As a basis for this review the results of the investigations
of a number of processes occurring at different stages of the
fast z-pinch evolution, beginning with the electric
explosion of a wire and ending with hot spot formation, have
been assumed. At the same time the experimental results whose
significant part had been obtained when investigating the explosion
of thin aluminum and composite (W-Al-W; W-SiO2-W)
wires at the high-current SIGNAL accelerator (∼220-kA current,
∼50-ns rise time) have been used.