Skip to Main Content
  • About
    • About NERS
    • Message from the Chair
    • Facts & Figures
    • Department Publications
    • Student Societies
    • Visit Us
    • Contact Us
  • Events
    • Events
    • All Events
  • News
    • News Stories
    • In the News
  • Research
    • Research
    • Research Areas
      • Research Areas
      • Areas of Impact
      • Fission Systems and Radiation Transport
      • Materials and Radiation Effects
      • Radiation Measurement and Imaging
      • Plasmas and Nuclear Fusion
    • Labs and Facilities
      • Labs and Facilities
      • Fission Systems and Radiation Transport Labs
      • Materials & Radiation Effects Labs
      • Radiation Measurement and Imaging Labs
      • Plasmas and Nuclear Fusion Labs
    • Get Involved
      • Get Involved
      • Undergraduate Research Advice
  • Academics
    • Academics
    • Undergraduate
      • Undergraduate
      • Undergraduate Program
      • Planning Guide
      • Degree Requirements
      • Objectives and Outcomes
      • Degree Options
      • Advising
      • Scholarship Opportunities
      • Visiting and Admissions
    • Graduate
      • Graduate Program
      • Research Options
      • Requirements and Policies
      • Medical Physics Certificate
      • Funding
      • GSI Positions
      • Admissions
      • Visiting
      • Undergraduate Preparation
      • Graduate Contacts
    • Courses, Times & Locations
  • People
    • Faculty
      • All Faculty
      • Core Faculty
      • Research Faculty
      • Adjunct Faculty
      • Emeritus Faculty
    • Staff
      • All Staff
      • Administrative Staff
      • Student Support
      • Technical Support Staff
    • Directory
  • Careers
    • Careers
    • About the Field
      • About the Field
      • Sustainable Energy
      • Professional Resources
    • Who Hires Nuclear Engineers?
    • Resumé Book
  • Giving
    • Giving
    • Support NERS
  • Info for You
    • Prospective Students
    • Current Students
    • Alumni
    • Corporate Partners
    • Media
Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences
Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences
Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences
CONNECT WITH US:
About
Research
Academics
People
Careers
Giving
  • About
    • Message from the Chair
    • Facts & Figures
    • Department Publications
    • Student Societies
    • Explore Undergraduate Majors
    • Reporting concerns and misconduct
    • Contact Us
  • Research
    • Research Areas
    • Labs and Facilities
    • Get Involved
  • News
    • NERS News
    • In the News
  • Academics
    • Undergraduate
    • Graduate
    • Courses, Times & Locations
    • Course Descriptions
  • Events
    • Colloquia Listing
  • People
    • All Faculty
    • Core Faculty
    • Research Faculty
    • Adjunct Faculty
    • Emeritus Faculty
    • Staff
    • Directory
  • Careers
    • Faculty Positions
    • About the Field
    • Who Hires Nuclear Engineers?
    • Resumé Book
  • Giving
    • Support NERS
  • Info for You
    • Prospective Students
    • Current Students
    • Alumni
    • Corporate Partners
    • Media
Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences > People > Faculty > Core Faculty > Alec Thomas

Alec Thomas

Professor, Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

NERS

6108 ERB

agrt@umich.edu

(734) 763-6008

Related Links
  • Michigan Institute for Plasma Science and Engineering
Education Research Interests Biography Awards Publications

Education:

Imperial College London
Diploma of Imperial College ’07
PhD Plasma Physics ’07
MSci (Honors) Physics (First Class) ’02

Research Interests: ^top

  • Laser-Plasma Interactions: Ultra-high intensity laser-plasma interactions, compact laser-plasma based particle accelerators, particle-in-cell simulation, laser propagation in plasma at high intensity, inertial confinement fusion, Vlasov-Fokker-Planck modeling, non-local transport and magnetized plasmas.
  • Compact Radiation Sources: Laser-plasma radiation sources, radiation reaction force at high field strengths, radiation generation computational modeling.

Biography: ^top

Professor Thomas works in experimental and theoretical plasma physics. His research is focused on the physics and applications of high power laser interactions with plasma. When heated by lasers, highly non-equilibrium states of matter arise, where complex behavior such as collective wave-particle interactions is prevalent and only full kinetic descriptions of the particle distribution are valid. Light and plasma couple together strongly, leading to instabilities and nonlinear wave formation. At the highest intensities, quantum electrodynamic effects become important in determining the plasma dynamics. Applications of intense laser driven plasma include advanced, miniature particle accelerators, next generation photon sources and inertial fusion energy. Professor Thomas is part of the Center for Ultrafast Optical Science High Field Science group, using the HERCULES and Lambda-cubed very high power laser systems for investigating the physics of relativistic plasma.

