Modeling of Nova indirect drive Rayleigh–Taylor experiments

The growth due to the Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) instability of single-wavelength surface perturbations on planar foils of brominated CH [CH(Br)] and fluorosilicone (FS) was measured. The foils were accelerated by x-ray ablation with temporally shaped drive pulses. A range of initial amplitudes (a0) and wavelengths (λ) have been used. This paper focuses upon foils with small a0/λ, which exhibit substantial growth in the linear regime, and are most sensitive to the calculated growth rate. The CH(Br) foils exhibit slower RT perturbation growth because opacity differences result in a larger ablation velocity and a longer density scale length than for FS. Tabulated opacities from detailed atomic models, OPAL [Astrophys. J. 397, 717 (1992)] and super transition array (STA) [Phys. Rev. A 40, 3183 (1989)] were employed. Unlike previous simulations which employed the average atom (XSN) opacity treatment, parameter adjustments to fit experimental data no longer appear necessary. Nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) effects do not appear to be important. Other variables which may affect the modeling, such as changes of the equation of state and radiation drive spectrum, were also examined. The current calculational model, which incorporates physically justified choices for these calculational ingredients, agrees with the Nova single wavelength RT perturbation growth data.