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Anomalous transport of electrons has considerable impact on the overall performance of Hall thrusters. Numerous studies have shown that high-frequency (on the order of MHz) fluctuations in both the electric field and plasma density are one of the causes of the anomalous transport. This phenomenon has yet to be measured in detail, however, because it is difficult to evaluate the density distribution of neutral particles and the dispersion relation of plasma oscillation in the several MHz range. It was therefore necessary to develop a device to measure the fluctuations in order to elucidate the cause of the anomalous transport. Here we focus on electric field fluctuations in the azimuthal direction inside a Hall thruster, and measure floating potential difference between two Langmuir probes. When a discharge current increases under a strong magnetic field, the azimuthal fluctuation in the frequency of 1-5 MHz is enhanced and fluctuations at ~100 kHz appear. These results suggest that azimuthal fluctuations in the electric field play an important role in the anomalous transport of electrons in the Hall thruster.

Laser experiments are becoming established as a new tool for astronomical research that complements observations and theoretical modeling. Localized strong magnetic fields have been observed at a shock front of supernova explosions. Experimental confirmation and identification of the physical mechanism for this observation are of great importance in understanding the evolution of the interstellar medium. However, it has been challenging to treat the interaction between hydrodynamic instabilities and an ambient magnetic field in the laboratory. Here, we developed an experimental platform to examine magnetized Richtmyer-Meshkov instability (RMI). The measured growth velocity was consistent with the linear theory, and the magnetic-field amplification was correlated with RMI growth. Our experiment validated the turbulent amplification of magnetic fields associated with the shock-induced interfacial instability in astrophysical conditions for the first time. Experimental elucidation of fundamental processes in magnetized plasmas is generally essential in various situations such as fusion plasmas and planetary sciences., 17 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in PRE

Accepted: 2018-11-03, 資料番号: SA1180234000

We report the result from a search for charged-current coherent pion production induced by muon neutrinos with a mean energy of 1.3 GeV. The data are collected with a fully active scintillator detector in the K2K long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. No evidence for coherent pion production is observed and an upper limit of $0.60 \times 10^{-2}$ is set on the cross section ratio of coherent pion production to the total charged-current interaction at 90% confidence level. This is the first experimental limit for coherent charged pion production in the energy region of a few GeV., 5 pages, 4 figures

The generation mechanism of counter-streaming plasmas, by irradiating an inner-surface of the 1st-plane of double-plane target, is investigated experimentally using optical imaging and collective Thomson scattering (CTS) ion-term measurement. The CTS measurement reveals that counter-streaming plasmas exist at the same time at the same position, which is the evidence for the collisionless interaction between the counter-streaming plasmas. The generation of the 2nd-plane plasma is in two steps: First, the 2nd-plane is ablated nearly at the laser timing by radiation from the 1st-plane plasma. Then ≃ 5 − 7 ns later, when the plasma from the 1st-plane reaches the 2ns-plane, it induces higher-density plasma generation.

Collective Thomson scattering (CTS) has been applied to laser-produced plasmas with Gekko XII HIPER laser facility. A scheme of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) has been used in CTS measurements for the first time. Utilizing SBS shortens the probe pulse, which increases the scattered power, and thus collected scattered signal of CTS. Therefore, a lower energy probe laser can be used for given background emission levels to avoid probe heating, which is crucial for plasmas with low electron temperature. Both electron and ion features of CTS have been successfully detected by using the SBS technique. The spatial profile of electron density, temperature, and drift velocity have been estimated in an ablation plasma. In addition to the local measurements with CTS, a global structure of plasmas has been obtained with optical imaging of the self-emission of plasmas and the interferometry. In the aspects of drift velocity and plasma density, the local and global information are in good agreement.

This paper describes a model of electron energization and cyclotron-maser emission applicable to astrophysical magnetized collisionless shocks. It is motivated by the work of Begelman, Ergun and Rees [Astrophys. J. 625, 51 (2005)] who argued that the cyclotron-maser instability occurs in localized magnetized collisionless shocks such as those expected in blazar jets. We report on recent research carried out to investigate electron acceleration at collisionless shocks and maser radiation associated with the accelerated electrons. We describe how electrons accelerated by lower-hybrid waves at collisionless shocks generate cyclotron-maser radiation when the accelerated electrons move into regions of stronger magnetic fields. The electrons are accelerated along the magnetic field and magnetically compressed leading to the formation of an electron velocity distribution having a horseshoe shape due to conservation of the electron magnetic moment. Under certain conditions the horseshoe electron velocity distribution function is unstable to the cyclotron-maser instability [Bingham and Cairns, Phys. Plasmas 7, 3089 (2000); Melrose, Rev. Mod. Plasma Phys. 1, 5 (2017)].

