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.

🔬 physics

Comprehensive full-f drift-kinetic and delta-f gyrokinetic simulations of a linear plasma device based on the gyro-moment approach

This paper presents the first comprehensive full-f drift-kinetic and $\delta$ -f gyrokinetic simulations of the LAPD linear plasma device, revealing that ion distributions are approximately bi-Maxwellian and that Kelvin-Helmholtz-driven turbulence dominates the system, with small-scale structures only significantly amplified under reduced collisionality and enhanced source conditions.

Jacob Emil Mencke, Paolo Ricci2026-03-16

🔢 mathematics

Operator Formalism for Laser-Plasma Wakefield Acceleration

This paper introduces a novel operator-based framework for laser-plasma wakefield acceleration in capillary discharges that utilizes specific mathematical operators to systematically describe coupled laser-plasma dynamics and invariant subspaces, while integrating neural operator methods to enable efficient reduced-order modeling and predictive control for next-generation accelerator experiments.

Mostafa Behtouei, Carlos Salgado Lopez, Giancarlo Gatti2026-03-13

🔬 physics

Thermodynamically Consistent Vibrational-Electron Heating: Generalized Model for Multi-Quantum Transitions

This paper generalizes a thermodynamically consistent vibrational-electron heating model to include multi-quantum overtone transitions, thereby correcting significant systematic heating errors in high-energy regimes and ensuring accurate electron temperature predictions for non-equilibrium plasma applications.

Bernard Parent, Felipe Martin Rodriguez Fuentes2026-03-13

🔬 physics

Predicting core transport in ITER baseline discharges with neon injections

This study utilizes integrated modeling to identify a restricted compatibility window for neon-seeded ITER baseline discharges, determining that core transport predictions align with divertor protection targets only when the effective charge is approximately 1.6–1.75 and auxiliary heating is maintained between 75% and 100% of nominal levels.

Dmitri M Orlov, Joseph McClenaghan, Jeff Candy, Jeremy D Lore, Nathan T Howard, Francesco Sciortino, Christopher Holland2026-03-13

🔭 astrophysics

High-energy Emission from Turbulent Electron-ion Coronae of Accreting Black Holes

This paper presents a radiative particle-in-cell model of turbulent electron-ion coronae around accreting black holes, demonstrating that such systems naturally evolve into a two-temperature state where ions carry most of the dissipated power while nonthermal electrons produce X-ray spectra consistent with observations like NGC 4151 and predict a distinct MeV tail for future detection.

Daniel Groselj, Alexander Philippov, Andrei M. Beloborodov, Richard Mushotzky2026-03-13

🔬 physics

On the evolution of a large-amplitude, weakly-collisional electron plasma wave

This paper utilizes Vlasov-Poisson-Fokker-Planck simulations to characterize the three-phase evolution of large-amplitude, weakly-collisional electron plasma waves, revealing that collisional effects drive a distinct, long-lived detrapping phase with unique frequency shifts and damping rates before the system transitions to Landau damping.

A. S. Joglekar, A. G. R. Thomas2026-03-13

🔬 physics

Differentiable Programming for Plasma Physics: From Diagnostics to Discovery and Design

This paper demonstrates that differentiable programming, enabled by automatic differentiation, serves as a versatile framework in plasma physics that not only accelerates traditional design and inference tasks but also enables novel capabilities such as discovering new nonlinear phenomena, learning hidden kinetic variables for fluid models, and performing high-dimensional inverse design.

A. S. Joglekar, A. G. R. Thomas, A. L. Milder, K. G. Miller, J. P. Palastro, D. H. Froula2026-03-13

🔭 astrophysics

Strong Prevalence of Hammerhead Velocity Distributions Close to the Heliospheric Current Sheet

This study statistically analyzes 20 Parker Solar Probe encounters to reveal that "hammerhead" proton velocity distributions, characterized by anisotropic beams with a constricted gap from the core, predominantly occur near the Heliospheric Current Sheet, suggesting they serve as key diagnostics for energization processes associated with the HCS and the solar wind.

Srijan Bharati Das, Jaye L. Verniero, Samuel T. Badman, Robert Alexander, Michael Terres, Federico Fraschetti, Kristoff (…)2026-03-13

🔬 physics

Tearing Stability Prediction Combining Toroidal Calculations With a Two-Fluid Slab Layer

This paper presents a rapid and robust simulation workflow that combines the toroidal STRIDE code with the two-fluid slab layer solver SLAYER to accurately predict classical tearing mode stability and growth rates across a wide range of reactor-relevant plasma conditions.

D. A. Burgess, N. C. Logan, J. -K. Park, C. Paz-Soldan2026-03-13

🔬 physics

Stochastic single-stage stellarator optimization using fixed-boundary equilibria

This paper introduces a stochastic single-stage stellarator optimization method that combines fixed-boundary MHD equilibria with randomly perturbed coils to avoid sharp local minima and produce more robust quasi-symmetric configurations with improved flux, symmetry, and particle confinement compared to existing deterministic and two-stage approaches.

Pedro F. Gil, Jason Smoniewski, Rogerio Jorge, Paul Huslage, Eve V. Stenson2026-03-13

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