Investigating the Astrophysical Applicability of Radiative and Non-Radiative Blast wave Structure in Cluster Media

We describe experiments that investigate the capability of an experimental platform, based on laser-driven blast waves created in a medium of atomic clusters, to produce results that can be scaled to astrophysical situations. Quantitative electron density profiles were obtained for blast waves produced in hydrogen, argon, krypton and xenon through the interaction of a high intensity (I ≈ 10¹⁷ Wcm⁻²), sub-ps laser pulse. From this we estimate the local post-shock temperature, compressibility, shock strength and adiabatic index for each gas. Direct comparisons between blast wave structures for consistent relative gas densities were achieved through careful gas jet parameter control. From these we investigate the applicability of different radiative and Sedov-Taylor self-similar solutions, and therefore the (ρ,T) phase space that we can currently access.