Supernova Experiments on the Nova Laser

Supernova (SN) 1987A focused attention on the critical role of hydrodynamic instabilities in the evolution of supernovae. To test the modeling of these instabilities, we are developing laboratory experiments of hydrodynamic mixing under conditions relevant to supernovae. Initial results were reported by Kane et al. in a recent paper. The Nova laser is used to generate a 10-15 Mbar shock at the interface of a two-layer planar target, which triggers perturbation growth, due to the Richtmeyer-Meshkov instability, and to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability as the interface decelerates. This resembles the hydrodynamics of the He-H interface of a Type II supernova at intermediate times, up to a few times 103 s. The experiment is modeled using the hydrodynamics codes HYADES and CALE, and the supernova code PROMETHEUS. Results of the experiments and simulations are presented. We also present new analysis of the bubble velocity, a study of two-dimensional versus three-dimensional difference in growth at the He-H interface of SN 1987A, and designs for two-dimensional versus three-dimensional hydro experiments.