Julien Fuchs awarded by The European Research Council (ERC)

Julien Fuchs is CNRS Research Director at the Laboratory for the Use of Intense Lasers (LULI) and teaches at Ecole Polytechnique.
An active member of the PLAS@PAR community, he was a laureate in 2013 of a project at the Institute of Applied Physics of Nizhny Novgorod, a laboratory on plasma phenomena in extreme astrophysical objects.

This year, he is the recipient of an ERC Advanced Grants, which targets high-level researchers recognized as leaders in their respective fields.


GENESIS PROJECT
 
Objective:
To elucidate the natural conditions necessary for the nucleosynthesis of very heavy elements found throughout the universe by recreating these conditions in the laboratory with new-generation ultraintense lasers. 

Principal Investigator:
Julien Fuchs, CNRS researcher at the LULI laboratory (CNRS / CEA / École Polytechnique / Sorbonne University).

CNRS Press realease

CAMPUS - Arts et Sciences des plasmas au Centre Pompidou

Événenement au Centre Pompidou le samedi 7 avril de 11h à 19h et le dimanche 8 avril de 11h à 18h.


Durant tout un week-end, le programme CAMPUS - Arts et Sciences des plasmas : une expérience de la matière ionisée, permet à tous les publics d’appréhender la pertinence des collaborations artistiques et scientifiques par le biais du plasma, 4ème état de la matière (solide, liquide, gaz, plasma), autour des notions de processus et de protocoles.

Arts visuels, numériques, sonores, workshop, conférences et tables rondes, sont au cœur de la programmation pour transmettre aux publics une information scientifique essentielle tout en les plaçant au centre de la création scientifique et artistique.

Activités gratuites dans la limite des places disponibles, le Musée national d’art moderne reste payant

PROGRAMME : 

FORUM, NIVEAU -1

WORKSHOP AU CŒUR DE LA MATIÈRE IONISÉE

PLASMA REFLECTION – création

Décloisonner, Partager, Initier. 

Une proposition du collectif Danny Rose en partenariat avec Andrea Ciardi, astrophysicien du Labex PLAS@PAR.Un système de reconnaissance de mouvements détecte les silhouettes face à l’écran. Les données ainsi récoltées sont analysées et traitées en temps réel.

INSTALLATIONS/PRÉSENTATIONS

INSIDE PLASMA : EXPÉRIENCE IMMERSIVE DANS LE 4ÈME ÉTAT DE LA MATIÈRE – création

Transcender, Expérimenter, Voyager. 

Une proposition du collectif Danny Rose en partenariat avec Andrea Ciardi, astrophysicien du Labex PLAS@PAR. Le dispositif propose une expérience synesthésique du 4ème état de la matière entre son, lumière et perception de l’espace. Les variations de rythmes créent des topographies lumineuses et métamorphosent l’espace. 

RETOUR SUR LA RÉSIDENCE ARTS ET SCIENCES À LA STATION DE RADIOASTRONOMIE DE NANÇAY (Observatoire de Paris)

Poïème, Poïèse, Poïèsis. 

Études et recherches des artistes Agathe Rosa, Aurélie Pertusot, Cyrille Courte et Olivier Leroi. Astrophysiciens, ingénieurs et artistes ont échangé pendant trois jours autour des notions de recherche et de création, sur ce qui rassemble les arts et les sciences. Suite à cette rencontre chacun des artistes a développé un projet d’oeuvre, dont il partage ici le processus de création.

éLABOrer

Découvrir, observer, explorer. 

À mi-chemin entre le cabinet de curiosités et le laboratoire de recherche, éLABOrer est un espace de mise en lumière des outils scientifiques entremêlant rêve et poésie. Le visiteur découvre :

• Planeterrella, simulateur d’aurores polaires,
• Solar Storm VR, réalité virtuelle au cœur de la naissance des tempêtes solaires,
• solAR Expedition, réalité augmentée de la mission spatiale Solar Orbiter et du système solaire.

