The Plasma Archipelago: Plasma Physics in the 1960s

With the foundation of the Division of Plasma Physics of the American Physical Society in April 1959, plasma physics was presented as the general study of ionized gases. This paper investigates the degree to which plasma physics, during its first decade, established a community of interrelated specialties, one that brought together work in gaseous electronics, astrophysics, controlled thermonuclear fusion, space science, and aerospace engineering. It finds that, in some regards, the plasma community was indeed greater than the sum of its parts and that its larger identity was sometimes glimpsed in inter-specialty work and studies of fundamental plasma behaviors. Nevertheless, the plasma specialties usually worked separately for two inter-related reasons: prejudices about what constituted “basic physics,” both in the general physics community and within the plasma community itself; and a compartmentalized funding structure, in which each funding agency served different missions.     

Particle accelerator physics and technology for high energy density physics research

Interaction phenomena of intense ion- and laser radiation with matter have a large range of application in different fields of science, extending from basic research of plasma properties to applications in energy science, especially in inertial fusion. The heavy ion synchrotron at GSI now routinely delivers intense uranium beams that deposit about 1 kJ/g of specific energy in solid matter, e.g. solid lead. Our simulations show that the new accelerator complex FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research) at GSI as well as beams from the CERN large hadron collider (LHC) will vastly extend the accessible parameter range for high energy density states. A natural example of hot dense plasma is provided by our neighbouring star the sun, and allows a deep insight into the physics of fusion, the properties of matter at high energy density, and is moreover an excellent laboratory for astroparticle physics. As such the sun's interior plasma can even be used to probe the existence of novel particles and dark matter candidates. We present an overview on recent results and developments of dense plasma physics addressed with heavy ion and laser beams combined with accelerator- and nuclear physics technology.     

I.I. Rabi: The Two Cultures and the Universal Culture of Science

I set forth and discuss I.I. Rabis views on the nature of science and society, focusing specifically on Rabis views on science and government, science and education, and science and religion. I also explore the influence of Rabi and C.P. Snow on each other. In the 1960s, Rabi set forth his mature and boldest positions, advocating science as the center of education and science as the replacement for religion. His positions culminate in science as the universal culture. I highlight Rabi not only as a scientist and public servant, but also as a public intellectual actively engaged with and connected to major issues of his time.Michael A. Day is Professor of Physics at Lebanon Valley College. He holds doctorates in both physics and philosophy.     

E.U. Condon: Science, Religion, and the Politics of World Peace

I set forth and discuss E.U. Condon’s views on science and society, focusing specifically on Condon’s views on science and religion, science and government, and the necessity for world peace. Even disregarding his contributions to theoretical physics, Condon proves an interesting case study for several reasons. He had extensive experience in academia, industry, and government, and was a scientist who easily crossed the insider-outsider divide between scientists in Cold War America. Moreover, Condon was a person of the Progressive Left advocating World Government as necessary for peace and warning of the dangers of the militarization of American society as well as of science itself. Known for being outspoken, he became an inviting target for the forces of anticommunism in Cold War America. In March 1948, the House Un-American Activities Committee charged that Condon was “one of the weakest links in our atomic security.” Michael A. Day is Professor of Physics at Lebanon Valley College. He holds doctorates in both physics and philosophy.     

The “sources” of plasma physics

This paper is the text of the Plasma Science and Applications Committee Prize address given in Santa Fe, NM, on June 7, 1994. The principal thesis is that major advances in the development of the science of plasmas have frequently been triggered by the invention of a new plasma source. Examples are given from the work of many colleagues in basic plasma research. A retrospective of the author's experiments on basic plasma physics, magnetic fusion, and inertial fusion is given, many of these sharing the common theme of transverse electric fields. The author's present and future work concern new plasma sources that are needed for the application of plasma technology to materials processing     

激光聚变内爆流体不稳定性基础问题研究进展

激光聚变有望一劳永逸地解决人类的能源问题,因而受到国际社会的普遍重视,一直是国际研究的前沿热点。目前实现激光惯性约束聚变所面临的最大科学障碍（属于内禀困难）是对内爆过程中高能量密度流体力学不稳定性引起的非线性流动的有效控制,对其研究涵盖高能量密度物理、等离子体物理、流体力学、计算科学、强冲击物理和高压原子物理等多个学科,同时还要具备大规模多物理多尺度多介质流动的数值模拟能力和高功率大型激光装置等研究条件。作为新兴研究课题,高能量密度非线性流动问题充满了各种新奇的现象亟待探索。此外,流体力学不稳定性及其引起的湍流混合,还是天体物理现象（如星系碰撞与合并、恒星演化、原始恒星的形成以及超新星爆炸）中的重要过程,涉及天体物理的一些核心研究内容。本文首先综述了高能量密度非线性流动研究的现状和进展,梳理了其中的挑战和机遇。然后介绍了传统中心点火激光聚变内爆过程发生的主要流体力学不稳定性,在大量分解和综合物理研究基础上,凝练出了目前制约美国国家点火装置（NIF）内爆性能的主要流体不稳定性问题。接下来,总结了国外激光聚变流体不稳定性实验物理的研究概况。最后,展示了内爆物理团队近些年在激光聚变内爆流体不稳定性基础性问题方面的主要研究进展。该团队一直从事激光聚变内爆非线性流动研究与控制,以及聚变靶物理研究与设计,注重理论探索和实验研究相结合,近年来在内爆重要流体力学不稳定性问题的解析理论、数值模拟和激光装置实验设计与数据分析等方面取得了一系列重要成果,有力地推动了该研究方向在国内的发展。     

