high energy density plasma tagged posts

Bubbling, frothing and sloshing: Long-Hypothesized Plasma Instabilities Finally Observed

Plasma jets illustration
An artist’s representation of plasma interacting with magnetic fields. (Image credit: Kyle Palmer / PPPL Communications Department)

Results could aid understanding of how black holes produce vast intergalactic jets. Scientists have observed new details of how plasma interacts with magnetic fields, potentially providing insight into the formation of enormous plasma jets that stretch between the stars.

Whether between galaxies or within doughnut-shaped fusion devices known as tokamaks, the electrically charged fourth state of matter known as plasma regularly encounters powerful magnetic fields, changing shape and sloshing in space...

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