PROJECTIONS/FILMS

« Arts et Sciences des plasmas, rétrospective »

Déployé en 5 actes, « Arts et Sciences des plasmas : une expérience de la matière ionisée », s’est adressé tout au long de cette année à un large public de la communauté éducative en proposant une pédagogie pluridisciplinaire innovante. Le film retrace ces moments et ces rencontres. 

« Les conversations du Musée national d’art moderne : à la croisée des arts et sciences des plasmas »

Conversation filmée entre Arnauld Pierre, historien d’art à Sorbonne Université et Sylvie Cabrit, astronome à l’Observatoire de Paris, 2018. Au fur et à mesure d’une déambulation dans les collections du Centre Pompidou, arts et sciences se mêlent et s’entremêlent. 


PETITE SALLE, NIVEAU -1

CONFÉRENCES / TABLES RONDES

SAMEDI 7 AVRIL

• 15H30 - 17H : « L’Univers électrique », conférence d’Arnauld Pierre, historien d’art à Sorbonne Université.
• 18H - 19H : « La Station de Radioastronomie de Nançay : un processus de création », table ronde avec Philippe Zarka, astrophysicien au CNRS et les artistes Agathe Rosa, Aurélie Pertusot, Olivier Leroi et Cyrille Courte.

DIMANCHE 8 AVRIL 

• 16H - 17H : « Contributions de la physique à l’esthétique musicale contemporaine », conférence de Jean-Marc Chouvel, professeur de musicologie à Sorbonne Université.
• 18H - 19H : « Collaborer, imaginer, créer : un dialogue physicien-plasticien », table ronde avec le collectif Danny Rose et Andrea Ciardi, astrophysicien du Labex PLAS@PAR.

MUSÉE, NIVEAU 4 & 5

VISITES GUIDÉES ARTS ET SCIENCES DES PLASMAS

Départs des visites à l’accueil du Forum. Durée : 1h

• Samedi 7 avril : 13h - 13h30 - 14h (en anglais) - 14h30 - 15h - 16h (en anglais)
• Dimanche 8 avril : 13h - 13h30 - 14h – 14h30 - 15h - 17h

MUSÉE, NIVEAU 4

MOMENTS MUSICAUX

En partenariat avec les musiciens du Collegium Musicae de Sorbonne Université.

• Salle 1 (17H15 à 17H25) et (17H45 à 18H) : Improvisation électroacoustique avec Pierre Couprie, Hugues Genevois, Vincent Goudard.
• Salle 8 (17h à 17h10) et (17H30 à 17h40) : Jukka Tiensuu, « Plus I » avec Hélène Coursaget, clarinette et Fanny Lavigne, accordéon.

MUSÉE, NIVEAU 5

• Salle 5 (17H à 17h10) et (17H30 à 17h40) : Musique vocale des 12ème et 13ème siècles, Katarina Livljanic - direction, avec Ayako Kondo, Valérie Nunes-Le Page et Helena Bregar, chant et Ershad Tehrani, percussions. 
• Salle 40 (17H15 à 17H25) et (17H45 à 18H) : Canons instrumentaux et mécanique céleste des 16ème au 18ème siècles, Jean-Christophe Frisch - direction, avec Victor Julian, Rincon Hurtado, flûte à bec, Iris Tocabens, viole de gambe, Iris Letourneur, violoncelle baroque.

BIBLIOTHÈQUE PUBLIQUE D’INFORMATION

La BPI vous propose à l’entrée du Niveau 2 une sélection d’ouvrages sur le thème Arts et Sciences des plasmas et le 4ème état de la matière, consultation jusqu’au 30 avril.




Partenaires du projet :

Centre Pompidou, Labex PLAS@PAR, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Observatoire de Paris, École polytechnique, ONERA, Université Paris Sud, CEA, École normale supérieure, Université de Cergy-Pontoise, Région Ile-de-France, Ville de Paris, ITER, Collegium Musicae, European Physical Society (EPS)

