Board on Physics and Astronomy

The important questions in physics and astronomy change as we learn more about nature, and the rate of change has been increasing. The Board on Physics and Astronomy (BPA) seeks to inform the government and the public regarding important scientific opportunities and issues as well as the changing nature of science. It builds bridges between the evolving subdisciplines of physics and astronomy and between our area and other areas of science. We are successful if we help the science community and society understand what is needed to continue the advance of physics and astronomy and why doing so is important.

2. Identify trends in research and new developments at the scientific forefronts.

3. Foster interactions with other fields and cooperation among academic disciplines.

7. Encourage cooperation among federal agencies, government laboratories, and universities involved in research in physics and astronomy

Periodic assessments of major fields. By setting priorities, these surveys provide programmatic guidance to agencies. The most recent example is a survey entitled Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millenium. It assessed the current status of the field, identified new scientific directions, and set priorities for the future. Its various report products, particularly a special booklet written for a broad audience and posted on the World Wide Web, served to improve public understanding of science. A similar broadly-based assessment of physics entitled Physics in a New Era was recently completed. These assessments particularly address goals 1, 2, and 6, and, when priorities can be set, 5.
Response to particular needs and requests from federal agencies, both those that have programs of research and those that play an administrative role, such as the Office of Management and Budget. An example of this mode is the study carried out by the Committee on Organization and Management of Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics requested by the OMB. This study demonstrated the role that the BPA plays in facilitating the scientific community’s service to the nation.
Continuing surveillance of scientific progress and identification of issues and problems in various fields. Several standing committees are focused on this task. For example, the Plasma Science Committee identified the need for an intellectual framework to define the emerging field of high-energy-density physics. An ad hoc committee was formed to prepare the report, Frontiers in High Energy Density Physics: The X-Games of Contemporary Science.
Cross-disciplinary studies of special areas that lie in the intersection of several disciplines. Such studies address objective 3, but they generally also treat 1 and 2 and possibly others. A particularly effective example is the Connecting Quarks with the Cosmos study. These studies tend to call for cooperation among several federal agencies.
Many scientific assessments address the benefits that accrue to society through technology development that follows from the pursuit of science. Several of the studies fostered by the Solid State Sciences Committee have this character, such as The Physics of Materials: How Science Improves Our Lives. A number of reports on fusion science also address societal benefits.