用科研项目推进大学物理实验教学改革的研究与探索

主要探讨了利用科研项目可以有效改革大学物理实验教学的内容、教学模式、教学方法,研究了共享科研资源,改革大学物理实验教学设备及扩大实验对象受益范围,提高实验教师素质,为有效推进大学物理实验教学改革提出一种研究方法.     

尘埃等离子体

尘埃等离子体物理是近十年里等离子体学科中一个活跃的分支领域之一，带电尘埃广泛存在于空间等离子体、实验室聚变装置、低温等离子体工业应用等众多小同的环境中，并且呈现出相同或相似的性质．这是一种部分或完全电离的等离子体，其基本成分除了电子和离子外，还有（通常）带负电的、且电荷不是常数的微粒．带电颗粒有着与电予和离子完全不同的动力学行为，其与等离子体的相互作用呈现出许多新的物理现象．文章介绍了尘埃等离子体物理的简要发展历史、基本性质和主要研究方向以及最近一些热点问题．     

Inertial fusion research in China

The goal of the first milestone of the inertial fusion program in China is to reach fusion ignition and plasma burning in about 2020. Under the program, in the past years, the inertial fusion physics research achieved great progress; the laser facilities and the support technologies for laser drivers are advanced; the advanced diagnostic techniques are developed and the relatively integrated system is set up; the precise target fabrications are coordinately developed.     

核科学百年讲座第七讲核科学技术在材料科学中的应用

核科学技术和材料科学的结合产生了一门新兴的交叉学科——核材料(也称核固体)，主要指核技术在材料分析、物质改性和新材料研制合成中的应用．文章介绍核技术在材料科学中的应用历史、现状及其前景，包括基本物理原理．     

我国低温等离子体研究进展(Ⅰ)

低温等离子体物理与技术的研究在国内受到了越来越多的重视．在等离子体中发现的一些有趣的物理现象，如磁场重联、尘埃等离子体等，使人们对等离子体物理的研究掀起了新的热潮．在应用方面，几乎所有理工类实验室都有涉及低温等离子体技术的实验装置，这使得在我国低温等离子体应用方面的研究非常普及，包括微电子工业中的等离子体工艺，各种坚硬、耐腐蚀、耐摩擦材料的制备，纳米材料的制备，聚合物以及生物材料的表面改性，等等．随着低温等离子体技术的发展，低温等离子体的诊断技术也随之发展起来．文章简要地介绍了近几年来低温等离子体研究在我国的发展，介绍了一些有关低温等离子体的热点研究课题．     

LTE and near-LTE lighting plasmas

High-pressure mercury lamps, metal halide arc lamps, high-pressure sodium lamps, xenon short-arc lamps, xenon flashlamps, and microwave-excited metal halide lamps are extremely important commercial applications of LTE and near-LTE plasma physics. The author outlines in very brief form the basic plasma science in such light sources. The factors controlling the power balance and the luminous efficacy of such sources are discussed. Current research in modeling these complex plasma devices is described. This has reached the stage that successful CAD models are available for new-product design in mercury and high-pressure sodium lamps, but not yet for metal halide lamps. The behavior of electrodes is discussed as an important practical determinant of lamp life. Directions of future research and development are briefly discussed     

基础物理课程在学生科学素质培养中的作用

文章分3个方面（物理学在人才科学素质中的地位,＂大学物理＂和＂大学物理实验＂课程的作用和任务,＂大学物理＂和＂大学物理实验＂课程的教学定位）阐述了作者的观点：在教育部研制＂本科专业类教学质量国家标准＂之际,应该坚持将＂大学物理＂和＂大学物理实验＂课程作为理工科各专业学生必修的两门重要的通识性基础课,并且应该保证基础物理课程拥有相应的学时.     