CNRS bronze medal for Tatiana Marchenko

Tatiana Marchenko has a background in physics, with a Master's degree from M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, and a PhD from the FOM-Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics (Amsterdam). She held post-doctoral positions at the Laboratoire d’Optique Appliquée (ENSTA-Ecole Polytechnique) and at the Laboratoire de Chimie Physique-Matière et Rayonnement (LCPMR - Sorbonne University). Recruited in 2012 as CNRS Research Officer, in the group of Marc Simon at LCPMR, Tatiana is a specialist in atomic, molecular and optical physics, with a particular focus on ultrafast dynamics studies in molecules and atoms in the gas phase. Her experimental activities mainly concern different X-ray spectroscopy techniques performed on large instruments, mainly synchrotron and more recently XFEL (X-ray Free Electron Laser). One of the latest highlights of Tatiana Marchenko and her collaborators (international and LCPMR colleagues) deals with an original spectroscopy technique based on double-core-hole formation to probe nuclear and electron dynamics in molecules (Phys Rev. Lett. 119, 133001 (2017)).

The MOOC Plasma Physics: Applications, a joint production of SU-EPFL, is accessible!

The MOOC Plasma Physics: Applications, a joint production of SU-EPFL, is accessible online since January 1, 2018.

The aim of this MOOC is to learn about plasma applications from nuclear fusion powering the sun, to making integrated circuits, to generating electricity.

Length: 5 weeks
Effort: 5-6 hours per week
Price: Free (Add a Verified Certificate for $49 USD)
Institution: EPFLx

What you'll learn

• Different applications of plasma
• Understanding of the fusion energy challenge, and acquisition of the basis for developing an overall vision of the different R&D elements
• Understanding of the main plasma societal applications and relevant tools
• Vision and appreciation of the importance of plasmas in space and astrophysics
• By solving problems in course content, you will acquire some basic knowledge of MATLAB programming

PLAS@PAR's instructors:

• François Amiranoff: Research director at CNRS, in LULI (Laboratoire d’Utilisation des Lasers Intenses)
• Caterina Riconda: Physics professor at Sorbonne Université in Paris 
• Thierry Dufour: Associate professor at Sorbonne Université in Paris 

Read more

New publication: Compressible Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence in the Earth’s Magnetosheath: Estimation of the Energy Cascade Rate Using in situ Spacecraft Data

ABSTRACT

The first estimation of the energy cascade rate $\left|{\epsilon }_C\right|$ of magnetosheath turbulence is obtained using the Cluster and THEMIS spacecraft data and an exact law of compressible isothermal magnetohydrodynamics turbulence. The mean value of $\left|{\epsilon }_C\right|$ is found to be close to ${10}^{-13}J{m}^{-3}{s}^{-1}$, at least 2 orders of magnitude larger than its value in the solar wind ($\sim {10}^{-16}J{m}^{-3}{s}^{-1}$ in the fast wind). Two types of turbulence are evidenced and shown to be dominated either by incompressible Alfvénic or compressible magnetosoniclike fluctuations. Density fluctuations are shown to amplify the cascade rate and its spatial anisotropy in comparison with incompressible Alfvénic turbulence. Furthermore, for compressible magnetosonic fluctuations, large cascade rates are found to lie mostly near the linear kinetic instability of the mirror mode. New empirical power-laws relating $\left|{\epsilon }_C\right|$ to the turbulent Mach number and to the internal energy are evidenced. These new findings have potential applications in distant astrophysical plasmas that are not accessible to in situ measurements.

L. Z. Hadid, F. Sahraoui, S. Galtier, and S. Y. Huang
Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 055102 – Published 29 January 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.055102

PLAS@PAR is associated to the SIRIC “CURAMUS” programme

Through his activities linked to the application of cold plasma to cure different types of cancer, PLAS@PAR is associated to the SIRIC “CURAMUS” (Cancer United Research Associating Medicine, University & Society ) programme, which has been recently funded jointly by INCa, INSERM and DGOS. CURAMUS is led by Pitié-Salpétrière, Saint-Antoine, Tenon & Trousseau hospitals gathering a world-leading task force in oncology.

CURAMUS involves research teams from Sorbonne University, Inserm and CNRS. This community is federated around the University Institute of Cancer, directed by Pr. S. Uzan, that connects clinicians and scientists, promotes multidisciplinary research and new teaching approaches, including the patients.

