\u201cWithout OSC, this research wouldn\u2019t have been possible at Marietta,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIt shows how much smaller institutions\u2014and their students\u2014can accomplish when they have access to these kinds of resources.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith\u2019s research focused on what happens when ultra-intense lasers strike matter, creating plasma, which is the superheated state in which electrons are stripped from atoms. These conditions, similar to those inside stars or nuclear fusion experiments, last only fractions of a second but unleash extreme forces.<\/p>\n Physicists use lasers like these as a way to recreate in the lab some of the most extreme conditions in the universe. By doing so, they can probe the physics of solar flares, supernovae, and other astrophysical events\u2014or test ideas that could one day make fusion power a practical energy source.<\/p>\n Experiments at research facilities can directly produce these plasmas, but there are limits.<\/p>\n \u201cEach laser shot is expensive and over in a fraction of a second,\u201d Smith said. \u201cWith computational simulations, we can slow the physics down, change the parameters, and really see what\u2019s happening inside the plasma.\u201d<\/p>\n To take on that challenge, Smith turned to OSC\u2019s high performance computing clusters. Running these simulations required processing millions of particles across thousands of time steps, something only possible through parallel computing at scale. OSC provided the capacity to handle those calculations in detail, enabling Smith to explore scenarios that would have been impossible on campus systems.<\/p>\n He modeled collisions where lasers thousands of times brighter than the sun concentrated on targets no wider than a human hair strand. In those fleeting moments, rapidly changing electric fields did most of the work of accelerating particles to relativistic speeds, while magnetic fields twisted and compressed around the plasma.<\/p>\n By running simulations in one, two, and three dimensions, Smith uncovered how complexity impacted the results. In simple one-dimensional models, outcomes appeared neat and predictable. But as dimensions increased, plasma revealed hidden instabilities\u2014magnetic fields wrapping, compressing, and releasing energy in chaotic bursts. Those insights gave experimentalists a clearer roadmap of what to expect when firing real lasers in the lab.<\/p>\n Smith\u2019s commitment to open science meant that the work didn\u2019t stop at the publication stage. He shared every input, output, and analysis file through\u00a0Zenodo<\/a>, turning the project into a resource for the global research community.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important that our work doesn\u2019t sit behind a paywall or in a drawer,\u201d Smith said. \u201cBy sharing everything openly, we make it easier for others to reproduce our results and for students new to the field to learn how this kind of research is done.\u201d<\/p>\n The datasets have since been downloaded hundreds of times, used by plasma physicists and educators alike.<\/p>\n \u201cOpen data makes the science stronger, and OSC gave us the platform to make it happen,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n The project culminated in a\u00a0peer-reviewed publication<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Physics of Plasmas<\/a>\u00a0earlier this year. The work was a team effort that included collaborators such as Professor\u00a0Scott Feister of California State University Channel Islands and Marietta undergraduate Madeline Aszalos, now pursuing a master\u2019s degree in health and medical physics at the University of Toledo. When Smith promoted the article on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>, he made a point to thank OSC for enabling the research.<\/p>\n Smith\u2019s dual focus on cutting-edge science and student opportunity also earned him the\u00a0Doc Brown Young Scientist Award<\/a> from the American Physical Society\u2019s Eastern Great Lakes Section. The award recognized his commitment to working with undergraduate students on significant research projects.<\/p>\n One of those students was Lily Daneshmand, who joined the project as a junior.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t even know plasma physics was a field until I started this project,\u201d she said. \u201cOnce I saw how much there was to explore, I knew I had found something I wanted to keep pursuing.\u201d<\/p>\n As she gained experience, the combination of Marietta\u2019s mentorship opportunities and OSC\u2019s computing resources helped her discover the kind of scientist she wanted to become.<\/p>\n \u201cI went to Marietta for the small-school environment,\u201d Daneshmand said. \u201cBut through OSC, I had the chance to do research on the scale of a major university. That combination helped me realize how much I enjoyed plasma physics and set me on the path I\u2019m pursuing now.\u201d<\/p>\n Her work eventually took her beyond the classroom. Daneshmand presented the team\u2019s findings at the American Physical Society\u2019s Division of Plasma Physics meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cStanding next to researchers from big universities and knowing I had something to contribute was incredible,\u201d she said. \u201cThat experience gave me confidence that I could succeed in graduate school.\u201d<\/p>\n Daneshmand is now pursuing graduate study at the University of Iowa, building on the foundation she gained through Smith\u2019s mentorship and her experience using OSC.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Marietta-Plasma-Web-300x169.png\")
<\/a>Marietta College researchers modeled how ultra-intense lasers interact with matter to create plasma\u2014the superheated state found in stars and fusion reactors. This diagram shows the shared geometry for simulations run with the Ohio Supercomputer Center, exploring these dynamics in one-, two-, and three-dimensional space. Image credit: Joseph Smith.<\/p>\n