MagNetUS Newsletter #5

July 2026

Welcome to the fifth issue of the MagNetUS Newsletter!

Our biggest event of the year is just around the corner. We are looking forward to welcoming the MagNetUS community to the 2026 MagNetUS Annual Meeting, which will be held August 3–6, 2026, at UC San Diego in beautiful La Jolla, California. If you have not yet done so, please remember to register for the meeting and submit your abstract. We are excited to see many of you in San Diego for a week of outstanding science, new collaborations, and engaging discussions.

As this year’s meeting approaches, it also marks a leadership transition for MagNetUS. At the conclusion of the meeting, Garima Joshi will begin her term as the next Chair of the MagNetUS Executive Committee. Please join me in giving Garima your full support as she leads our community into its next chapter.

This will likely be the last MagNetUS Newsletter that I edit as Chair. I am delighted that Oak Nelson, our Outreach & Education Working Group Chair, has agreed to help lead future newsletter efforts. If you would like to share research highlights, community news, announcements, or other contributions for upcoming issues, please send your material to Garima Joshi and Oak Nelson.

This issue features a highlight of the recent paper A 3D Kinetic Case Study in Flux Rope Relaxation and Reconnection, an update from the MPDX facility, an Early Career Researcher Spotlight on Dr. Pubuduni Ekanayaka, who recently completed her Ph.D. at the Laser Spectroscopy and Plasma Lab (LSPL) at Mississippi State University, and an opinion piece by Oak Nelson discussing the importance of fundamental plasma research for the future of nuclear fusion.

Finally, I would like to sincerely thank Saikat Chakraborty Thakur, Jimmy Juno, and Oak Nelson for their invaluable help in preparing this issue.

Thank you for being part of the MagNetUS community. I look forward to seeing you all in San Diego!

Dmitri Orlov

Chair, MagNetUS Executive Committee (2025–26)

Highlight: A 3D Kinetic Case Study in Flux Rope Relaxation and Reconnection

A recent paper by J. Pawlak, J. Juno, and J. M. TenBarge, currently under review at Physics of Plasmas and available on arXiv (https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.05855), employs a novel modeling technique to make three-dimensional simulations of reconnecting flux ropes at real experimental parameters feasible and compares the results to a sequence of flux rope experiment campaigns from the LArge Plasma Device (LAPD). The key computational breakthrough is the recently developed parallel-kinetic-perpendicular-moment, or PKPM, model of Juno, Hakim, and TenBarge (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-plasma-physics/article/parallelkineticperpendicularmoment-model-for-magnetised-plasmas/EC2F78A6A16D1C9481D6B4DC2346CDBF), which reduces the full six-dimensional Vlasov equation to a set of four-dimensional kinetic equations via a spectral expansion in the perpendicular velocity degrees of freedom. In so doing, the model decomposes the plasma dynamics into components parallel and perpendicular to the local magnetic field, retaining the full kinetic response along the field while treating the perpendicular response as more fluid-like. For magnetized plasma experiments, this decomposition is ideal, and only a few spectral coefficients in the perpendicular degrees of freedom are needed to accurately model the kinetic plasma response, lowering the cost of kinetic modeling by orders of magnitude.

This reduced computational cost allowed the study to precisely match the scale separation of a number of important dimensionless parameters, such as the ratio of the electron gyroradius to the electron inertial length, which are typically reduced compared to the real experiment to save on computational expense. A key result was a systematic scan across the input flux rope current that allowed for a clean connection to the LAPD results, matching, for example, the observed diamagnetic current response in a low-current regime. The scan also revealed a current-dependent transition: above a threshold current, the ropes flip from diamagnetic to paramagnetic, a crossover the authors capture with a simple analytic model. Simultaneously, the simulations made predictions for a higher-current regime currently inaccessible on the LAPD platform, but perhaps already observed on the PHASMA platform at West Virginia University, where the flux rope rotation direction was seen to reverse as the discharge current ramped up—behavior that maps naturally onto the diamagnetic-to-paramagnetic transition derived here. Crucially, the PKPM model permitted careful diagnosis of both the macroscopic and microscopic evolution of the flux ropes, and the study determined that while the large-scale dynamics changed under increased current, with a helical twisting of the ropes developing as a result of the larger J×B forces, the small-scale reconnection physics was still ultimately governed by gradients of the parallel pressure, a result consistent with the work of Egedal on reconnection in the drift-kinetic limit. An additional finding was the importance of using three-dimensional reconnection metrics such as the quasi-potential, which integrates the electric field along a field line as a measure of the parallel electric field, to determine the reconnection physics, since a classical Ohm's Law analysis in Cartesian coordinates suggested, misleadingly, that the microphysics of the reconnection was changing at increased flux rope current.