Besides the main research programs on multiple cancers, CURAMUS will develop new collaborations within this network by implementing ambitious translational “bed to bench and back to bed” research programs and by starting new transdisciplinary projects associating medical oncologists and researchers, as well as chemists for drug discovery, physicists for new diagnosis and therapeutic approaches, computer scientists for data-mining or social scientists and philosophers for medical humanities.

The integration of more basic research teams to the strong clinical and translational research forces will increment their scientific production and visibility.

Contacts: Marc Sanson (marc.sanson@aphp.fr) Director of CURAMUS and Thierry Dufour, LPP (thierry.dufour@upmc.fr) for PLAS@PAR.

ARTS AND PLASMA SCIENCE in partnership with Centre Pompidou

CAMPUS - ARTS AND SCIENCE OF PLASMAS: An experience of ionized matter, is a program of artistic and scientific events, resulting from an unprecedented collaboration between the Laboratory of Excellence PLAS@PAR carried by Sorbonne Université and Centre Pompidou.

Our ambition?
Transmitting scientific information - plasma, the fourth state of matter represents 99% of the visible universe - while making links with contemporary creation in all its forms. Actor and spectator, the public is plunged into the heart of the collaborations between physicists and artists.

Thanks to this experience of ionized matter, school audiences, students, teachers and future teachers, as well as researchers, artists and families, will find among the mediation actions, an adaped path to better understand and appreciate the multiple interactions between arts and plasmas.

Dare to immerse!

 
5 OBJECTIVES

• Act 1 / Crossroads arts and sciences of plasmas
  School (secondary and high schools)
  At the Institut des NanoSciences de Paris, the Observatoire de Paris and the Centre Pompidou - all the 2017-2018 school year
• Act 2 / Teaching and transmission workshops
  Teachers and future teachers in physics-chemistry and plastic arts
  At the Centre Pompidou - FULL - link to media-dossier (experimental)
• Act 3 / Micro-residency artists and scientists
  Artists, scientists
  At the Radioastronomy station of Nançay (Observatoire de Paris) - February 26th to 28th
  Artists: Agathe Rosa (Marseille), Aurélie Pertusot (Nancy), Cyrille Courte (Tours), Olivier Leroi (Nançay).
• Act 4 / Workshop at the heart of ionized matter
  Elaboration of a collective work at the crossroads of the arts and the sciences of plasmas and immersion within the process of creation.
  Students and staff of Pierre and Marie Curie and Paris-Sorbonne universities
  On the Pierre et Marie Curie campus on March 7th and the Clignancourt campus on March 14th
• Act 5 / Campus - arts and science of plasmas: an experience of ionized matter
  Visit of collections and musical moments in the National Museum of Modern Art, conferences and debates, screening of the audiovisual work of the collective Danny Rose, experimental workshop and scientific experiments.
  General public
  At the Centre Pompidou - April 7th and 8th

Flyer (fr)

Consult the program here (fr)

More information and registration process for Acts 1 and 2 here (fr)

Press release

Supported by : Labex PLAS@PAR, Centre Pompidou, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Observatoire de Paris, Collegium Musicae, École polytechnique, ONERA, ITER, Université Paris Sud, CEA, École normale supérieure, Université de Cergy-Pontoise, European Physical Society (EPS), Région Ile-de-France, Ville de Paris

The Holweck Prize 2018 awarded to Marina Galand

This award was instituted in 1945, jointly by the French and British Physical Societies as a memorial to Fernand Holweck, Director of the Curie Laboratory of the Radium Institute in Paris, who was tortured and killed by the Gestapo during the occupation of France 1940-44.

The award is made in alternate years by the Councils of one of the two societies to a physicist selected from a list of nominees submitted by the other. The prize distinguishes exceptional work in any aspect of physics that is ongoing or has been carried out within the 10 years preceding the award.

The SFP and the IOP are proud to announce that the Holweck Prize 2018 was awarded to Marina Galand.

Marina Galand -  Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Physics, Imperial College London, UK.

Marina Galand is the former president of PLAS@PAR's International Scientific Comity.

