Laboratory studies of plasma streaming instabilities as astrophysical analogues

该项目将通过研究基于激光-等离子体相互作用的模拟系统，促进对天体物理事件的理解。实验方法将被用来研究激光-等离子体相互作用中流动不稳定性的发展，这是激波的前兆，以及它们在等离子体辐射产生中的作用，等离子体是类似于空间和天体物理环境中发生的类似过程。这些将与作为Alpha-X项目一部分的Strathclyde开发的理论模型进行比较。该项目将有助于理解喷流和灾难性天体物理事件、中子星合并和高能宇宙射线产生的伽马射线暴(GRB)的来源，这些被认为涉及等离子体不稳定性(例如，丝状和两个流)。此外，在高强度下，对的产生和集体辐射反应变得重要。该项目将涉及研究激光驱动等离子体中的等离子体不稳定性和辐射过程，其中高能等离子体流在等离子体中传播。学生将与理论和实验团队密切合作。实验将使用Strathclyde的350 TW和40 TW Scapa激光器，以及需要高功率或高能量时的Ral-CLF和ELI激光器。将为实验开发等离子体介质和诊断系统。该项目将有助于通过(模拟)实验室和数值(模拟)调查回答STFC粒子天体物理学问题。

The project will contribute to developing an understanding of astrophysical events through studying analogue systems based on laser-plasma interactions. Experimental methods will be used to investigate the development of streaming instabilities in laser-plasma interactions, which are precursors of shocks, and their roles in radiation production in plasma that are analogues of similar processes occurring in space and astrophysical environments. These will be compared with theoretical models developed at Strathclyde as part of the ALPHA-X project. The project will contribute to understanding the origins of gamma ray bursts (GRBs) from jets and catastrophic astrophysics events, neutron star mergers and high energy cosmic rays, which are thought to involve plasma instabilities (e.g. filamentation and two stream). Furthermore, at high intensities, pair production and collective radiation reaction becomes important. The project will involve a study of plasma instabilities and radiation processes in laser-driven plasma in plasma where high energy plasma streams propagate. The student will work closely with both theory and experimental teams. Experiments will utilise the 350 TW and 40 TW SCAPA lasers at Strathclyde, and the RAL-CLF and ELI lasers when high power or energies are required. Plasma media and diagnostic systems will be developed for the experiments.The project will contribute to answering STFC Particle Astrophysics questions through (analogue) laboratory and numerical (simulation) investigations.