Interestingly, the analysis pointed to a further need for combined simulation-experiment campaigns, since the ideal kink instability has frequently been invoked as a driver of the observed reconnection. However, the PKPM simulations in this study initialized the flux ropes in an unperturbed, pristine state, and thus, while the kink mode is present, the reconnection occurs due to J x B current coalescence on a faster time scale than the saturation of the kink mode. There is thus a variety of interesting case studies worth pursuing around how perturbed the flux ropes actually are in a given experimental setup, and how sensitive these simulations and experiments are to those initial conditions for understanding the details of flux rope dynamics.

The full article is available at: https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.05855

Visible synchrotron emission from energetic electrons during DIII-D shot 196073. Top: Time sequence showing the evolution of the synchrotron emission following I-coil current ramp-up and during subsequent 10 Hz rotation of the applied resonant magnetic perturbation. The red arrow indicates the direction of rotation. Bottom: Spatial calibration of the visible synchrotron imaging system (left) and an example calibrated image mapped into (R, Z) coordinates (right). The calibrated synchrotron emission is localized in the vicinity of the q=2 rational surface and rotates with the applied magnetic perturbation, consistent with confinement of energetic electrons within the rotating magnetic island chain. (Image by C. Marini, UC San Diego, from DIII-D experiments led by E.G. Kostadinova, Auburn University, and D.M. Orlov, UC San Diego.)

Please send your images (with a short description) to orlov@magnetus.net. The recommended image format is TIF, JPG, or PNG; the minimum file width is 800 px.

What first brought you to plasma physics?

Honestly, the first thing that attracted me to plasma physics was the beauty of plasma itself.

When I first arrived at Mississippi State University, I visited the laboratory and saw a cold plasma torch for the first time. I was fascinated by the bright colors and wanted to understand where they came from. As I learned more, I discovered that the colors were produced by excited atoms, radicals, and ions within the plasma. What started as curiosity about a beautiful glow quickly turned into a deeper interest in the physics behind it.

The more I learned, the more I realized how broad plasma science is. Plasmas are everywhere, from medical and industrial applications on Earth to lightning, the Sun, and much of the visible universe. I was amazed that the same fundamental physics could connect topics ranging from plasma medicine to space and astrophysical plasmas.

That combination of beauty, curiosity, and the ability to study phenomena that span such different scales is what ultimately drew me into plasma physics.

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced during graduate school?

One of the greatest challenges was adapting to life as an international student. Moving thousands of miles away from family, friends, and everything familiar was both exciting and intimidating. At the same time, I was learning how to navigate graduate school, conduct research, teach undergraduate laboratories, publish papers, and build a life in a completely new environment.

On a personal level, one of the hardest parts of my journey was being married and living far away from my husband for several years while pursuing my Ph.D. Maintaining a long-distance relationship across different countries and time zones was not easy. There were many important moments that we could not share in person, and balancing personal responsibilities with the demands of graduate school was often challenging.

Experimental research also teaches patience. Instruments fail, alignments drift, vacuum systems leak, and experiments often refuse to cooperate. There were many days when progress seemed painfully slow. Over time, I learned that setbacks are not failures; they are part of the learning curve and overall scientific process.

These experiences taught me resilience, patience, and perseverance. They also reminded me of the importance of having a supportive family, mentors, colleagues, and friends who encourage you during difficult times.

What was one of the biggest lessons you learned during graduate school?

I was fortunate to learn from several mentors who shaped not only my research but also the way I approach challenges in life.

My Ph.D. advisor, Prof. Chuji Wang, often reminded me: "If you cannot do it today, someone else may do it ten years from now. If you think something cannot be achieved experimentally, make sure that no one else can do it either." That lesson taught me to be careful about declaring something impossible. Science constantly advances because people are willing to challenge assumptions and attempt difficult problems.

Prof. Edward Thomas and Prof. Saikat Thakur taught me a different but equally important lesson through our collaborations on the Magnetized Dusty Plasma Experiment (MDPX). Watching them lead large research groups showed me how to remain calm during stressful situations, how to support students and collaborators, and how effective leadership does not require creating unnecessary pressure or panic.

My current postdoctoral supervisor, Dr. Prakash Gautam, encourages me to focus on solutions rather than obstacles. One piece of advice he often gives is, "Try to solve the problem. Never think this is the final step." That mindset has helped me approach challenges in research with optimism and persistence.

