Events on Monday, April 6th, 2026
- Academic Calendar
- Classes Resume
- Abstract: *Note: actual end time may vary.* CONTACT: admin@secfac.wisc.edu
- Plasma Physics (Physics/ECE/NE 922) Seminar
- Explosive Instability in Fusion and Astrophysical Plasmas
- Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
- Place: Engineering Hall - 1227
- Speaker: Professor Steven Cowley, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
- Abstract: Magnetized plasmas—whether in nature or in the laboratory—often undergo sudden, dramatic eruptions that release large amounts of energy and disrupt confinement. Edge localized modes (ELMs) in Tokamaks are a good example. Why some plasmas erupt while others remain limited by turbulence is still not fully understood. In this talk, I will examine the instability mechanisms that drive eruptive behavior and show that many plasmas are metastable, i.e. stable to small perturbations but unstable to large perturbations. When triggered, this metastable state can lead to explosive events. I will highlight how this phenomenon manifests in both edge localized modes in fusion devices and in solar flares. Following such eruptions, the plasma must settle into a new equilibrium. I will present key examples where these relaxed equilibrium states can be calculated accurately.
- Host: Stephanie J. Diem
- Theory Seminar (High Energy/Cosmology)
- A simple, UV-complete model for neutrino decoherence
- Time: 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
- Place: Chamberlin 5280
- Speaker: Pedro Machado, Fermilab
- Abstract: In this blackboard talk I will discuss where neutrino decoherence could actually come from. Yes, I will have a Lagrangian. I will make connections to the common approach of using open quantum systems framework, and establish a mapping between a complete model and phenomenological decoherence approaches. Video recording:
- Host: Joshua Foster