After completing his PhD at Princeton University, Dr. Qian arrived at UW–Madison as a recipient of the Anna Julia Cooper fellowship, where he collaborated with professors Jorge and Forest. He joined the department as an assistant professor in August 2026.
Please give an overview of your research
My research investigates the physics of plasmas and nuclear fusion. I am an experimental physicist who builds fusion machines. In the past, I have worked with the Levitated Dipole Experiment, the Princeton Field Reverse Configuration, and the C2-W experiment at Tri Alpha Energy. More recently, I helped build the permanent magnet stellarator MUSE and the HTS axisymmetric mirror WHAM.
I am interested in combining mirrors and stellarators in a new way. Stellarators have the best confinement at long pulse, and mirrors have the simplest geometry for magnetic confinement. Is there a way to combine them? If so, we may be able to design a new type of fusion machine that has both high energy confinement (the ratio of plasma energy over power input) and high magnetic efficiency (beta, the ratio of plasma pressure to magnetic pressure that measures magnetic efficiency), for the first time. My group is investigating the experimental and theoretical physics of this path.
What are one or two main projects you’ll have your group focus on first?
We are building a new experiment at UW–Madison, SLAM (Stellarators-Linking-Axisymmetric-Mirrors), which involves several projects. On the lab side, we are developing microwave heating systems to create high energy electrons, and radiofrequency heating to create high density plasma. We are also developing plasma diagnostics using electrodes, magnetic sensors, and lasers; and we are assembling power supplies, electromagnetic coils, and permanent magnets for plasma shaping. On the theory side, our projects include stellarator optimization, MHD equilibrium and stability, PIC simulation of a magnetic mirror embedded in a closed-field-line torus, and neutronics simulations for fusion blankets and coil shields.
What attracted you to Madison and the university?
Madison has more plasma experiments than any city in North America.
Today the diverse family of experiments includes: MST (Madison Symmetric Torus) – one of the world’s largest Reversed-Field-Pinches, Pegasus – the largest operating spherical tokamak in the United States, WHAM – the fusion experiment with the highest magnetic field (and first to use HTS with MW plasma heating), and HSX (the world’s first quasisymmetric stellarator, and the largest stellarator in the United States). Madison also has several fascinating non-fusion plasma experiments, including the Big Red Ball astrophysics laboratory and the wake-field-accelerator prototype AWAKE.
Historically, Madison has pioneered physics discovery in octupoles and tandem mirrors and spherical electrostatic plasma traps. This confluence of present and past expertise makes UW the ideal place to test new fusion ideas. Building a lab at UW–Madison is like growing plants in a tropical rain forest. There is a deep and rich topsoil, overflowing with “nutritious” power electronics, plasma diagnostics, and plasma heating hardware – not to mention the wealth of human expertise. But one must not take this for granted. I will work hard to contribute to and continue this tradition at UW–Madison.
What is your favorite element and/or elementary particle?
I would like to describe the neutron, which is neither an element nor an elementary particle.
Neutrons are the glue that hold atomic nuclei together. A world without neutrons would not have any large atomic elements. If the neutron were an element, it would be element zero. But the neutron does not exist alone in nature. While neutrons sit stably in every atom, isolated neutrons decay in about 10 minutes. This process, known as beta-decay, was our first clue to the existence of the mysterious little neutrino (about which, a UW Physics professor recently received the Nobel prize).
Neutrons are the primary product of fusion. Most people want to use neutrons to heat water for energy. I think, if we solve the fusion problem, we can apply it to more creative purposes than boiling water. More imaginative uses for the fusion neutron include: making medicine (pharmaceutical radio-isotopes), recycle nuclear waste (reacting the left overs of fission, while creating energy in the process), and more recently alchemy (transmuting mercury into gold! while producing more neutrons). Of course, one can also use neutrons to do the more traditional thing, generating electric power and heat.
What hobbies and interests do you have?
I love music and language. The stellarator-mirror-hybrid group has a lab piano, which one of our Researchers found (and refurbished) from a UW Music Department sale on SWAP. Anyone in the Physics department is welcome to play! Just come by our lab in 1205 Chamberlin Hall (and please be mindful of others during working hours). It’s a nice break from the lab. In my leisure time, I also enjoy translating poetry and song lyrics across languages.