Professor Amnon Fruchtman won a NSF-BSF research grant

Professor Amnon Fruchtman from the Physics department of the Faculty of Science won a NSF-BSF research grant, together with colleagues from the Weizmann Institute of Science and from Princeton University. The grant will support an on-going collaborative research on hydrodynamic compression of turbulent plasma.  The NSF-BSF grant program is jointly funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF).

Thermonuclear fusion, if achieved, may become a nearly endless source of energy to mankind. Compressing plasma by large magnetic pressure is one of the methods by which scientists attempt to achieve thermonuclear fusion. The plasma group at Weizmann Institute, headed by Professor Yitzhak Maron, is leader in diagnosing plasmas under compression.

Professor Fruchtman from HIT provides theoretical support for the Weizmann group. Recently, the Weizmann plasma group has made a startling discovery. They found that the plasma hardly heats up during the compression. Rather, the energy is stored in turbulent flows. This highly unexpected result may have important consequences, as pointed out in a theory developed by Professor Nathaniel Fisch from Princeton University. 

Within the NSF-BSF grant, the scientists from the three institutes will study the evolution of the turbulence and will seek ways to exploit the process for advancing thermonuclear fusion. 

Published: 30.7.18