Relaxation layer and radiation processes in electro-magnetically driven strong shock wave

Summary form only given. Electro-magnetically driven strong shock wave was investigated, in which electron-ion relaxation, ionization, radiation process and an interplay among them play some role for formation of the structure. As geometrical simplicity is essential for analysis of the complex shock wave, we drove a quasi-one-dimensional shock wave using a compact pulse power device with a pair of conical electrodes. When we drove an electro-magnetic pulse in the pulse power device with peak current of 200 kA, the shock Mach number reached 200 in Xe gas with number density of 10¹⁵[l/cm³]. Framing images of the shock wave indicated that ion-electron relaxation and radiation process affect the shock structure. We also carried out a spectroscopic measurement to estimate time evolutions of specific lines of Xe ion, which indicate the length and structure of the relaxation layer. Compared the experimental results to an ion-electron relaxation simulation based on one- dimensional and steady shock wave, we discuss the relaxation layer, radiation transport, and precursor of the strong shock wave, together with a consideration on related astrophysical phenomena such as supernova.