A preliminary numerical experiment is conducted for laboratory experiments on the generation of magnetized collisionless shocks with high-power lasers by using one-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation. The present study deals with the interaction between a moving aluminum plasma and a nitrogen plasma at rest. In the numerical experiment, the nitrogen plasma is unmagnetized or magnetized by a weak external magnetic field. Since the previous study suggested the generation of a spontaneous magnetic field in the piston (aluminum) plasma due to the Biermann battery, the effect of the magnetic field is of interest. Sharp jumps of the electron density and magnetic field are observed around the interface between the two plasmas as long as one of the two plasmas is magnetized, which indicates the formation of tangential electron-magneto-hydro-dynamic discontinuity. When the aluminum plasma is magnetized, strong compression of both the density and the magnetic field takes place in the pure aluminum plasma during the gyration of nitrogen ions in the aluminum plasma region. The formation of a shock downstream is obtained from the shock jump condition. The results suggest that the spontaneous magnetic field in the piston (aluminum) plasma plays an essential role in the formation of a perpendicular collisionless shock., ファイル公開：2020-03-05

We developed an experimental platform for studying magnetic reconnection in an external magnetic field with simultaneous measurements of plasma imaging, flow velocity, and magnetic-field variation. Here, we investigate the stagnation and acceleration in counter-streaming plasmas generated by high-power laser beams. A plasma flow perpendicular to the initial flow directions is measured with laser Thomson scattering. The flow is, interestingly, accelerated toward the high-density region, which is opposite to the direction of the acceleration by pressure gradients. This acceleration is possibly interpreted by the interaction of two magnetic field loops initially generated by Biermann battery effect, resulting in a magnetic reconnection forming a single field loop and additional acceleration by a magnetic tension force., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, Physics of Plasmas, in press

Collisionless shock is ubiquitous in space and astrophysical plasmas, and is believed to be a source of cosmic rays. In this review article, historical achievements of three different types of coll...

A high-sensitivity sensor to measure titanium atom density based on time-resolved cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) was developed to monitor the wall erosion and predict the lifetime of Hall thrusters. The minimum detection limit for the sensor was dependent on the discharge current oscillation in the Hall thruster. A Volterra engine management system was employed for time-resolved measurements to develop the time-resolved CRDS system, which was synchronized to the discharge current oscillation. The results confirmed that the path-integrated number density of sputtered titanium atoms was synchronized with the discharge current oscillation. The minimum detection limit was decreased by approximately 30% from 2×10^12 to 6×10^11 m^-2.

We have implemented laser Thomson scattering for local plasma measurement of electron and ion temperatures, electron density, flow velocity, and charge state. The electron density increases by two times in the interaction of two plasma flows, indicating collisionless interaction. The density and velocity show fluctuations only at t = 40 ns, and the density suddenly decreases, indicating the plasma ejection from the interaction region, which can be explained by a magnetic reconnection. The electron temperature in the double-flow is larger than that in the single flow. This may be explained by the energy transfer from the plasma kinetic energy to thermal energy. The ion temperature is much larger than electron temperature in the double-flow, and this may be explained by collisional effects between two plasmas, and/or possibly interpreted as a thermalization due to magnetic reconnection.

Astrophysical shocks are commonly revealed by the non-thermal emission of energetic electrons accelerated in situ1–3. Strong shocks are expected to accelerate particles to very high energies4–6; however, they require a source of particles with velocities fast enough to permit multiple shock crossings. While the resulting diffusive shock acceleration 4 process can account for observations, the kinetic physics regulating the continuous injection of non-thermal particles is not well understood. Indeed, this injection problem is particularly acute for electrons, which rely on high-frequency plasma fluctuations to raise them above the thermal pool7,8. Here we show, using laboratory laser-produced shock experiments, that, in the presence of a strong magnetic field, significant electron pre-heating is achieved. We demonstrate that the key mechanism in producing these energetic electrons is through the generation of lower-hybrid turbulence via shock-reflected ions. Our experimental results are analogous to many astrophysical systems, including the interaction of a comet with the solar wind 9 , a setting where electron acceleration via lower-hybrid waves is possible. Electrons can be accelerated by astrophysical shocks if they are sufficiently fast to start with. As laboratory laser-produced shock experiments reveal, this can be achieved by lower-hybrid waves generated by a shock-reflected ion instability.

