Author Testimonials
Our Distinguished Authors Share Their Experience With Physics of Plasmas
Physics of Plasmas (POP) is honored to be the home of exceptional research and a top choice for authors throughout their careers. Our authors shared their personal experiences publishing with us and highlight their notable work over the years.
2024
DR. MATTHIAS HOELZL
❝ The experience with Physics of Plasmas is very positive on all levels. My very first scientific article got published here, 17 years ago. While my name has moved backwards in the author list now in many cases, I still enjoy publishing with the journal. The publication process is usually very efficient and fast and the editorial team has a great handle on selecting qualified and constructive referees. Personal contacts with the editorial team were always very pleasant. For me, the journal is particularly attractive for publishing new developments, i.e., first steps when extending into new domains, which other journals would often not appreciate. But high-level physics results usually find their way to the right audience just as well. The broad scope extending to plasma physics far beyond my own field of research, magnetic confinement fusion, is much appreciated.❞
Group Leader Non-Linear MHD at Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, Germany
Self-consistent coupling of JOREK and CARIDDI: On the electromagnetic interaction of 3D tokamak plasmas with 3D volumetric conductors
N. Isernia, N. Schwarz, F. J. Artola, M. Hoelzl, et al.
Several years of work on a self-consistent eddy current coupling between the JOREK and CARIDDI codes are described here, led by a Ph.D. student (at that time) on the CARIDDI side and a Ph.D. student (at that time) on the JOREK side, Nicola Isernia and Nina Schwarz, respectively. This work establishes a novel 3D plasma 3D wall model that is particularly attractive for disruption applications, where the exact current paths and electro-magnetic forces are a big concern. Future work of the community will show work on full MHD and on the additional halo current coupling.
DOI: 10.1063/5.0167271
Development and application of a hybrid MHD-kinetic model in JOREK
T. J. Bogaarts, M. Hoelzl, G. T. A. Huijsmans, X. Wang
Here, the establishment of a novel full-f PiC model for energetic particles and their interaction with magneto-hydrodynamic instabilities is described including verification and first applications. Noteworthy is that the work was led by a master student (at that time), Timo Bogaarts, who impressed the community by even achieving first experiment comparisons in a comparably short time and at such an early career stage. Building up on this work, the community is now working on more advanced EP applications and, for instance, also a kinetic runaway electron model, with similar methods, but that’s another story.
DOI: 10.1063/5.0119435
OTTO "NINO" LANDEN
❝I’ve very much appreciated over 30 years the generous paper lengths Physics of Plasmas allows for adding analytic expositions, large figures, and appendices. I also like that any combination of theory, data, and simulations can be in one paper. The division into sections means one can digest a paper with different levels of detail and focus over multiple readings. The triage and disposition process by the editors is quick and clear, thank you.❞
Chief Scientist for Joint High Energy Density Physics, National Ignition Facility and Photon Sciences, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA
A simple time-dependent analytic model of the P2 asymmetry in cylindrical hohlraums
O. L. Landen, P. A. Amendt, L. J. Suter, R. E. Turner, et al.
This paper extended a static view-factor model to fully time-dependent for predicting the drive asymmetry at capsules in hohlraums. The model was shown to be validated by radiation-hydrodynamic simulations and data, and extended to a multi-cone geometry such as NIF, still in use today.
DOI: 10.1063/1.873465
Capsule implosion optimization during the indirect-drive National Ignition Campaign
O. L. Landen, J. Edwards, S. W. Haan, H. F. Robey, et al.
This paper presented the experimental techniques for “tuning” the drive profile and symmetry of an ICF capsule, and derived the sensitivity and accuracy of their observables that was deemed necessary for ignition based on simulations. These rule-of-thumb sensitivities and accuracies are still in use, updated when necessary for each new design.
DOI: 10.1063/1.3592170
Fuel convergence sensitivity in indirect drive implosions
O. L. Landen, J. D. Lindl, S. W. Haan, D. T. Casey, et al.
This paper presented the experimental trends in ICF capsule compression compared to analytic theory after almost a decade of NIF experiments varying the capsule ablator material, shock strengths and entropy. The main finding was that the newer high density carbon based ablator implosions did not compress more as for CH ablators when decreasing shock strength, suggesting other mechanisms such as hydrodynamic mix at play, now under careful study.
