FTPP Researcher Eva Kostadinova Joins $30 Million NSF-Funded Turbulence Research Center
Eva Kostadinova, an FTPP researcher and associate professor of physics at Auburn University, is contributing to a major new research effort focused on one of science’s most complex problems: turbulence.
Kostadinova is a co-investigator on Transformative Explorations in Multi-Physics and Engineering of Scientific Turbulence (TEMPEST), a new National Science Foundation (NSF) Science and Technology Center led by Michigan State University. The center is supported by a $30 million NSF award and brings together researchers from eight universities and several national laboratories to better understand, predict and ultimately control turbulence.
Turbulence is found throughout the natural world, from atmospheric storms and ocean currents to plasmas in extreme environments. Because turbulent systems involve complex interactions across many different scales, predicting their behavior remains a major challenge in science and engineering.
TEMPEST will bring together physicists, mathematicians, engineers and artificial intelligence researchers to study turbulence through theory, computation, experimentation and data-driven approaches.
Researchers will work to develop predictive models that can be applied to real-world challenges in areas such as energy, aerospace, transportation and advanced manufacturing.
Bringing Plasma Physics Into the Study of Turbulence
Kostadinova’s research sits at the intersection of plasma physics, applied mathematics, fractional calculus and data-driven modeling. As an associate professor in Auburn University’s Department of Physics, with an affiliate appointment in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, she studies complex plasma systems and the ways energy moves through them.
Her research group uses dusty plasma as an experimental platform for studying collective behavior. Unlike many plasma systems, individual particles in dusty plasma can be directly observed, allowing researchers to reconstruct the system’s kinetic phase space and examine how particles interact.
A major focus of Kostadinova’s work is understanding energy transport and interactions across different scales in three-dimensional dusty plasma clouds and two-dimensional monolayers. Her research examines both forward and inverse energy cascades, providing insight into how energy moves through turbulent systems.
To study these complex dynamics, Kostadinova uses a Fractional Laplacian Spectral (FLS) approach, which combines spectral theory and fractional calculus to model anomalous transport and stochastic behavior. Her expertise in these areas provides an important connection between fundamental plasma physics, mathematics and the broader study of turbulence.
A Collaborative Approach to a Complex Problem
Kostadinova’s participation in TEMPEST reflects the center’s interdisciplinary approach. Rather than studying turbulence from a single perspective, researchers will combine observations, mathematical theory, computational modeling, experimentation and artificial intelligence to better understand how turbulent systems develop and change.
The center includes researchers from Michigan State University, Auburn University, Baylor University, Georgia Institute of Technology, San José State University, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, the University of Rochester and Yale University. Partners also include Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Pacific Fusion and General Atomics.
The goal is to move beyond simply describing turbulence toward developing models that can accurately predict its behavior and, eventually, help researchers control turbulent systems. TEMPEST will also make research data and software broadly available and support educational programs designed to introduce students to the science and applications of turbulence.
Connecting Research Through FTPP
Kostadinova is also connected to the Future Technologies and enabling Plasma Processes (FTPP) program through the program’s Leadership Shadow team. The team brings together newly tenured and research faculty who participate in team management activities designed to build leadership and organizational skills.
Her involvement in TEMPEST highlights the broad collaborative research community connected through FTPP and the ways faculty expertise in plasma physics can contribute to larger interdisciplinary efforts.
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