Li, C.K.Tzeferacos, P.Lamb, D.Gregori, G.Norreys, P.A.Rosenberg, M.J.Follett, R.K.Froula, D.H.Koenig, M.Seguin, F.H.Frenje, J.A.Rinderknecht, H.G.Sio, H.Zylstra, A.B.Petrasso, R.D.Amendt, P.A.Park, H.S.Remington, B.A.Ryutov, D.D.Wilks, S.C.Betti, R.Frank, A.Hu, S.X.Sangster, T.C.Hartigan, P.Drake, R.P.Kuranz, C.C.Lebedev, S.V.Woolsey, N.C.2017-05-192017-05-192016Li, C.K., Tzeferacos, P., Lamb, D., et al.. "Scaled laboratory experiments explain the kink behaviour of the Crab Nebula jet." <i>Nature Communications,</i> 7, (2016) Springer Nature: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13081.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/94304The remarkable discovery by the Chandra X-ray observatory that the Crab nebulaﾒs jet periodically changes direction provides a challenge to our understanding of astrophysical jet dynamics. It has been suggested that this phenomenon may be the consequence of magnetic fields and magnetohydrodynamic instabilities, but experimental demonstration in a controlled laboratory environment has remained elusive. Here we report experiments that use high-power lasers to create a plasma jet that can be directly compared with the Crab jet through well-defined physical scaling laws. The jet generates its own embedded toroidal magnetic fields; as it moves, plasma instabilities result in multiple deflections of the propagation direction, mimicking the kink behaviour of the Crab jet. The experiment is modelled with three-dimensional numerical simulations that show exactly how the instability develops and results in changes of direction of the jet.engThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the articleﾒs Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material.Journal articlehttps://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13081