Position
Professor of Astrophysical Sciences
Role
Director, Program in Plasma Physics
Office Phone
Email
Website
Education
B.S., Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1972
M.S., Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1975
Ph.D., Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1978
Bio/Description
Research Interests:
- Plasma physics with applications to nuclear fusion, lasers, propulsion, waste remediation, and astrophysics
Awards & Honors
- Distinguished Career Award, Fusion Power Associates, 2018
- Batsheva Fellow, Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 2017
- Hannes Alfvén Prize, European Physical Society, 2015
- Weston Visiting Professorship, Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute, 2013
- James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics, 2005
- EO Lawrence Award, 2004
- Gold Medal, United States Department of Energy, 2004
- Fellow of NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts, 2003
- Bronze Medal, US Department of Energy, Outstanding Mentor in Undergraduate Research Programs, 2002
- American Physical Society Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics, 1992
- Fellow of American Physical Society, 1987
- John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow, 1985
- MIT National Scholar, 1968-1972
Teaching
- AST 551 General Plasma Physics I
Selected Publications
Recent Publications:
- V. M. Malkin and N. J. Fisch, Towards megajoule x-ray lasers via relativistic four-photon cascade in plasma, Physical Review E 101, 023211 (February, 2020).
- E. Rodriguez, A. H. Reiman, and N. J. Fisch, RF current condensation in the presence of turbulent enhanced transport, Physics of Plasmas 27, 042306 (April, 2020).
- E. J. Kolmes, I. E. Ochs, M. E. Mlodik, and N. J. Fisch, Maximum-Entropy States for Magnetized Ion Transport, Physics Letters A 384, 126262 (May, 2020).
- S. Jin, N. J. Fisch, and A. H. Reiman, Pulsed RF Schemes for Tearing Mode Stabilization, Physics of Plasmas 27, 062508 (June, 2020).
- I. E. Ochs and N. J. Fisch, Momentum-Exchange Current Drive by Electrostatic Waves in an Unmagnetized Collisionless Plasma, Physics of Plasmas 27, 062109 (June, 2020).
- E. J. Kolmes, P. Helander, and N. J. Fisch, Available Energies from Diffusive and Reversible Phase Space Rearrangements, Physics of Plasmas 27, 062110 (June, 2020).
- M. E. Mlodik, E. J. Kolmes, I. E. Ochs,, and N. J. Fisch, Heat pump via charge incompressibility in a collisional magnetized multi-ion plasma, Physical Review E 102, 013212 (July, 2020).
- E. J. Kolmes, V. I. Geyko, and N. J. Fisch, Fluid model for the piezothermal effect, Physics Letters A 384, 126700 (September, 2020).
- S. J. Frank, A. H. Reiman, N. J. Fisch, and P. T. Bonoli, Generation of Localized Lower- Hybrid Current Drive by Temperature Perturbations, Nuclear Fusion 60, 096027 (September, 2020).
- R. Nies, A. H. Reiman, E. Rodriguez, N. Bertelli and N. J. Fisch, Calculating RF current condensation with consistent ray-tracing and island heating, Physics of Plasmas 27, 092503 (September, 2020).
- Q. Jia, K. Qu , and N. J. Fisch, Optical phase conjugation in backward Raman amplification, Optics Letters 45, 5254 (September, 2020).
- E. J. Kolmes, I. E. Ochs, and N. J. Fisch, MITNS:multiple-ion transport numerical solver for magnetized plasmas, Computer Physics Communications 258, 107511 (January, 2021).
Recent Patents:
- V. I. Geyko and N. J. Fisch, Otto and Diesel Cycles Employing Spinning Gas, US Patent No. 10,450,943, issued October 22, 2019.