Friction in strongly coupled and strongly magnetized plasmas

Like all matter, plasmas are composed of microscopic particles. Inter-particle interactions are the basis for complex macroscopic plasma phenomena observed in experiments such as those on fusion energy or antimatter traps. Key aspects of these interactions are described by the friction force, which is the average force on a particle exerted by the rest of the plasma. The friction provides deeper insight into the collisions between particles that drive macroscopic phenomena, and has direct applications such as in fusion experiments. This dissertation concerns the evaluation of the friction force under conditions where plasmas are ill-characterized, namely when they are sufficiently cold or dense (such as in ultra-cold plasma experiments, some fusion experiments, and neutron star crusts) and/or when strong magnetic fields are applied (such as in antimatter traps). Conventional theory is not suited to treat these conditions, making computer simulations a useful tool to better understand them. In this work, the friction is explored with first-principles supercomputer simulations and theory. As presented in this dissertation, the aforementioned conditions are found to significantly affect the friction force. Novel methods for inferring macroscopic behavior from the friction force that may be useful in future experiments are demonstrated.