MHD Models and Laboratory Experiments of Jets

Jet research has long relied upon a combination of analytical, observational and numerical studies to elucidate the complex phenomena involved. One element missing from these studies (which other physical sciences utilize) is the controlled experimental investigation of such systems. With the advent of high-power lasers and fast Z-pinch machines it is now possible to experimentally studysimilar systems in a laboratory setting. Such investigations can contribute in two useful ways. They can be used for comparison with numerical simulations as a means to validate simulation codes. More importantly, however, such investigations can also be used to complement other jet research, leading to fundamentally new knowledge. In the first part of this article, we analyze the evolution of magnetized wide-angle winds in a collapsing environment. We track the ambient and wind mass separately and describe a physical mechanism by which an ionized central wind can entrain the ambient gas giving rise to internal shells of molecular material on short time scales. The formation of internal shells in molecular outflows has been found to be an important ingredient in describing the observations of convex spurs in P-V diagrams (Hubble wedges in M-V diagrams).In the second part, we present astrophysically relevant experiments in which supersonic jets are created using a conical wire array Z-pinch. The conically convergent flow generates a standing shock around the axis which collimates the flow into a Mach ∼ 30 jet. The jet formation process is closely related to the work of Cantó et al. (1988) for hydrodynamic jet collimation. The influence of radiative cooling on collimation and stability is studied by varying the wire material (Al, Fe, and W).