Another of my current mentors, Dr. Hans Moosmüller, has shown me the importance of building professional relationships. He often emphasizes that networking is one of the most valuable investments a scientist can make. Many opportunities in science begin with a conversation, a collaboration, or a connection built over time.

What advice would you give to younger students?

Focus on the quality of your work rather than the number of papers you publish. Science is not simply about adding publications to your CV; it is about making meaningful contributions that help advance our understanding of the world.

Try to find a research area that genuinely excites you. Research can be challenging, and there will inevitably be temporary setbacks and day-to-day failures along the way. When you are working on something you truly enjoy, it becomes much easier to stay motivated during such difficult times.

I would also encourage students to seek good mentors and learn from them. Much of what I know today came not only from textbooks and experiments but also from the guidance of advisors, collaborators, colleagues, friends, and family who supported me throughout my journey.

Most importantly, stay curious and never stop learning. The real goal is not to be the person with the most papers, but to be someone whose work makes a meaningful impact on science.

How do you spend your time outside the laboratory?

Martial arts have played an important role throughout my life. I practiced Taido for many years and earned my black belt after eight years of training. Taido taught me discipline, perseverance, and courage. Looking back, I believe it gave me the confidence to leave Sri Lanka and pursue graduate studies in the United States. Interestingly, my Taido headmaster had followed a similar path, which inspired me to believe that such a journey was possible.

Today, living in Reno, Nevada, I enjoy spending time outdoors exploring the mountains and natural landscapes around the region. I also practice Aikido, which teaches a different lesson: how to remain calm, balanced, and focused even in challenging situations. Many of the principles I learned through martial arts, such as patience, humility, resilience, and self-discipline continue to help me both in research and in everyday life.

What motivates you today?

What motivates me most is the possibility that my research can contribute, even in a small way, to understanding and protecting our world. As I transitioned from dusty plasma physics into dust in atmospheric and aerosol science, I became increasingly aware of how scientific research can help address real-world environmental challenges.

I’m also inspired by the scientists around me. Throughout my career, I have worked with researchers whose dedication, hard work, and passion for discovery have shown me what it means to contribute meaningfully to science. Seeing their commitment motivates me to continue learning, asking questions, and pushing myself to do better.

Science has given me opportunities that I never imagined when I first began studying physics in Sri Lanka. Looking back, my journey from Sri Lanka to the United States was possible because of the support of my family, mentors, colleagues, and friends. I am grateful to the people who invested their time and energy in helping me grow as a scientist and as a person.

If my story can encourage even one student to pursue their goals despite challenges and uncertainty, then sharing it is worthwhile. I look forward to continuing to explore new scientific questions at the intersection of plasma physics, optics, and atmospheric science, while helping create opportunities for future students and researchers.

NSF Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) Opportunities

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has reopened several Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) opportunities across multiple directorates. IPA assignments provide an opportunity for faculty members, researchers, and other qualified professionals to serve temporarily at NSF, helping to shape national research programs while gaining valuable experience in research administration and science policy.

Current opportunities include:

• Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS)

• Geosciences (GEO)

• Engineering (ENG)

Researchers interested in contributing to the development of NSF programs are encouraged to explore these opportunities and share them with eligible colleagues.

For additional information and application details, please visit the NSF announcements:

• Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS): https://www.nsf.gov/careers/openings/mps/mps-2026-120783

• Geosciences (GEO): https://www.nsf.gov/careers/openings/geo/geo-2026-120752

• Engineering (ENG): https://www.nsf.gov/careers/openings/eng/eng-2026-120754

MagNetUS continues to expand its collection of online educational resources, including both technical tutorials and topical webinars designed to engage students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career scientists across the plasma physics community. These freely available videos provide accessible introductions to specialized research areas while highlighting connections between fundamental plasma physics and emerging applications.

Fusion Energy Week Webinar: From Fundamental Plasma Physics to Fusion Solutions
Presenters: Eva Kostadinova, Sydney Battles, Jessica Eskew, Noah Hurst, Yashika Ghai, Garima Joshi, Elon Price, Saikat Chakraborty Thakur
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mdow5FCMV48

To celebrate Fusion Energy Week, MagNetUS hosted a special virtual webinar exploring how fundamental plasma physics phenomena underpin the development of fusion energy. The event brought together early-career researchers and experts to discuss a broad range of topics, including energetic electrons in fusion and space plasmas, plasma self-organization, filamentary transport, wave-particle interactions, and plasma-material interactions.

