43rd Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics
October 29 - November 2, 2001
Long Beach, California
HIGHLIGHTS
October 22, 2001---How can a little bit of geometry improve microwave cooking? What encouraging news has the world's largest unclassified supercomputer provided on fusion energy? Could the hotter-than-expected temperatures on the sun's surface be caused by the most common wave in outer space?
These and many other questions will be addressed at one of the world's largest physics meetings this year: the 43rd annual meeting of the American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics (APS-DPP), to be held from October 29 - November 2, 2001 in Long Beach, California. Almost 1600 papers are scheduled to be delivered at this meeting.
Plasmas are gases of electrically charged particles such as electrons and protons. Plasmas make up astrophysical objects such as stars and supernovas, dying stars that collapse under their own weight and then explode. On Earth, they exist naturally as lightning bolts and the bath of charged particles in our upper atmosphere. In high-tech electronics factories, beams of artificially created plasmas engrave the sophisticated patterns in computer chips.
In attempts to provide the world with an abundant source of energy, many physicists are working hard to make artificial suns--plasmas so hot and so dense that their particles fuse to release energy. This pursuit of nuclear fusion as a practical energy source is a major branch of plasma physics research.
Reporters seeking additional information should contact Ben Stein, 301-209-3091, bstein@aip.org or James Riordon, 301-209-3238, jriordon@aip.org