Paper detail

Research Opportunities in Plasma Astrophysics

Major scientific questions and research opportunities are described on 10 unprioritized plasma astrophysics topics: (1) magnetic reconnection, (2) collisionless shocks and particle acceleration, (3) waves and turbulence, (4) magnetic dynamos, (5) interface and shear instabilities, (6) angular momentum transport, (7) dusty plasmas, (8) radiative hydrodynamics, (9) relativistic, pair-dominated and strongly magnetized plasmas, (10) jets and outflows. Note that this is a conference report from a Workshop on Opportunities in Plasma Astrophysics (WOPA, https://w3.pppl.gov/conferences/2010/WOPA/) in January 2010, that attracted broad representation from the community and was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Science Foundation, American Physical Society's Topical Group for Plasma Astrophysics and Division of Plasma Physics, and Center for Magnetic Self-Organization in Laboratory and Astrophysical Plasmas. Although there has been much planning and many developments in both science and infrastructure since the report was written, most of the motivation, priorities, problems and technical challenges discussed therein remain unaddressed and are relevant at the time of posting.