A central theme of the webinar was the strong connection between basic plasma science and practical fusion-energy challenges. By highlighting parallels between laboratory, fusion, and space plasmas, the speakers demonstrated how advances in fundamental understanding contribute directly to progress in fusion confinement, plasma control, materials development, and reactor performance. The webinar concluded with a panel discussion examining pathways through which basic plasma research can accelerate the development of fusion energy technologies.

The What, Why, and How of Magnetized Non-Neutral Plasmas
Speaker: Noah Hurst
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyCCo_5-bD0

This tutorial provides an accessible introduction to magnetized non-neutral plasmas (NNPs), a unique class of plasmas characterized by a macroscopic charge imbalance and strong self-generated electric fields. Although less familiar than quasineutral plasmas, NNPs have played a significant role in advancing our understanding of plasma physics and have important applications in accelerator beam physics, antimatter confinement, two-dimensional fluid dynamics, and quantum information science.

Noah Hurst introduces the fundamental principles governing non-neutral plasma behavior, including confinement mechanisms, equilibrium properties, and collective dynamics. The tutorial also highlights the remarkable experimental capabilities of NNP systems, which can be confined for extremely long durations, cooled to cryogenic temperatures, and studied under highly controlled conditions. The presentation serves as an excellent introduction for students and researchers interested in broadening their understanding of plasma physics beyond traditional fusion and space plasma applications.

All recordings are available on the MagNetUS YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MagNetUSplasma

We encourage you to watch, subscribe, and share these tutorials - especially with your students!

Have an idea for a future tutorial? Want to suggest a speaker (or volunteer yourself)? Please use this form to submit ideas:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScIN0yxYlL3XGZSktiNWbQQ_UVGvTHDopDL70eRE6jxo5eKzA/viewform

We look forward to your input and hope you enjoy this growing resource!

Why Basic Plasma Physics Matters for Fusion Energy

Fusion energy has entered a remarkable period of progress. Recent ignition demonstrations, advances in high-temperature superconducting magnets, and growing private investment have fueled optimism that fusion could become a practical carbon-free energy source within decades. Amid this excitement, we must remember that basic plasma physics underpins the scientific foundation underlying all fusion concepts: 

Fusion is not simply an engineering challenge. It is also fundamentally a plasma physics challenge.

A fusion plasma is among the most complex systems ever studied. Huge numbers of charged particles interact through electromagnetic fields, self-generated currents, waves, turbulence, and instabilities across scales ranging from individual particle gyration to global plasma motions. The history of fusion research repeatedly demonstrates that breakthroughs in fusion performance often follow breakthroughs in basic plasma physics. Our understanding of magnetohydrodynamic instabilities, turbulent transport, and plasma self-organization has enabled dramatic improvements over decades. For example, the recent ground-breaking achievement of ignition at NIF, while enabled by engineering advances, rests on fundamental research into plasma hydrodynamics, radiation transport, and instabilities - knowledge that was steadily improved over the decades of dedicated research.

As fusion devices approach power-plant-relevant conditions, researchers face increasingly difficult questions: How can turbulence be reduced to improve confinement? What limits plasma stability? How do energetic alpha particles interact with plasma waves? These questions cannot be answered through engineering optimization alone.

Fortunately, the United States possesses a remarkable ecosystem of university laboratories and national laboratories dedicated to answering precisely these questions. Many of the most important scientific discoveries originate in facilities devoted to basic plasma science, where researchers can isolate specific physical processes, test theory, and develop diagnostics that later become essential for fusion research. More importantly, as these facilities are largely publicly funded, their research findings are unbiased and openly shared, which allows for peer review, validation, and proliferation of knowledge across the community.

The Basic Plasma Science Facility (BaPSF) at UCLA - home to the Large Plasma Device (LAPD) - exemplifies this. The LAPD produces a magnetized plasma column twenty meters long and approximately one meter in diameter, providing exceptional diagnostic access. Research there has addressed plasma waves, nonlinear interactions, magnetic structures, and instabilities, improving our understanding of how energy and particles move through magnetized plasmas. More recently, LAPD experiments have reproduced miniature magnetospheres and observed kinetic-scale reconnection under controlled conditions, validating models relevant to fusion plasmas, where reconnection can trigger disruptions and degrade confinement.

Across the country, Columbia University's Plasma Physics Laboratory offers another compelling example. Its HBT-EP experiment investigates magnetohydrodynamic instability control, and feedback stabilization techniques developed there have informed research on NSTX, DIII-D, and ITER. Columbia's broader portfolio, which includes experiments on dipole confinement, cryogenic pellet physics, and plasma transport, addresses fundamental questions about particle confinement and plasma fueling that must be solved before commercial fusion is practical.