Magnetic reconnections play essential roles in space, astrophysical, and laboratory plasmas, where the anti-parallel magnetic field components re-connect and the magnetic energy is converted to the plasma energy as Alfvénic out flows. Although the electron dynamics is considered to be essential, it is highly challenging to observe electron scale reconnections. Here we show the experimental results on an electron scale reconnection driven by the electron dynamics in laser-produced plasmas. We apply a weak-external magnetic field in the direction perpendicular to the plasma propagation, where the magnetic field is directly coupled with only the electrons but not for the ions. Since the kinetic pressure of plasma is much larger than the magnetic pressure, the magnetic field is distorted and locally anti-parallel. We observe plasma collimations, cusp and plasmoid like features with optical diagnostics. The plasmoid propagates at the electron Alfvén velocity, indicating a reconnection driven by the electron dynamics., Magnetic reconnection is the process of releasing energy by magnetized and space plasma. Here the authors report experimental observation of magnetic reconnection in laser-produced plasma and the role of electron scaling on reconnection.

The first demonstration of target acceleration by a strong magnetic field is conducted. Two miniature targets, a gold ball and a neodymium permanent magnet, are accelerated by a magnetic field. A magnetic-field strength as high as 1 kT is produced using a capacitor-coil in which two copper disks are connected by a single-turn coil, and the capacitor was driven by two beams from the GEKKO-XII high-power laser. The targets are accelerated by the interaction force between two magnetic moments: the target and the capacitor-coil. The velocity of the accelerated gold ball was estimated as 10 m/s from shadowgraphy images. In the case of the magnet, although the image could not be observed clearly due to the plasma generated around the magnet, it was confirmed that the magnet interacts with the magnetic field of the capacitor-coil.

Recent progress in the generation in the laboratory of a strong ($g100$-T) magnetic field enables us to investigate experimentally unexplored magnetohydrodynamics phenomena of a high-energy-density plasma, which an external magnetic field of 200--300 T notably affects due to anisotropic thermal conduction, even when the magnetic field pressure is much lower than the plasma pressure. The external magnetic field reduces electron thermal conduction across the external magnetic field lines because the Larmor radius of the thermal electrons in the external magnetic field is much shorter than the mean free path of the thermal electrons. The velocity of a thin polystyrene foil driven by intense laser beams in the strong external magnetic field is faster than that in the absence of the external magnetic field. Growth of sinusoidal corrugation imposed initially on the laser-driven polystyrene surface is enhanced by the external magnetic field because the plasma pressure distribution becomes nonuniform due to the external magnetic-field structure modulated by the perturbed plasma flow ablated from the corrugated surface.

The interaction between two counter-streaming laser-produced plasmas is studied with shadowgraph and interferometry on the Shenguang II (SG-II) laser facility. Shockwaves and filaments are observed at different timing. The simulation and theoretical analysis indicate that these structures are probably induced by collisionless mechanisms.

Long time evolution of collisionless shocks in laser-produced plasmas is discussed. By irradiating a double plane target a high Mach number collisionless shock has been observed in laser produced counterstreaming plasmas [Kuramitsu et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 106, 175002 (2011)]. While in early time we observe the shock in front of one plane, which is irradiated with the laser, we observe another shock in front of the other plane in much later time than the first shock formation. These two shocks coexist and collide or merge with each other as time passes. This means that the upstream plasmas for the first and second shocks have to be provided from the second and first shock sides, respectively, i.e., both the first and second shock have to be collisionless. There are two major candidates to account for the long time evolution of the collisionless shocks. One is that the secondary plasmas at the planes can be continuously created by the plasmas from the other planes. Another is that the actual shock thickness is much thiner than the detection limit, as indicated by numerical simulations.

