Here is Tina's topic:
http://www.thunderbolts.info/wp/forum/phpB ... 874#p42360
And I will continue here with a reply to Nereid as the last poster there with a bit of the introduction as found in the report for informational reasons.
http://www.thunderbolts.info/wp/forum/phpB ... 525#p42525Nereid wrote:"Space physics" is, as far as I know, the name given to observations and experiments of plasmas within the solar system, above the Earth's atmosphere, many done in situ. As such it is, of course, a study of (part of) the plasma universe, which the article calls plasma astrophysics. The Hannes Alfvén Laboratory , now part of the Swedish KTH Royal Institute of Technology, has a very active space physics programme, stretching back many decades, with dozens, if not hundreds, of published papers.
As Harry Costas noted, plasma astrophysics in general has been around for a long time.
Tina, I think you're getting tripped by your use of words; while at least one of the ten major questions WOPA examined* relates to cosmology, plasma cosmology is a very different topic (and within this Alfvén's, Peratt's, and Lerner's ideas on plasma cosmology have some big differences too). And electric universe theory seems to be different again.
* Here are those ten key questions:
1. How do magnetic explosions work?
2. How are cosmic rays accelerated to ultrahigh energies?
3. What is the origin of coronae and winds in virtually all stars, including Sun?
4. How are magnetic fields generated in stars, galaxies, and clusters?
5. What powers the most luminous sources in the universe?
6. How is star and planet formation impacted by plasma dynamics?
7. How do magnetic field, radiation and turbulence impact supernova explosions?
8. How are jets launched and collimated?
9. How is the plasma state altered by ultra-strong magnetic field?
10. Can magnetic fields affect cosmological structure formation?
As for the name given to this supposed subject , plasma astrophysics, I can not be clearer than the reasons given in the following introduction by the folks involved there. Whether it's correct nomenclature or not I don't know.
And just as you say, Nereid, there has for a long time been an interest in the various subjects in the field as is under study in the WOPA 2010. And surely a lot of advances have been made in understanding some of the phenomena and there principles involved. But what is also stressed in the WOPA 2010 info is that there seems to be a new sort of blooming of ideas so to say, as stated in physorg-article:
http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-10-mys ... verse.htmlPPPL scientist Hantao Ji said WOPA represents the first time for a comprehensive assessment of the opportunities in plasma astrophysics. Ji and Prager worked with a team to co-produce the report and were co-chairs of the workshop, held at PPPL earlier this year.
This grassroots effort brought together experimentalists, astronomers, and computational scientists to identify the major puzzles at this intersection of laboratory physics and space science, and to map out new strategies for better understanding the plasma universe. "It helped us identify opportunities for working together and will be a step toward expanding the field of plasma astrophysics and unifying this diverse new field," Ji said
Plasma astrophysics is the study of plasmas beyond the Earth's atmosphere, a discipline that is rapidly growing in scientific opportunity. This scientific fertility arises from the maturation of plasma theory, computation, and experimental techniques, combined with the surge in observational data.
Plasma astrophysics includes processes active in space, solar, and astrophysical plasmas. Often, a detailed understanding of the plasma physics under the specific space and astrophysical conditions holds the key to many long-standing mysteries. The practice of plasma astrophysics consists of diverse components: low energy density magnetized and unmagnetized basic plasma experiments, high energy density experiments, liquid metal experiments, analytic theory, fluid and kinetic computation, theoretical astrophysics, observations (space, solar, and astrophysical), and aspects of fusion energy experiments.
As for how this all fits together and the implications and relations with Plasma Cosmology and Electric Universe and other such ideas I have not much to say. But what I do find sometimes a bit awkward is the way things are talked about as in this WOPA-report or in articles and papers concerning dusty (space) plasma, compared with the way it is talked about or worded in more general public oriented media (although in someplaces there seems to be a trent to be at least a bit more proper in nomenclature).
As for the report of WOPA 2010 I haven't yet been able to read it completely, but I do think it gives a nice insight in what is going on at the moment in the field:
http://www.pppl.gov/conferences/2010/WO ... tFINAL.pdfResearch Opportunities in Plasma Astrophysics
Report of the Workshop on Opportunities in Plasma Astrophysics
Executive Summary
Introduction
Plasma pervades the universe at all measurable scales. At the very small scale, coupled processes
in plasmas determine the behavior of the solar system. The Sun rotates, generates magnetic fields,
and ejects mass in part because of plasma processes. The ejected plasma expands as the solar
wind toward the Earth, becoming turbulent and hot as it travels. It then encounters and becomes
trapped in the Earth’s magnetic field, causes shocks, and produces magnetic substorms, aurora,
and other plasma phenomena. This Sun-Earth system spans the short distance of 10-4 light years.
