Laser-Driven Annular Shock Waves as Laboratory Analogues of $w$CDM Cosmologies and Cosmological Gravitational Waves

TL;DR

This paper presents a laboratory experiment using laser-driven shock waves to simulate and study complex cosmological models, including dark energy and gravitational waves, providing a new way to explore universe evolution in a controlled setting.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental approach to mimic multicomponent cosmologies and gravitational perturbations using shock wave dynamics in plasma.

Findings

Shock wave evolution mimics multicomponent universe expansion.

Mach stem dynamics follow a Hubble-like law.

Shock front perturbations simulate cosmological gravitational waves.

Abstract

We demonstrate that the experimental evolution of an annular, laser-driven plasma shock wave, expanding over time and undergoing self-interaction gives rise to multiple shock structures that evolve analogously to a multicomponent cosmological universe. Different propagation trajectories along the shock surface correspond to various forms of $w$CDM cosmologies, enabling the study of scenarios ranging from simple radiation- or matter-dominated universes to those including dark energy. We further show that the dynamics of the Mach stems approximately follows a Hubble-like law. Additionally, perturbations in the shock fronts serve as experimental analogues of cosmological gravitational perturbations in a matter-dominated universe. This work opens a new experimental pathway for classically simulating complex cosmological models and gravitational waves at macroscopic scales in the laboratory.