About the presentation
"Pushing the Envelope of Plasma Physics: Ultracold Neutral Plasmas"
Plasmas are familiar from the world around us, such as in lightning and the aurora borealis, and they enable many crucial technological processes and devices, such as integrated circuit manufacturing and fluorescent lighting. Techniques to laser-cool and trap atoms, developed in the atomic physics community, have allowed Killian to create ultracold neutral plasmas that are orders of magnitude colder than any neutral plasma ever produced before. Ultracold plasmas display their own amazing properties, but they also teach us about other exotic systems, like the interiors of gas giant planets and inertial-confinement-fusion targets. Killian's presentation described how he and his lab researchers create these fascinating plasmas and what they have learned by exploring this new realm of nature.
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