Plasma interactions as a research area investigates the fundamental processes governing how plasmas interact with fields, particles, and material boundaries in laboratory, space, and astrophysical environments. It encompasses collisional and collisionless regimes, wave–particle and wave–wave interactions, magnetic reconnection, sheath formation at surfaces, and energy and momentum transfer between charged and neutral species. This field integrates kinetic and fluid (MHD, two-fluid, gyrokinetic) descriptions, advanced diagnostics, and numerical simulations to study phenomena such as turbulence, transport, instabilities, and nonlinear structure formation, with implications for fusion devices, space weather, propulsion, and high-energy-density plasma systems.
The mechanism that can cause a rapidly expanding plasma—the superhot state of matter harnessed in fusion energy systems—to spontaneously generate its own magnetic fields was identified through a new set of simulations. This ...
General Physics
May 5, 2026
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54
Particle accelerators such as those at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva are typically highly complex large-scale devices. In these ring-shaped facilities, which are often several kilometers ...
Plasma Physics
Apr 30, 2026
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86
For the first time, a research team has demonstrated, in a metal-wall environment, a plasma regime that simultaneously achieves partial divertor detachment, an edge-localized-mode (ELM)-free high-confinement mode (H-mode), ...
Plasma Physics
Apr 29, 2026
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Researchers from Skoltech and the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics have developed an approach that helps optimize the parameters of a laser-plasma source of attosecond pulses—ultrashort flashes of light used ...
General Physics
Apr 27, 2026
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9
An international team of physicists has achieved a significant advance in laser science, demonstrating for the first time a practical route to dramatically boosting the intensity of high-power laser light.
Optics & Photonics
Apr 22, 2026
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76
Plasma, the fourth state of matter, consists of a gas in which electrons are no longer bound to atoms, which allows electricity to flow freely. When beams of particles moving close to the speed of light travel through plasma, ...
The sun continuously blasts charged, magnetic field-carrying particles, or plasma, in all directions. This solar wind interacts with the magnetic fields and atmospheres of several of our solar system's planets and other bodies, ...
Planetary Sciences
Apr 20, 2026
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36
If you walk across the open yard in front of the Physics, Math and Astronomy building at the University of Texas at Austin, you'll see a 17-story tower and a huge L-shaped building. What you won't see is what's underneath ...
Optics & Photonics
Apr 20, 2026
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23
When laser flashes hit matter, electrons are knocked off their orbits around the atomic nuclei. This can generate extremely hot plasmas composed of charged particles—ions and electrons. Researchers at HZDR have now observed ...
Optics & Photonics
Apr 14, 2026
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1762
Researchers have developed a new imaging technique that captures more information about ultrafast processes in the microscopic world than was previously possible. The technique offers scientists a powerful new tool to observe ...
Optics & Photonics
Apr 9, 2026
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