Herbert L. Berk
Professor, The Institute for Fusion Studies

RLM 11.326
(512) 471-1364 :: FAX: (512) 471-6715
hberk@mail.utexas.edu

The research specialty of Professor Herbert L. Berk is in the discipline of plasma physics, with particular application to developing an energy source from nuclear fusion.

He was the editor of the pamphlet the "Pervasive Plasma State" , that describes the scope of research areas and technology in plasma research. Please press the following link, immediately below, if you wish to examine this pamphlet .

Pervasive Plasma State

His current topic of research, is motivated by the need to understand the dynamics of alpha particle containment in fusion producing experiments. These particles can spontaneously excite plasma waves, such as Alfven waves, that may cause alpha particles to be lost prematurely from a fusion machine. To study this problem there was a need to expand the basic understanding of the resonant wave-particle interaction. The generality of this topic leads to new fundamental descriptions of nonlinear phenomena associated with the wave-particle interaction. If you wish to obtain a flavor of this work, please click the following link for an overview discussion and a selection of figures of the advances made by Professor Berk and his collaborators in the last few years.

Basic Nonlinear Wave Particle Interaction