ABSTRACT
Modern high-power lasers and electron beams are unique tools that are able to deliver pulses that have enormous energy densities to target. During the laser pulse, matter is heated to temperatures of millions of degrees kelvin and attains pressures that are equivalent to millions of atmospheres. These conditions are equivalent to those at the centre of stars. They allow measurements of plasma conditions that are of astrophysical interest, and to test the complex models of these processes with unprecedented precision. Laser-plasma results have been applied to the study of such diverse environments as active galactic nuclei (Levinson and Blandford 1995) and the Earth’s bow shock (Bell et al. 1988). More recent applications include the hydrodynamics of supernovae (Remington et al. 2000) supernova remnants (SNRs) (Woolsey et al. 2001), the collision of galactic clouds (Perry et al. 2000). Intense electron beams such as the SLAC linear collider can perform experiments to test the validity of measurements of the highest energy cosmic rays and investigate the physics of e+e− plasmas, relativistic jets as well as possible acceleration mechanisms. Such experiments are made possible by ensuring that certain key dimensionless parameters in the plasma have values similar to those of the space and astrophysical plasmas of interest (Ryutov et al. 2001, Ryutov et al. 1999). This scaling was an important development from the point of view of designing experiments. The disparity in spatial and temporal scales makes it impossible to model astrophysical phenomena exactly. However with scaling certain dimension can be found to be similar making experiments meaningful. Another important reason for doing laboratory scaled experiments is to test numerical simulation models.
