Physics – Plasma Physics
Scientific paper
Oct 2000
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2000aps..dppci1002r&link_type=abstract
American Physical Society, 42nd Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics combined with the 10th International Congre
Physics
Plasma Physics
Scientific paper
Extensive observational evidence from core-collapse supernovae such as SN 1987A indicates that some form of large-scale hydrodynamic mixing process is required to explain the resulting light curves, spectra, and velocity of the heavier elements produced by explosive nucleosynthesis. High-resolution 2D numerical simulations to date, however, have been unable to reproduce these observations (see, for example, [1]-[2]). An experimental testbed has been designed to study in a scaled (see ref. [3]), controlled laboratory setting some of the hydrodynamic phenomena believed to be of importance in this problem. These experiments are being conducted on the Omega Laser at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE), University of Rochester. To date, four separate aspects of the supernova explosion problem have been studied. In all cases, radiation from the Omega laser is used to drive a strong shock (M>>1) into the target materials. In a first series of experiments, a three-layer target with approximate density ratios of 10:1:0.1 was used to simulate the decreasing radial density profile of a SN progenitor. This experiment addresses the possible coupling, via propagation of a rippled shock, between instability growth and mixing at the simulated (C+O)/He and He/H interfaces. A second series of experiments focused on the effect of spherical divergence on the growth of an initially imposed perturbation, and additional experiments are currently being conducted to study the role of dimensionality (2D vs. 3D initial perturbation) and modal content (single wavelength vs. multi-mode perturbation) in the evolution of a hydrodynamically unstable interface. In each case, numerical simulations are found to provide reasonable agreement with the experiments. Future work will aim to combine the phenomena studied here in isolation, and will move toward fully 3D, turbulent interface mixing which will provide a greater challenge to numerical simulation. Work performed for the US DOE by UC LLNL under contract W-7405-Eng-48. 1. Müller, Fryxel, and Arnett, Astron. Astrophys. 251, 505 (1991). 2. K. Kifonidis, T. Plewa, H.-Th. Janka, and E. Müller, Ap. J. 531, L123 (2000). 3. D.D. Ryutov, Tutorial Lecture, Bulletin 42nd APS / DPP Meeting, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada (2000).
No associations
LandOfFree
An experimental testbed for the study of hydrodynamic issues in supernovae does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with An experimental testbed for the study of hydrodynamic issues in supernovae, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and An experimental testbed for the study of hydrodynamic issues in supernovae will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1769581