Plasma 2010: An Assessment of and Outlook for Plasma Science

Final Report The Plasma 2010 Committee released the unedited, prepublication version of its final report, “Plasma Science: Advancing Knowledge in the National Interest” Tuesday, May 29 at 10:00 a.m. EDT! Links: Plasma Science: Advancing Knowledge in the National Interest, National Academies Press (2007) Briefing Presentation Press Release

Summary

An assessment of plasma science in the United States is being conducted as part of the decadal assessment and outlook, Physics 2010. Since publication of the previous decadal study of this area in 1995, the field has undergone rapid advances and significant changes—ranging from a refocused mission of the DOE fusion science program to new plasma processing technologies arriving in the commercial marketplace to significant advances in understanding how to confine plasmas. A new field called high-energy-density physics has been defined that foretells new connections between astrophysical phenomena and laboratory experiments. It is timely and important to identify the compelling science opportunities in plasma science and to frame a strategy for realizing them. Also, recommendations from the last decadal study have been implemented by the agencies and an assessment to provide feedback is now appropriate.

Previous NRC studies have played an important role in defining the fields of plasma and fusion science and have identified research opportunities at the frontier. On the basis of new insights and advanced understanding, scientists are poised to address key questions in the areas of plasma turbulence and self-organization, plasma dynamics with asymmetric magnetic fields, extreme and unusual plasma states, and nonlinear plasma interactions with intense electromagnetic fields. One of the areas of greatest promise is the effort to achieve sustainable fusion power; this goal cannot be realized without an integrated approach to the science and technology challenges.

Committee and Staff Members
Committee Membership	Steven C. Cowley, University of California at Los Angeles, Co-Chair John Peoples, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Co-Chair James Callen, University of Wisconsin at Madison Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, NASA Johnson Space Center Todd Ditmire, University of Texas at Austin William Dorland, University of Maryland at College Park Walter Gekelman, University of California at Los Angeles Steven Girshick, University of Minnesota David Hammer, Cornell University Erich P. Ippen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Mark J. Kushner, Iowa State University Kristina A. Lynch, Dartmouth College Jonathan E. Menard, Princeton University Lia Merminga, Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility Eliot Quataert, University of California at Berkeley Timothy J. Sommerer, General Electric, Inc. Clifford M. Surko, University of California at San Diego Max Tabak, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
NRC Staff	Donald C. Shapero, Director Timothy I. Meyer, Senior Program Officer Michael Moloney, Senior Program Officer Pamela Lewis, Program Associate

Activities

A committee of 18 members with broad expertise in plasma science and neighboring areas will be convened to address the following tasks in a report that will communicate well to policymakers and scientists in other fields:

1. Assess the progress and achievements of plasma science over the past decade.
2. Identify the new opportunities and the compelling science questions for plasma science, frame the outlook for the future, and place the field in the context of physics as a whole.
3. Evaluate the opportunities and challenges for the applications of plasma science to fusion and other fields.
4. Offer guidance to the government research programs and the scientific communities aimed at addressing these challenges and realizing these opportunities.

Past Meetings		Future Meetings
September 30 – October 1, 2005 Keck Center of the National Academies Washington, DC Agenda Presentations		No future meetings of the committee are scheduled.
February 4–5, 2006 Beckman Center of the National Academies Irvine, CA Agenda
May 6 – 7, 2006 Keck Center of the National Academies Washington, DC Agenda
November 11 – 12, 2006 Keck Center of the National Academies Washington, DC No agenda; meeting closed in its entirety

Dissemination and Outreach Activities

Community Input

The Plasma 2010 committee is actively pursuing community comments and feedback. Please consider submitting your thoughts to the committee in any of the following ways:

Please bear in mind that all information submitted to the committee in writing will be made publicly available.

Read responses to the questionnaire.

Read public comments received.

Related Links

The Plasma 2010 committee and its report will follow in the footsteps of the Surko-Ahearne report prepared in 1995 with similar aims.

The committee is pleased to acknowledge support from the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.