A study of the transition from collisional to collisionless plasma flows has been carried out at the National Ignition Facility using high Mach number (M>4) counterstreaming plasmas. In these experiments, CD-CD and CD-CH planar foils separated by 6-10 mm are irradiated with laser energies of 250 kJ per foil, generating ∼1000 km/s plasma flows. Varying the foil separation distance scales the ion density and average bulk velocity and, therefore, the ion-ion Coulomb mean free path, at the interaction region at the midplane. The characteristics of the flow interaction have been inferred from the neutrons and protons generated by deuteron-deuteron interactions and by x-ray emission from the hot, interpenetrating, and interacting plasmas. A localized burst of neutrons and bright x-ray emission near the midpoint of the counterstreaming flows was observed, suggesting strong heating and the initial stages of shock formation. As the separation of the CD-CH foils increases we observe enhanced neutron production compared to particle-in-cell simulations that include Coulomb collisions, but do not include collective collisionless plasma instabilities. The observed plasma heating and enhanced neutron production is consistent with the initial stages of collisionless shock formation, mediated by the Weibel filamentation instability.

Collisions of high Mach number flows occur frequently in astrophysics, and the resulting shock waves are responsible for the properties of many astrophysical phenomena, such as supernova remnants, Gamma Ray Bursts and jets from Active Galactic Nuclei. Because of the low density of astrophysical plasmas, the mean free path due to Coulomb collisions is typically very large. Therefore, most shock waves in astrophysics are “collisionless”, since they form due to plasma instabilities and self-generated magnetic fields. Laboratory experiments at the laser facilities can achieve the conditions necessary for the formation of collisionless shocks, and will provide a unique avenue for studying the nonlinear physics of collisionless shock waves. We are performing a series of experiments at the Omega and Omega-EP lasers, in Rochester, NY, with the goal of generating collisionless shock conditions by the collision of two high-speed plasma flows resulting from laser ablation of solid targets using ∼10 16 W/cm 2 laser irradiation. The experiments will aim to answer several questions of relevance to collisionless shock physics: the importance of the electromagnetic filamentation (Weibel) instabilities in shock formation, the self-generation of magnetic fields in shocks, the influence of external magnetic fields on shock formation, and the signatures of particle acceleration in shocks. Our first experiments using Thomson scattering diagnostics studied the plasma state from a single foil and from double foils whose flows collide “head-on”. Our data showed that the flow velocity and electron density were 10 8 cm/s and 10 19 cm −3 , respectively, where the Coulomb mean free path is much larger than the size of the interaction region. Simulations of our experimental conditions show that weak Weibel mediated current filamentation and magnetic field generation were likely starting to occur. This paper presents the results from these first Omega experiments.

We investigate spherical collisionless shocks in the presence of an external magnetic field. Spherical collisionless shocks are common resultant of interactions between a expanding plasma and a surrounding plasma, such as the solar wind, stellar winds, and supernova remnants. Anisotropies often observed in shock propagations and their emissions, and it is widely believed a magnetic field plays a major role. Since the local observations of magnetic fields in astrophysical plasmas are not accessible, laboratory experiments provide unique capability to investigate such phenomena. We model the spherical shocks in the universe by irradiating a solid spherical target surrounded by a plasma in the presence of a magnetic field. We present preliminary results obtained by shadowgraphy.

One of the important and interesting problems in astrophysics and plasma physics is collimation of plasma jets. The collimation mechanism, which causes a plasma flow to propagate a long distance, has not been understood in detail. We have been investigating a model experiment to simulate astrophysical plasma jets with an external magnetic field [Nishio et al., EPJ. Web of Conferences 59, 15005 (2013)]. The experiment was performed by using Gekko XII HIPER laser system at Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University. We shot CH plane targets (3 mm × 3 mm × 10 μm) and observed rear-side plasma flows. A collimated plasma flow or plasma jet was generated by separating focal spots of laser beams. In this report, we measured plasma jet structure without an external magnetic field with shadowgraphy, and simultaneously measured the local parameters of the plasma jet, i.e., electron density, electron and ion temperatures, charge state, and drift velocity, with collective Thomson scattering.

A model experiment of magnetic field amplification (MFA) via the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability (RMI) in supernova remnants (SNRs) was performed using a high-power laser. In order to account for very-fast acceleration of cosmic rays observed in SNRs, it is considered that the magnetic field has to be amplified by orders of magnitude from its background level. A possible mechanism for the MFA in SNRs is stretching and mixing of the magnetic field via the RMI when shock waves pass through dense molecular clouds in interstellar media. In order to model the astrophysical phenomenon in laboratories, there are three necessary factors for the RMI to be operative: a shock wave, an external magnetic field, and density inhomogeneity. By irradiating a double-foil target with several laser beams with focal spot displacement under influence of an external magnetic field, shock waves were excited and passed through the density inhomogeneity. Radiative hydrodynamic simulations show that the RMI evolves as the density inhomogeneity is shocked, resulting in higher MFA.

