The study of plasma physics and nonlinear dynamics focuses on the properties of classical, collective, many-body systems. Applications include plasma processing, fusion, intense charged particle beams and fluid dynamics.
At Berkeley, active areas of research include advanced accelerators, astro and space plasmas, basic and theoretical plasma physics, heavy ion fusion, high power laser-plasma interactions, ion beam generation, plasma processing, plasma simulations and pure-electron plasmas, as well as dissipative and Hamiltonian dynamical systems, bifurcation theory and chaos, linear and nonlinear waves, and pattern formation, particularly in fluid dynamics and continuum mechanics. Also included are interdisciplinary applications of dynamical systems theory and geometrical and topological methods to a broad range of physical problems in plasma, optical, atomic, nuclear and molecular physics. Research is carried out in the Physics Department, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Space Sciences Lab, as well as in the Astronomy, Math, Chemical, Electrical, and Nuclear Engineering Departments.
Research Centers & Facilities
Berkeley Lab Laser Accelerator (BELLA)
ALPHA Antihydrogen Collaboration
Center for Beam Physics at LBNL
Heavy Ion Fusion Science at LBNL