Abstract
Astrophysical jets are collimated, high-speed outflows observed to be natural features of celestial objects that spin and accrete matter. From protoplanetary nebula and young stellar objects to active galactic nuclei, common features suggest that universal mechanisms may lead to the remarkable straightness observed in many jets. Here we report observations from a new astrophysically relevant laboratory plasma jet experiment demonstrating the formation of long-lived, collimated, high aspect-ratio jets. The magnetized jets have strong helical shear flows and remain stable to instabilities over many growth times. These observations corroborate theoretical predictions that strong helical shear flows can stabilize current-driven instabilities in magnetically confined plasmas, solar prominences, and magnetically driven astrophysical jets in nature.
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