International audience; In this paper, recent results obtained on highly radiative shocks generated in a xenon filled gas cell using the GEKKO XII laser facility are presented. Data show extremely high shock velocity (>=150 km/s) never achieved before in gas. Preliminary analyses based on theoretical dimensionless numbers and numerical simulations suggest that these radiative shocks reach a new radiative regime where the radiative pressure plays a role in the dynamics and structure of the shock. A major effect observed is a strong anisotropic emission in the downstream gas. This unexpected feature is discussed and compared to available 2D radiation hydrodynamic simulations.

Density inhomogeneities for a test bed of magnetic field amplification in supernova remnants (SNRs) were created in laser produced plasmas. The density inhomogeneity is considered to be essential to the large magnetic field amplification to account for the very fast cosmic ray acceleration. In order to model the density variations about an order of magnitude in an interstellar medium, we performed three types of experiments using a high-power laser system: (1) irradiating a plastic (CH) plane with a single focal spot beams, (2) the same target with spatial separation of laser focal spots, and (3) irradiating a striped target of thin and thick CH plane. By irradiating a CH plane target with a single focal spot laser beams, a plasma plume was produced with the large density range. On the other hand, when the several laser beams with displacements of the focal spots, bumpy structures of electron density were produced. Making thin stripes on a CH plane target, density and velocity inhomogeneities were produced by irradiating the striped target with the laser beams. In the all methods the density variations were very large, which can be used for a model experiment of the magnetic field amplification.

We have successfully developed a portable pulsed magnetic field generation system incorporating a number of techniques to avoid the effects of noise, including shielding, a self-power capability, and a high-capability semiconductor switch. The system fits into a cubical box less than 0.5 m in linear dimensions and can easily be installed in experimental facilities, including noisy environments such as high-power laser facilities. The system can generate a magnetic field of several tesla sustainable for several tens of microseconds over a spatial scale of several centimeters. In a high-power laser experiment with Gekko-XII, the system operated stably despite being subjected to a high level of electrical noise from laser shots of 600 J.

A magnetic thrust chamber is an important system of a laser fusion rocket, in which the plasma kinetic energy is converted into vehicle thrust by a magnetic field. To investigate the plasma extraction from the system, the ions in a plasma are diagnosed outside the system by charge collectors. The results clearly show that the ion extraction does not strongly depend on the magnetic field strength when the energy ratio of magnetic field to plasma is greater than 4.3, and the magnetic field pushes back the plasma to generate a thrust, as previously suggested by numerical simulation and experiments.

Plasma jet formation was observed in counterstreaming plasmas in a laboratory experiment. In order to model an ambient plasma of astrophysical jets, the counterstreaming plasmas were created by irradiating a double CH-plane target with a high-power laser system. Since the mean free paths of the ions in terms of the counterstreaming motion were larger than the scale length of the experiment, the two-stream interaction of the plasmas was essentially collisionless. The time evolution of the jet collimation was obtained over several shots with different timing by shadowgraphy. When a single CH-plane target was irradiated, no jet collimation was observed. The counterstreaming plasma as an ambient plasma is essential for the jet plasma to collimate.

We present measurements of nu_mu disappearance in K2K, the KEK to Kamioka long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. One hundred and twelve beam-originated neutrino events are observed in the fiducial volume of Super-Kamiokande with an expectation of 158.1^{+9.2}_{-8.6} events without oscillation. A distortion of the energy spectrum is also seen in 58 single-ring muon-like events with reconstructed energies. The probability that the observations are explained by the expectation for no neutrino oscillation is 0.0015% (4.3sigma). In a two flavor oscillation scenario, the allowed Delta m^2 region at sin^2(2theta) is between 1.9 and 3.5 x 10^{-3} eV^2 at the 90% C.L. with a best-fit value of 2.8 x 10^{-3} eV^2., Comment: 40 pages, 48 figures

In this paper, we present the recent results obtained regarding highly radiative shocks (RSs) generated in a low-density gas filled cell on the GEKKO XII laser facility. The RS was generated by using an ablator-pusher two-layer target (CH/Sn) and a propagation medium (Xe). High velocity RSs have been generated (100–140 km/s), while limiting as much as possible the preheating produced by the corona emission. Both self-emission and visible probe diagnostics highlighted a strong emission in the shock and an electron density in the downstream gas. The RS characteristics that depend on the initial conditions are described here as well as its precursor interaction with an aluminium foil used as an obstacle. The obtained results are discussed which show a strong extension of the radiative precursor (1 mm) leading to an expansion velocity of the obstacle up to ≈30 km/s compatible to a 20 eV temperature.

