MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC SOLUTION FOR A Z-PINCH SHOWING THE PRODUCTION OF A HOT-SPOT

Two-dimensional LASNEX [National Technical Information Service Documen t No. DE 81026329 (Zimmerman, Report No. UCRL-74811, 1973)] calculatio ns are made for a Z pinch on Saturn, the low-impedance, low-inductance electron accelerator at the Sandia National Laboratories [D. D. Bloom quist et al. Proceedings of the Sixth IEEE Pulsed Power Conference, Ar lington, VA, edited by P. J. Turchi and B. H. Bernstein (Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers, New York, 1987), p. 310]. The ex periment is characterized by a current of 6 MA with a tungsten wire;lo ad (4 mg) at 2 mm. Two-dimensional calculations show the evolution of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability to the bubble and spike phase, causing high-density islands to form in the pinch opposite the bubbles. The t wo-dimensional energy flow causes a ''hot spot'' to evolve, which is s hown to agree in its size and brightness with pinhole camera measureme nts. This is the first explicit calculation of a hot spot in two dimen sions employing the full magnetohydrodynamic equations. (C) 1996 Ameri can Institute of Physics.