title: Observation of self-similarity in the magnetic fields generated by the ablative nonlinear Rayleigh-Taylor instability.
abstract: Magnetic fields generated by the nonlinear Rayleigh-Taylor growth of laser-seeded three-dimensional broadband perturbations were measured in laser-accelerated planar targets using ultrafast proton radiography. The experimental data show self-similar behavior in the growing cellular magnetic field structures. These observations are consistent with a bubble competition and merger model that predicts the time evolution of the number and size of the bubbles, linking the cellular magnetic field structures with the Rayleigh-Taylor bubble and spike growth.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Nilson
authors.forename: I V
authors.initials: IV
authors.lastname: Igumenschev
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fiksel
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Smalyuk
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Haines
authors.forename: E G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Blackman
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Froula
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Betti
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Meyerhofer