We present a method for evaluating the properties of electrostatic shock in laser-produced plasmas by using optical diagnostics. A shock is formed by a collimated jet in counter-streaming plasmas in nearly collisionless condition, showing the steepening of the transition width in time. In the present experiment, a streaked optical pyrometry was applied to evaluate the electron density and temperatures in the upstream and downstream regions of the shock so that the shock conditions are satisfied, by assuming thermal bremsstrahlung emission in optically thin plasmas. The derived electron densities are nearly consistent with those estimated from interferometry.

Preliminary experiments have been performed to investigate the effects of radiative cooling on plasma jets. Thin (3 μm–5 μm) conical shells were irradiated with an intense laser, driving jets with velocities >100 km s−1. Through the use of different targets materials – aluminium, copper and gold – the degree of radiative losses was altered, and their importance for jet collimation investigated. A number of temporally-resolved optical diagnostics was used, providing information about the jet evolution. Gold jets were seen to be narrower than those from copper targets, while aluminium targets produced the least collimated flows.

The experiments to simulate astrophysical jet generation are performed using Gekko XII (GXII) HIPER laser system at the Institute of Laser Engineering. In the experiments a fast plasma flow generated by shooting a CH plane (10 μm thickness) is observed at the rear side of the plane. By separating the focal spot of the main beams, a non-uniform plasma is generated. The non-uniform plasma flow in an external magnetic field (0.2∼0.3 T) perpendicular to the plasma is more collimated than that without the external magnetic field. The plasma β, the ratio between the plasma and magnetic pressure, is ≠1, and the magnetic Reynolds number is ∼150 in the collimated plasma. It is considered that the magnetic field is distorted by the plasma flow and enhances the jet collimation. © Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2013.

Collisionless shocks can be produced as a result of strong magnetic fields in a plasma flow, and therefore are common in many astrophysical systems. The Weibel instability is one candidate mechanism for the generation of sufficiently strong fields to create a collisionless shock. Despite their crucial role in astrophysical systems, observation of the magnetic fields produced by Weibel instabilities in experiments has been challenging. Using a proton probe to directly image electromagnetic fields, we present evidence of Weibel-generated magnetic fields that grow in opposing, initially unmagnetized plasma flows from laser-driven laboratory experiments. Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations reveal that the instability efficiently extracts energy from the plasma flows, and that the self-generated magnetic energy reaches a few percent of the total energy in the system. This result demonstrates an experimental platform suitable for the investigation of a wide range of astrophysical phenomena, including collisionless shock formation in supernova remnants, large-scale magnetic field amplification, and the radiation signature from gamma-ray bursts.

We report our recent efforts on the experimental investigations related to the origins of cosmic rays. The origins of cosmic rays are long standing open issues in astrophysics. The galactic and extragalactic cosmic rays are considered to be accelerated in non-relativistic and relativistic collisionless shocks in the universe, respectively. However, the acceleration and transport processes of the cosmic rays are not well understood, and how the collisionless shocks are created is still under investigation. Recent high-power and high-intensity laser technologies allow us to simulate astrophysical phenomena in laboratories. We present our experimental results of collisionless shock formations in laser-produced plasmas. © 2012 IOP Publishing Ltd.

We demonstrate a magnetic thrust chamber system, in which an expanding plasma is controlled by an external magnetic field to produce a thrust. The plasma structure and energy dependences are discussed in terms of the drive laser energy and magnetic field strength. The density distribution from two different experiments show identical structure despite the laser energy is different by two order of magnitude when the ratio of magnetic field to plasma energy is more or less same. The experimental results indicate that this ratio is one of the essential factors to extrapolate the plasma dynamics for much larger energy such as inertial confinement fusion plasmas.

Collisionless shocks mediated by Weibel instability are attracting attention for their relevance to experimental demonstrations of astrophysical shocks in high-intensity laser facilities. The three dimensional structure of Weibel-mediated shocks is investigated through a fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulation. The structures obtained are characterized by the following features: (i) helical magnetic field lines elongated in the direction upstream of the shock region, (ii) high and low density filaments inside the helical field lines. These structures originate from the interaction between counter-streaming plasma flow and magnetic vortexes caused by Weibel instability, and potentially affect the shock formation mechanism.