Title: Conceptual design of an experiment to study dust destruction by astrophysical shock waves

Abstract

A novel laboratory experimental design is described that will investigate the processing of dust grains in astrophysical shocks. Dust is a ubiquitous ingredient in the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies; however, its evolutionary cycle is still poorly understood. Especially shrouded in mystery is the efficiency of grain destruction by astrophysical shocks generated by expanding supernova remnants. While the evolution of these remnants is fairly well understood, the grain destruction efficiency in these shocks is largely unknown. The experiments described herein will fill this knowledge gap by studying the dust destruction efficiencies for shock velocities in the range $${\sim}10{-}30~\text{km}/\text{s}$$ ($$\unicode[STIX]{x03BC}\text{m}/\text{ns}$$), at which most of the grain destruction and processing in the ISM takes place. The experiments focus on the study of grain–grain collisions by accelerating small ($${\sim}1~\unicode[STIX]{x03BC}\text{m}$$) dust particles into a large ($${\sim}5{-}10~\unicode[STIX]{x03BC}\text{m}$$ diameter) population; this simulates the astrophysical system well in that the more numerous, small grains impact and collide with the large population. Facilities that combine the versatility of high-power optical lasers with the diagnostic capabilities of X-ray free-electron lasers, e.g., the Matter in Extreme Conditions instrument at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, provide an ideal laboratory environment to create and diagnose dust destruction by astrophysically relevant shocks at the micron scale.

Authors:

Manuel, M.  J.-E. ^[1]; Temim, T. ^[2]; Dwek, E. ^[3]; Angulo, A.  M. ^[4]; Belancourt, P.  X. ^[4]; Drake, R.  P. ^[4]; Kuranz, C. C. ^[4]; MacDonald, M. J. ^[5]; Remington, B. A. ^[6]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States)
2. Space Telescope Science Inst., Baltimore, MD (United States)
3. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD (United States). Observational Cosmology Lab.
4. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
5. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
6. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Publication Date:

Thu Jul 05 00:00:00 EDT 2018

Research Org.:

Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

OSTI Identifier:

1810665

Report Number(s):

LLNL-JRNL-824852
Journal ID: ISSN 2095-4719; 1038386; TRN: US2213070

Grant/Contract Number:  

AC52-07NA27344; NA0001840; NAS8-03060

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

High Power Laser Science and Engineering

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 6; Journal ID: ISSN 2095-4719

Publisher:

Cambridge University Press

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; laboratory astrophysics; shock waves; dust destruction