cowee
- S. E. Clark
Organizations
- Defense Threat Reduction Agency
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
- National Science Foundation
- United States Department of Energy
- University of California, Los Angeles