She has made an outstanding contribution to space physics by studying in a comprehensive and original manner the effects of energy sources on planetary atmospheres throughout the Solar System and beyond. She has developed sophisticated, state-of-the-art kinetic and fluid models, which she has adapted to different environments to predict and interpret observations from space missions: Saturn (Galand et al., JGR, 2009, 2011) and its largest moon, Titan (Galand et al. GRL, 2006, JGR, 2010), Venus (Cui, Galand, et al., JGR, 2011), Mars (Matta, Galand et al., Icarus, 2014), comet 67P (Vigren and Galand, ApJ, 2013), and exoplanets (Chadney, Galand et al., A&A, 2016).

Through these studies, Marina has characterised a critical plasma layer, the so-called ionosphere. At Saturn, it is a conducting layer crucial for closing the global current magnetospheric system and influencing the atmospheric energy budget. Marina is the first to have assessed the ionospheric response to electron precipitations, critical at high latitudes. At comet 67P, interpretation of the Rosetta ion composition has entirely relied on her modelling work (Fuselier et al., 2015, 2016; Beth et al., MNRAS, 2016).

Another originality of Marina’s work is the use of her models as an organising element of multi-instrumental datasets from space missions. Such an initiative has optimised and increased the scientific return from observations. She has successfully applied this innovative method to datasets from the Cassini mission in Titan’s ionosphere (Galand et al., JGR, 2010) and from the Rosetta mission in the environment of comet 67P (Galand et al., MNRAS, 2016). At Titan, she contributed to reveal that the ionosphere is a complex, organic factory with astrobiological implications (Wahlund, Galand et al., PSS, 2009; Lavvas et al., PNAS, 2013).

Her approach has also allowed to interpret the first-ever, near-surface cometary plasma dataset, which was acquired during Rosetta end of mission in September 2016 (Heritier, Henri, Vallières, Galand, et al., MNRAS, 2017). Building on her planetary expertise, Marina has highlighted how a cross-body comparative approach helps one gain further insight into physical processes driving these systems (Fox, Galand, et al., SSR, 2008; Crooker and Galand, Eos Trans. AGU, 2009).

The SFP and the IOP are proud to award Marina Galand for her outstanding contribution to the understanding and assessment of the response of planetary atmospheres to energy sources in the Solar System and beyond.

The prize ceremony will take place on 27 August 2018 in Grenoble at the Journées de la Matière Condensée (JMC), event organised every two years by the French Physical Society.  

Source : https://www.sfpnet.fr/holweck-prize-2018-awarded-to-marina-galand

Meet with Sébastien Rassou, PLAS@PAR young researcher - ONERA - PostDoc

Sébastien Rassou did his PhD in 2015 at the CEA on numerical modeling (acceleration of electrons by laser wakefield). Then, thanks to PLAS@PAR, he worked as a post-doc at ONERA where his goal was to numerically model plasma discharges.

"To validate the code, we studied and modeled specific plasma discharges. First the "Umbrella discharge" is modeled. In this discharge, a supersonic flow propagates around a conical model and creates a shock wave. An electrode with a high potential creates the discharge along the shock wave. Next, nanosecond repetitive pulse (NRP) discharge is modeled. The NRP discharge is created between two pin electrodes and we modeled both the discharge phase and the post-discharge phase for a few hundred cycles. Our code has been able to model these discharges by combining the resolution of the flow with the resolution of the plasma kinetics in a reasonnable computation time."

Meet with Corentin Louis, PLAS@PAR young researcher - LESIA, Observatoire de Paris - PhD student

Corentin Louis started his PhD in 2015.

He works on Comparative study of auroral processes of Saturn and Jupiter sampled in situ by the Cassini and JUNO missions at LESIA with Laurent Lamy and Philippe Zarka (LESIA). 

In this video, Corentin explains the originality of his project, his results & publications. Corentin is also talking about its active participation in preparing PLAS@PAR events (Science day, PLAS@PAR young researcher's day, PLAS@PAR scientific day, etc)!

"The study confirmed the existence of radio emissions associated with the interaction between the Galilean moons of Jupiter and Jupiter itself. Since we are sure that these emissions exist, we will be able to study them in situ with the Juno mission!"  

