This is a list of physicists who have worked in or made notable contributions to the field of
.
{, class="wikitable sortable"
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! Name !! Known for
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Hannes Alfvén
Hannes Olof Gösta Alfvén (; 30 May 1908 – 2 April 1995) was a Swedish electrical engineer, plasma physicist and winner of the 1970 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). He described the class of MHD waves now ...
, , 1970
Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
"''for fundamental work and discoveries in magneto-hydrodynamics with fruitful applications in different parts of plasma physics''"
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Irving Langmuir, , coined the term "plasma" to hint at the lifelike behavior of this state of matter. Developed electron temperature concepts and an electrostatic probe, the
Langmuir probe.
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Ksenia Aleksandrovna Razumova
Ksenia Aleksandrovna Razumova ( Russian: ''Ксения Александровна Разумова''; also transliterated Xenia Razumova; born 23 January 1931) is a Russian physicist. She graduated from the Physical Faculty of Moscow University i ...
, , first stable plasmas in tokamaks, first experimental measurement of plasma energy with diamagnetic loop, disruption studies, confinement studies, pioneering female leader of Russian fusion research,
Alfvén Prize 2017
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Anatoly Vlasov
Anatoly Aleksandrovich Vlasov (russian: Анато́лий Алекса́ндрович Вла́сов; – 22 December 1975) was a Russian, later Soviet, theoretical physicist prominent in the fields of statistical mechanics, kinetics, and esp ...
, , first suggested the
Vlasov equation The Vlasov equation is a differential equation describing time evolution of the distribution function of plasma consisting of charged particles with long-range interaction, e.g. Coulomb. The equation was first suggested for description of plasma ...
, a correct description of plasma with long-range interaction between particles
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Andrey Dmitriyevich Sakharov , , proposed the development of the
tokamak
A tokamak (; russian: токамáк; otk, 𐱃𐰸𐰢𐰴, Toḳamaḳ) is a device which uses a powerful magnetic field to confine plasma in the shape of a torus. The tokamak is one of several types of magnetic confinement devices being ...
device for use in controlled thermonuclear fusion.
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Boris B. Kadomtsev , , early plasma turbulence theory, stability and nonlinear theory of MHD and kinetic instabilities.
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1998)
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Katherine Weimer , , scientific research in the field of plasma magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium and stability theory
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Yu Lin , , computational research in nonlinear physics in the boundary layers of space plasmas,
Katherine Weimer Award (2002).
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, Elena Belova , , numerical contributions to the fundamental physics of magnetically confined plasmas,
Katherine Weimer Award (2005).
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Lin Yin , , research on instabilities and magnetic reconnection in space plasmas and of the physics of relativistic laser-plasma interactions through complex modeling,
Katherine Weimer Award (2008).
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, Yuan Ping , , pioneering experiments to explore the interaction of high-intensity laser light with matter,
Katherine Weimer Award (2011).
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, Anne White , , fundamental contributions to the understanding of turbulent transport in tokamaks,
Katherine Weimer Award (2014).
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Félicie Albert
Félicie Albert is a French-born American physicist working on laser plasma accelerators. She is the deputy director for the Center for High Energy Density Science at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and staff scientist at the National Ign ...
, , pioneering development and characterization of x-ray sources from laser-wakefield accelerators,
Katherine Weimer Award (2017).
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Maria Gatu Johnson , , significant contributions to Inertial fusion sciences and pioneering work in Stellar Nucleosynthesis through nuclear measurements,
Katherine Weimer Award (2019).
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Kristian Birkeland
Kristian Olaf Bernhard Birkeland (13 December 1867 – 15 June 1917) was a Norwegian scientist. He is best remembered for his theories of atmospheric electric currents that elucidated the nature of the aurora borealis. In order to fund his res ...
, , First suggested that polar electric currents (or
aurora
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
l
electrojet
An electrojet is an electric current which travels around the E region of the Earth's ionosphere. There are three electrojets: one above the magnetic equator (the equatorial electrojet), and one each near the Northern and Southern Polar Circles ( ...
s) are connected to a system of filaments (now called "
Birkeland current
A Birkeland current (also known as field-aligned current) is a set of electrical currents that flow along geomagnetic field lines connecting the Earth's magnetosphere to the Earth's high latitude ionosphere. In the Earth's magnetosphere, the curr ...
s") that flow along geomagnetic field lines into and away from the polar region.