DOI: 10.1063/5.0033256
JAMES R. MYRA
❝ The scientific reputation of Physics of Plasmas, ease of article submission, the quality refereeing and many positive interactions with editors and staff have made Physics of Plasmas the journal I have published in most frequently throughout my career.❞
President and Senior Scientist, Lodestar Research Corporation, USA
Radio frequency sheaths in an oblique magnetic field
J. R. Myra, D. A. D'Ippolito
This paper is one of several papers published in Physics of Plasmas by various authors that lays the foundation for RF wave interactions with material surfaces in the presence of plasma. A sheath boundary condition and its RF surface impedance determine the self-consistent effect of an RF sheath on the waves and RF sheath power loss. The resulting RF-enhanced sheath potential obtained from the model is important for modeling and mitigating plasma material interactions in magnetic fusion devices.
DOI: 10.1063/1.4922848
STEPHANIE HANSEN, Ph.D.
❝ I have been publishing in Physics of Plasmas for 20 years and have consistently turned to the journal as a way to communicate results with the plasma physics and high-energy-density science communities. I appreciate the clear communication from the editors and staff and the quality of the reviews. The staff was especially helpful recently, facilitating a Special Collection on Charged-Particle Transport in High Energy Density Plasmas – they made the whole process very easy!❞
Senior Scientist, Sandia National Laboratories, USA
Review of the second charged-particle transport coefficient code comparison workshop
Lucas J. Stanek, Alina Kononov, Stephanie B. Hansen, Brian M. Haines, et al.
Our recent paper, ‘Review of the second charged-particle transport coefficient code comparison workshop,’ highlights the work of a broad community of physicists who came together for a workshop in 2023 to compare theoretical and computational approaches to calculating transport coefficients in high energy density matter.
DOI: 10.1063/5.0198155
JIE ZHANG
❝ I had a very pleasant experience with the POP editorial office and I was especially impressed by the working style and inspiring attitude of the Chief editor, Professor Michael Mauel, towards authors and readers, especially toward the younger generation. All of my younger team members enjoy the experience of publishing their papers through POP, because they can always get friendly advice and suggestions to improve their work and to enhance the scientific values of their work, through the tireless help and advice. Because of these, many of my colleagues always take the POP as their first choice for their scientific achievements. ❞
Chair Professor of Laboratory of Laser-Plasmas, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
Chief Scientist of Joint-Research Team on Double-Cone Ignition Campaign
Observation of the colliding process of plasma jets in the double-cone ignition scheme using an x-ray streak camera
Zhengdong Liu, Fuyuan Wu, Yapeng Zhang, Xiaohui Yuan, et al.
The generation of high-density plasma with uniform density distribution has been a longstanding challenge for fast ignition scheme. By using the double-cone ignition (DCI) scheme, it is demonstrated that a high-density isochoric plasma can be robustly generated by head-on collision of compressed plasma jets with velocities about 220 km/s. These results are not only critical for the fast-heating process by a relativistic electron beam, but also important for other applications in astrophysical studies.
DOI: 10.1063/5.0188056
Effects of Kelvin–Helmholtz instability on the material mixing in the double-cone ignition
Qi Zhang, Fuyuan Wu, Xiaohu Yang, Yanyun Ma, et al.
The Kelvin–Helmholtz instability (KHI) occurs on the interface of gold cones and embedded fuels for fusion schemes with gold cones. The development of KHI on the inner surface of gold cones in the double-cone ignition (DCI) scheme is investigated with two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations. It is found that the colliding high-density fuel plasma near the spherical center is spatiotemporally separated from the mixed gold ions generated from the gold cones. This result provides a theoretical reference for target designs of fast ignition experiments with gold cones.
DOI: 10.1063/5.0177219
Optimization of target compression for high-gain fast ignition via machine learning
Huanyu Song, Fuyuan Wu, Zhengming Sheng, Jie Zhang
The hydrodynamic scaling relations are of great importance for the optimization of target compression in laser fusion. In this paper, an artificially intelligent method is proposed to construct the implosion scaling laws for direct-drive fast ignition. It is found that a large fuel mass and a high areal density required for high-gain fusion can be obtained simultaneously by optimizing the implosion velocity for the double-cone ignition (DCI) scheme.
