Elena Belova (physicist)

Elena V. Belova is a former Soviet and American physicist whose research involves the computer simulation of plasma, with applications ranging from the control of heat in tokamak-based fusion power[1][2] to improved understanding of jets and spheromaks in the solar corona.[3] She works for the United States Department of Energy as a principal research physicist at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in New Jersey.[4]

Education and career

edit

Belova studied physics at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, earning a bachelor's degree in 1984 and a master's degree in 1987. From 1987 to 1992, she worked at the Russian Space Research Institute in Moscow.[5] in 1992, she emigrated to the US with her husband, physicist Alexander V. Khrabrov. She went to Dartmouth College for graduate study in physics,[6] supervised by Mary Hudson.[5] She finished her Ph.D. in 1997, and on completing her doctorate became a researcher at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.[6]

Recognition

edit

Belova was the 2005 winner of the Katherine Weimer Award for Women in Plasma Science, given by the American Physical Society (APS) Division of Plasma Physics, "for pioneering analytical and numerical contributions to the fundamental physics of magnetically confined plasmas".[7] She was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2020, after a nomination from the Division of Plasma Physics, "for outstanding contributions to the development of novel numerical and theoretical models leading to improved understanding of the behavior of highly energetic particles and associated plasma instabilities in compact tori and spherical tokamaks".[6][8]

References

edit
  1. ^ Rosen, Raphael (September 7, 2015), "Scientists propose an explanation for puzzling electron heat loss in fusion plasmas", DOE Pulse, vol. 447, retrieved 2023-03-06
  2. ^ Rosen, Raphael (December 13, 2019), "Batten down the hatches: Preventing heat leaks to help create a star on Earth", Princeton Research, retrieved 2023-03-06
  3. ^ Scientists Propose Source of Unexplained Solar Jets (PDF), US Department of Energy Office of Science, 2021, retrieved 2023-03-06
  4. ^ "Elena Belova", People, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, retrieved 2023-03-06
  5. ^ a b Curriculum vitae (PDF), Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, retrieved 2023-03-06
  6. ^ a b c Greenwald, John (October 7, 2020), "Path-setting theoretical physicist Elena Belova elected an APS Fellow", QUEST Research Magazine, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, retrieved 2023-03-06
  7. ^ "Katherine Weimer Award Past Recipients", Honors: Division of Plasma Physics, American Physical Society, retrieved 2023-03-06
  8. ^ "Fellows nominated in 2020 by the Division of Plasma Physics", APS Fellows archive, American Physical Society, retrieved 2023-03-06
edit