Magnetised turbulence in high-energy-density pulsed-power-driven experiments

Plasmas in astrophysical environments are generally turbulent, and this turbulence is a key driver of many important phenomena, including the magnetic dynamo. The study of astrophysically relevant turbulence in the laboratory poses two challenges - accessing high Reynolds numbers on laboratory length scales, and reliably diagnosing the fundamentally three-dimensional nature of the turbulence. We present experimental results from a new pulsed-power-driven platform, in which magnetised supersonic carbon flows converge inside a cylindrical wire array to produce a column of turbulent plasma.This column is confined for much longer than the hydrodynamic time scales by continuous inflows of plasma from the wires.

We observe density perturbations over a broad range of length-scales using laser shadowgraphy. The magnetic fields advected by the flows are dynamically and energetically significant, allowing us to access an interesting regime of magnetised turbulence. We characterise this plasma using a suite of spatially and temporally resolved diagnostics, including ultra high speed imaging, laser shadowgraphy, interferometry, Thomson scattering and Faraday rotation imaging.