Design of a pulsed-power magnetized plasma flow experiment for the study of star formation and astrophysical bow shocks

We present the design of two laboratory-astrophysics experiments with the goal of translating research performed at a major (several kJ) laser facility into the pulsed-power laboratory at the Michigan Accelerator for Inductive Z-Pinch Experiments (MAIZE). The experiments are designed to explore the interactions of magnetized plasma flows in astrophysical bow shocks and accretion shocks found in star formation, with a focus in the structure and development of shock instabilities. To accomplish this, we will be generating magnetized plasma flows via pulsed-power in the Linear Transformer Drive (LTD) at the University of Michigan, by ablating aluminum wire arrays with currents of up to 1 Mega- Amp. We have designed two different array geometries: a cylindrical wire array that will be used to study bow shock interactions against a variety of magnetized targets (conducting wires, electromagnets and permanent magnets), and a conical array that will drive a plasma jet into a solid target for the study accretion shocks.