Plasma physics is the research area devoted to the theoretical, computational, and experimental study of ionized gases in which collective electromagnetic interactions dominate particle dynamics. It encompasses fundamental processes such as Debye shielding, plasma oscillations, waves and instabilities, magnetohydrodynamics, kinetic phenomena described by the Vlasov and Boltzmann equations, and nonlinear structures like solitons and turbulence. The field underpins research in controlled thermonuclear fusion (e.g., tokamaks, stellarators, inertial confinement), space and astrophysical plasmas (solar wind, magnetospheres, accretion disks), and high-energy-density physics, and it relies heavily on advanced diagnostics, numerical simulations, and multi-scale modeling of charged-particle behavior.
Plasma mirrors capable of withstanding the intensity of powerful lasers are being designed through an emerging machine learning framework. Researchers in Physics and Computer Science at the University of Strathclyde have ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 2, 2026
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A Sydney Ph.D. student has recreated a tiny piece of the universe inside a bottle in her laboratory, producing cosmic dust from scratch. The results shed new light on how the chemical building blocks of life may have formed ...
Astronomy
Feb 2, 2026
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171
The dazzling lights of the aurora are created when high-energy particles from space collide with Earth's atmosphere. While scientists have long understood this process, one big mystery remained: What powers the electric fields ...
Planetary Sciences
Jan 28, 2026
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35
All celestial bodies—planets, suns, even entire galaxies—produce magnetic fields, affecting such cosmic processes as the solar wind, high-energy particle transport, and galaxy formation. Small-scale magnetic fields are generally ...
General Physics
Jan 21, 2026
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42
At 4 a.m., while most of New Jersey slept, a Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) physicist sat at his computer connected to a control room 3,500 miles away in Oxford, England. Years of experience running fusion experiments ...
Plasma Physics
Jan 7, 2026
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105
When a gas is highly energized, its electrons get torn from the parent atoms, resulting in a plasma—the oft-forgotten fourth state of matter (along with solid, liquid, and gas). When we think of plasmas, we normally think ...
Plasma Physics
Dec 8, 2025
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75
The CANMILK project is developing a plasma-based system suitable for direct operation in barns to reduce methane emissions from livestock. The goal is to capture dilute methane present in barn air and convert it into CO₂ ...
Biotechnology
Nov 25, 2025
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20
Researchers Ni Guohua and Associate Researcher Sun Hongmei from the Institute of Plasma Physics, together with Associate Professor Wang Dong from Anhui Medical University, have developed a novel two-step plasma strategy to ...
Bio & Medicine
Nov 5, 2025
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25
Plasma is a state of matter that emerges when a gas is heated to sufficiently high temperatures, prompting some electrons to become free from atoms. This state of matter has been the focus of many astrophysical studies, as ...
Plasma, ionized gas and the fourth state of matter, makes up over 99% of the ordinary matter in the universe. Understanding its properties is critical for developing fusion energy sources, modeling astrophysical objects like ...
Optics & Photonics
Sep 17, 2025
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