Collisionless shock and supernova remnant simulations on VULCAN

The VULCAN [C. N. Danson et al., Opt. Commun. 103, 392 (1993)] laser at the UK Central Laser Facility is being used for laboratory-based simulations of collisionless shocks. By ensuring that key dimensionless parameters in the experiments have values similar to those of supernova remnants (SNRs), the hydrodynamics and magnetic field of the experiment are scaled to those of a SNR. This makes it possible to investigate experimentally the physics of collisionless magnetized shocks in such objects. The experiments are providing data against which to test current theory. Collisionless shock formation and the interaction of two counterpropagating colliding plasmas permeated by a strong magnetic field are discussed.