Divergent Shock-Bubble Interactions in High Energy Density Plasmas*

Shock-bubble interaction (SBI) experiments are a building block for understanding supersonic flows in inhomogeneous media. Although SBI have been studied extensively in low energy systems, data in the high energy density (HED) regime have focused primarily on convergent SBI. We present the Marble VC platform, fielded on Omega-60, for studying divergent SBI in HED plasma flows. Using computer vision techniques we identify features characteristic of divergent SBI, and directly compare these features to highly constrained radiation-hydrodynamic simulations in xRAGE. Using the initial target and laser conditions, with no additional energy tuning, we find good agreement with features identified in experiment. This work connects the classical hydrodynamic theory of SBI, based on acoustic impedance and baroclinicity, to the HED plasma regime via identification of features characteristic of divergent SBI, and thereby provides a basis for understanding generalized plasma flows through inhomgeneous media using the classical theory. This has implications for plasma flows through porous media, as observed in NIF Marble separated reactants experiments. LA-UR-21-26677