Summer School on Extreme Electrodynamics and Plasma Physics – UTSA 2025

A unique educational and research opportunity to attend survey a course on the fundamentals of electrodynamics with applications to the extreme environments of neutron stars and black holes followed by an intensive course on modern plasma physics culminating in a research internship for select applicants. During the first two weeks of June 2025, this program will bring advanced undergraduate and early graduate students from a broad range of backgrounds together with world-class physicists and astronomers from SCEECS to San Antonio’s premier R1 institution UTSA.

Apply by January 30, 2025 using the SCEECS 2025 Summer School Application Form

Confer https://www.simonsceecs.com/summer-school-2025 for details.

Extreme Electrodynamics June 2-6, 2025

  1. Mathematical Methods 
  2. Introduction to Scientific Computing
    • Basic UNIX and Python 
    • High Performance Computing
    • Applications of Coding         
  3. Introduction to
    • Classical Mechanics/Lagrangian & Hamiltonian Mechanics
    • Statistical Physics/Kinetic Theory 
  4. Electromagnetism
    • Introduction
    • Radiative processes – dipole radiation 
  5. Introduction to Relativity 
  6. Astronomy
    • Neutron Stars 
    • Black Holes 
  7. Fluid Mechanics
    • Hydro and MHD equations, waves 
    • Hydro Instabilities 

Plasma Physics June 9-13, 2025

  1. Introduction to plasmas
    • Non-extreme astrophysical plasmas
    • Extreme astrophysical plasmas
    • Solar wind + Earth magnetosphere
  2. More on fluids
    • ​​ MHD instabilities 
  3. Shocks and Diffusive Shock Acceleration
  4. Motion of charged particles in EM fields
  5. Turbulence
    • ​ MHD turbulence
    •  Kinetic turbulence
  6. Magnetic reconnection
  7. Relativistic magnetospheres and flows/jets
  8. Numerical methods
  9. Laser-plasma interactions
  10. Fusion plasmas 

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Lecturers: 

Richard Anantua  (UTSA/Rice),
Roger Blandford (Stanford University),
Will Fox (Princeton University, PPPL),
Noemie Globus (IA-UNAM/Stanford University),
Sam Gralla (University of Arizona),
Hayk Hakobyan (Columbia University/PPPL),
Philipp Kempski (Princeton University),
Kris Klein (University of Arizona)
Matt Kunz (Princeton University),
Yuri Levin (Columbia University),
Amir Levinson (Tel Aviv University),
Alexander Philippov  (University of Maryland),
Jason TenBarge (Princeton University, PPPL),
Adelle Wright (University of Wisconsin-Madison),
Yajie Yuan  (Washington University in St. Louis), 
Vladimir Zhdankin (University of Wisconsin-Madison)