Plasma Science: Advancing Knowledge in the National Interest Book

Summary     1
Overview     5
Definition of the Field     5
Importance of Plasma Science and Engineering     8
Selected Highlights of Plasma Science and Engineering     11
Biotechnology and Health Care     12
Accelerating Particles with Plasma Wake Fields     15
Fusion Burning Plasmas in a Magnetic Bottle     17
Magnetic Reconnection and Self-Organization     22
Fusion Ignition in an Exploding Pellet     24
Plasma Physics and Black Holes     25
Key Themes of Recent Scientific Advances     28
Prediction in Plasma Science     28
New Plasma Regimes     29
Common Intellectual Threads of Plasma Research     29
The Report's Principal Conclusion and Principal Recommendation     31
Low-Temperature Plasma Science and Engineering     38
Introduction and Unifying Scientific Principles     41
Plasma Heating, Stability, and Control     41
Efficiency and Selectivity     41
Stochastic, Chaotic, and Collective Behavior     42
Plasma Interactions with Surfaces     42
Plasmas in Dusty and Other Nonideal Media     43
Diagnostics and Predictive Modeling     44
Recent Progress and Trends     48
Generation, Stability, and Control of Very Small Area and Very Large Area Plasmas at Low and High Pressures     49
Interaction of Plasmas with Very Complex Surfaces     52
Turbulent, Stochastic, and Chaotic Behavior of Complex Plasmas and Plasmas in Liquids     54
Reliable Quantitative Prediction of Plasma Behavior     58
Emergence of Diffuse, High-Pressure Nonequilibrium Plasmas     59
Future Opportunities     59
Basic Interactions of Plasmas with Organic Materials and Living Tissue     60
Methods to Describe the Behavior of Plasmas That Contain Chaotic and Stochastic Processes     60
Stability Criteria for Large-Area, Uniform, High-Pressure Plasmas     62
Interaction of High-Density Plasmas with Surfaces     62
Flexible, Noninvasive Diagnostics     62
Fundamental Data     64
The International Perspective     64
The Academic Perspective     66
The Industrial Perspective     68
Stewardship of the Field     69
Conclusions and Recommendations for This Topic     70
Plasma Physics at High Energy Density     75
Introduction     75
What Constitutes HED Plasma Physics?      76
Enabling Technologies and HED Science in Context     76
Importance of This Research     80
Economic and Energy Security     81
National Security     81
Intellectual Importance     82
Role of Education and Training     84
Recent Progress and Future Opportunities     84
Inertial Confinement Fusion     85
Stockpile Stewardship     91
Properties of Warm Dense Matter and Hot Dense Matter     93
Plasma-Based Electron Accelerators     98
Laboratory Simulation of Astrophysical Phenomena     102
Fundamental HED Research     104
Addressing the Challenges     108
Conclusions and Recommendations for This Topic     110
The Plasma Science of Magnetic Fusion     115
Introduction     115
A New Era in Magnetic Fusion Research     115
Magnetic Fusion: A Brief Description     116
Concept Improvement Is Important for ITER and Beyond     120
Importance of This Research     124
Recent Progress and Future Opportunities     125
Macroscopic Stability and Dynamics     126
Microinstabilities, Turbulence, and Transport     127
Boundary Plasma Properties and Control     133
Wave-Particle Interactions in Fusion Plasmas     141
Conclusions and Recommendations for This Topic     146
Space and Astrophysical Plasmas     152
Introduction     152
Recent Progress and Future Opportunities     153
What Are the Origins and the Evolution of Plasma Structure Throughout the Magnetized Universe?     155
How Are Particles Accelerated Throughout the Universe?     166
How Do Plasmas Interact with Nonplasmas?     175
Conclusions and Recommendations for This Topic     179
Basic Plasma Science     184
Introduction     184
Recent Progress and Future Opportunities     185
Nonneutral and Single-Component Plasmas     187
Ultracold Neutral Plasmas     190
Dusty Plasmas     191
Laser-Produced and HED Plasmas     194
Microplasmas     197
Turbulence and Turbulent Transport     199
Dynamo Action, Reconnection, and Magnetic Self-Organization     202
Plasma Waves, Structures, and Flows     206
Improved Methodologies for Basic Plasma Studies     209
Conclusions and Recommendations for This Topic     210
University-Scale Investigations      211
Intermediate-Scale Facilities     213
Appendixes
Charge to the Committee     219
International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor     221
National Ignition Facility     226
Federal Support for Plasma Science and Engineering     230
Department of Energy     231
Office of Naval Research     238
National Science Foundation     238
National Aeronautics and Space Administration     241
Reprise of Past Nrc Reports on Plasma Science     243
Committee Meeting Agendas     249
Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff     254