Laboratoire de Radioastronomie ENS - LERMA UMR 8112

Journal Club//Journal Club du 3 decembre 2007

Dernière mise à jour 24-10-2007 13:22 / Michel Pérault

Retour rubrique Journal Club

In recent years the development of high-energy density plasma experiments has opened the way to the study of extreme astrophysical phenomena in the laboratory. The validity of the laboratory studies rests, partly, on the condition that the important dimensionless numbers (Reynolds, Peclet, etc) are in the same range as those in the astrophysical environment. Coupled with numerical modelling, much understanding can then be gained by analysing the resulting laboratory phenomena. Pulsed-power facilities are generally dedicated to the study of intense X-ray sources and high-energy density plasmas with applications to inertial confinement fusion. I will first present a brief review of the development of jet experiments on such facilities and then discuss recent work on (magneto)hydrodynamic jets. In particular I will present experiments addressing the dynamics of curved stellar jets, observed in many star forming regions, and new results to study magnetically launched jets. The implications and relevance to astrophysical models, and future laboratory modelling will be addressed.