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.
One particularly well-known fact about the moon is that it doesn't have much of a magnetosphere to speak of. There's no blanket to protect it from the solar wind ravaging its surface, blowing away its atmosphere and charging ...
Planetary Sciences
Mar 16, 2026
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A major study by an international team of researchers using data from the NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini spacecraft has revealed a lattice-like structure of crisscrossing reflected waves that flow downstream behind the moon in Saturn's ...
Planetary Sciences
Feb 9, 2026
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110
Measuring conditions in volatile clouds of superheated gases known as plasmas is central to pursuing greater scientific understanding of how stars, nuclear detonations and fusion energy work. For decades, scientists have ...
Plasma Physics
Feb 5, 2026
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120
Using data collected by NASA's Parker Solar Probe during its closest approach to the sun, a University of Arizona-led research team has measured the dynamics and ever-changing "shell" of hot gas from where the solar wind ...
Space Exploration
Jan 30, 2026
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61
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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36
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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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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79
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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107
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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