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Lev Landau
Lev Davidovich Landau (russian: Лев Дави́дович Ланда́у; 22 January 1908 – 1 April 1968) was a Soviet-Azerbaijani physicist of Jewish descent who made fundamental contributions to many areas of theoretical physics.
His ac ...
, ,
Landau damping In physics, Landau damping, named after its discoverer,Landau, L. "On the vibration of the electronic plasma". ''JETP'' 16 (1946), 574. English translation in ''J. Phys. (USSR)'' 10 (1946), 25. Reproduced in Collected papers of L.D. Landau, edited a ...
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Meghnad Saha
Meghnad Saha (6 October 1893 – 16 February 1956) was an Indian astrophysicist who developed the Saha ionization equation, used to describe chemical and physical conditions in stars. His work allowed astronomers to accurately relate the spe ...
, ,
Saha ionization equation
In physics, the Saha ionization equation is an expression that relates the ionization state of a gas in thermal equilibrium to the temperature and pressure. The equation is a result of combining ideas of quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics ...
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Sydney Chapman , , development of the
kinetic theory of gases
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Vitaly Ginzburg
Vitaly Lazarevich Ginzburg, ForMemRS (russian: Вита́лий Ла́заревич Ги́нзбург, link=no; 4 October 1916 – 8 November 2009) was a Russian physicist who was honored with the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2003, together wit ...
, , theory of
electromagnetic wave
In physics, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) consists of waves of the electromagnetic (EM) field, which propagate through space and carry momentum and electromagnetic radiant energy. It includes radio waves, microwaves, infrared, (visib ...
propagation in
plasmas
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Vitaly Shafranov
Vitaly Dmitrievich Shafranov (russian: Виталий Дмитриевич Шафранов; December 1, 1929 – June 9, 2014) was a Russian theoretical physicist and Academician who worked with plasma physics and thermonuclear fusion research.
...
, , theoretical contributions to plasma physics (e.g.
Grad–Shafranov equation The Grad–Shafranov equation ( H. Grad and H. Rubin (1958); Vitalii Dmitrievich Shafranov (1966)) is the equilibrium equation in ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) for a two dimensional plasma, for example the axisymmetric toroidal plasma in a toka ...
,
Kruskal–Shafranov instability
A kink instability (also kink oscillation or kink mode), is a Electric current, current-driven Plasma stability#Plasma instabilities, plasma instability characterized by transverse displacements of a plasma column's cross-section from its center o ...
)
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Willard Harrison Bennett , ,
Z-pinch
In fusion power research, the Z-pinch (zeta pinch) is a type of plasma confinement system that uses an electric current in the plasma to generate a magnetic field that compresses it (see pinch). These systems were originally referred to simp ...
is a form of "
Bennett pinch
A pinch (or: Bennett pinch (after Willard Harrison Bennett), electromagnetic pinch, magnetic pinch, pinch effect, or plasma pinch.) is the compression of an electrically conducting Electrical filament, filament by magnetic forces, or a device tha ...
". Also invented radio frequency
mass spectrometry.
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Lyman Spitzer
Lyman Spitzer Jr. (June 26, 1914 – March 31, 1997) was an American theoretical physicist, astronomer and mountaineer. As a scientist, he carried out research into star formation, plasma physics, and in 1946, conceived the idea of telesco ...
, , theoretical contributions to plasma physics,
Spitzer resistivity The Spitzer resistivity (or plasma resistivity) is an expression describing the electrical resistance in a plasma, which was first formulated by Lyman Spitzer in 1950. The Spitzer resistivity of a plasma decreases in proportion to the electron temp ...
, director of Project Matterhorn (1951-1961),
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1975)
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Marshall Rosenbluth , , fundamental theoretical contributions plasma physics, and in particular,
plasma instabilities
The stability of a plasma is an important consideration in the study of plasma physics. When a system containing a plasma is at equilibrium, it is possible for certain parts of the plasma to be disturbed by small perturbative forces acting on it ...
