DrVicente Valenzuela-Villaseca

Academic Visitor

Department of Physics - Faculty of Natural Sciences

  • Academic Visitor
    Department of Physics - Faculty of Natural Sciences
  • Blackett Laboratory, South Kensington Campus, United Kingdom

RESEARCH

Overview
I am interested in High-Energy-Density Physics and Laboratory Plasma Astrophysics. My research focuses on

Pulsed-power driven rotating plasma flows: I have developed a novel platform to drive quasi-Keplerian, differentially rotating plasmas on MAGPIE. These plasmas launch axial jets, similar to accretion disks launching jets in astrophysics. Currently I am investigating the confining mechanism keeping these jets collimated, as well as investigating the MHD stability of the rotating flows.
Laser-driven rotating plasma flows: We are designing a novel laser-driven platform to drive unmagnetized rotating plasmas, as laser experiments in principle allow more control over the magnetization of the plasma, an important parameter in the accretion disk astrophysics. First shots at the OMEGA Laser on February 9th. This work is in collaboration with Francisco Suzuki-Vidal (Imperial), George Swadling (LLNL), Chris Walsh (LLNL) and Mathieu Bailly-Grandvaux (UCSD)