DOI: 10.1063/5.0159764
2023
ANNIE KRITCHER
❝ My interactions with the journal editors and staff has been very positive, there is a great deal of professionalism, insightfulness, dissemination of work, and respect. In addition to my positive experience during the publication process, I also enjoy my interactions with the editor and staff at scientific conferences. There is a great deal of encouragement, community building, and connection. I choose to publish in Physics of Plasmas due to the reputation of the journal to publish high quality detailed and specialized articles in plasma physics. ❞
Physicist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA
Observation of the colliding process of plasma jets in the double-cone ignition scheme using an x-ray streak camera
Zhengdong Liu, Fuyuan Wu, Yapeng Zhang, Xiaohui Yuan, et al.
The generation of high-density plasma with uniform density distribution has been a longstanding challenge for fast ignition scheme. By using the double-cone ignition (DCI) scheme, it is demonstrated that a high-density isochoric plasma can be robustly generated by head-on collision of compressed plasma jets with velocities about 220 km/s. These results are not only critical for the fast-heating process by a relativistic electron beam, but also important for other applications in astrophysical studies.
DOI: 10.1063/5.0188056
RIDDHI BANDYOPADHYAY
❝ Interactions with the journal editors and staff during the peer review process were helpful. Publishing in Physics of Plasmas gives a broad audience for our work. Overall, the publishing experience was excellent. ❞
Associate Research Scholar, Space Physics at Princeton, USA
Energy dissipation in turbulent reconnection
R. Bandyopadhyay, A. Chasapis, W. H. Matthaeus, T. N. Parashar, et al.
Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental process in plasmas, which converts magnetic energy to particle energy. Measuring this dissipation rate in reconnection regions have been a challenge. NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission provides the first opportunity to make quantitative measurements of dissipation rate in natural plasmas. We use MMS data, along with simulations, to quantify the dissipation rates on different charged species (electron and protons) at a few reconnection events. Surprisingly, sometimes reconnection events show signature of cooling of the plasma instead of heating. In the reconnection cases we studied, we found that most of the dissipated energy goes to electrons and less to protons.
DOI: 10.1063/5.0071015
XIAOCAN LI
❝ Physics of Plasmas stands as a renowned journal in plasma physics. I had the pleasure of publishing my work there, which was based on my invited talk at the 2020 APS DPP meeting. I felt honored when the article was featured in the April 2021 issue of Physics of Plasmas. My experience was exceptionally positive as the editors provided excellent support, granting submission deadline extensions, selecting suitable reviewers, aiding in figure modifications, and accommodating additional references during the production phase. ❞
Research Scientist, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dartmouth College, USA
The acceleration of charged particles and formation of power-law energy spectra in nonrelativistic magnetic reconnection
Xiaocan Li, Fan Guo, and Yi-Hsin Liu.
This review paper focuses on magnetic reconnection as a primary particle acceleration mechanism in space and astrophysical plasmas. It highlights recent advances in this field, particularly on particle acceleration mechanisms and the impact of 3D reconnection physics on particle transport and the formation of power-law energy spectra. It also discusses the challenges of studying particle acceleration and transport within large-scale reconnection layers and identifies relevant issues for future research.
DOI: 10.1063/5.0047644
XINPEI LU
Cold atmospheric-pressure air plasma jet: Physics and opportunities
XinPei Lu, DaWei Liu, YuBin Xian, LanLan Nie, YingGuang Cao, GuangYuan He, et al.
Atmospheric-pressure plasma jets (APJs) are generating plasma in open space instead of a confined gap, and they have attracted a lot of attention in the past few decades. However, due to the high density of neutral atoms and molecules at atmospheric pressure, the collision frequency between electrons and atoms/molecules is on the order of 1011-12 per second. When molecular gases like nitrogen and oxygen are present, electrons can quickly transfer energy to their low rotational and vibrational energy levels, resulting in an increase in gas temperature. That's why most APJs use noble gases as the working gas. Nevertheless, after years of research, several cold atmospheric-pressure air plasma jets (CAAP-Js) have been reported. This paper aims to review the state-of-the-art development of CAAP-Js. The dynamics of CAAP-Js, the striation phenomenon observed in CAAP-Js, the temporal behavior of plasma parameters, and the nonequilibrium characteristics of CAAP-Js are discussed. Additionally, the measurements of reactive species generated by CAAP-Js, such as O, OH, O3, NO, NO2, and NO2-, are briefly reviewed. Finally, this paper presents discussions and perspectives on future research regarding CAAP-Js.
DOI: 10.1063/5.0067478