,
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1976)
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John M. Dawson, , introduced the use of computer simulation to plasma physics,
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1977)
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Richard F. Post
Richard Freeman Post (November 14, 1918 – April 7, 2015) was an American physicist notable for his work in nuclear fusion, plasma physics, magnetic mirrors, magnetic levitation, magnetic bearing design and direct energy conversion.
Post was a w ...
, , developed the magnetic mirror concept for magnetic confinement fusion,
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1978)
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Tihiro Ohkawa
was a Japanese physicist whose field of work was in plasma physics and fusion power. He was a pioneer in developing ways to generate electricity by nuclear fusion when he worked at General Atomics. Ohkawa died September 27, 2014 in La Jolla, Cal ...
, , developed the doublet approach for toroidal confinement fusion,
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1979)
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Thomas H. Stix, , developed the doublet approach for toroidal confinement fusion,
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1980)
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John H. Nuckolls, , introduced the inertial confinement approach to fusion,
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1981)
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Ira B. Bernstein
Ira Borah Bernstein (born November 8, 1924) is an American theoretical physicist specializing in plasma physics. He was the first person to formulate the theory of electrostatic waves propagating in a magnetized plasma in 1958, which are now co ...
, , fundamental theoretical contributions plasma physics including a wave mode in his name,
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1982)
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Harold Fürth
Harold Paul Furth (January 13, 1930 – February 21, 2002) was an Austrian-American physicist who was a pioneer in leading the American efforts to harness thermonuclear fusion for the generation of electricity. He died of a heart ailment on 21 Fe ...
, , fundamental contributions to plasma physics including resistive instabilities, Director of
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory for plasma physics and nuclear fusion science. Its primary mission is research into and development of fusion as an energy source. It is known ...
(1981-1990),
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1983)
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Donald W. Kerst, , invention of the levitated toroidal multipole,
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1984)
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John H. Malmberg, , experimental demonstration of Landau damping and development of pure electron plasmas,
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1985)
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,
Harold Grad
Harold Grad (January 23, 1923 in New York City – November 17, 1986) was an American applied mathematician. His work specialized in the application of statistical mechanics to plasma physics and magnetohydrodynamics.
Work
In statistical mechan ...
, , theoretical contributions to magnetohydrodynamics,
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1986)
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Bruno Coppi
Bruno Coppi (born 19 November 1935 in Gonzaga, Lombardy, Italy) is an Italian-American physicist specializing in plasma physics.
In 1959, Coppi attained an Italian doctoral degree at Polytechnic University of Milan and was subsequently a docent ...
, , pioneering work in the conceptual and engineering design of high field tokamaks,
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1987)
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Norman Rostoker
Norman Rostoker (August 16, 1925 – December 25, 2014) was a Canadian plasma physicist known for being a pioneer in developing clean plasma-based fusion energy. He co-founded TAE Technologies (formerly known as Tri Alpha Energy) in 1998 and hel ...
, , pioneering theoretical contributions to the statistical mechanics of particles with Coulomb interactions,
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1988)
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Ravindra Sudan, , pioneered the study of the generation and propagation of intense ion beams,
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1989)
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William L. Kruer, , seminal contributions to the theoretical and experimental understanding of the intense electromagnetic waves with plasmas,
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1990)
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Hans R. Griem, , contributions to plasma spectroscopy and spectral line broadening in plasmas,
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1991)
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John M. Greene, , contributions to theory of magnetohydrodynamic equilibria and ideal and resistive instabilities,
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1992)
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Russell M. Kulsrud
Russell M. Kulsrud (born 10 April 1928 in Lindsborg, Kansas) is an American physicist who specializes in plasma physics and astrophysics.
Kulsrud studied at the University of Maryland where he received his bachelor's degree in 1949, and then at ...
, , pioneering contributions to basic plasma theory, including magnetic reconnection,
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1993)
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Roy W. Gould
Roy Walter Gould (April 25, 1927 – February 19, 2022) was an American electrical engineer and physicist who specialized in plasma physics. In 1959, he (together with Alvin Trivelpiece) was the first to describe electrostatic waves that were pr ...
