🔬 Category

physics.plasm-ph

727 papers

Plasma physics explores the behavior of the fourth state of matter, a superheated soup of charged particles that makes up most of the visible universe. From the fusion power we hope to harness on Earth to the glowing auroras and distant stars above, this field investigates how these energetic gases interact with magnetic fields and light. It is a dynamic area where extreme conditions reveal fundamental laws of nature in ways solid matter never can.

At Gist.Science, we bridge the gap between these complex discoveries and curious minds by processing every new preprint from arXiv in this category. We transform dense, technical research into clear, plain-language explanations alongside detailed summaries, ensuring that breakthroughs in plasma dynamics and fusion energy are accessible to everyone. Below are the latest papers in plasma physics, curated and simplified for your reading.

🔬 atomic physics

Four-wave mixing and secondary radiations generated by nonharmonic two-color filaments in air: Influence of the Kerr and plasma nonlinearities

This study investigates the generation of tunable mid-infrared radiation and secondary satellites in air via two-color femtosecond filaments, revealing through experiments and simulations that while plasma nonlinearities broaden frequencies, the Kerr nonlinearity plays the dominant role in amplifying four-wave mixing signals prior to the emergence of weaker secondary radiations.

V. Tamulienė, P. David, V. Vaičaitis, M. Rebarz, S. J. Espinoza, F. Catoire, L. Bergé2026-05-29
🔬 physics

Laser Wakefield Acceleration in a Capillary Gas Cell Producing GeV-Scale High-Quality Electron Beams

This study presents a computational investigation demonstrating that a tailored two-section capillary gas cell, combining a nitrogen-doped injection region with a pure helium acceleration section, can utilize a 100 TW-class laser to produce high-quality, GeV-scale electron beams with reduced energy spread, offering critical insights for future LWFA experiments at the ELI Beamlines Facility.

Srimanta Maity, Francesco Massimo, Alex Whitehead, Pavel Sasorov, Alexander Molodozhentsev2026-05-28
🔭 astrophysics

The Role of Whistler and Ion Cyclotron Waves in Particle Escape from Mirror Modes in the Intracluster Medium

Building on prior simulations, this study utilizes a novel particle propagation model to demonstrate that secondary whistler and ion-cyclotron waves, generated by trapped particles in mirror modes within the intracluster medium, significantly enhance particle escape through wave-particle scattering that adheres to quasilinear theory.

Petr Ugarov, Francisco Ley, Ellen Zweibel2026-05-27
🔬 physics

Hydrodynamic Assessment of Direct Drive Inertial Confinement Fusion with Mixed 2ω−3ω2\omega-3\omega Lasers

This study demonstrates through one-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamic simulations that employing a mixed 2ω2\omega-3ω3\omega laser drive for direct-drive inertial confinement fusion enhances ablation pressure and velocity while suppressing Rayleigh–Taylor instability, effectively balancing the hydrodynamic performance of 3ω3\omega irradiation with the energy-accessibility advantages of 2ω2\omega operation.

Guannan Zheng, Tao Tao, Qing Jia, Jun Li, Rui Yan, Jian Zheng2026-05-27
🔬 physics

Impact of non-equilibrium radiation in a high-enthalpy inductively coupled plasma wind tunnel

This study develops a self-consistent multi-physics framework to demonstrate that non-equilibrium radiative cooling is a dominant energy sink in high-enthalpy inductively coupled plasma wind tunnels at atmospheric pressure, accounting for up to 32% of input power and significantly reducing core plasma temperatures, particularly in nitrogen plasmas.

Sanjeev Kumar, Sung Min Jo, Alessandro Munafò, Marco Panesi2026-05-26
🔬 materials science

Thermal PBE in warm dense matter: Does it matter and is it accurate?

This paper demonstrates that implementing the thermal Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) functional within Kohn-Sham density functional theory significantly improves the accuracy of warm dense matter simulations—matching path integral Monte Carlo reference data for energies, forces, pressures, and charge densities at negligible computational cost.

Kushal Ramakrishna, Mani Lokamani, Zhandos A. Moldabekov, Tobias Dornheim, Kieron Burke, Attila Cangi2026-05-26
🔬 physics

Optimized design of a Penning ion source for sealed neutron tube

This study utilizes COMSOL multiphysics simulations to optimize the magnetic field configuration and discharge parameters of a Penning ion source for sealed neutron tubes, demonstrating that a soft iron-reinforced structure combined with specific operating conditions significantly improves magnetic field uniformity and increases the monoatomic ion proportion from 9% to 30%.

Shiwei Jing, Jia Song, Shengduo Liu, Weiyang Zhang, Sijia Zhou, Hailong Xu, Zebin Li, Tin Zhang, Zhihu Gao, Guofeng Qu2026-05-26