Recent News


News: A letter paper has been published in "Nature" on hydrodynamic results from Magnetorotational Instability Experiment. (see paper from Nature website or preprint from Arxiv.org, introduction by S. Balbus, news story at "physorg.com" or "life, and the universe")

News: I was elected in October 2004 as a Fellow of the American Physical Society upon the recommendation of the Division of Plasma Physics (news release). The citation reads, "For seminal contributions of experimental research on basic physical processes important to both laboratory and astrophysical plasmas, including dynamo effects, magnetic reconnection, magnetic helicity conservation, and magnetorotational instability." 

News: I shared the 2003 Kaul Foundation Prize for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research and Technology Development by Princeton University. (news release) The award citation reads, "For the thorough experimental investigation of driven magnetic reconnection in a laboratory plasma. In this work, careful diagnostic studies of the current sheet structure and dynamics, ion heating, and associated wave activity have provided a major advance in the understanding of reconnection processes in laboratory and astrophysical plasmas." 

News: A new Center for Magnetic Self-Organization in Laboratory and Astrophysical Plasmas has been established on September 15, 2003 to investigate fundamental processes in laboratory and astrophysical plasmas, including dynamo, magnetic reconnection, conservation of magnetic helicity, angular momentum transport, ion heating and magnetic chaos. The Center is funded as a Physics Frontier Center by National Science Fundation in coordination with the Department of Energy. 

News: I shared the 2002 Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research by the Division of Plasma Physics of the American Physical Society. (news release) The award citation reads, "For the experimental investigation of driven magnetic reconnection in a laboratory plasma. In this work, careful diagnostic studies of the current sheet structure, dynamics and associated wave activity provide a comprehensive picture of the reconnection process."