, , pioneering research in beam-plasma interactions,
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1994)
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Francis F. Chen, , pioneering works on electrostatic probes, the plasma physics textbook "''Introduction to Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion"''
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1995)
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Thomas M. O'Neil, , seminal contributions to plasma theory, including extension of Landau damping to the nonlinear regime
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1996)
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,
Charles F. Kennel
Charles F. Kennel (born August 20, 1939) is an American plasma physicist and former Associate Administrator of NASA. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and won the James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics in 1997. In ...
, , fundamental contributions to the basic plasma physics of collisionless shocks
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1997)
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,
John Bryan Taylor
John Bryan Taylor (born 26 December 1928) is a British physicist known for his contributions to plasma physics and their application in the field of fusion energy. Notable among these is the development of the " Taylor state", describing a mini ...
, , helicity conservation, bootstrap current, ballooning transformation, plasma theory
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(1999)
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,
Akira Hasegawa, , theories of nonlinear drift wave turbulence, including the Hasegawa-Mima equation
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(2000)
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,
Roald Sagdeev
Roald Zinnurovich Sagdeev (russian: Роальд Зиннурович Сагдеев, tt-Cyrl, Роальд Зиннур улы Сәгъдиев; born 26 December 1932) is a Russian expert in plasma physics and a former director of the Space Res ...
, , contributions to modern plasma theory including collisionless shocks and stochastic magnetic fields
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(2001)
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,
Edward A. Frieman, , theory of magnetically confined plasmas, including fundamental work on the formulation of the MHD Energy Principle
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(2002)
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,
Eugene N. Parker, , seminal contributions in plasma astrophysics, including predicting the solar wind, explaining the solar dynamo, and formulating the theory of magnetic reconnection
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(2003)
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,
Noah Hershkowitz
Noah Hershkowitz (August 16, 1941 – November 13, 2020) was an American experimental plasma physicist. He was known for his pioneering research on the understanding of plasma sheaths, solitons and double layers in plasmas, as well as the develo ...
, , fundamental contributions to the physics of low temperature plasmas
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(2004)
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,
Valery Godyak
Valery A. Godyak (born June 8, 1941 in Czernowitz) is a Russian-American physicist who specializes in plasma physics. As a scientist, he made fundamental contributions to the understanding of radio frequency (RF) induced discharges in plasmas as w ...
, , fundamental contributions to the physics of low temperature plasmas
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(2004)
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,
Nathaniel Fisch
Nathaniel Joseph Fisch is an American plasma physicist known for pioneering the excitation of electric currents in plasma (physics), plasmas using electromagnetic waves, which was then used in tokamak experiments. This contributed to an increased ...
, , theoretical development of efficient rf-driven current in plasmas
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(2005)
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,
Chandrashekhar J. Joshi, , application of plasma concepts to high energy electron and positron acceleration
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(2006)
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,
John Lindl, , contributions in high energy density physics and inertial confinement fusion research
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(2007)
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,
Ronald C. Davidson, , pioneering contributions to the physics of one-component non-neutral plasmas, first director of
MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center
The Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a university research center for the study of plasmas, fusion science and technology.
It was originally founded in 1976 as the Plasma Fusion Cente ...
(1991-1996), director of
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory for plasma physics and nuclear fusion science. Its primary mission is research into and development of fusion as an energy source. It is known ...
(1991-1996),
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(2008)
, -
, Maxim G. Ponomare
, pioneering investigations of disturbances of all plasma species by modeling charged particle emissions from imaginary and additional sources:. Imaginary-emission method for modeling disturbances of all magnetoplasma species: Reflecting and absorbing objects in motion through a rarefied plasma at different angles to the ambient magnetic field (Phys. Rev. E 54, 5591 – Published 1 November 1996)
and First suggested the Resonant Moments method for Enhanced acceleration of electrons populations by crossing electron cyclotron waves in an ambient magnetic fiel
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,
Miklos Porkolab
Miklos Porkolab (born March 24, 1939) is a Hungarian-American physicist specializing in plasma physics.
