What Are Suitable Plasma Physics Project Ideas for an Undergraduate?

[patrykh18]

Summary:: I am looking for topics to give a presentation on.

Hi everyone. If this is in the wrong section feel free to move it.

Anyway, as part of our lab course, on top of doing experiments we will also have to prepare a 20 minute presentation on a chosen topic on physics. This is not like a final year project. We have much less time to do it and we don't have to write a report on it. I'm brainstorming ideas right now. I would like to do my project on plasma physics.

While coding is not required, I'm thinking of doing a computational project. I am an undergraduate student who is not yet in his final year. Hence the project should not be way above my level. In fact we will have about two weeks to prepare the project, so it should be hard enough to help me learn something new, but easy enough that I can do it in those two weeks. I should also point out that we have not covered plasma physics as part of our degree so I have very limited knowledge of the topic.

Thank you in advance for the help.

 

[ZapperZ]

So what is boils down to here is that you want to do a project on something that you know absolutely nothing about.

Is that an accurate description of the situation?

Zz.

 

[patrykh18]

So what is boils down to here is that you want to do a project on something that you know absolutely nothing about.

Is that an accurate description of the situation?

Zz.

Yes, but I reckoned there would be no point in doing a project on a topic I know cause I'm not learning anything new that way.

 

[ZapperZ]

Yes, but I reckoned there would be no point in doing a project on a topic I know cause I'm not learning anything new that way.

But there is no need to go to the extreme on either direction. You can also choose a topic in which you have a passing knowledge, or maybe have looked into but not as closely as you would have liked. At the very least, you have a clue on what it is, on how difficult it will be, and what kind of expectations you might get out of it, rather than blindly dive into something completely new.

Plasma physics, even computationally, is not a walk in the park!

Zz.

 

[patrykh18]

But there is no need to go to the extreme on either direction. You can also choose a topic in which you have a passing knowledge, or maybe have looked into but not as closely as you would have liked. At the very least, you have a clue on what it is, on how difficult it will be, and what kind of expectations you might get out of it, rather than blindly dive into something completely new.

Plasma physics, even computationally, is not a walk in the park!

Zz.

That's alright. I'll definitely keep that in mind when choosing a project. Thank you for the help.

 

[berkeman]

I'm brainstorming ideas right now. I would like to do my project on plasma physics.

While coding is not required, I'm thinking of doing a computational project. I am an undergraduate student who is not yet in his final year. Hence the project should not be way above my level. In fact we will have about two weeks to prepare the project, so it should be hard enough to help me learn something new, but easy enough that I can do it in those two weeks. I should also point out that we have not covered plasma physics as part of our degree so I have very limited of the topic.

Plasma physics, even computationally, is not a walk in the park!

I'm with @ZapperZ on this, but I've always had an interest in plasma physics and fusion, so I can identify with your passion and interest.

I agree with Zz that you should look for a simpler project (and I'll keep thinking of things to recommend), but I'd definitely recommend that you get yourself a copy of this book (check it out at your uni library to look over, and buy it if it looks like your passion). It's pretty fundamental to plasma physics and fusion, and will start to give you an idea (and motivation) about what your are going to be studying and working with. If you open this book and get goosebumps, that is a good thing. If you open it and think WTH, it may be time to move on to a different passion...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/3319223089/?tag=pfamazon01-20