This description of the discipline has served as the defining guidepost of the Plasma Physics program<\/a> within the NSF Division of Physics<\/a> for the past decade. The broader field of Plasma Science and Engineering (PSE) was most recently reviewed in 2021 by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) in the Decadal Assessment of Plasma Science,\u00b2\u00a0 \u2018Plasma Science: Enabling Technology, Sustainability, Security, and Exploration<\/a>\u2019. PSE encompasses many of the nominally distinct disciplines where the knowledge of the physics of plasmas is critical to understanding the Universe as we know it, and to developing new technologies that rely on plasma\u2019s unique properties. In the US, many of these are supported by dedicated programs within NSF and other federal science agencies.<\/p>\n The study of collective interactions in complex, many-body, nonequilibrium systems is not unique to plasmas. In fact, one could argue that a plasma where electromagnetic forces dominate the collective interactions is one of the simplest examples of such a system. A recent NSF-funded workshop,\u00b3\u00a0 Working Across Scales in Complex Systems<\/a>, explored parallels between plasma physics and biological physics in their study of multiscale nonequilibrium phenomena. Condensed matter physics and quantum information science study systems where quantum interactions determine their statistical nonequilibrium properties,\u2074\u00a0 and many social institutions, such as democracy itself ,\u2075 are examples of complex nonequilibrium systems defined by human interactions.<\/p>\n Many of the plasma physics, and broader PSE projects, and authors featured in The Innovation Platform articles over the past year have been supported by NSF.<\/p>\n The article by Edda Gschwendtner, \u2018Unlocking high-energy electron acceleration proton-drive plasma technology<\/a>\u2019, describes the CERN-based Advanced Proton Driven Plasma Wakefield Acceleration Experiment project to advance plasma wakefield acceleration \u2013 an international effort where the US contribution by the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been supported by NSF for nearly a decade. Gschwendtner\u2019s article also refers to strong-field quantum electrodynamics, a topic expounded upon, from the basics to the state of the art, by the University of Maryland\u2019s Wendell Hill in this issue\u2019s article, \u2018Rousing the quantum vacuum with extreme laser light<\/a>\u2019. Bringing together the physics of electromagnetic waves, special relativity and quantum mechanics, Hill describes upcoming virtual matter experiments aiming towards creating electron-positron pair plasmas out of vacuum at some of the world\u2019s highest power laser facilities, such as the newly constructed 3 petawatt (PW) NSF Zettawatt-Equivalent Ultrashort pulse laser System facility<\/a> at the University of Michigan. Hill is also engaged in a project aiming to build the next-generation multi-beam high-field laser user facility with two 25 PW beamlines, NSF OPAL<\/a>, which is currently in the design phase, being led by the University of Rochester.\u2076<\/p>\n Dialing back the electron energy by 10 orders of magnitude from ~10 GeV to ~1 eV, two articles by NSF-supported principal investigators \u2014 \u2018Low-temperature plasma science and engineering enable a broad range of societal transformations<\/a>\u2019, by Peter Bruggeman at the University of Minnesota and, in this issue, \u2018Tackling the grand challenges of engineering with plasma science<\/a>\u2019, by Katharina Stapelmann at North Carolina State University \u2014 describe the impact of low-temperature plasma science in life sciences, agriculture, sustainable chemistry, environment and next-generation manufacturing. The advances described in these articles have become possible, in large part, by bringing the knowledge of nonequilibrium plasma physics and chemistry to bear on many of the technological and societal challenges of the modern world. To help enable such efforts, encouraged by the 2021 NASEM Decadal Assessment of Plasma Science, NSF established an umbrella program, ECosystem for Leading Innovation in Plasma Science and Engineering (ECLIPSE)<\/a>, to breakdown disciplinary silos and to support translational research and workforce development at the interface of fundamental plasma science and technological innovation.<\/p>\n Plasma astrophysics<\/p>\n Laboratory plasma astrophysics has been a mainstay of the NSF plasma physics portfolio for decades. In this issue\u2019s overview article, \u2018Welcome to the world of laboratory astrophysics<\/a>\u2019, Thomas White at the University of Nevada, Reno describes how laboratory astrophysics uses advanced techniques to simulate and study extreme cosmic conditions in a laboratory. White\u2019s article focuses on the study of plasmas in the high energy density regime at large laser facilities and his research group\u2019s area of expertise recently highlighted by NSF<\/a>. However, this area of study is broader and includes many individual-investigator-scale laboratory experiments, such as the NSF-funded work by Paul Bellan\u2019s group at Caltech simulating solar flares on a scale size of a banana<\/a>, and first-of-a-kind studies of plasma particles\u2019 velocity distribution functions during magnetic reconnection<\/a> at West Virginia University\u2019s PHASMA experiment that help to understand the drivers of space weather.