physics.plasm-ph 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.

⚛️ general relativity

A Conservative Discontinuous Galerkin Algorithm for Particle Kinetics on Smooth Manifolds

This paper presents a novel, conservative discontinuous Galerkin algorithm for simulating particle kinetics on smooth manifolds that utilizes Hamiltonian formulations to exactly conserve density and energy, incorporates a BGK collision operator with an iterative scheme for preserving collisional invariants, and demonstrates its efficacy through various test cases including rotating geometries and shock problems.

Grant Johnson, Ammar Hakim, James Juno2026-05-19

🔬 physics

FIRM3D: Fast ion reduced models in 3D

FIRM3D is an open-source Python/C++/CUDA software suite designed to efficiently model energetic particle dynamics in 3D magnetic fields by extending SIMSOPT's guiding-center integration routines with advanced MHD wave coupling, parallelized CPU/GPU solvers, and comprehensive transport diagnostics for the fusion research community.

Elizabeth Paul, Alexey Knyazev, Michael Czekanski, Alexandra Lachmann, Abdullah Hyder, Christopher Albert, Matt Landrema (…)2026-05-19

🔬 physics

Critical velocity-space mode scalings in linear and nonlinear Landau damping for the Vlasov--Poisson system

This paper derives and validates analytical scalings for the critical velocity-space resolution required to accurately simulate linear and nonlinear Landau damping in the Vlasov–Poisson system with collisional diffusion, demonstrating strong agreement between theoretical predictions based on a cascade-balance argument and an ensemble of 800 numerical simulations.

Noah K. Guberman, J. Coughlin, A. S. Joglekar2026-05-19

🔬 physics

Comparison of Tomographic Reconstruction Algorithms for Infrared Imaging Video Bolometer Diagnostic in Plasma Devices

This paper evaluates and compares the performance of Minimum Fisher Information, Phillips-Tikhonov regularization, and Maximum-Likelihood Expectation-Maximization algorithms for reconstructing 2D plasma radiation emissivity from Infrared Imaging Video Bolometer data, analyzing their trade-offs in accuracy, stability, and suitability for real-time or offline applications across various viewing geometries and emissivity profiles.

Vinit Pandya, Santosh P. Pandya, Ansh Patel, Kumudni Tahiliani, Kumar Ajay2026-05-19

🔬 physics

Localization of a quantum particle in a classical one-component plasma. Fluctuation-induced random potential and the Coulomb logarithm

This paper develops a microscopic theory demonstrating that thermal fluctuations in a classical one-component plasma generate a random potential with an unscreened $1/r$ tail, leading to disorder-induced quantum localization characterized by a length scale that explicitly depends on the Coulomb logarithm, thereby bridging quantum localization phenomena with classical plasma kinetic theory.

Yury A. Budkov2026-05-19

🔬 physics

3D CO-TALIF distribution above a micro cavity discharge: A systematic approach for plasma catalysis

This paper presents a systematic study of a micro cavity plasma array reactor using 3D CO-TALIF diagnostics to map CO production and transport mechanisms, validating a diffusion model and demonstrating the system's potential for investigating plasma-catalyst interactions.

Henrik van Impel, Oliver Krettek, David Steuer, Volker Schulz-von der Gathen, Marc Böke, Judith Golda2026-05-19

🔬 physics

Topology of Plasma Wakefields Driven by Two Color Laguerre Gaussian Laser Pulses

This study demonstrates that using two-color Laguerre-Gaussian laser pulses to drive plasma wakefields fundamentally alters their topology by redistributing longitudinal field energy off-axis into hollow, ring-shaped structures, thereby offering new mechanisms for controlling transverse plasma dynamics and enabling off-axis particle acceleration.

Saumya Singh, Dinkar Mishra, Shivani Aggarwal, Bhupesh Kumar, Pallavi Jha2026-05-19

🔢 mathematics

An explicit, energy-conserving particle-in-cell scheme for relativistic plasmas

This paper extends an explicit, energy-conserving particle-in-cell scheme to relativistic plasmas by solving a local optimization problem that enforces exact energy conservation, demonstrating its compatibility with standard field solvers and superior performance on relativistic test problems despite rare instances of non-real solutions.

Lee Ricketson, Jingwei Hu2026-05-19

🔬 physics

Delayed current sheet formation due to an external field in pulsed-power-driven reconnection experiments

This paper demonstrates through pulsed-power-driven experiments and 3D magnetohydrodynamic simulations that applying a strong external magnetic field (2 T) parallel to the reconnecting electric field delays the formation of a dense current sheet by freezing the field into the plasma and creating a back-pressure that decelerates the colliding flows.

T. W. O. Varnish, G. V. Dowhan, M. Chen, D. M. Johnson, N. M. Jordan, J. Lee, A. P. Shah, R. Shapovalov, B. J. Sporer, R (…)2026-05-18

🔬 physics

Re-acceleration of Energetic Ions via Small-Scale Reconnection in Magnetic Fusion Plasmas

This paper reports the first observation on the EXL-50U spherical torus that small-scale magnetic reconnection, mediated by multiple magnetic islands, can stably re-accelerate neutral beam-injected energetic ions to energies up to 2.5 times their injection level without degrading core confinement, offering a novel mechanism for auxiliary heating in future fusion reactors.

Cong Zhang, Shaodong Song, Di Luo, Kai Huang, Linge Zang, Huibo Tang, Yanchao Li, Yihang Zhao, Ao Wang, Hanqing Wang, Zh (…)2026-05-18✓ Author reviewed ⓘ

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