WALTER GEKELMAN

Walter Gekelman is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UCLA where he has been since 1974. He received a BS in physics from Brooklyn College in 1966 and a Ph.D. in experimental plasma physics at Stevens Institute of Technology in 1972. As a graduate student he built a Barium Q-machine and developed optical systems for spectroscopic measurements related to the current-driven (ion-cyclotron) instability. Before joining UCLA he was a guest scientist at the Instituto Ellectrotechnico Nazionale in Torino, Italy, where he constructed a "plasma focus" device and used X-ray photography, X-ray scintillators, and neutron detectors to study the plasma dynamics of the device.

At UCLA Gekelman has developed three different plasma devices, each becoming progressively larger and more sophisticated technologically to solve problems at the frontier of basic plasma research. The first device, named SCAMP (Source Chamber and Magnetized Plasma) was utilized to make the first measurement of the linear dispersion relation of lower-hybrid waves, and the discovery of nonlinear effects associated with the ponderomotive force of the related resonance cones. The device was also used to study the turbulence that develops when a current flows through a collisionless plasma and resulted in the first experiment to illustrate the three dimensional nature of ion-acoustic turbulence and the scattering it produces on test particles. The next device, built jointly by Gekelman and Prof. R. Stenzel, required the development of a one-meter oxide cathode to generate a large volume plasma. An intensive effort spanning several years led to the most comprehensive laboratory study of reconnection processes and the first observation of tearing of a current sheet. The results were reported in several publications that are extensively quoted by experts in the reconnection area.

Gekelman obtained substantial extramural and university resources and over a period of 4.5 years led a team of undergraduate and graduate students in the construction of the Large Plasma Device (LAPD). This is widely perceived as the premier machine for basic plasma studies and is presently yielding important insight into basic processes observed in space by rockets and spacecraft. In 1997 this effort culminated in an MRI award by the NSF in which Gekelman was PI. The device will completed in the Early Spring of 2001, and is expected to become a National User Facility for basic Plasma Research.

During the reconnection phase of his research Gekelman pioneered the use of computer visualization techniques in plasma physics in order to elucidate the complex three dimensional structures that are hidden in very large data sets. This has been a topic of great interest to Gekelman and he has lead various efforts in this area including the development of a visualization center at UCLA. He is presently co-PI in a NSF-sponsored interdisciplinary project to develop real-time analysis of complicated data sets. Gekelman has published several papers in this area including an educational CD-ROM entitled "Relativistic City" in which the subtleties of special relativity are illustrated.

As coordinator for computing Gekelman was responsible for laying the early foundations for effective computation in the physical sciences at UCLA. In this capacity Gekelman developed extensive contacts with industrial partners and secured significant computing resources for UCLA.

Gekelman has deep interest in improving the level of science education and is leading various efforts in this area. The most significant is the creation in 1993 of the LAPTAG outreach project involving high school teachers and students in thirty two institutions in the Los Angeles basin. Gekelman participates in various groups charting new directions in this area. Walter Gekelman has been a consultant for TRW and SAIC and has served on NASA and DOE panels.

Recent Professional and Committee Service:

Executive Committee of the Division of Plasma Physics of the American Physical society 1997-present

American Physical Society DPP educational outreach committee 1998-present

Academic Coordinator for Computing at UCLA 1989 - 1992 Chair, UCLA Academic Senate Computing Committee 1987-1989

Design and Construction of UCLA Visualization Center 1990 Task force on Academic Computing (UC Systemwide) 1987-1990

IAGA Reporter Review on Laboratory and Active Experiments 1993 Organizer of IPELS (Inter-relationship of Plasma Experiments in the Laboratory and Space) Maui, Hawaii, 1997

Significant publications:

"Experimental Observations of Shear Alfven Waves Generated by Narrow Current Channels", W. Gekelman, S. Vincena, and D. Leneman, Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. 39, 101 (1997)

"Observation of Whistler Wave Mode Conversion to Lower Hybrid Waves at a Density Striation", J.F. Bamber, W. Gekelman and J.E. Maggs, Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, 2990 (1994)

"Experimental Observations of the Tearing of and Electron Current Sheet", W. Gekelman and H. Pfister, Phys. Fluids, 31, 2017 (1988)

"Measurement and Instability Analysis of 3-D Anisotropic Electron Distribution Functions," W. Gekelman and R. L. Stenzel, Phys. Rev. Lett. 54, 2414 (1985).

"Magnetic Field Line Reconnection Experiments, Part 6 Magnetic Turbulence," W. Gekelman and R.L. Stenzel, J. Geophys. Res. 89, 2715 (1984).

"Localized Fields and Density Perturbations Due to Self-Focusing of Nonlinear Lower-Hybrid Waves", W. Gekelman and R. L. Stenzel, Phys. Rev. Lett., 35, 1708 (1975).

Associated graduate students and postdoctoral scholars (past 5 years):

H. Pfister, J. F. Bamber, D. Leneman, S. Vincena, S. Rosenberg, C. Mitchell, N. Palmer, A. Burke, M. Gilmore

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