The  Plasmatic

 

 

Newsletter of the Topical Group on Plasma Astrophysics

 

June 29, 2001

 

The Inception

           

            As many of you know, the Topical Group in Plasma Astrophysics (GPAP) was  officially constituted as an APS unit in 1998.  The officers and standing committees required by the bylaws are in place and functioning.  This is our inaugural newsletter.  I would like to take this opportunity to recap some of the  recent accomplishments of GPAP. 

            First and foremost, the science that the members of GPAP are interested in, plasma astrophysics, encompasses a truly diverse and cosmic range of environments in which plasma physics plays important roles.  Historically, it has been between traditional disciplinary boundaries and sometimes fell through the cracks in terms of appreciation and recognition by the larger scientific community.  Yet plasma physics is now firmly embedded in several scientific areas of keen interest outside the laboratory.  These include near-Earth space and solar plasma environments, stellar and interstellar physics, dynamo physics, accretion disk physics, particle acceleration, and so on.  It is a credit to the individual physicists who have pioneered the use of plasma physics to promote understanding in all these areas.

Jim Chen

 

Scientific Activity

 

            Scientifically, we have established a significant presence at the annual meeting of the Division of Plasma Physics (DPP), with which GPAP has considerable  common interest.  The DPP program committee has been very supportive of the GPAP agenda.  At the 43rd annual DPP meeting in Long Beach, CA, two GPAP-sponsored minisymposia will be held (see below).  In the last two years, GPAP has also organized invited sessions at the APS April meeting.  The most recent April meeting in Washington, DC, featured a session on solar physics organized jointly with the Division of Astrophysics. 

            The GPAP Executive Committee is also enthusiastic about miniconferences at the DPP meetings.  It was decided at the Quebec DPP meeting (November 2000) that miniconferences at the annual DPP meetings will be a major focus of GPAP scientific activity.  The miniconference format allows us to organize sessions  comprised of 30 minute invited talks.  This year’s two miniconferences will be described below in some detail.  The Executive Committee is very interested in proposals from the membership for future minisymposia.  Another activity is our endorsement of the 2002 International Congress on Plasma Physics (see item below). 

            In addition to miniconferences and whole meetings, there are opportunities for nominating invited, review, and tutorial talks.  The GPAP can provide a vehicle for interacting with the larger scientific community.  The Executive Committee welcomes individual initiatives and suggestions. 

            While it is not possible to cover the entire range of plasma astrophysics, I believe that GPAP provides an effective forum for enhancing the presence of plasma  astrophysics in the plasma physics, astrophysics, and space physics communities.  In this regard, sustainability is important.  We should balance the short term as well as long term agenda.  An example of a possible strategy is as follows.  One could invite a good and prominent speaker to give a tutorial or review talk at the DPP meeting.  This initiative could then be followed up with a minisymposium at the following year’s DPP meeting, in which a critical mass of active researchers are invited to provide a more comprehensive and detailed picture of the field.  This would then be followed in subsequent years by focused sessions of invited and contributed papers.  This process can be supplemented by occasional topical conferences on plasma astrophysics.  

            In order to be successful, active participation by GPAP members is essential.  The Executive Committee is in constant need of the scientific expertise and vision of its members. 

Jim Chen

 

APS Fellow from GPAP

 

            As a topical group, GPAP is entitled to select an APS fellow.  Last year Hideaki Takabe of Osaka University was nominated and elected as a Fellow of the APS.  Dr. Takabe’s citation read as follows: “For his theoretical and numerical investigations leading to the universally-used ablation front Rayleigh-Taylor dispersion curve, and his role in shepherding the emerging field of laser astrophysics”.  Congratulations to Dr. Takabe!

Jim Chen and Steve Spangler

 

        Minisymposia at the November Meeting of the Division of Plasma Physics

 

            The annual meeting of the Division of Plasma Physics will take place from October 29 to November 2 in Long Beach, California.  Details of this meeting, such as abstract deadlines and the like can be found at http://w3fusion.ph.utexas.edu/aps/index.html . We have been allocated two minisymposia, as follows.

  1. Plasma  Turbulence in the Corona,  Heliosphere and Interstellar Medium: Observations and Theory of Cascade and Dissipation Processes

      Organized by William Matthaeus of Bartol Research Institute of the University of              

       Delaware. 

  1. Magnetic Reconnection in Space and Astrophysical Plasmas by Peter Gary of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. 

 

These minisymposia will be of one to one and a half days in duration, and be primarily organized around invited talks of half an hour to forty five minutes in  length.  Contributed presentations will be accepted as posters or oral talks if space permits.  These minisymposia are a great opportunity to “come up to speed” in an area. Note that the abstract deadline for the DPP meeting is July 20.

 

Steve Spangler

 

International Conference on Plasma Physics, July 2002

           

            The International Conference on Plasma Physics (ICPP) is a major international conference on the subject of plasma physics, held every two years.  In 2002 it will be held in Sydney, Australia.  The dates of  the conference are July 15-19, and the conference website  is http://www.ise.canberra.edu.au/icpp2002 .  The organizers of the conference are very keen on a major plasma astrophysics component, and have contacted GPAP to this end.  We  endorse this meeting and strongly encourage all GPAP members to travel to Sydney and present a contribution.  Real astronomers among the GPAP membership will relish the opportunity to see ω Centauri, the Magellanic Clouds, and other wonders of the southern skies. 

Steve Spangler

 

Items for The Plasmatic ?

            If you would like to suggest additional items for our newsletter, contact the GPAP Secretary-Treasurer, Steve Spangler, at srs@astro.physics.uiowa.edu.