Thursday, December 13, 2012

1212.2805 (A. Ciardi et al.)

Astrophysics of magnetically collimated jets generated from laser-produced plasmas    [PDF]

A. Ciardi, T. Vinci, J. Fuchs, B. Albertazzi, C. Riconda, H. Pépin, O. Portugall
The generation of astrophysically relevant jets, from magnetically collimated, laser-produced plasmas, is investigated through three-dimensional, magneto-hydrodynamic simulations. We show that for laser intensities I ~ 10^12 - 10^14 W/cm^2, a magnetic field in excess of ~ 0.1 MG, can collimate the plasma plume into a prolate cavity bounded by a shock envelope with a standing conical shock at its tip, which re-collimates the flow into a super magneto-sonic jet beam. This mechanism is equivalent to astrophysical models of hydrodynamic inertial collimation, where an isotropic wind is focused into a jet by a confining circumstellar torus-like envelope. The results suggest an alternative mechanism for a large-scale magnetic field to produce jets from wide-angle winds. (abridged version)
View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1212.2805

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