Nathaniel Joseph Fisch
Born (1950-12-29) December 29, 1950 (age 73)
NationalityAmerican
EducationMassachusetts Institute of Technology (B.S., M.S., Ph.D.)
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsPlasma physics
Thesis Confining and heating a toroidal plasma with RF power.  (1978)
Websitew3.pppl.gov/~fisch/

Nathaniel Joseph Fisch is an American plasma physicist known for pioneering the excitation of electric currents in plasmas using electromagnetic waves,[1][2] which was then used in tokamak experiments.[3][4] This contributed to an increased understanding of plasma wave–particle interactions in the field for which he was awarded the James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics in 2005 and the Hannes Alfvén Prize in 2015.

Fisch's research also involve inertial fusion,[5][6] as well as methods to generate intensive laser fields to accelerate particles,[7] such as the ones used in plasma thrusters.[8][9] He is also known to have worked on the hydrodynamics of charged liquids,[10] petroleum refinement,[11] and pattern recognition.[12]

Early life and career

Fisch studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (as MIT National Scholar 1968 to 1972), where he received his bachelor's and master's degree in 1972 and 1975 respectively, and received his doctorate in computer science and electrical engineering in 1978.[13] From 1978, he was a scientist in the plasma physics laboratory at Princeton University, where he has been a professor in the Faculty of Astrophysics since 1991 (also associated with the Faculty of Mechanics and Flight Engineering since 2000) and heads the University's Plasma Physics Program. In 1986, he was a visiting scientist at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center. From 1981 to 1986, he was a consultant at Exxon Research.[13]

Honors and awards

Fisch was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1985.[14] He was then elected a fellow of the American Physical Society in 1987,[15] and was subsequently awarded the John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research in 1992 for fundamental theoretical work on non-inductive power generation in toroidally enclosed plasmas.[16]

In 2004, he received the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award.[17]

In 2005, he received the James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics for "theoretical development of efficient radio frequency (RF)-driven current in plasmas and for greatly expanding our ability to understand, to analyze, and to utilize wave–plasma interactions."[18]

In 2015, he was awarded the Hannes Alfvén Prize from the European Physical Society for "his contributions to the understanding of plasma wave–particle interactions and their applications to efficiently driving currents with radio-frequency waves."[19]

References

  1. ^ Karney, Charles F. F.; Fisch, Nathaniel J. (1979). "Numerical studies of current generation by radio-frequency traveling waves". The Physics of Fluids. 22 (9): 1817–1824. Bibcode:1979PhFl...22.1817K. doi:10.1063/1.862787. ISSN 0031-9171.
  2. ^ Fisch, N. J.; Boozer, A. H. (1980). "Creating an Asymmetric Plasma Resistivity with Waves". Physical Review Letters. 45 (9): 720–722. Bibcode:1980PhRvL..45..720F. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.45.720.
  3. ^ Fisch, Nathaniel J. (1987). "Theory of current drive in plasmas". Reviews of Modern Physics. 59 (1): 175–234. Bibcode:1987RvMP...59..175F. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.59.175.
  4. ^ Fisch, Nathaniel J. (1978). "Confining a Tokamak Plasma with rf-Driven Currents". Physical Review Letters. 41 (13): 873–876. Bibcode:1978PhRvL..41..873F. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.41.873.
  5. ^ Malkin, V. M.; Fisch, N. J. (2002). "Collective Deceleration of Relativistic Electrons Precisely in the Core of an Inertial-Fusion Target". Physical Review Letters. 89 (12): 125004. Bibcode:2002PhRvL..89l5004M. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.89.125004. PMID 12225091.
  6. ^ Son, S.; Fisch, N. J. (2004). "Aneutronic fusion in a degenerate plasma". Physics Letters A. 329 (1): 76–82. Bibcode:2004PhLA..329...76S. doi:10.1016/j.physleta.2004.06.054. ISSN 0375-9601.
  7. ^ Malkin, V. M.; Shvets, G.; Fisch, N. J. (1999). "Fast Compression of Laser Beams to Highly Overcritical Powers". Physical Review Letters. 82 (22): 4448–4451. Bibcode:1999PhRvL..82.4448M. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.4448.
  8. ^ Raitses, Y.; Staack, D.; Keidar, M.; Fisch, N. J. (2005). "Electron-wall interaction in Hall thrusters". Physics of Plasmas. 12 (5): 057104. Bibcode:2005PhPl...12e7104R. doi:10.1063/1.1891747. hdl:2027.42/87763. ISSN 1070-664X.
  9. ^ Raitses, Y.; Smirnov, A.; Fisch, N. J. (2009). "Effects of enhanced cathode electron emission on Hall thruster operation". Physics of Plasmas. 16 (5): 057106. Bibcode:2009PhPl...16e7106R. doi:10.1063/1.3131282. ISSN 1070-664X.
  10. ^ Zweben, Stewart J.; Gueroult, Renaud; Fisch, Nathaniel J. (September 12, 2018). "Plasma mass separation". Physics of Plasmas. 25 (9): 090901. Bibcode:2018PhPl...25i0901Z. doi:10.1063/1.5042845. ISSN 1070-664X. OSTI 1472074. S2CID 226888946.
  11. ^ Gueroult, Renaud; Zweben, Stewart J.; Fisch, Nathaniel J.; Rax, J.-M. (2019). "E × B configurations for high-throughput plasma mass separation: An outlook on possibilities and challenges". Physics of Plasmas. 26 (4): 043511. Bibcode:2019PhPl...26d3511G. doi:10.1063/1.5083229. ISSN 1070-664X. OSTI 1558921. S2CID 146108817.
  12. ^ Solodov, A. A.; Malkin, V. M.; Fisch, N. J. (2003). "Random density inhomogeneities and focusability of the output pulses for plasma-based powerful backward Raman amplifiers". Physics of Plasmas. 10 (6): 2540–2544. Bibcode:2003PhPl...10.2540S. doi:10.1063/1.1576761. ISSN 1070-664X.
  13. ^ a b "Fisch, N. J." history.aip.org. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  14. ^ "John Simon Guggenheim Foundation | Nathaniel J. Fisch". Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  15. ^ "APS Fellow Archive". American Physical Society. (search on year=1987 and institution=Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory)
  16. ^ "1992 John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research Recipient". American Physical Society. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  17. ^ "DOE Presents E. O. Lawrence Award". Physics Today. 57 (12): 76–77. January 12, 2007. doi:10.1063/1.2408623. ISSN 0031-9228.
  18. ^ "2005 James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics Recipient". American Physical Society. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  19. ^ "FACULTY AWARD: Fisch wins Hannes Alfvén Prize for plasma physics contributions". Princeton University. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
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