Studying radiative shocks using laser driven blast waves in clustered gases

Abstract We report on the creation of radiative blast waves by irradiating gases of atomic clusters with intense short pulse laser light. The efficient absorption of the cluster medium leads to high energy deposition and development into a cylindrical shock. These non-equilibrium, optically thin shocks have great potential for hydrodynamic scaling with astrophysical relevance, particularly for supernova remnants. We discuss how cluster blast waves may become susceptible to spatial and temporal instabilities and the application of the RAPCAL atomic physics code to determine our plasma conditions.