Meet with Anna Grassi, PLAS@PAR young researcher - LULI, PhD student

Anna Grassi started her PhD in 2014.

She works on Relativistic shocks in magnetized plasmas in the context of laboratory astrophysics at LULI with C. Riconda, LULI and A. Macchi, UNIPI. 

In this video, Anna explains the originality of her project, her results and her vision of PLAS@PAR!

"It was interesting to do my My PhD studies with PLAS@PAR, because PLAS@PAR was able to create a very rich environment in which students, researchers from many different fields of plasma physics and even private companies can find a place to collaborate, exchange ideas and discuss. This was very helpful and creates very productive and creative context for a PhD."  

Meet with Bruno Honnorat, PLAS@PAR young researcher - LPP, PhD student

Bruno Honnorat started his PhD in 2014.

He works on non thermal plasmas for biomedical applications at LPP with A. Rousseau.

In this video, Bruno explains his research objectives, his collaborations and his results!

"I study the biomedical applications of plasmas, it means that I am studying the biological effect of cold plasmas on living organisms (...). We are particularly studying the neck and throat cancers. (...) The objective is to improve the quality of life of patients, with a regression of the tumor size, for example, to render tumors operable or to remove totally the cancer through Plasma treatment."  

The PLAS@PAR's information brochure is now online!

Once again in 2016, PLAS@PAR addressed many ambtious and challenging projects in plasma physics. Cluster of excellence, PLAS@PAR brings together 150 researchers involved everyday with natural plasmas, high temperature plasmas & low temperature plasmas. 

We invite you to discover who we are, our achievements, our current research actions and our perspectives.  

In this edition:

• PLAS@PAR's facts & figures
• Research goals
• On going projects
• Research highlights
• Teaching program
• Relations with industry
• Outreach actions

DOWNLOAD THE BROCHURE HERE!

DISCOVER PLAS@PAR FROM INSIDE HERE

Meet with Alessandra Puglisi, PLAS@PAR young researcher - LCPMR, PhD student

Alessandra Puglisi started her PhD in 2014.

She works on Spectroscopic study of silicon hydride molecular ions at LCPMR with S. Carniato and N. Sissourat.

In this video, Alessandra explains her background, her research objectives & achievements.

Raj Laxmi Singh will defend her thesis on March 2, 2017

PLAS@PAR is pleased to announce the thesis defense of Raj Laxmi Singh (LPP/Lerma) on March 2, 2017 at UPMC (24-34 - 5th floor, room 509) at 10am.

Raj started her PhD in November 2013 with Jean Larour (LPP) and Chantal Stehlé (LERMA).

Title: Strong radiative shocks relevant for stellar environments: experimental study and numerical approach

Strong shocks are present in various astrophysical phenomena. Such shocks are strongly influenced by the radiation through its coupling with hydrodynamics. Thus their topology and dynamics are quite complex. Generating such hypersonic shocks in the laboratory, with controlled conditions, is thus an adequate tool to study the influence of radiation and to compare them with numerical simulations. Such shocks can be generated by intense lasers and electromagnetic devices. The first part of this dissertation concerns the numerical and experimental study of the interaction of two counter propagating laser-driven shocks. The experiments, performed at the kJ PALS laser facility allowed to generate shocks with different speeds (~ 30-55 km/s and 10-25 km/s), in noble gases and low pressure (less than 1 bar). Several diagnostics were implemented: visible interferometry, time- and space-resolved visible spectroscopy, and time integrated XUV spectroscopy. Our experiment shows a strong interaction of one radiative precursor onto the second one. The physical parameters of the plasma were deduced from the diagnostics and compared with 1-D simulation results. The second part is devoted to the design of an experiment where the shock is generated electromagnetically. The optimization of this generator is presented and also the full experimental set up which allows studying shock ~ 30 km/s in noble gas at ~ 1 mbar.

Training future teachers to use « PLASMAS » in middle and high schools!

