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| APS Division of Plasma Physics | |
|---|---|
| Name | APS Division of Plasma Physics |
| Formed | 1959 |
| Type | Division |
| Leader title | Chair |
| Parent organization | American Physical Society |
APS Division of Plasma Physics The APS Division of Plasma Physics is a professional unit of the American Physical Society dedicated to the advancement of plasma physics research, technology, and education. It connects practitioners across academia, national laboratories, and industry including participants from Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, General Atomics, and Culham Centre for Fusion Energy. The Division fosters collaboration among experimentalists, theorists, and computational scientists working on problems related to fusion energy, space plasmas, and industrial plasmas.
The Division traces its origins to mid-20th century developments in controlled fusion and space research, emerging alongside institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, and Columbia University. Early formative figures included researchers associated with projects at Project Sherwood, ZETA, Tokamak de Fontenay-aux-Roses, Culham Laboratory, and the Joint European Torus. Milestones paralleled events such as the establishment of ITER, the launch of Explorer 1, the achievements at TFTR, and campaigns at JET. The Division’s evolution reflected shifts marked by initiatives at National Aeronautics and Space Administration, programs at Department of Energy, and collaborations with international bodies like International Atomic Energy Agency and European Commission.
Governance follows structures common to APS units with elected officers, an executive committee, and appointed committees drawn from institutions including Stanford University, Harvard University, University of Chicago, University of California, Los Angeles, and University of Maryland. Advisory interactions occur with national laboratories such as Sandia National Laboratories, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. The Division coordinates with APS governance bodies like the APS Council and committees such as the APS Committee on Committees and APS Unit Convener Committee. Oversight and policy dialogues engage federal entities including Office of Science and Technology Policy and National Science Foundation program officers.
Members span personnel affiliated with Princeton University, Yale University, University of Michigan, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Washington, California Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Plasma Science and Fusion Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of California, San Diego, and University of Texas at Austin. Professional activities include topical symposia, sectional meetings with groups such as American Geophysical Union, collaborations with European Physical Society, and joint sessions with societies like Institute of Physics and IEEE. Members engage in peer review for journals including Physical Review Letters, Physics of Plasmas, Nature Physics, Science Advances, and Journal of Plasma Physics and serve on advisory panels for projects like DIII-D, Wendelstein 7-X, ASDEX Upgrade, and SPARC.
The Division organizes an annual meeting that features plenary talks, invited sessions, and poster sessions drawing participants from Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, École Polytechnique, Tsinghua University, National Institute for Fusion Science, Kurchatov Institute, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and Hitachi. The meeting often hosts special sessions on topics tied to programs like ITER, milestones at JET, advances at NSTX-U, achievements at TFTR, and space missions such as Parker Solar Probe, Voyager program, Cassini–Huygens, and Cluster II. Workshops and tutorials collaborate with entities such as US ITER Project Office and the European Fusion Development Agreement.
The Division administers and nominates recipients for awards including APS medals and Division-specific honors, with winners often affiliated with institutions like MIT, Princeton University, Columbia University, University of Oxford, Imperial College London, University of Cambridge, École Normale Supérieure, and University of Tokyo. Recognized work has overlapped with prize-winning achievements at the Nobel Prize level in related physics, and laureates frequently have ties to projects such as ITER, JET, Alfvén research, Landau theory developments, and breakthroughs in magnetic confinement; award presentations occur alongside honors from organizations like European Physical Society and Royal Society.
Educational outreach engages programs with universities and national labs including University of Colorado Boulder, University of California, Los Angeles, University of California, Berkeley, Sandia National Laboratories, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Los Alamos National Laboratory. Initiatives partner with groups such as APS Forum on Education, Society of Physics Students, National Society of Black Physicists, Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science, and Women in Physics. Diversity and inclusion efforts align with policies promoted by bodies like American Association for the Advancement of Science and funding mechanisms from National Science Foundation and Department of Energy programs supporting workforce development, internships tied to ITER education outreach, and K–12 activities showcased at venues like Science Museum exhibitions.
Research spans magnetic confinement fusion at devices such as DIII-D, Wendelstein 7-X, SPARC, ITER, inertial confinement experiments at National Ignition Facility, basic plasma experiments at facilities like Large Plasma Device, and space plasma investigations relevant to missions like Parker Solar Probe and Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission. The Division’s constituency contributes to advances in theory building on works by scientists associated with Lev Landau, Hannes Alfvén, Lyman Spitzer, Marshall Rosenbluth, and Edward Teller and computational developments leveraging centers such as Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility and Argonne Leadership Computing Facility. Impact includes applications in energy research related to fusion power, technological innovations in semiconductor processing by companies like Applied Materials and Lam Research, space weather forecasting used by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and cross-disciplinary links with astrophysics groups at institutions such as Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics.
Category:American Physical Society divisions