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Updated: May 14, 2026

Investigation of Early Plasma Evolution Induced by Ultrashort Laser Pulses
Published on: July 2, 2012
Astrophysics of magnetically collimated jets generated from laser-produced plasmas
1LERMA, Observatoire de Paris, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, École Normale Superieure, UMR 8112 CNRS, 5 Place Jules Jannsen, 92195 Meudon, France.
Abstract:
The generation of astrophysically relevant jets, from magnetically collimated, laser-produced plasmas, is investigated through three-dimensional, magnetohydrodynamic simulations. We show that for laser intensities I∼10(12)-10(14) W cm(-2), a magnetic field in excess of ∼0.1 MG, can collimate the plasma plume into a prolate cavity bounded by a shock envelope with a standing conical shock at its tip, which recollimates the flow into a supermagnetosonic jet beam. This mechanism is equivalent to astrophysical models of hydrodynamic inertial collimation, where an isotropic wind is focused into a jet by a confining circumstellar toruslike envelope. The results suggest an alternative mechanism for a large-scale magnetic field to produce jets from wide-angle winds.
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