Basic plasma physics research at smaller institutions also contributes strongly to the fusion mission. The Bryn Mawr Plasma Laboratory (BMPL) demonstrates how innovative experiments can connect plasma turbulence, astrophysics, and fusion science. Its flagship BMX experiment studies turbulent magnetized plasmas analogously to how aerodynamicists study airflow. Turbulence remains one of the central challenges in fusion: in tokamaks and stellarators, turbulent fluctuations transport heat across field lines, reducing confinement. Experiments like BMX help improve the theoretical models and computational tools used throughout the fusion community. 

Similarly, Auburn University's Magnetized Plasma Research Laboratory (MPRL) focuses on strongly magnetized and dusty plasmas. Dusty plasmas (solid or liquid particulates suspended in low-temperature plasma) are essential for the long-term operation of fusion power plants. A significant amount of particulates is generated in the low-temperature edge plasma due to plasma-wall interactions. Understanding the underlying physics of particulate transport, charging, and ablation is key to controlling plasma contamination and wall degradation in fusion devices. Auburn also emphasizes diagnostic development: from laser-induced fluorescence to advanced imaging systems, diagnostic innovations frequently emerge in basic plasma laboratories before being adapted to fusion experiments.

Many other amazing institutions, including WiPPL, DIII-D Frontiers, PHASMA, and FLARE, routinely conduct fundamental research that informs fusion. These examples reveal an important truth: basic plasma physics laboratories are discovery engines for fusion science. Large fusion facilities cannot answer every question efficiently: they are expensive, highly integrated systems where many processes occur simultaneously. Basic plasma experiments isolate individual phenomena under controlled conditions, serving as testbeds for theory, simulation, diagnostics, and new concepts. These programs are also the generators of the highly skilled workforce needed in fusion energy.

Basic plasma physics also connects fusion to broader science. Magnetic reconnection powers solar flares; turbulence shapes the solar wind; waves and instabilities appear from laboratory devices to interstellar space. Studying these universal phenomena creates a scientific foundation that benefits multiple fields simultaneously. Let us also not forget that many of the most important names in nuclear physics - including Lise Meitner, Enrico Fermi, and Robert Oppenheimer - all made fundamental discoveries in the theory of quantum, particle, and astrophysics. This shows that fundamental cross-disciplinary research multiplies the talent and likelihood for success in any given field.

As enthusiasm for fusion grows, pressure will mount to prioritize technologies closest to commercialization. Such investments are important, but history suggests an exclusive focus on near-term engineering would be a strategic mistake. Commercial fusion will encounter scientific surprises. New operating regimes must be discovered. Unexpected instabilities will emerge. The solutions will arise from the same source that has continuously driven progress across the past several decades: basic plasma physics.

The path to fusion energy is built upon a broad ecosystem of basic plasma science laboratories. If fusion is to become a transformative energy source, sustained support for fundamental research must remain a national priority. By investing in basic understanding today, we create the scientific foundation upon which tomorrow's fusion machines will be built.

A.O. Nelson
Columbia University

We’re always eager to highlight news, accomplishments, and perspectives from across the MagNetUS community in each issue of the newsletter. If you have any of the following, we encourage you to share them with us:

• Recent publications, preprints, or notable research results

• Student awards, fellowships, or professional recognitions

• Open job postings, internships, graduate positions, or postdoctoral opportunities

• Upcoming events, deadlines, workshops, or community initiatives

In addition, we welcome short opinion or perspective pieces on topics of interest to the MagNetUS community, including (but not limited to) workforce development, science funding, education and training, and the role of fundamental plasma science in advancing plasma technologies and applications.

Please send submissions or inquiries to orlov@magnetus.net. Your contributions help keep the MagNetUS community connected, informed, and engaged, and help showcase the breadth of work and ideas across our network.

• MagNetUS Website https://magnetus.net

• MagNetUS 2025 Annual Meeting (UCSD) https://sites.google.com/magnetus.net/2026-magnetus-workshop/

• Joint Call for Runtime Proposals (2026 site) http://callforruntimeproposals.org

• MagNetUS YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@MagNetUSplasma 

• MPRL https://mprl.auburn.edu/

• APS DPP CPP https://sites.google.com/pppl.gov/dpp-cpp

• FESAC Long-Range Plan (2021) https://science.osti.gov/-/media/fes/fesac/pdf/2020/202012/FESAC_Report_2020_Powering_the_Future.pdf

• NASEM report https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/a-decadal-assessment-of-plasma-science

• DOE Basic Research Needs report https://www.pppl.gov/basic-research-needs