Plasmas,the most common state of matter in the observable universe,are subject to instabilities of various types:hydrodynamic,magnetohydrodynamic,and electromagnetic.Our limited success in understanding these is due t...Plasmas,the most common state of matter in the observable universe,are subject to instabilities of various types:hydrodynamic,magnetohydrodynamic,and electromagnetic.Our limited success in understanding these is due to the lack of direct experimental information on their origins and evolution.Here,we present direct spatially resolved measurements of the femtosecond evolution of the electromagnetic beam-driven instability that arises from the interaction of forward and return currents in an ultrahigh-intensity laser-produced plasma.We track its evolution from the initial linear stage to the later nonlinear stage by measuring the spatiotemporal evolution of the giant(megagauss)magnetic field created in the interaction process.Our experimental findings and numerical simulations are the first to indicate the observed instability triggered by the emission of electromagnetic radiation,like those known in the context of gravitational interaction,where the emission of gravitational radiation drives specific negative-energy modes in rotating black holes or neutron stars.展开更多
基金Department of Atomic Energy(DAE)for long-term support of this research,at present from the grant“Physics and Astronomy(Project Identification No.RTI4002)Department of Atomic Energy,Tata Institute of Fundamental Research”and partially from Grant No.JBR/2020/00039 of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation(ANRF),both agencies of the Government of Indiasupport from the ANRF through the J.C.Bose Fellowship Grant No.JCB/2017/000055 and Core Research Grant(CRG)Proposal Nos.ANRF/JBG/2025/000237/PS and CRG/2022/002782+1 种基金partial support from the Infosys-TIFR Leading Edge Research Grant(Cycle 2)the OSIRIS Consortium,consisting of UCLA and IST(Lisbon,Portugal),for providing access to the OSIRIS framework,which is work supported by Grant No.NSF ACI-1339893.
文摘Plasmas,the most common state of matter in the observable universe,are subject to instabilities of various types:hydrodynamic,magnetohydrodynamic,and electromagnetic.Our limited success in understanding these is due to the lack of direct experimental information on their origins and evolution.Here,we present direct spatially resolved measurements of the femtosecond evolution of the electromagnetic beam-driven instability that arises from the interaction of forward and return currents in an ultrahigh-intensity laser-produced plasma.We track its evolution from the initial linear stage to the later nonlinear stage by measuring the spatiotemporal evolution of the giant(megagauss)magnetic field created in the interaction process.Our experimental findings and numerical simulations are the first to indicate the observed instability triggered by the emission of electromagnetic radiation,like those known in the context of gravitational interaction,where the emission of gravitational radiation drives specific negative-energy modes in rotating black holes or neutron stars.
