Spatial Structure of the Plasma Flows in the Magnetic Fields of Laser Plasma.

The results of studying the spatial structure of the plasma flows that appear when a laser pulse of relativistic intensity (above 1018 W/cm2) is incident on the surface of a solid target are presented. The ring structure experimentally observed in the cross section of a plasma flow is shown to correspond to the toroidal equilibrium plasma configuration that appears in the strong magnetic fields of laser plasma. A model is proposed to describe astrophysical current jets consisting of a discrete sequence of toroidal equilibrium plasma structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]