title: Scaled laboratory experiments explain the kink behaviour of the Crab Nebula jet.
abstract: The remarkable discovery by the Chandra X-ray observatory that the Crab nebula's jet periodically changes direction provides a challenge to our understanding of astrophysical jet dynamics. It has been suggested that this phenomenon may be the consequence of magnetic fields and magnetohydrodynamic instabilities, but experimental demonstration in a controlled laboratory environment has remained elusive. Here we report experiments that use high-power lasers to create a plasma jet that can be directly compared with the Crab jet through well-defined physical scaling laws. The jet generates its own embedded toroidal magnetic fields; as it moves, plasma instabilities result in multiple deflections of the propagation direction, mimicking the kink behaviour of the Crab jet. The experiment is modelled with three-dimensional numerical simulations that show exactly how the instability develops and results in changes of direction of the jet.
authors.affiliation: Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 USA.
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tzeferacos
authors.affiliation: Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lamb
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gregori
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK.
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Norreys
authors.affiliation: Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 USA.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Rosenberg
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA.|Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA.
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Follett
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA.|Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA.
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Froula
authors.affiliation: LULI-CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, CEA: Université Paris-Saclay; UPMC Univ Paris 06: Sorbonne Universités, F-91128 Palaiseau cedex, France.|Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koenig
authors.affiliation: Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 USA.
authors.forename: F H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Seguin
authors.affiliation: Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 USA.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Frenje
authors.affiliation: Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 USA.
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Rinderknecht
authors.affiliation: Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sio
authors.affiliation: Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 USA.
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Zylstra
authors.affiliation: Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 USA.
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Petrasso
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Amendt
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Remington
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Ryutov
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Wilks
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA.|Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Betti
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA.|Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frank
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA.
authors.forename: S X
authors.initials: SX
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA.
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Sangster
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University 6100 S. Main, Houston, Texas 77521, USA.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hartigan
authors.affiliation: Department of Atmospheric, Ocean and Space Science, University of Michigan, 2455 Hayward Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103, USA.
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Drake
authors.affiliation: Department of Atmospheric, Ocean and Space Science, University of Michigan, 2455 Hayward Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103, USA.
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Kuranz
authors.affiliation: The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BW, UK.
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Lebedev
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of York, York YO10 5D, UK.
authors.forename: N C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Woolsey
mesh_terms: D055580:Astronomical Phenomena; D003198:Computer Simulation; D007834:Lasers; D060526:Magnetic Fields; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D058626:Plasma Gases
chemical_list: D058626:Plasma Gases