Professor Emeritus
Experimental Plasma
Office: PAB 4-712
Phone: 310-825-7898
Email:
Website
Reiner Stenzel's research interests lie in basic plasma physics. The experimental work involves the development of novel plasma sources, diagnostic tools, and data processing techniques. Much of the recent and ongoing research is focused on the study of space plasma physics problems in scaled laboratory experiments. Topics include magnetic reconnection, free plasma expansion, beam-plasma interactions, whistler waves, transport of transient currents, modeling of electrodynamic tethers and antennas in plasmas. These experiments frequently involve the study of basic waves and instabilities, nonlinear effects, sheaths and double layers, turbulence and transport of heat and particles in plasmas.
Professor Stenzel has working experience in the aerospace industry, holds patents on isotope separation and large oxide-coated cathodes, and has been a visiting professor at the University of Tokyo, Japan, and the University of Paris-Sud, France. He has authored or co-authored about 150 publications in plasma physics. His work has been mainly supported by the National Science Foundation over the past 25 years. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, member of the American Geophysical Union, and former Studienstiftler.