Dependence of z-pinch mass ablation rate on wire size and inter-wire gap*

A wire array z-pinch spends 60-80\% of its lifetime in a mass ablation phase, during which wire cores remain stationary while burning off hot coronal material. Experiments have demonstrated a dependence of the mass ablation rate on wire size and inter-wire gap [1,2]. We present a highly simplified model of wire ablation which attempts to capture the dominant physics driving this dependence. Comparison between theory, simulation, and experiment are presented. \newline \newline [1] S.V. Lebedev et al., Nucl. Fusion, 44, S215(2004) \newline [2] D.B. Sinars et al., (submitted for publication)