THE PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF INSTABILITIES AND BLAST WAVE EXPANSION IN MAGNETIZED SPHERICAL RADIATIVE BLAST WAVES WITH SHOCK-FRONTS DRIVEN BY THE 10-J, 1 SHOT PER MINUTE GHOST LASER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN AND THE MULTI-KJ Z-BEAMLET LASER AT SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES (SNL). THEY WILL GENERATE MAGNETIC FIELDS OF UP TO 15 T IN THE VICINITY OF THE BLAST WAVES USING TWO PORTABLE CURRENT SOURCES DEVELOPED AT SNL AND IMPLEMENTED AT BOTH LOCATIONS. THIS PROJECT IS AIMED TO PROVIDE A FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE KEY UNDERLYING PHYSICS MECHANISMS THAT GOVERN THE EVOLUTION OF BLAST WAVES EMBEDDED IN STRONG MAGNETIC FIELDS, PARTICULARLY THE ROLE OF MAGNETIC FIELDS IN SUPPRESSING BLAST WAVE INSTABILITIES VIA THE RADIATIVE VISHNIAC OVERSTABILITY. THEY WILL EXAMINE, BOTH EXPERIMENTALLY AND THROUGH SIMULATIONS, VARIATIONS IN THE HYDRODYNAMIC INSTABILITY GROWTH RATES OF THE BLAST WAVES BY MODE AS A FUNCTION OF AMBIENT GAS TYPE, GAS PRESSURE, EXTERNAL MAGNETIC FIELD, AND MACH NUMBER. THEY WILL ALSO EXPLORE THE RADIAL CONFINEMENT OF BLAST WAVES CAUSED BY MAGNETIC FIELDS BY MEASURING THE RATE OF RADIAL EXPANSION OF A HOT SPHERICAL WAVE. THEY WILL STUDY THE EFFICACY OF CURRENT THEORIES ON THE EVOLUTION OF MAGNETIZED RADIATIVE BLAST WAVES AND SEEK TO IMPROVE THEM, ULTIMATELY GAINING A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF RADIATIVE BLAST WAVES ARISING FROM THE EXPLOSIONS OF SUPERNOVAE.