Abhilash Mathews, a graduate student at MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center, has been testing the accuracy of a reduced plasma turbulence model in a new way: he combines physics with machine learning.
Credits: Photo: Ian MacLellan
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On the path to writing his PhD dissertation, Lucio Milanese made a discovery one that refocused his research, and will now likely dominate his thesis.
Milanese studies plasma, a gas-like flow of ions and electrons that comprises 99 percent of the visible universe, including the Earth’s ionosphere, interstellar space, the solar wind, and the environment of stars. Plasmas, like other fluids, are often found in a turbulent state characterized by chaotic, unpredictable motion, providing multiple challenges to researchers who seek to understand the cosmic universe or hope to harness burning plasmas for fusion energy.