Holding on to a Cold Plasma
February 25, 2021•
Physics 14, s27
Researchers have demonstrated that an ultracold neutral plasma can be magnetically confined, paving the way toward experiments that simulate its hot astrophysical counterparts.
G. M. Gorman
G. M. Gorman
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Ultracold neutral plasmas (UCNPs) offer a controllable platform for studying phenomena not seen in their hotter cousins. But their lack of overall electrical charge makes neutral plasmas difficult to confine and manipulate. Now, Grant Gorman of Rice University, Texas, and colleagues have trapped a UCNP using magnetic fields [1]. Their technique could allow experiments that simulate the solar wind or aspects of white dwarf stars.