Scaled laboratory experiments explain the kink behaviour of the Crab Nebula jet
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 magnetohydrodynam...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
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Nature Publishing Group
2016
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| _version_ | 1826301608138375168 |
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| author | Li, C Tzeferacos, P Lamb, D Gregori, G Norreys, P Rosenberg, M Follett, R Froula, D Koenig, M Seguin, F Frenje, J Rinderknecht, H Sio, H Zylstra, A Petrasso, R Amendt, P Park, H Remington, B Ryutov, D Wilks, S Betti, R Frank, A Hu, S Sangster, T Hartigan, P Drake, R Kuranz, C Lebedev, S Woolsey, N |
| author_facet | Li, C Tzeferacos, P Lamb, D Gregori, G Norreys, P Rosenberg, M Follett, R Froula, D Koenig, M Seguin, F Frenje, J Rinderknecht, H Sio, H Zylstra, A Petrasso, R Amendt, P Park, H Remington, B Ryutov, D Wilks, S Betti, R Frank, A Hu, S Sangster, T Hartigan, P Drake, R Kuranz, C Lebedev, S Woolsey, N |
| author_sort | Li, C |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T05:34:57Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:e394a76d-e3f2-49cd-8682-e46ccd94153c |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T05:34:57Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Nature Publishing Group |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:e394a76d-e3f2-49cd-8682-e46ccd94153c2022-03-27T10:10:07ZScaled laboratory experiments explain the kink behaviour of the Crab Nebula jetJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:e394a76d-e3f2-49cd-8682-e46ccd94153cSymplectic Elements at OxfordNature Publishing Group2016Li, CTzeferacos, PLamb, DGregori, GNorreys, PRosenberg, MFollett, RFroula, DKoenig, MSeguin, FFrenje, JRinderknecht, HSio, HZylstra, APetrasso, RAmendt, PPark, HRemington, BRyutov, DWilks, SBetti, RFrank, AHu, SSangster, THartigan, PDrake, RKuranz, CLebedev, SWoolsey, NThe 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. |
| spellingShingle | Li, C Tzeferacos, P Lamb, D Gregori, G Norreys, P Rosenberg, M Follett, R Froula, D Koenig, M Seguin, F Frenje, J Rinderknecht, H Sio, H Zylstra, A Petrasso, R Amendt, P Park, H Remington, B Ryutov, D Wilks, S Betti, R Frank, A Hu, S Sangster, T Hartigan, P Drake, R Kuranz, C Lebedev, S Woolsey, N Scaled laboratory experiments explain the kink behaviour of the Crab Nebula jet |
| title | Scaled laboratory experiments explain the kink behaviour of the Crab Nebula jet |
| title_full | Scaled laboratory experiments explain the kink behaviour of the Crab Nebula jet |
| title_fullStr | Scaled laboratory experiments explain the kink behaviour of the Crab Nebula jet |
| title_full_unstemmed | Scaled laboratory experiments explain the kink behaviour of the Crab Nebula jet |
| title_short | Scaled laboratory experiments explain the kink behaviour of the Crab Nebula jet |
| title_sort | scaled laboratory experiments explain the kink behaviour of the crab nebula jet |
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