Awards: ^top

  • Young Investigator Program
    Air Force Office of Scientific Research, 2012
  • Faculty Early Career Development Program
    National Science Foundation, 2011
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship (declined)
    NSERC of Canada, 2008
  • PhD Research Award
    European Physical Society, Plasma Physics Division, 2007
  • First Place for LIDAR Technologies, Imperial College Entrepreneurs’ Challenge
    2002

Publications: ^top

For a full list of Prof. Thomas’s publications, please see his CV.

  • Z. H. He, B. Hou, V. Lebailly, J. A. Nees, K. Krushelnick, and A. G. R. Thomas, Coherent control of plasma dynamics, Nat. Comms. 6, 7156 (2015).
  • P. Zhang, C. P. Ridgers, and A. G. R. Thomas, The effect of nonlinear quantum electrody- namics on relativistic transparency and laser absorption in ultra-relativistic plasmas, New J. Phys. 17, 043051 (2015).
  • Z. H. He, J. A. Nees, B. Hou, K. Krushelnick, and A. G. R. Thomas, Ionization-Induced Self- Compression of Tightly Focused Femtosecond Laser Pulses, Physical Review Letters 113 (2014).
  • A. S. Joglekar, A. G. R. Thomas, W. Fox, and A. Bhattacharjee, Magnetic Reconnection in Plasma under Inertial Confinement Fusion Conditions Driven by Heat Flux Effects in Ohm’s Law, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 105004 (2014).
  • Z. H. He, A. G. R. Thomas, B. Beaurepaire, J. A. Nees, B. Hou, V. Malka, K. Krushelnick, and J. Faure, Electron diffraction using ultrafast electron bunches from a laser-wakefield accelerator at kHz repetition rate, Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 064104 (2013).
  • A. G. R. Thomas, C. P. Ridgers, S. S. Bulanov, B. J. Griffin, and S. P. D. Mangles, Strong Radiation-Damping Effects in a Gamma-Ray Source Generated by the Interaction of a High-Intensity Laser with a Wakefield-Accelerated Electron Beam, Phys. Rev. X 2, 041004 (2012).
  • A. G. R. Thomas, M. Tzoufras, A. P. L. Robinson, R. J. Kingham, C. P. Ridgers, M. Sherlock, and A. R. Bell, A review of Vlasov-Fokker-Planck numerical modeling of inertial confinement fusion plasma, J. Comput. Phys. 231, 1051 (2012).
  • A. G. R. Thomas, Scalings for radiation from plasma bubbles, Phys. Plasmas 17, 056708 (2010).
  • C. McGuffey, A. G. R. Thomas, W. Schumaker, T. Matsuoka, V. Chvykov, F. J. Dollar, G. Kalintchenko, V. Yanovsky, A. Maksimchuk, K. Krushelnick, V. Y. Bychenkov, I. V. Glazyrin, and A. V. Karpeev, Ionization Induced Trapping in a Laser Wakefield Accelerator, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 025004 (2010).
  • A. G. R. Thomas, Z. Najmudin, S. P. D. Mangles, C. D. Murphy, A. E. Dangor, C. Kamperidis, K. L. Lancaster, W. B. Mori, P. A. Norreys, W. Rozmus, and K. Krushelnick, Effect of laser- focusing conditions on propagation and monoenergetic electron production in laser-wakefield accelerators, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 095004 (2007).
People
  • People
    • All Faculty
      • Core Faculty
      • Research Faculty
      • Adjunct Faculty
      • Emeritus Faculty
    • Staff
      • Administrative Staff
      • Student Support
      • Technical Support
    • Directory
Research Area
  • Fission Systems & Radiation Transport
  • Materials & Radiation Effects
  • Medical Physics
  • Plasmas & Nuclear Fusion
  • Radiation Measurement & Imaging
Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences
NERS

Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences
1906 Cooley Bldg.
2355 Bonisteel Blvd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2104
Phone: (734) 764-4260
Fax: (734) 763-4540
Give to NERS »

  • Michigan Engineering
    • About the College
    • Research
    • Academics
    • Admissions
    • Departments
    • Giving
Follow The College

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

LinkedIn

YouTube

ALWAYS INNOVATING. FOREVER VALIANT.

The Michigan Engineering Bicentennial Web Project is a multimedia story collection.
See all stories »

  • © The Regents of the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA
  • Privacy Policy
  • NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY
  • Campus Safety
  • U-M Home
  • Give Feedback