Name: Vladimir Zhdankin ’11, PhD ’15
Title, including department and school you work in: Assistant professor in the physics department, College of Letters & Science
Hometown: I grew up in Duluth, MN.
Educational/professional background: PhD at UW-Madison (2015), postdoctoral appointments at JILA / University of Colorado Boulder (2015-2018), Princeton University (2018-2021), and the Flatiron Institute in New York (2021-2023)
What is your field of research, and how did you get into it? Plasma astrophysics, which involves understanding the physics of ionized matter in the Universe (including stars, the interstellar and intergalactic media, and black-hole accretion disks). I got into it because I was excited by the many basic, unsolved problems in this field, such as: what processes are responsible for accelerating the most energetic particles in the Universe, which travel at nearly the speed of light? (we believe the answer involves plasma, magnetic fields, and turbulence) I was also impressed by numerical simulations and calculations done by researchers in the field.
What attracted you to UW-Madison? The community, culture, location, and resources
What was your first visit to campus like? I first visited long ago as a student, when I knew very little. I was amazed by the size and energy of the campus, and the dairy culture.
What’s the most important lesson you wish to convey to students? Learning will enrich your life, regardless of how you use this knowledge.
Does your work relate in any way to the Wisconsin Idea? If so, please describe how. Plasma physics has an enormous importance for society, with applications ranging from plasma etching to nuclear fusion. I study fundamental processes in plasmas, which may be useful for areas outside of astrophysics, including the development of future technologies.
What’s something interesting about your area of expertise you can share that will make us sound smarter at parties? Nearly everything that we can directly observe in the Universe is in a plasma state. Some of the most extreme plasmas occur around neutron stars and black holes. In these cases, the plasmas are often made of electrons and positrons (antielectrons): they would quickly annihilate into radiated energy if not for the fact that collisions between pairs of particles is extremely rare at those low densities and high temperatures!
Hobbies/other interests: running, hiking, skiing, racquet sports, cooking chili