S. Dono

Collisionless shock generation in high-speed counterstreaming plasma flows by a high-power laser

The experimental demonstration of the formation of a strong electrostatic (ES) collisionless shock has been carried out with high-speed counterstreaming plasmas, produced by a high-power laser irradiation, without external magnetic field. The nearly four times density jump observed in the experiment shows a high Mach-number shock. This large density jump is attributed to the compression of the downstream plasma by momentum transfer by ion reflection of the upstream plasma. Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation shows the production of a collisionless high Mach-number ES shock with counterstreaming interaction of two plasma slabs with different temperatures and densities, as pointed out by Sorasio et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 045005 (2006)]. It is speculated that the shock discontinuity is balanced with the momentum of incoming and reflected ions and the predominant pressure of the electrons in the downstream with PIC simulation.

High-Mach number collisionless shock and photo-ionized non-LTE plasma for laboratory astrophysics with intense lasers

We propose that most of the collisionless shocks in the Universe, for example, supernova remnant shocks, are produced because of the magnetic field generated by Weibel instability and its nonlinear process. In order to verify and validate the computational result confirming this theory, we are carrying out model experiments with intense lasers. We are going to make a collisionless counter-streaming plasma with intense laser ablation based on the scaling law to laser plasma with the particle-in-cell simulation resulting in Weibel-mediated shock formation. Preliminary experimental data are shown. The photo-ionization and resultant non-LTE plasma physics are also very important subjects in astrophysics related to mainly compact objects, for example, black hole, neutron star and white dwarf. Planckian radiation with its temperature 80–100 eV has been produced in gold cavity with irradiation of intense lasers inside the cavity. The sample materials are irradiated by the radiation inside the cavity and absorption and self-emission spectra are observed and analyzed theoretically. It is demonstrated how the effect of non-LTE is essential to reproduce the experimental spectra with the use of a precision computational code.

JET FORMATION IN COUNTERSTREAMING COLLISIONLESS PLASMAS

Plasma jet formation was observed in counterstreaming plasmas in a laboratory experiment. In order to model an ambient plasma of astrophysical jets, the counterstreaming plasmas were created by irradiating a double CH-plane target with a high-power laser system. Since the mean free paths of the ions in terms of the counterstreaming motion were larger than the scale length of the experiment, the two-stream interaction of the plasmas was essentially collisionless. The time evolution of the jet collimation was obtained over several shots with different timing by shadowgraphy. When a single CH-plane target was irradiated, no jet collimation was observed. The counterstreaming plasma as an ambient plasma is essential for the jet plasma to collimate.

Laser-driven plasma jets propagating in an ambient gas studied with optical and proton diagnostics

The results of an experiment to propagate laser-generated plasma jets into an ambient medium are presented. The jets are generated via laser irradiation of a foam-filled cone target, the results and characterization of which have been reported previously [Loupias et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 265001 (2007)] for propagation in vacuum. The introduction of an ambient medium of argon at varying density is seen to result in the formation of a shock wave, and the shock front displays perturbations that appear to grow with time. The system is diagnosed with the aid of proton radiography, imaging the perturbed structure in the dense parts of the shock with high resolution.

Astrophysical jet experiments

We present an experimental characterization of jet propagation in an ambient medium. An intense laser (LULI2000) was used to generate the plasma jet using foam filled cone target. We observed, with several diagnostics, a perturbation in the interaction region between the jet and the ambient medium. The effect of the ambient medium on the jet velocity is also presented.

Laboratory investigations on the origins of cosmic rays

We report our recent efforts on the experimental investigations related to the origins of cosmic rays. The origins of cosmic rays are long standing open issues in astrophysics. The galactic and extragalactic cosmic rays are considered to be accelerated in non-relativistic and relativistic collisionless shocks in the universe, respectively. However, the acceleration and transport processes of the cosmic rays are not well understood, and how the collisionless shocks are created is still under investigation. Recent high-power and high-intensity laser technologies allow us to simulate astrophysical phenomena in laboratories. We present our experimental results of collisionless shock formations in laser-produced plasmas.

Collisionless shock generation by a high-power laser

We report the experimental generation of an electrostatic collisionless shock in counter-streaming plasmas without an external magnetic field. The collisionless counter-streaming plasmas were created by a high-power laser. The expansion of plasmas was measured with interferometry and shadowgraphy. Large density jump was observed in both diagnostics. The density jump is the collisionless shock because the width of this jump is much shorter than the ion-ion mean-free-path calculated from flow velocities and densities. Particle-in-cell simulations suggest the formation of the electrostatic collisionless shock in the counter-streaming plasmas. In our experiment, considering the shock width, the observed shock is the electrostatic shock.

Characterization of electrostatic shock in laser-produced optically-thin plasma flows using optical diagnostics

We present a method for evaluating the properties of electrostatic shock in laser-produced plasmas by using optical diagnostics. A shock is formed by a collimated jet in counter-streaming plasmas in nearly collisionless condition, showing the steepening of the transition width in time. In the present experiment, a streaked optical pyrometry was applied to evaluate the electron density and temperatures in the upstream and downstream regions of the shock so that the shock conditions are satisfied, by assuming thermal bremsstrahlung emission in optically thin plasmas. The derived electron densities are nearly consistent with those estimated from interferometry.

Jet formation in counterstreaming plasmas produced by high-power laser beams

We report the experimental results of a plasma jet formation in counterstreaming plasmas created by irradiating a double CH-plane target with a high-power laser system. The time evolution of the jet collimation was obtained over several shots, each shot taking a shadowgraphy image at a different timing. Since no jet formation was observed when a single CH-plane target was irradiated, the presence of the counterstreaming plasma, as an ambient plasma, is essential to the jet plasma collimation.

Optical pyrometer system for collisionless shock experiments in high-power laser-produced plasmas

A temporally and spatially resolved optical pyrometer system has been fielded on Gekko XII experiments. The system is based on the self-emission measurements with a gated optical imager (GOI) and a streaked optical pyrometer (SOP). Both detectors measure the intensity of the self-emission from laser-produced plasmas at the wavelength of 450 nm with a bandpass filter with a width of ~10 nm in FWHM. The measurements were calibrated with different methods, and both results agreed with each other within 30% as previously reported [T. Morita et al., Astrophys. Space Sci. 336, 283 (2011)]. As a tool for measuring the properties of low-density plasmas, the system is applicable for the measurements of the electron temperature and density in collisionless shock experiments [Y. Kuramitsu et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 175002 (2011)].