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Physics and Astronomy Colloquium - Prof Kai Germaschewski - UNH

Title: "Insights Into Magnetic Reconnection in Plasmas through High-Performance Simulations"

Monday, March 7, 2016
3:30pm – 4:30pm
Wilder 104
Intended Audience(s): Public
Categories: Lectures & Seminars

Abstract: Release of energy stored in a plasma's magnetic field through the process of magnetic reconnection is fundamental to the dynamics observed in a wide range of plasma systems, from solar flares and magnetospheric substorms to sawtooth oscillations in fusion devices. Having been an area of research for over 50 years, magnetic reconnection remains a very active research topic today, with new research directions opened up by powerful supercomputers.

Available computing power keeps increasing rapidly and new accelerator technologies like GPUs allow us to perform simulations in unprecedented detail. In this talk, I will present the methods we use to computationally solve fluid and kinetic models of plasmas. I will show a selection of applications to magnetospheric and laboratory plasmas, for example magnetic reconnection in the complex geometry of Earth's dayside magnetopause as flux transfer events form; fast magnetic reconnection in laser-generated plasma bubbles; and integrating kinetic closures to model collisionless reconnection in plasma fluid models.
For more information, contact:
Tressena Manning
tressena.a.manning@dartmouth.edu
603-646-2854
Permanent URL to this event: https://physics.dartmouth.edu/events/event?event=38226

Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.