Studies of collisionless shockwaves using high-power laser pulses in laboratories

The remarkable experimental progress in the studies of collisionless shockwave (CS) in laboratories employing high-power lasers is briefly reviewed. The results show that CS can be generated in laser-produced plasmas due to the micro-turbulence associated with instabilities. CS is one of the most important astronomical phenomena. It has been found in supernova remnants (SNRs), Sun-Earth space, etc. This paper focuses on CS in ways relevant to SNRs. Laboratory astrophysics (LA), a new interdisciplinary frontier of astrophysics, plasma and laser physics, has developed rapidly in recent years. As an accessory to the astronomical observation, LA experimenters can closely study some astronomical events scaled-down to controllable phenomena.