Princeton University Thunch Talk

Rotating plasma disks orbiting a central object, like a black hole, are ubiquitous in the universe. However, questions regarding their dynamical evolution, such as the mechanisms of angular momentum transport and the role of magnetic fields in seeding instabilities, turbulence and launching jets, remain outstanding.

In this talk I will give an overview of a new generation of laboratory experiments fielded in high-energy-density facilities (such as the MAGPIE pulsed-power generator at Imperial College London and the OMEGA laser at the University of Rochester), designed to probe plasma physics relevant to accretion disks and jet launching regions.

In these experiments, a differentially rotating plasma column is driven and sustained by the collision of multiple inflowing plasma jets. The free-boundary design allows the plasma to expand axially, forming supersonic rotating jets which remain collimated as they propagate through the vacuum chamber. The rotating plasma flow is high magnetic Reynolds number (ranging from 10 to 103) and has a quasi-Keplerian stratification. I will discuss the potential of these experiments to study the magneto-rotational instability, the Omega-effect, and the overall effect of magnetic fields in high-Rm rotating plasmas on laboratory scales.