Radiative jet experiments of astrophysical interest using intense lasers

A high Mach number, radiatively cooled jet of astrophysical interest has be en produced using intense laser irradiation of a gold cone. The evolution o f the jet was imaged in emission and in radiography, and the temperature wa s measured with Thomson scattering. Comparison with numerical simulations s hows that radiative cooling is a dominant mechanism in the collapse of the Au plasma jet on axis, with temperatures plummeting and peak densities incr easing, each by an order of magnitude in similar to 1/2 ns. In dimensionles s terms, aspects of this jet are similar to radiative astrophysical jets.