<\/p>\n NSF\u2019s support for plasma science research is by no means limited to laboratory experimentation. The world\u2019s most powerful solar telescope, the NSF Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope<\/a>, managed by the National Solar Observatory<\/a>, is now capable of measuring magnetic fields within the plasma of the Sun\u2019s atmospheric corona<\/a>, a breakthrough that allows for closer study of the fundamental mechanisms that drive space weather. And the Event Horizon Telescope<\/a> has measured signatures of magnetic field<\/a> embedded in the plasma swirling at the edge of supermassive black holes M87\u2077\u00a0 and the Milky Way\u2019s own Sgr A* ,\u2078 enabling exploration of what has become known as the \u2018extreme\u2019 highly relativistic plasma physics of these astrophysical environments.<\/p>\n An integral part of NSF\u2019s plasma science portfolio is support for computational modelling of plasmas across the full energy range; from the low-temperature laboratory plasmas to geospace plasmas, to the extreme relativistic astrophysical plasmas. Computational modelling has been recognised as an essential tool for unraveling the complex, multiscale, nonlinear behaviour of plasmas since the advent of high-performance computing (HPC).\u2079\u00a0 It serves as the critical linchpin for interpreting the observed plasma phenomena from first principles, for extrapolating results of lab-based experiments to geospace and astrophysical systems, and for scaling early conceptual designs to prototypes and beyond for highly engineered systems such as the plasma wakefield particle accelerators.<\/p>\n One topical area in plasma physics where computational approaches have been indispensable is the study of plasma turbulence. From the work on the origins of magnetic fields in the Universe<\/a> by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology group led by Nuno Loureiro, to the study of plasma dynamics in the interstellar medium<\/a> using NSF Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem: Services and Support<\/a> HPC resources by a University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison group led by Paul Terry and Ellen Zweibel, concurrent advances in the HPC hardware and software have enabled dramatic progress in the understanding of the physics of plasma turbulence and its observable consequences.<\/p>\n Another focus area that critically depends on advances in computational plasma physics is space weather modelling. The joint NSF-NASA program on Space Weather with Quantified Uncertainties<\/a> has enabled rapid progress in the development of state-of-the-art space weather software by bringing together teams with expertise across multiple scientific domains and research laboratories<\/a>, while better understanding of the physics of space weather drivers is being pursued by NSF-funded researchers such as Luca Comisso and Lorenzo Sironi at Columbia University using computer models to explain the origins of high-energy solar particles<\/a>.<\/p>\n The breadth and reach of plasma physics as a discipline, and of plasma science and engineering programs across NSF and partner agencies, is second to none. Since 2022, these often disparate scientific communities have been brought together at bi-annual ECLIPSE meetings<\/a>, where many of the aforementioned scientists have had a chance to present their work and learn from each other. The next 2026 ECLIPSE meeting is scheduled to take place in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to be hosted by the University of Michigan.<\/p>\n References<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1-300x169.png\")
The P3 (Plasma Physics Platform)-installation at ELI Beamlines where the experiments will take place. Credit: ELI Beamlines<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/2-300x169.png\")
Researcher Federico Hita fine-tunes a hand-cranked piezoelectric device developed to generate plasma
Credit: University of Notre Dame
\nLow-temperature plasma science<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/3-300x169.png\")
Astronomers find hot, turbulent plasma at the center of galaxy clusters Credit: Giannandrea Inchingolo<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/4-300x169.png\")
Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Haleakal\u0101, Maui. Credit: NSO\/AURA\/NSF
\nComputational modelling of plasmas<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/5-300x169.png\")
Plasma physics could explain the origins of the Universe\u2019s magnetic fields Credit: Giannandrea Inchingolo<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/6-300x169.png\")
Space weather modeling framework simulation of the September 10, 2014, coronal mass ejection. Credit: Gabor Toth<\/p>\n\n
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https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3847\/2041-8213\/ad2df1<\/a><\/li>\n
https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1063\/1.871304<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n