7th International Conference on Matter and Radiation at Extremes (ICMRE2024)

The interaction between supernova remnants (SNRs) and a strong magnetic field is a fundamental problem that has captured the attention of the astrophysical community in hopes of explaining astronomical observations like the barrel-shaped SNR G296.5+10.0 [1,2]. Magnetic fields are omnipresent in the universe, and a considerable number of blast waves (BW) observed, such as SNRs, coronal mass ejections, and shocks from stellar winds, are magnetized or interact with the magnetized interstellar medium (ISM). The consequences of this interaction can be crucial; the propagation and shape of the shock are highly modified, particle acceleration may be influenced, and it could lead to an efficient compression of the background ISM magnetic field. However, astronomical observations of such systems usually do not have the necessary spatial and temporal resolution to accurately determine all associated parameters (e.g. shock structure and morphology). For this reason, we have adopted a different approach: laboratory astrophysics. During the last decade, the development of high-power laser facilities coupled with a strong external magnetic field has allowed the experimental investigation of numerous magnetized astrophysical phenomena [3]. Here, we will present experimental results obtained at LULI2000 where we examined the influence of parallel and perpendicular magnetic fields (compared to the BW normal direction) on the morphology and structure of BWs mimicking an SNR in its Taylor-Sedov phase. Our findings demonstrate that the BW structure changes significantly, resulting in a more spheroidal shape, and its propagation deviates from the typical Taylor-Sedov phase. Additionally, the magnetic field impacts immensely the thickness of the shock front and studying the underlying microphysics can reveal the dominant mechanisms participating in the phenomenon [4].

[1] Vasisht, G., Kulkarni, S., Anderson, S., Hamilton, T., & Kawai, N. 1997, ApJL, 476, L43
[2] Harvey-Smith, L., Gaensler, B., Kothes, R., et al. 2010, ApJ, 712, 1157
[3] Mabey, P., Albertazzi, B., Rigon, G., et al. 2020, ApJ, 896, 167
[4] Russell, D. R., et al. 2023, Journal of Plasma Physics 89.4 915890401.

magnetohydrodynamics,magnetosonic shocks,Laboratory astrophysics