A high SSW pressure in water is realized due to the
high energy density deposition into the wire which expands
in water and also to avoiding the shunting surface plasma
formation typical in the case of a wire explosion in vacuum.
The latter phenomenon is suppressed owing to the large value
of the breakdown electric field in water (∼300 kV/cm) and
the pressure of several tens of megapascals in the vicinity of
the exploding wire. Also, the small compressibility of water
(polytropic index γ = 7.15) and the relatively slight decay
of an SSW during its propagation makes this method of SSW
generation attractive for various practical applications