An experimental testbed for the study of hydrodynamic issues in supernovae

More than a decade after the explosion of supernova 1987A, unresolved discr epancies still remain in attempts to numerically simulate the mixing proces ses initiated by the passage of a very strong shock through the layered str ucture of the progenitor star. Numerically computed velocities of the radio active Ni-56 and Co-56, produced by shock-induced explosive burning within the silicon layer, for example, are still more than 50% too low as compared with the measured velocities. To resolve such discrepancies between observ ation and simulation, an experimental testbed has been designed on the Omeg a Laser for the study of hydrodynamic issues of importance to supernovae (S Ne). In this paper, results are presented from a series of scaled laborator y experiments designed to isolate and explore several issues in the hydrody namics of supernova explosions. The results of the experiments are compared with numerical simulations and are generally found to be in reasonable agr eement. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.