Adam Sefkow

Dr. Adam Sefkow is an assistant professor at the University of Rochester, with a secondary appointment as a senior scientist at the Laboratory of Laser Energetics. He earned his B.A. in physics with honors from Northwestern University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in plasma physics from Princeton University. Before joining the University of Rochester in 2016, he was a principal member of the technical staff in the Pulsed Power Sciences Center at Sandia National Laboratories. His primary research interest is to improve predictive capability in computational plasma physics. Prof. Sefkow has made scientific contributions to magneto-inertial fusion, direct- and indirect-drive ICF, short-pulse and long-pulse laser-plasma interaction physics, and intense charged-particle beam transport. He currently leads the development effort of a particle-based hybrid fluid-kinetic multiphysics simulation code. He has authored or co-authored over 100 papers and has served as a reviewer and committee member for numerous journals, agencies, and conferences. Prof. Sefkow received the DOE Office of Science Early Career Research Program Award, the Fusion Power AssociatesExcellence in Fusion Engineering Award, and the National Nuclear Security Administration Defense Programs Award of Excellence, in recognition of his scientific contributions on a range of topics. 

LaserNetUS Affiliations:

• LaserNetUS Simulation Group Committee
   

Featured Publications:

1. Experimental demonstration of >20 kJ laser energy coupling in 1-cm hydrocarbon-filled gas pipe targets via inverse Bremsstrahlung absorption with application to MagLIF

B. B. Pollock, et al., Physics of Plasmas 30, 022711 (2023).

https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0120916

2. Plasma Science: Enabling Technology, Sustainability, Security, and Exploration

M. J. Kushner, et al., National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2020).

http://dx.doi.org/10.17226/25802

3. Laser-direct-drive program: Promise, challenge, and path forward

E. M. Campbell, et al., Matter and Radiation at Extremes 2, 37 (2017).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mre.2017.03.001

4. Use of external magnetic fields in hohlraum plasmas to improve laser-coupling

D. S. Montgomery, et al., Physics of Plasmas 22, 010703 (2015).

https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4906055

5. Design of magnetized liner inertial fusion experiments using the Z facility

A. B. Sefkow, et al., Physics of Plasmas 21, 072711 (2014).

https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4890298