Abstract
Results of the first spherically diverging, hydrodynamically unstable laboratory experiments of relevance to supernovae (SNe) are reported. The experiments are accomplished by using laser radiation to explode a hemispherical capsule, having a perturbed outer surface, which is embedded within a volume of low-density foam. The evolution of the experiment, like that of a supernova, is well described by the Euler equations. We have compared the experimental results to those of two-dimensional simulations using both a radiation-hydrodynamics code and a pure hydrodynamics code with front tracking.

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