SAVI: A Max-Planck/Princeton Research Center for Plasma Physics

该项目将建立一个聚变和天体等离子体物理联合研究中心，涉及普林斯顿大学内的两个单位（普林斯顿等离子体物理实验室，PPPL和天体物理科学系）和马克斯普朗克学会（MPS）内的三个研究所（加尔兴和格雷夫斯瓦尔德等离子体物理研究所，加尔兴天体物理研究所和林道太阳系研究所）。该中心的主要研究目标是利用聚变和天体物理等离子体社区的专业知识和资源来解决阻碍这两个社区进步的基本问题。这些问题包括理解磁重联的过程，无碰撞冲击中高能（超热）粒子的产生和输运，磁化等离子体中湍流的产生和耗散。在该中心进行的研究将促进我们对理论等离子体天体物理学、聚变物理学、基础等离子体实验和托卡马克等许多领域的理解。更广泛地说，联合中心将促进国内和国际等离子体和天体物理学团体之间的跨学科合作。它将在大学、国家聚变实验室和国际合作伙伴之间建立新的合作关系。它将利用两个社区独立开发的工具和专业知识（例如，实验室实验和复杂的计算机代码）来解决基础研究问题。它将为博士后、研究生和本科生提供国际研究合作机会，并为高中、地方和区域机构的学生和教师提供参与科学探究的机会，通过PPPL完善的外展计划，提高他们对科学概念和科学思维方式的理解。该奖项被指定为跨虚拟研究所（SAVI）科学奖，由NSF国际科学与工程办公室共同资助。

This project will establish a joint research center in fusion and astro-plasma physics involving two units within Princeton University (the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, PPPL, and the Department of Astrophysical Sciences) and three institutes within the Max Planck Society (MPS) (the Institute of Plasma Physics at Garching and Greifswald, the Institute for Astrophysics at Garching, and the Institute for Solar System Research at Lindau).The major research goal of the center is to harness the expertise and resources of both the fusion and astrophysical plasma communities to tackle fundamental problems that impede progress in both communities. Such problems include understanding the process of magnetic reconnection, the generation and transport of energetic (superthermal) particles in collisionless shocks, and the generation and dissipation of turbulence in magnetized plasmas. Research conducted at the center will advance our understanding in many areas of theoretical plasma astrophysics, fusion physics, basic plasma experiments, and tokamaks.More broadly, the joint center will foster interdisciplinary collaboration between the plasma and astrophysics communities, both nationally and internationally. It will forge new collaborations between Universities, the national fusion labs, and international partners. It will leverage the tools and expertise developed independently in both communities (for example, laboratory experiments and sophisticated computer codes) in order to address fundamental research questions. It will provide international research collaboration opportunities for postdocs, graduate, and undergraduate students, and provide opportunities for students and teachers at high-schools, local, and regional institutions to engage in scientific inquiry in ways that enhance their understanding of science concepts and scientific ways of thinking through a well established outreach program at PPPL.This award has been designated as a Science Across Virtual Institutes (SAVI) award and is being co-funded by NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering.