Russell M. Kulsrud (born 10 April 1928 in Lindsborg, Kansas) is an American physicist who specializes in plasma physics and astrophysics.[1]

Russell M. Kulsrud
Born (1928-04-10) April 10, 1928 (age 96)
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of Maryland (B.A.)
University of Chicago (M.S., Ph.D.)
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsPlasma physics
Thesis Effect of Magnetic Fields on Generation of Noise by Isotropic Turbulence  (1954)
Doctoral advisorSubrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Doctoral studentsTroy Carter
Websitetheory.pppl.gov/people/profile.php?pid=3&n=Russell-KulsrudBiography

Kulsrud studied at the University of Maryland where he received his bachelor's degree in 1949, and then at the University of Chicago, where he completed his master's degree in 1952 and received his doctorate from Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar in 1954 (Effect of Magnetic Fields on Generation of Noise by Isotropic Turbulence). From 1954, he was in the Matterhorn Nuclear Fusion Project at Princeton University and subsequently at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. In 1964, he became head of the theoretical department. In 1966, he and his wife Helene Kulsrud moved to Yale University where he became a professor.[2] He returned to Princeton University as Professor of Astrophysical Sciences in 1967, where he remained until he retired in 2004.[3][4]

In 1993, he received the James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics for "his pioneering contributions to basic plasma theory, to the physics of magnetically confined plasmas, and to plasma astrophysics. His important work en-compasses plasma equilibria and stability, adiabatic invariance, ballooning modes, runaway electrons, colliding beams, spin-polarized plasmas, and cosmic-ray instabilities".[5]

Books

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  • Plasma Physics for Astrophysics. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J. 2004, ISBN 978-0-691-12073-7.

References

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  1. ^ Kulsrud, R. M. (2005). Plasma physics for astrophysics. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-10267-8. OCLC 54529014.
  2. ^ "Yale adding husband, wife team to staff". Hartford Courant. 1966-04-06. p. 21. Retrieved 2022-04-01.
  3. ^ "Kulsrud, R. M." history.aip.org. Retrieved 2020-02-23.
  4. ^ "Russell M Kulsrud | Princeton Plasma Physics Lab". www.pppl.gov. Retrieved 2020-02-23.
  5. ^ "1993 James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics Recipient". www.aps.org. Retrieved 2020-02-23.