The National Research Council (part of the National Academies) recently released its report on the present state and future of plasma physics in the United States. The report, or book, is titled, "Plasma Science: Advancing Knowledge in the National Interest" and can be purchased in paperback or PDF from their publishing website. It can also be read online for free (though this is labeled a "skim", I did not run into any limits on page views). The official widget for this report is included below.

Plasma Science: Advancing Knowledge in the National Intere ...
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Highlight: Plasma Physics is Still Full of Opportunity

Overall, the report finds that the field of plasma physics is growing and there are many opportunities for future research. These future opportunities extend beyond the more commonly known fusion and astrophysics research programs. Industrial applications of plasmas are maturing and a wealth of unsolved problems is coming to light.

Worth Reading

There are some items in the report that are particularly interesting.

1. Figure 1.3: Right in the first chapter there is a funny picture intended to illustrate the ubiquitous nature of plasmas. Titled, "Plasmas in the kitchen," the idea behind this image is excellent; emphasize the importance of plasma physics in the production of materials that are vital to survival. The humor comes in the determination of what it means to be in the kitchen. While the light sources and plastics clearly involve plasma processing, other examples from the image include plasma coated jet turbine blades, plasma produced hydrogen gas in a fuel cell, and solar cells, all of which are products seen on the television, laptop, and magazine that are in the kitchen. A great idea, but why not just call it "Plasmas in Our World," instead of forcing all these things into a kitchen?
2. Low Temperature Plasmas: Chapter Two is dedicated to low temperature plasmas. This is where a lot of the industrial applications are found. The technology of plasma scalpels and other medical uses of plasmas recently received attention in Physics Today (remember the old Back Scatter photo?). The report argues that the US is not adequately prepared for taking advantage of this growing field. If the number of groups working with these kinds of plasmas grows, then it might be worthwhile to consider this as an option for college study.
3. Basic Plasma Science: The final chapter is dedicated to basic plasma research. There are a few particularly uplifting statements within this chapter. First, the area of turbulence and transport is said to have many years of research left within it. It is always reassuring to hear that one's thesis is still a relevant topic. Secondly, it is suggested that new "intermediate-scale" research facilities be built to provide resources for studying these basic plasma phenomena. If that happens they will need researchers and the job market for plasma Ph.D.'s might just get a little better.

No government agency is bound by the suggestions of the committee, but it is obvious that if this report had determined plasma physics was a worthless field, then plenty of research projects and jobs might have been cut. People working in plasma physics might know there is a lot of work still to do, but that information needs to be spread to the policy makers. As a government advisor on science matters, the National Academies will present these findings to multiple levels of the U.S. government.

Relevance to the Recent ITER Business

The recent ITER business is the cutting of ITER money by the US Congress. The Plasma Science report provides some notes that fit with an item I wrote about ITER recently. Chapter Four is dedicated to magnetically confined fusion research, which is naturally dominated by the role of ITER. In one of its summary conclusions the report states,

and then it goes on to claim that the U.S. does not have a clear plan for the future of fusion research. Cutting out our contribution to the ITER project fits in with not having an eye toward the future.

Conclusion

If you have any interest in studying physics, then take a few minutes to look through this report. The committee's recommendations for future work are likely to have an impact and this might very well indicate which areas will have resources over the next decade. This is also a good read for anyone interested in plasma physics because it provides an overview of the state of plasma research in the United States, complete with many results (i.e., fancy graphs and other visualizations) from research groups across the globe.

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Tags: plasma physics, ITER