A method for reducing the characteristic time of action of the pulse produced by explosive magnetic generators is proposed. An experiment was performed whose results confirm that this method can be used in practice.

We consider the problem of recovering the physical parameters of ejecta from data of photon Doppler velocimetry (PDV). The results of PDV measurements of ejecta production from shock-loaded Pb samples are presented. Shockwaves in the samples were generated by an accelerated flyer-plate. Depending on the sample thickness, the shock-breakout pressure varied from 27.5 to 43 GPa. The ejecta transport occurred in the air. The spectral profile J(ω) of heterodyne beats underlies our analysis of the experiments. The noise-free component of |J(ω)|2 is shown to obey the transport equation which accounts for multiple scattering and absorption of the probing beam in the cloud of moving particles. This provides a means for theoretical modeling of PDV data. Varying the values of the free-surface velocity and the parameters of the velocity distribution of ejecta, we fit the calculated spectrum to the PDV-measured one. We apply this method to time-resolved PDV spectra and, based on the ejecta optical model, recover the values of the free-surface velocity, the areal density, and the density-velocity distribution of ejecta.

We present the results of preliminary experiments at laser facilities in which the processes of the undeniable destruction of stony asteroids (chondrites) in space by nuclear explosions on the asteroid surface are simulated based on the principle of physical similarity. We present the results of comparative gasdynamic computations of a model nuclear explosion on the surface of a large asteroid and computations of the impact of a laser pulse on a miniature asteroid simulator confirming the similarity of the key processes in the fullscale and model cases. The technology of fabricating miniature mockups with mechanical properties close to those of stony asteroids is described. For mini-mockups 4–10 mm in size differing by the shape and impact conditions, we have made an experimental estimate of the energy threshold for the undeniable destruction of a mockup and investigated the parameters of its fragmentation at a laser energy up to 500 J. The results obtained confirm the possibility of an experimental determination of the criteria for the destruction of asteroids of various types by a nuclear explosion in laser experiments. We show that the undeniable destruction of a large asteroid is possible at attainable nuclear explosion energies on its surface.

The results of optoheterodyne Doppler measurements of the ballistic expansion of the products of surface destruction under shock-wave loading are presented. The possibility of determining the physical characteristics of a rapidly flying dust cloud, including the microparticle velocities, the microparticle sizes, and the areal density of the dust cloud, is shown. A compact stand for performing experiments on shock-wave loading of metallic samples is described. Shock-wave loading is performed by a 100-µm-thick tantalum flyer plate accelerated to a velocity of 2.8 km/s. As the samples, lead plates having various thicknesses and the same surface roughness are used. At a shock-wave pressure of 31.5 GPa, the destruction products are solid microparticles about 50 µm in size. At a pressure of 42 and 88 GPa, a liquid-drop dust cloud with a particle size of 10–15 µm is formed. To interpret the spectral data on the optoheterodyne Doppler measurements of the expansion of the surface destruction products (spalled fragments, dust microparticles), a transport equation for the function of mutual coherence of a multiply scattered field is used. The Doppler spectra of a backscattered signal are calculated with the model developed for the dust cloud that appears when a shock wave reaches the sample surface at the parameters that are typical of an experimental situation. Qualitative changes are found in the spectra, depending on the optical thickness of the dust cloud. The obtained theoretical results are in agreement with the experimental data.

The instability of the free boundary of a thin (1 mm) water layer under the action of a Taylor wave (80 MPa), which is created by a laser pulse, has been experimentally studied. The experimental results demonstrate the capabilities of the laser Doppler method for the continuous recording of a flying object (PDV method) [O. T. Strand, D. R. Goosman, and C. Martinez, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 77, 0831081 (2006)] for studying this problem.