Study of transport phenomena in laser-driven, non- equilibrium plasmas in the presence of external magnetic fields

We present experimental and simulation results from a study of thermal transport inhibition in laser-driven, mid-Z, non-equilibrium plasmas in the presence external magnetic fields. The experiments were performed at the Jupiter Laser Facility at LLNL, where x-ray spectroscopy, proton radiography, and Brillouin backscatter data were simultaneously acquired from sub-critical-density, Ti-doped silica aerogel foams driven by a $2\omega$ laser at $\sim5\times10^{14}\,W/cm^2$. External B-field strengths up to $\sim20\,T$ (aligned antiparallel to the laser propagation axis) were provided by a capacitor-bank-driven Helmholtz coil. Pre-shot simulations with \textsc{Hydra}, a radiation-magnetohydrodyanmics code, showed increasing electron plasma temperature with increasing B-field strength -- the result of thermal transport inhibition perpendicular to the B-field. The influence of this thermal transport inhibition on the experimental observables as a function of external field strength and target density will be shown and compared with simulations.