Physics – Plasma Physics
Scientific paper
Oct 2001
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001aps..dppli2006h&link_type=abstract
American Physical Society, 43rd Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics October 29 - November 2, 2001 Long Beach, C
Physics
Plasma Physics
Scientific paper
Plasmas in photoionization equilibrium have now been produced in laboratory experiments, allowing direct, integrated tests of plasma models in this astrophysically-relevant regime. Plasmas in photoionization equilibrium are mainly ionized by intense X-ray fluxes, rather than electron-ion collisions. Photoionized plasmas are common in astrophysical environments such as X-ray binary accretion disks and active galactic nuclei, which together comprise about half the known X-ray sources in the universe. Accurate and detailed models of photoionized plasmas are essential for interpreting spectra from the new X-ray telescopes Chandra and XMM-Newton. Using 100 terawatt X-ray pulses from the Sandia z-pinch facility ``Z'', with measured radiation temperatures around 200 eV, iron plasmas in photoionization equilibrium have been produced at densities of 1.5E19 electrons/cm^3 with X-ray fluxes in excess of 3.0E19 erg/s/cm^2. The radiation source size, power, and spectrum, and the sample density, composition, X-ray absorption and emission have been determined. Sodium fluoride and magnesium oxide tracers co-mixed with the iron have provided additional diagnostic information, including temperature measurements via free-bound continua. Charge state distributions have been determined from the absorption measurements. The known experimental conditions and observed emission spectra and charge state distributions allow integrated comparisons with astrophysical photoionized plasma models. These well-characterized experiments validate astrophysical data interpretation, enhance understanding of the dominant photoionization and recombination processes in these plasmas, and should eventually aid in understanding other plasma regimes where the same processes are significant.
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