物理学与材料科学结合的机遇与挑战

物理学，特别是凝聚态物理学与材料科学的交叉在近几十年已取得丰硕的研究成果，文章分四部分：（1）简要介绍了材料与材料科学的基本概念；（2）回顾近代历史上物理学与材料科学交叉的一些典型例子；（3）介绍在表面和界面、缺陷、理论和模型、微结构表征、新材料以及新工艺等领域物理学与材料科学交叉的简况及材料研究的一些前沿问题；（4）讨论物理学在纳米材料发展中的作用。     

Max Born and his legacy to condensed matter physics

After a presentation of Max Born's most salient biographical data, we discuss his contributions to science and science policy, with special emphasis on those related to condensed matter physics. Our discussion includes journal articles as well as books. The methodology used is both qualitative and quantitative, including number of items, number of formal and informal citations, and other bibliometric indicators such as the recently proposed Hirsch index (h‐index). The data are mainly based on the Thomson/ISI Web of Science (WoS) which covers a carefully selected set of the more prestigious journals dating back to 1900. Born's books and articles not published in the journals covered by the WoS can also be evaluated, provided they are cited within the WoS journals. Some anecdotic and historical details, which have come to the fore in the course of our bibliometric investigations, are included.     

Inertial fusion science and technology for the 21 st century

This paper reviews the leading edge of the basic and applied science that use high-intensity facilities. The more than 15 000 experiments on the Nova laser since 1985 and many thousands more on other laser, particle beam, and pulsed power facilities around the world have established the new laboratory field of high-energy-density plasma physics and have furthered development of inertial fusion. High-brightness femtosecond lasers have enabled the study of matter in conditions previously unachievable on earth. These experiments and advanced calculations have established the specifications for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) and Laser MegaJoule (LMJ) and have enhanced scientific fields such as laboratory astrophysics. Science and technology developed in inertial fusion have found near-term commercial use, have enabled steady progress toward the goal of fusion ignition and gain in the laboratory, and have opened up new fields of study for the 21 ^st century.     

等离子体湍流理论研究的最新进展

评述和分析了磁约束核聚变理论研究、数值模拟和实验研究等方面最近几年共同关心的一个重要问题——寻找托卡马克等离子体湍流中的带状剪切流（zonal flows）。简要介绍了作者最近对电阻性-重力模湍流中的带状剪切流的研究结果。 Progress of the research on the zonal flows in tokamak plasma turbulence is surveyed, especially it is reviewed that the zonal flows observed in the experiments and numerical simulations on atmosphere turbulence and ocean turbulence and the discovery of H-mode in tokamak experiments how lead the researchers in magnetic confinement fusion community to find out the existence of the zonal flow in tokamak plasma turbulence and subsequently give the experimental verification of its existence. Finally, the results of our research on zonal flow generation and evolution in resistive-g mode turbulence are presented in brief.     

From Student of Physics to Historian of Science: T.S. Kuhn’s Education and Early Career, 1940–1958

I first show that Kuhn came to have doubts about physics soon after entering college but did not make up his mind to leave the discipline until 1947–1948 when a close association with Harvard’s President James B. Conant convinced him of the desirability of an alternative career in the history of science. I go on to maintain that it was realistic for Kuhn to prepare for such a career in essentially autodidactic ways both because he enjoyed Conant’s patronage and because he could expect that his credentials in physics would be an asset in this relatively young interdisciplinary specialty. I then suggest that it was through his work as a teacher, researcher, and journeyman gatekeeper in the history of science that Kuhn gradually came to identify with the field. Finally, I argue that his training in physics, his teaching of general-education courses, and his hopes of influencing current philosophy of science helped shape his early practice as a historian of science. By way of epilogue, I briefly consider Kuhn’s path from his tenuring at Berkeley in 1958 to the appearance of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions in 1962.     

Novel Applications of Millimeter and Submillimeter Wave Gyro-Devices

The possible applications of high-power millimeter (mm) and submillimeter waves from gyro-devices span a wide range of technologies. The plasma physics community has already taken advantage of recent advances in applying high-power micro- and mm-waves generated by gyrotron oscillators in the areas of RF-plasma production, heating, noninductive current drive, plasma stabilization and active plasma diagnostics for magnetic confinement thermonuclear fusion research, such as lower hybrid current drive (8 GHz), electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) (28–170 GHz), electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD), collective Thomson scattering and heat-wave propagation experiments. Other important applications of gyrotrons are electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) discharges for generation of multi-charged ions and soft X-rays, as well as industrial materials processing and plasma chemistry. Submillimeter wave gyrotrons are employed in high-frequency broadband electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Future applications which await the development of novel high-power gyro-amplifiers include high resolution radar ranging and imaging in atmospheric and planetary science as well as deep-space and specialized satellite communications and RF drivers for next-generation high-gradient linear accelerators (supercolliders). The present paper reviews the state-of-the-art and future prospects of these recent applications of gyro-devices.