Plasma waves as a research area investigates collective oscillations of charged particles and electromagnetic fields in ionized media, spanning linear and nonlinear phenomena in laboratory, space, and astrophysical plasmas. It encompasses electrostatic and electromagnetic modes (e.g., Langmuir, ion-acoustic, Alfvén, whistler, and magnetosonic waves), their dispersion properties, instabilities, mode conversion, and wave–particle interactions such as Landau and cyclotron damping. Research focuses on theoretical modeling, kinetic and fluid descriptions, numerical simulations, and experiments, with applications to controlled fusion, space weather, radiation belt dynamics, and plasma-based acceleration and diagnostic techniques.
An international team from Kanazawa University (Japan), Tohoku University (Japan), LPP (France), and partners has demonstrated that chorus emissions, natural electromagnetic waves long studied in Earth's magnetosphere, also ...
Space Exploration
Jan 19, 2026
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55
Researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities have made a new discovery by observing and analyzing the first new type of plasma wave in Jupiter's aurora. This research helps us understand "alien aurora" on other ...
Planetary Sciences
Aug 24, 2025
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49
Recent observations of Jupiter's powerful magnetic field by NASA's Juno spacecraft have uncovered a never-before-documented variety of plasma waves that seem to defy our current understanding of planetary magnetospheres.
Heating plasma to the ultra-high temperatures needed for fusion reactions requires more than turning the dial on a thermostat. Scientists consider multiple methods, one of which involves injecting electromagnetic waves into ...
Plasma Physics
Dec 19, 2024
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64
There is a profound mystery in our sun. While the sun's surface temperature measures around 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, its outer atmosphere, known as the solar corona, measures more like 2 million degrees Fahrenheit, about ...
Plasma Physics
Oct 11, 2024
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137
In a study published in The Astrophysical Journal, Prof. Zhou Xia from the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory (XAO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and collaborators have, for the first time, derived the dispersion relation ...
General Physics
Jun 11, 2024
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84
Invented by T. Tajima and J. Dawson, laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) harnesses the power of high-intensity laser pulses to drive plasma waves with acceleration gradients orders of magnitude higher than conventional RF-based ...
Optics & Photonics
Apr 9, 2024
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76
In a burning plasma, maintaining confinement of fusion-produced energetic ions is essential to producing energy. These fusion plasmas host a wide array of electromagnetic waves that can push energetic ions out of the plasma.
Plasma Physics
Jan 16, 2024
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