Abstract:
With the development of high-power lasers, extreme physical conditions similar to those in astronomical environments can be created in the laboratory. This makes it possible for scientists to experiment on various important astrophysical processes, which may lead to a new frontier of physics — laboratory astrophysics. This paper will briefly present the recent progress of several research topics in this field, including the scaling law of the hydrodynamical processes between the laboratory and space, collisionless shocks, magnetic reconnection, astrophysical jets,the generation of ultra-strong magnetic fields, and so forth. Finally, we shall review the prospects for the development of laboratory astrophysics.