Education in one of the pillars of PLAS@PAR

Photo credit: © UPMC-Pierre Kitmacher 

Every year, the Labex organizes multiple actions to promote plasma physics in education, at the Bachelor, Master and Doctoral levels (hands-on activities, teaching programs, summer school, scolarships for French and International students…). PLAS@PAR also encourages and support new initiatives (for instance, the new hands-on experiment in Jussieu). 

This academic year, PLAS@PAR is going further and reaching a broader audience!

Plasmas represent 90% of the known matter, plasmas are everywhere from the sun to the stars, in lightnings, fire and even in neon lights: Plasma physics can be easily taught to school audiences. To reach this goal PLAS@PAR offered a 2-day training in December 2016 at UPMC to future professors from the "Master des Métiers de l'Enseignement, de l'Education et de la Formation (MEEF), parcours physique-chimie".

This training (in French) entitled « Les plasmas dans tous les leurs états ! » was accessible with a basic knowledge of physics and was a great occasion to give some simple key information and tips to allow teachers to talk about the 4^th state of matter to their future students. 5 researchers collaborated to create this training and 9 future professors were participating.

The training was focused on 3 main activities:

• Discussion & presentations about all types of plasmas
• Hands-on experiments
• Visits of facilities and experiments (in particular the SIMPA ion source from INSP, Institut des NanoSciences de Paris)

The full program is available here.

The initiative was a true success: trainees are now able to teach some key notions to hundreds of future school students.

The training will be renewed next year!

PLAS@PAR from inside

Discover PLAS@PAR from inside thanks to a new film!

PLAS@PAR aims at creating synergies between many fields around Plasma physics. Some researchers accepted to explain their activities, their work & their challenges. We thank them for opening up the doors of their laboratory. 

Meet with Trevor Lafleur, PLAS@PAR Post-doctoral fellow

Trevor, Post-doctoral fellow, from 2013 to 2015, worked on Electrostatic probes in beam plasmas for space propulsion at LPP (Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas) & ONERA (Office National d’Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales).

Meet with Marco Chiaramello, PLAS@PAR young researcher - LULI PhD

Marco started his PhD at LULI (Laboratoire d'Utilisation des Lasers Intenses), UPMC in 2013: “Study of short pulse amplification by Brillouin Backscattering in the strong coupling regime”.

A new hands-on experiment dedicated to Plasma Physics!

This year @UPMC, students in Physics (Third year of Bachelor’s degree – L3 & First year of Master’s degree « Physics & Applications » - M1) apprehend fundamental concepts of Plasma physics thanks to a new hands-on experiment called « Plasma discharges – Langmuir probe ». 

This Teaching Unit allows students to become familiar with fundamental processes in plasma physics.

 Photo credit: ©UPMC-Pierre Kitmacher 

Learn more about this new hands-on experiment

 

A glow discharge is a plasma (ie. a gaz containing ions and free electrons thanks to an electric current). We focus here on discharge tubes commonly (and inacurrately) called "neon". These glass tubes are subjected to a very low air pressure. By pluging a high-voltage supply to the metal electrodes of the tube, we create a very high electrical potential (around a few hundred volts DC). From a « disruptive » value, a breakdown can be observed: the gas becomes conductive and releases a large number of electrons. Then, a plasma appears between the electrodes.


Student objectives:

1. Students have to quantitatively measure the breakdown voltage of a tube under a given residual gas pressure; Then, students are able to verify the Paschen law.
2. Students qualitatively study the light emitted by the plasma’s glow discharge (by image analysis) and highlight that inelastic electron/ion collisions are the source of this light emission.
3. Students measure the floating electrostatic potential within the plasma and highlight the inhomogeneity of the electric field inside discharge (screening effects).
4. The Langmuir probe allow them to measure the temperature of electrons in the plasma.
5. A spectroscopic study help identify more precisely the ions and their excited states formed in the glow discharge.

This hands-on experiment was created in collaboration with INSP (Institut des NanoSciences de Paris) the experimental platform of the Physics Faculty @UPMC and the Cluster of Excellence PLAS@PAR.
More information about plasma physics education (summer school, grants for international internships, scolarships, etc) here.
 


Photo credit: ©UPMC-Pierre Kitmacher