Laszlo Bardoczi

László Bardóczi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. He assumed this role in January 2023 after serving as a scientist at General Atomics in San Diego, California, from 2018 to 2023. Bardóczi earned his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2017, where he researched neoclassical tearing modes and plasma turbulence under the supervision of Troy A. Carter. He also holds both a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Budapest University of Technology and Economics, completed in 2012 and 2010, respectively.

Bardóczi’s research focuses on plasma physics, particularly on neoclassical tearing modes and their interaction with plasma turbulence and magnetic islands. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Nuclear Fusion, Physics of Plasmas, and Physical Review Letters. His work has been recognized with several awards, including the Simonyi Károly Award for fusion energy research in 2018 and the Torkil Jensen Award for an innovative experimental science proposal in 2017. Bardóczi has also delivered invited talks at prominent conferences, such as the American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics meetings.

At the University of California, Irvine, Bardóczi teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses, including "Plasma Instabilities" and "Physics for the Life Sciences." He has been involved in mentoring students and has served in various leadership roles, such as leading the Neoclassical Tearing Mode research group and acting as the lead magnetic diagnostician at General Atomics. Bardóczi also contributes to the scientific community by serving as a referee for several journals and participating in international collaborations focused on plasma stability and fusion energy research.

Areas of Expertise

• Plasma Physics
• Neoclassical Tearing Modes
• Magnetic Island Dynamics
• Fusion Energy Research
• Tokamak Plasma Experiments
• Plasma Confinement
• Turbulence in Fusion Plasmas
• Fast Ion Transport
• Magnetic Diagnostics
• Electron Cyclotron Current Drive

Distinctions

• Simonyi Károly Award as recognition for activities in fusion energy research, Budapest, 2018
• Torkil Jensen Award for Innovative Experimental Science Proposal for DIII-D, General Atomics, 2017
• Snyder Award of the Best Theory-Experiment Comparison, General Atomics, 2016
• Best Student Presentation Prize, Transport Task Force Workshop, Denver, 2016
• Graduate Student Research Fellowship, UCLA, Department of Physics and Astronomy, 2012
• Best Student of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, 2010
• The Most Successful Student Researcher, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, 2009

Recent Publications

• Bardóczi L., Dudkovskaia A., Logan N.C., Richner N.J., Brown A.C., Callen J.D., La Haye R.J., Strait E.J., “Tearing stable stationary ITER baseline operation in DIII-D”, Nuclear Fusion, vol. 65, 2025.
• L. Bardóczi, A. Dudkovskaia, R.J. La Haye, J.D. Callen, C. Chrystal, “Perturbed Ion Temperature and Toroidal Flow Profile Measurements in Rotating Neoclassical Tearing Mode Magnetic Islands”, Physical Review Letters, vol. 132, no. 6, pp. 065107, 2024.
• L. Bardóczi, R.J. La Haye, E.J. Strait, N.C. Logan, S.P. Smith, N.J. Richner, “Direct preemptive stabilization of neoclassical tearing modes by electron cyclotron current drive in the DIII-D low-torque ITER baseline scenario”, Nuclear Fusion, vol. 63, no. 9, pp. 096021, 2023.
• L. Bardóczi, N.J. Richner, J. Zhu, C. Rea, N.C. Logan, “Empirical probability and machine learning analysis of m, n= 2, 1 tearing mode onset parameter dependence in DIII-D H-mode scenarios”, Physics of Plasmas, vol. 30, no. 9, 2023.
• L. Bardóczi, N.J. Richner, N.C. Logan, “The onset distribution of rotating tearing modes and its consequences on the stability of high-confinement- mode plasmas in DIII-D”, Nuclear Fusion, vol. 63, no. 12, pp. 126052, 2023.
• L. Bardóczi, T.E. Evans, “Experimental Observation of Magnetic Island Heteroclinic Bifurcation in Tokamaks”, Physical Review Letters, vol. 126, no. 8, pp. 085003, 2021.
• L. Bardóczi, T.E. Evans, “Experimental signatures of electron cyclotron wave energy condensation in magnetic islands”, Nuclear Fusion, vol. 61, no. 7, pp. 074001, 2021.
• L. Bardóczi, N.C. Logan, E.J. Strait, “Neoclassical Tearing Mode Seeding by Nonlinear Three-Wave Interactions in Tokamaks”, Physical Review Letters, vol. 127, no. 5, pp. 055002, 2021.
• Bardóczi L., Evans T.E., “Experimental inference of flux tunneling between magnetic island chains in tokamaks”, Nuclear Fusion, vol. 61, 2021.

Most Cited Publications

• L. Bardóczi, T.L. Rhodes, T.A. Carter, A. Banon Navarro, W.A. Peebles, “Modulation of core turbulent density fluctuations by large-scale neoclassical tearing mode islands in the DIII-D tokamak”, Physical Review Letters, vol. 116, no. 21, pp. 215001, 2016.
• L. Bardóczi, T.L. Rhodes, T.A. Carter, N.A. Crocker, W.A. Peebles, B.A. Grierson, “Non-perturbative measurement of cross-field thermal diffusivity reduction at the O-point of 2/1 neoclassical tearing mode islands in the DIII-D tokamak”, Physics of Plasmas, vol. 23, no. 5, 2016.
• L. Bardóczi, T.L. Rhodes, A. Bañón Navarro, C. Sung, T.A. Carter, R.J. La Haye, “Multi-field/-scale interactions of turbulence with neoclassical tearing mode magnetic islands in the DIII-D tokamak”, Physics of Plasmas, vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 056106, 2017.
• L. Bardóczi, N.C. Logan, E.J. Strait, “Neoclassical Tearing Mode Seeding by Nonlinear Three-Wave Interactions in Tokamaks”, Physical Review Letters, vol. 127, no. 5, pp. 055002, 2021.
• L. Bardóczi, T.A. Carter, R.J. La Haye, T.L. Rhodes, G.R. McKee, “Impact of neoclassical tearing mode–turbulence multi-scale interaction in global confinement degradation and magnetic island stability”, Physics of Plasmas, vol. 24, no. 12, 2017.