Fig. 3: The shock breakout dynamics.
From: Observation of sub-relativistic collisionless shock generation and breakout dynamics
a The time evolution of the maximum magnetic field in front of the target at different time delays. The solid lines show the experimental results, whereas the dashed lines display our simulation results. As indicated by the legend, the curves with different colors correspond to pre-plasma densities of 0.4nc, 0.2nc, and 0.1nc respectively. The error bar represents the standard deviation of multiple shots. b The leading-edge position of the expanding plasma; The red solid line presents the experimental results measured when the preplasma density is ~ 0.2nc. The blue line presents the front of the expanding plasma when the density of the preplasma is ~ 0.1nc. The yellow dashed line is a linear fit of the leading edge of the expanding plasma when the preplasma density is ~ 0.1nc; the equation for the fitted curve is kt3/5, where k = 27 is used; The yellow-shaded area delineates the shock wave impact region associated with the fitted curve; The error bar represents the standard deviation of multiple shots; (c) PIC simulation results of the time evolution of the density of the plasma along the line y = 0. The horizontal solid red line indicates the position of shock formation; The vertical dashed yellow line indicates the time of shock breakout; The dashed white curve shows the fitted curve with a function R(t) = 27t3/5. d The catastrophe model: density of the plasma at shock front.
