title: Blast-wave-sphere interaction using a laser-produced plasma: an experiment motivated by supernova 1987A.
abstract: We present x-ray shadowgraphs from a high Mach number ( approximately 20) laboratory environment that simulate outward flowing ejecta matter from supernovae that interact with ambient cloud matter. Using a laser-plastic foil interaction, we generate a "complex" blast wave (a supersonic flow containing forward and reverse shock waves and a contact discontinuity between them) that interacts with a high-density (100 times ambient) sphere. The experimental results, including vorticity localization, compare favorably with two-dimensional axisymmetric hydrodynamic simulations.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University, 2-6 Yamada-Oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Y G
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nishihara
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takabe
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sunahara
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Norimatsu
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nagai
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakatsuka
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Zabusky