Faster than lightning – this year’s William Chalmers lecturer on the power of plasma beams

Ninety-nine per cent of the visible matter in the universe exists in the plasma state – often called the fourth state of matter, after solid, liquid and gas. Plasmas are created when electrons are freed from their atomic nuclei, for example by strong heating, so consist of moving interacting charged particles. All stars, and most of the matter between them, are made of plasma.

Here on Earth, we also witness the beauty and power of plasma: the colours of the aurora, solar storms and the crack of lightning all stem from plasma’s intense electric fields. Within those plasmas lurk fast electrons, and these are the central theme of this year’s lecture by plasma physicist Tünde Fülöp.

From fusion to lasers

Plasma can be created on Earth. High-intensity lasers can generate plasma, producing radiation beams used in medicine, for example in treating tumours. Plasmas are also central to the effort to realise fusion as a clean, virtually limitless source of energy. Tünde Fülöp’s research spans both fields, and her lecture will take the audience on a journey into these cutting-edge areas.

“I will be describing some of the applications of both laser-produced and fusion
plasmas; both cases are spectacular but also very important from clean
energy generation to compact acceleration sources,” she says.

Her particular fascination is with fast electrons in plasmas.

“I like them because of their spectacular signatures – but also because of their practical importance that I will try to convey in this talk.”

A summer job led to a career as a researcher

Tünde Fülöp studied and earned her doctorate at Chalmers, and today leads a successful research group at the Department of Physics. She has received numerous prestigious awards for her work. It was a summer job at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Maryland, USA, between her third and fourth year at Chalmers, that convinced her to become a researcher.

“It was a fantastic experience: interesting and challenging problems, and a very inclusive environment. Since everyone there had a PhD, I figured I needed to go down that path too if I wanted to ‘join the club’. And so I did!”

A remarkable time to be a plasma physicist

She emphasises that now is a remarkable time to be working in plasma physics. New experimental observations are helping to solve mysteries that have puzzled scientists for centuries.

“Hannes Alfvén, the Swedish Nobel laureate, said in his Nobel lecture in 1970 that theoretical plasma physics is beautiful – it’s just a pity the plasma doesn’t understand how beautiful the theory is and stubbornly refuses to obey it.” But fortunately, it is often that very mismatch between theory and observation that opens up the possibility of new understanding, Tünde adds

This sense of beauty in plasma physics is something Tünde Fülöp hopes to convey to her audience.

“Everyone is welcome to the lecture! I will make it accessible for the general public, but it will of course also be interesting for students, researchers and alumni.”

About the lecture

The lecture, delivered in English, is titled “Faster than lightning: electron beams in plasmas”. It will take place on November 13 in RunAn, Chalmersplatsen 1, between 6 pm and 7 pm. 
Light refreshments will be offered after the lecture.
No registration is required.

The William Chalmers Lecture is organised by Chalmers University of Technology in collaboration with the Chalmers Student Union and the Chalmers Engineers’ Alumni Association. It is given by a distinguished professor who excels in their field of research, with reflections on the research areas history and visions for the future in a global context. The lecture is open to all.