Jumping ten orders of magnitude in size, extra-galactic jet systems are among the largest plasma
structures in the universe. They begin with a rotating, accretion disk surrounding a supermassive
black hole. Plasma transport processes determine the rate of accretion of matter onto the black
hole, while producing the most luminous source of energy in the universe. The rotating plasma
also launches a collimated jet that travels distances in the range of one million light years, ending
in confined lobes of plasma. Dynamics of astrophysical systems at all scales between the solar
system and jets are similarly regulated by plasma physics.
The study of plasmas beyond the Earth’s atmosphere is here denoted as plasma astrophysics. This
definition encompasses the usual realm of astrophysics (beyond the solar system), but also the
domain of space physics (the Sun, the Heliosphere, and the magnetospheres of the Earth and the
planets). The power of plasma astrophysics is that the same fundamental plasma processes appear
in many different venues. For example, magnetic reconnection can drive not only magnetic substorms
in the Earth’s magnetosphere, but also flares on the surfaces of distant stars. The usual
distinction between astrophysics and space physics disappears when viewed through the unifying
lens of plasma physics.
Plasma astrophysics is positioned for rapid advance resulting from huge strides in astronomical
observations, plasma technology, diagnostics, and plasma computation, combined with the maturity
of plasma physics. Satellite and ground-based observations are set to measure plasma processes
long invisible to us, from the solar interior to accretion disks. In-situ measurements of local
plasma properties, including both field and particle information, have been expanded into
every corner of our solar system: Earth’s magnetosphere, the solar wind, other planets’ magnetospheres,
and the boundaries of our solar system. Multiple, coordinated satellites have greatly
improved spatial and temporal resolution of magnetospheric measurements. Remote-sensing observations
from both space and ground have moved beyond the traditional visible wavelengths
to almost every wavelength band from far infrared emission from cold, partially ionized plasmas
during star formation, to hard X-ray emission from extremely hot relativistic plasmas around supermassive
black holes. High-power lasers now produce new plasma regimes with high energy
density. These laser-produced, warm or hot, dense plasmas are similar to the interiors of giant
planet cores and to the plasma that surrounds compact objects.
Plasma diagnostics can now measure, often remotely and non-perturbatively, a huge range of key
particle and field quantities in the laboratory, both at the large scale and the small scale characteristic
of turbulence. Modern techniques include laser scattering, laser-induced fluorescence, laser
Faraday rotation, active spectroscopy using injected neutral atoms, miniaturized insertable
probes, and electron cyclotron imaging techniques, to name a few. These provide new windows to
detailed properties of magnetic fields, electric fields, electron and ion densities, plasma flow, and
aspects of particle distribution functions. Advances in computation are revolutionizing how we
study the complex behavior of plasmas. The surge in available computational power is being coupled
with expansion of physics captured in computational models. Many plasma phenomena are
governed by coupling between the large scale of the plasma system and the small scale characterized
by microscopic plasma quantities (such as the particle gyroradius). New computational models
can now treat this coupling, whether in multi-fluid treatments or new approaches that solve
kinetic equations.
The opportunities represented by these technical advances can only be fully realized through a
coordinated effort that brings together the communities of astrophysicists and laboratory plasma
physicists. These communities involve observers, laboratory experimentalists, theorists, and
computational physicists. Recent years have seen very significant beginnings of such coordinated
efforts.
These beginnings indicate the large potential for accelerated progress and the need for an articulation
of the major scientific challenges and opportunities in plasma astrophysics. Such an articulation
would also express the unity and coherence of plasma astrophysics as a scientific discipline.
Since it merges multiple areas of expertise, its unity can be overlooked, as reflected in the absence
of a clear funding home for plasma astrophysics in the U.S.
To express the challenges, opportunities, and coherence of plasma astrophysics, more than 100
scientists were involved in preparing and participating in the Workshop on Opportunities in Plasma
Astrophysics held in January 2010. The workshop, preceded by preparatory efforts of ten topical
working groups, was a grass-roots effort organized by the plasma astrophysics community.
This effort brought together observers, experimentalists, computational plasma physicists, and
theorists from universities, national laboratories, government research institutions, and private
industry, including several scientists from outside the U.S. It also encompassed physicists studying
magnetized plasmas and those studying high energy density plasmas. The breadth of participation
uncovered cross-cutting opportunities previously unappreciated. This document reports
the results from the workshop.
from
http://www.pppl.gov/conferences/2010/WOPA/