Early life and career
In 1957, Porkolab emigrated from Hungary to Canada. He obtained his bachelor's degree at the University of British Colu ...
, , pioneering investigations of linear and nonlinear plasma waves and wave-particle interactions
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(2009)
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,
James Drake, , theory of the fundamental mechanism of fast reconnection of magnetic fields in plasmas
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(2010)
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,
Gregor Eugen Morfill, , discovery of plasma crystals as a solid state of aggregation of dusty plasmas (1994). Former Director of
Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics,
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(2011)
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,
Liu Chen, , recipient of numerous awards for research on plasma physics (e.g. John Dawson Prize (2004),
Hannes Alfvén Prize
The Hannes Alfvén Prize is a prize established by the European Physical Society (EPS) Plasma Physics Division in 2000. The Prize is awarded annually by the European Physical Society at the EPS Conference on Plasma Physics for outstanding work in t ...
(2008) and
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(2012))
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,
Phillip A. Sprangle, , pioneering contributions to the physics of high intensity laser interactions with plasmas
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(2013)
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,
Clifford Surko, , invention of and development of techniques to accumulate, confine, and utilize positron plasmas
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(2014)
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,
Masaaki Yamada, , fundamental experimental studies of magnetic reconnection relevant to space, astrophysical and fusion plasmas
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(2015)
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,
Ellen G. Zweibel, , seminal research on the energetics, stability, and dynamics of astrophysical plasmas
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(2016)
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,
Dmitri Ryutov, , contributions to the theoretical plasma physics of low and high energy density plasmas
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(2017)
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,
Keith H. Burrell, , established the links between sheared plasma flow and turbulent transport
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(2018)
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,
William H. Matthaeus
William Henry Matthaeus (born 1951) is an American astrophysicist and plasma physicist. He is known for his research on turbulence in magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) (e.g. numerical simulations and kinetic theory) and astrophysical plasmas (e.g. solar ...
, , pioneering research into the nature of turbulence in space and astrophysical plasmas
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(2019)
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,
Warren Bicknell Mori, , pioneering contributions to the theory and kinetic simulations of nonlinear processes in plasma-based acceleration
James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...
(2020)
, -
,
Melvin Gottlieb, , responsible for building
Princeton Large Torus
The Princeton Large Torus (or PLT), was an early tokamak built at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). It was one of the first large scale tokamak machines, and among the most powerful in terms of current and magnetic fields. Originally ...
and
Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor
The Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) was an experimental tokamak built at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) circa 1980 and entering service in 1982. TFTR was designed with the explicit goal of reaching scientific breakeven, the point w ...
at PPPL, director of
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory for plasma physics and nuclear fusion science. Its primary mission is research into and development of fusion as an energy source. It is known ...
(1961-1980)
, -
,
Robert J. Goldston, , empirical scaling relationship for the confinement of energy in tokamak plasmas, director of
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory for plasma physics and nuclear fusion science. Its primary mission is research into and development of fusion as an energy source. It is known ...
(1997-2008)
, -
,
Stewart C. Prager, , director of the
Madison Symmetric Torus
The Madison Symmetric Torus (MST) is a reversed field pinch (RFP) physics experiment with applications to both fusion energy research and astrophysical plasmas.
MST is located at the Center for Magnetic Self Organization (CMSO) at the Universit ...
(MST) experiment, director of
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory for plasma physics and nuclear fusion science. Its primary mission is research into and development of fusion as an energy source. It is known ...
(2008-2016)
, -
,
Sir Steven Cowley, , pioneering research in astrophysical and turbulent plasmas, director of
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory for plasma physics and nuclear fusion science. Its primary mission is research into and development of fusion as an energy source. It is known ...
(2018–present)
, -
,
Friedrich Wagner
Friedrich E. Wagner (born November 16, 1943, sometimes abbreviated as Fritz Wagner) is a German physicist and emeritus professor who specializes in plasma physics. He was known to have discovered the high-confinement mode (i.e. H-mode) of mag ...
, , discovery of H-mode in ASDEX in 1984
, -
,
Anthony Peratt
Anthony L. Peratt is an American physicist whose most notable achievements have been in plasma discharge petroglyphs, plasma physics, nuclear fusion and the monitoring of nuclear weapons.
