Research Interests

My research field is plasma physics. I am primarily interested in the dynamics of Strongly Coupled Plasmas (SCPs), i.e. systems whose properties are governed by particle interactions rather than their free motion. To be precise, the coupling strength, denoted by \( \Gamma \), is defined as the ratio of average potential energy, \( \propto (Ze)^2(N/V)^{1/3} \), over the kinetic energy, \( k_BT \). Some examples of SCPs are the core of white dwarfs, the outer crust and ocean of neutron stars, and the center of giant planets. The large densities and relatively low temperatures of these systems lead to \( \Gamma \gg 1 \). At the same time we can create SCPs in the laboratory. Trapped Ions at ultracold temperatures (Ultracold Neutral Plasmas, UNPs) and Complex "Dusty" Plasmas are some examples. In these systems the large \( \Gamma \) is due to the very low temperatures, as in the case of UNPs, or due to the large charge carried by the dust particles, as in the case of Dusty Plasmas.

Plasmas, while being inherently multi-component systems composed of both negative and positive charges, are often modeled as a One Component Plasma (OCP). In this case the role of one species is reduced to providing a neutralizing background. This is a valid simplification since the large mass difference between ions and electrons separates the dynamics of the two species. There are, however situations of physical importance, where the OCP description is inadequate and a genuine two component description of a plasma composed of electrons and ions is required. This is the regime better known as Warm Dense Matter. Furthermore, in a large class of astronomical systems multicomponent behavior arises because there are two or more components of like charges (all the \( Z_A \)-s being of the same signature) in a neutralizing background, whose behavior is not well described in terms of an extended OCP-like model. Such systems exhibit novel physical effects, which have no equivalent in OCP systems.