THE DYNAMICS OF VORTEX STRUCTURES AND STATES OF THE CURRENT IN PLASMA-LIKE FLUIDS AND THE ELECTRICAL EXPLOSION OF CONDUCTORS .4. MODEL OF THE FIRST SPLITTING STAGE OF AN EXPLODING CONDUCTOR

This paper is a continuation of a series of papers (1993 J. Phys. A: M ath. Gen. 26 6635, 6649, 6667), and makes use of the same assumptions. The paper presents a model of the first stage of the spatial scale sp litting of hydrodynamic vortex structures. It is shown that this model is one of a first-order non-equilibrium phase transition, which leads to the forming of a heterogeneous low-conducting current state of the exploding conductor. As this takes place, its dynamics are determined by three interacting order parameters. As a result the exploding cond uctor is broken down into metallic particles with the size of the cond uctor diameter. It is shown that the transition from a high- to low-co nducting state by the splitting of the spatial scale is energetically more profitable than the transition by excitation of current vortex st ructures. Parameters of the model, which describe the formation stage of hydrodynamic and current vortex structures, are identified by exper imental results for the electrical explosion of conductors. The proble ms which emerged while bringing together the models describing these s tages are also discussed.