Supersonic radiatively cooled rotating flows and jets in the laboratory

• Published in: Physical review letters Vol. 100; no. 3; p. 035001
• Main Authors: Ampleford, D J, Lebedev, S V, Ciardi, A, Bland, S N, Bott, S C, Hall, G N, Naz, N, Jennings, C A, Sherlock, M, Chittenden, J P, Palmer, J B A, Frank, A, Blackman, E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Physical Society 25-01-2008; American Physical Society (APS)
• Subjects: ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; Astrophysics; Physics
• ISSN: 0031-9007; 1079-7114
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.035001

The first laboratory astrophysics experiments to produce a radiatively cooled plasma jet with dynamically significant angular momentum are discussed. A new configuration of wire array z pinch, the twisted conical wire array, is used to produce convergent plasma flows each rotating about the central axis. Collision of the flows produces a standing shock and jet that each have supersonic azimuthal velocities. By varying the twist angle of the array, the rotation velocity of the system can be controlled, with jet rotation velocities reaching approximately 18% of the propagation velocity.