Prof. Uzdensky leads the Theoretical Plasma Astrophysics Group at CU. His current research focuses on Extreme Plasma Astrophysics --- studying collective plasma processes in astrophysically-relevant physical regimes where relativistic, radiation, and QED effects become important. This new frontier pioneered by D. Uzdensky is important for understanding plasma phenomena around neutron stars and accreting black holes. In particular, Prof. Uzdensky studies the fundamental dynamical aspects, nonthermal particle acceleration, and radiation signatures of relativistic magnetic reconnection and turbulence, including how these fundamental collective plasma processes are affected by radiation reaction, and their applications to pulsar and magnetar magnetospheres, pulsar wind nebulae, black-hole accretion flows, coronae, and jets, and gamma-ray bursts.
keywords
theoretical plasma physics, space physics, solar physics, plasma astrophysics, high-energy astrophysics, magnetohydrodynamics, magnetic reconnection, turbulence, relativistic plasmas, radiation processes in plasmas