Education
Peratt was a graduate student of Nobel Prize ...
, , influential advocate of
plasma cosmology
Plasma cosmology is a non-standard cosmology whose central postulate is that the dynamics of ionized gases and plasmas play important, if not dominant, roles in the physics of the universe at interstellar and intergalactic scales. recount: It ...
, -
,
David Bohm
David Joseph Bohm (; 20 December 1917 – 27 October 1992) was an American-Brazilian-British scientist who has been described as one of the most significant theoretical physicists of the 20th centuryPeat 1997, pp. 316-317 and who contributed ...
, , derived the
Bohm sheath criterion, which states that a
plasma must flow with at least the speed of sound toward a solid surface
, -
,
Eric Lerner , , pioneer of
focus fusion
A dense plasma focus (DPF) is a type of plasma (physics), plasma generating system originally developed as a fusion power device starting in the early 1960s. The system demonstrated scaling laws that suggested it would not be useful in the commerci ...
and advocate of
plasma cosmology
Plasma cosmology is a non-standard cosmology whose central postulate is that the dynamics of ionized gases and plasmas play important, if not dominant, roles in the physics of the universe at interstellar and intergalactic scales. recount: It ...
, -
,
Forrest S. Mozer
Forrest S. Mozer (born February 13, 1929 in Lincoln, Nebraska) is an American experimental physicist, inventor, and entrepreneur known best for his pioneering work on electric field measurements in space plasma and for development of solid stat ...
, , electric field measurements in space plasma
, -
,
Fran Bošnjaković, ,
, -
,
Franklin Chang-Diaz
Franklin may refer to:
People
* Franklin (given name)
* Franklin (surname)
* Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class
Places Australia
* Franklin, Tasmania, a township
* Division of Franklin, federal electoral div ...
, , created the
Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket
The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) is an electrothermal thruster under development for possible use in spacecraft propulsion. It uses radio waves to ionize and heat an inert propellant, forming a plasma, then a magnetic ...
(VASIMR) concept, an electromagnetic thruster for spacecraft propulsion
, -
,
Friedrich Paschen
Louis Carl Heinrich Friedrich Paschen (22 January 1865 - 25 February 1947), was a German physicist, known for his work on electrical discharges. He is also known for the Paschen series, a series of hydrogen spectral lines in the infrared region t ...
, ,
Paschen's law
Paschen's law is an equation that gives the breakdown voltage, that is, the voltage necessary to start a discharge or electric arc, between two electrodes in a gas as a function of pressure and gap length. It is named after Friedrich Paschen who ...
, an equation relating the
breakdown voltage
The breakdown voltage of an insulator is the minimum voltage that causes a portion of an insulator to experience electrical breakdown and become electrically conductive.
For diodes, the breakdown voltage is the minimum reverse voltage that mak ...
to the gas pressure and electrode gap length
, -
,
Ghulam Murtaza , ,
, -
,
Mounir Laroussi , ,
Plasma pencil
The plasma pencil is a dielectric tube where two disk-shaped electrodes of about the same diameter as the tube are inserted, and are separated by a small gap. Each of the two electrodes is made of a thin copper ring attached to the surface of a c ...
, seminal contributions to the biomedical applications of low temperature plasma,
plasma medicine
Plasma medicine is an emerging field that combines plasma physics, life sciences and clinical medicine. It is being studied in disinfection, healing, and cancer. Most of the research is in vitro and in animal models.
It uses ionized gas (physic ...
, -
,
Nam Chang-hee, ,
, -
,
Li Jiangang , ,
, -
,
Harold P. Eubank
Harold Porter Eubank (23 October 1924 – 23 March 2006, in Kilmarnock, Virginia) was an American physicist, specializing in magnetic fusion energy research.
Eubank grew up in rural Virginia and then in WW II served in the U.S. Army, receiving a B ...
, ,
, -
,
Oscar Buneman , , computational plasma physics and plasma simulation,
Farley–Buneman instability
The Farley–Buneman instability, or FB instability, is a microscopic plasma instability named after Donald T. Farley and Oscar Buneman. It is similar to the ionospheric Rayleigh-Taylor instability.
