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Shocks act to convert incoming supersonic flows to heat, and in collisionlessplasmas the shock layer forms on kinetic plasma scales through collectiveelectromagnetic effects. These collisionless shocks have been observed in manyspace and astrophysical systems [Smith 1975, Smith 1980, Burlaga 2008, Sulaiman2015], and are believed to accelerate particles, including cosmic rays, toextremely high energies [Kazanas 1986, Loeb 2000, Bamba 2003, Masters 2013,Ackermann 2013]. Of particular importance are the class of high-Mach number,supercritical shocks [Balogh 2013] ($M_A\gtrsim4$), which must reflectsignificant numbers of particles back into the upstream to accommodate entropyproduction, and in doing so seed proposed particle acceleration mechanisms[Blandford 1978, McClements 2001, Caprioli 2014, Matsumoto 2015]. Here wepresent the first laboratory generation of high-Mach number magnetizedcollisionless shocks created through the interaction of an expandinglaser-driven plasma with a magnetized ambient plasma. Time-resolved,two-dimensional imaging of plasma density and magnetic fields shows theformation and evolution of a supercritical shock propagating at magnetosonicMach number $M_{ms}\approx12$. Particle-in-cell simulations constrained byexperimental data show in detail the shock formation, separate reflectiondynamics of C$^{+6}$ and H$^{+1}$ ions in the multi-species ambient plasma, anddensity and magnetic field compressions and overshoots in the shock layer. Thedevelopment of this experimental platform complements present remote sensingand spacecraft observations, and opens the way for controlled laboratoryinvestigations of high-Mach number collisionless shocks, including themechanisms and efficiency of particle acceleration.

Generation and Evolution of High-Mach Number, Laser-Driven Magnetized Collisionless Shocks in the Laboratory