He has studied multiple subfields of plasma physics including : plasma diagnostics, accelerator concepts with plasmas, helicon plasma sources, plasma instabilities of laser interaction, Langmuir probes, resistive drift waves, anomalous diffusion, and Q-machines.
12.
The laser is currently being used for Fast Ignition ICF research, warm dense matter experiments, materials dynamics studies, and laser-matter interaction research, including particle acceleration, x-ray backlighting and laser-plasma instabilities ( LPI ).
13.
However, each concept encountered unanticipated problems, in the form of plasma instabilities that prevented the requisite temperatures and pressures from being achieved, and it eventually became clear that sustained hydrogen fusion would not be developed quickly.
14.
Since the earliest days of fusion research, the problem in making a useful system has been a number of plasma instabilities that only appeared as the operating conditions moved ever closer to useful ones for fusion power.
15.
As a staff scientist his research interests include studying plasma kinetic physics and magnetohydrodynamics of the solar wind, heliosphere, shock waves, MHD and kinetic simulation of plasma instabilities, and turbulent processes associated with space, solar and astrophysical plasmas.
16.
Subsequent research by Brenning and Axn�s ( 1988 ) have suggested that a " lower hybrid " plasma instability is involved in transferring energy from the larger ions to electrons so that they have sufficient energy to ionize.
17.
During the period spanning the years of the late'70s and early'80s the estimates for laser energy on target needed to achieve ignition doubled almost yearly as the various plasma instabilities and laser-plasma energy coupling loss modes were gradually understood.
18.
In Bohm's original work he notes that the fraction 1 / 16 is not exact; in particular " the exact value of [ the diffusion coefficient ] is uncertain within a factor of 2 or 3 . " Lyman Spitzer considered this fraction as a factor related to plasma instability.
19.
Since the type of radiation penetrating farthest through thick material shielding, deep in interplanetary space, is GeV positively charged nuclei, a repulsive electrostatic field has been proposed, but this has problems including plasma instabilities and the power needed for an accelerator constantly keeping the charge from being neutralized by deep-space electrons.