It occurs in collisional plasma with neutral ...
, -
,
Peter Debye
Peter Joseph William Debye (; ; March 24, 1884 – November 2, 1966) was a Dutch-American physicist and physical chemist, and Nobel laureate in Chemistry.
Biography
Early life
Born Petrus Josephus Wilhelmus Debije in Maastricht, Netherlands, D ...
, , Nobel Prize–winning physicist and chemist, after whom
Debye shielding and
Debye length
In plasmas and electrolytes, the Debye length \lambda_ (also called Debye radius), is a measure of a charge carrier's net electrostatic effect in a solution and how far its electrostatic effect persists. With each Debye length the charges are in ...
are named
, -
,
Philo Farnsworth
Philo Taylor Farnsworth (August 19, 1906 – March 11, 1971) was an American inventor and television pioneer. He made many crucial contributions to the early development of all-electronic television. He is best known for his 1927 invention of t ...
, , invention of the
cathode ray tube,
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
and
Farnsworth-Hirsch Fusor
, -
,
Predhiman Krishnan Kaw, , founding director of the
Institute for Plasma Research (1986-2012)
, -
,
Radu Bălescu
Radu Bălescu (Bucharest, 18 July 1932 – 1 June 2006, Bucharest) was a Romanian and Belgian (since 1959) scientist and professor at the ''Statistical and Plasma Physics'' group of the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).
He studied at the Tit ...
, , recipient of the
Hannes Alfvén Prize
The Hannes Alfvén Prize is a prize established by the European Physical Society (EPS) Plasma Physics Division in 2000. The Prize is awarded annually by the European Physical Society at the EPS Conference on Plasma Physics for outstanding work in t ...
in 2000
, -
,
Ratko Janev , ,
, -
,
Rudolf Seeliger , , specialized in electric discharges in gases and
, -
,
Subrata Roy , , invention of the
Wingless Electromagnetic Air Vehicle and
serpentine geometry plasma actuator
The serpentine plasma actuator represents a broad class of plasma actuator. The actuators vary from the standard type in that their electrode geometry has been modified in to be periodic across its span.
History
This class of plasma actuators wa ...
, -
,
Shaukat Hameed Khan
Shaukat Hameed Khan (Urdu: شوکت حمید خان; born 4 September 1941) , is a Pakistani optical physicist and a visiting professor of physics at the Comsats University in Islamabad. Khan is known for his understanding in spark gap and plasm ...
, ,
laser isotope separation, Chief Science Officer of the
Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission
Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) (Urdu: ) is a federally funded independent governmental agency, concerned with research and development of nuclear power, promotion of nuclear science, energy conservation and the peaceful usage of nuclea ...
(1969-2005)
, -
,
William Crookes
Sir William Crookes (; 17 June 1832 – 4 April 1919) was a British chemist and physicist who attended the Royal College of Chemistry, now part of Imperial College London, and worked on spectroscopy. He was a pioneer of vacuum tubes, inventing t ...
, , pioneer of
vacuum tube
A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric potential difference has been applied.
The type known as ...
s and the
Crookes tube
A Crookes tube (also Crookes–Hittorf tube) is an early experimental electrical discharge tube, with partial vacuum, invented by English physicist William Crookes and others around 1869-1875, in which cathode rays, streams of electrons, were ...
, -
,
A A Mamun
Abdullah Al Mamun (born 31 December 1966) is a Bangladeshi physicist who is a professor of physics at Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh..
Early life and education
A A Mamun (son of Darbesh Ali and Rizia Ali) was born in Dhamrai Upaz ...
, , pioneer of nonlinear dynamics of dusty plasma physics, Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award in 2009 from the
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (german: Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung) is a foundation established by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany and funded by the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry of Education and Rese ...
, -
See also
*
Whistler (radio)
A whistler is a very low frequency (VLF) electromagnetic (radio) wave generated by lightning. Originally published by Stanford University Press, Stanford, California (1965). Frequencies of terrestrial whistlers are 1 kHz to 30 kHz, wi ...
waves
*
Langmuir waves
Plasma physicists
Plasma physicists