Eric Lerner: Difference between revisions

Eric Lerner
Eric Lerner
Born	Eric J. Lerner; May 31, 1947 (age 77); Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma mater	Columbia University
Website	LPPFusion.com

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Eric J. Lerner (born May 31, 1947) is an American popular science writer and independent plasma researcher.^[2] He wrote the 1991 book The Big Bang Never Happened, which advocates Hannes Alfvén's plasma cosmology instead of the Big Bang theory. He is founder, president, and chief scientist of LPP Fusion.^[3]^[4]

Professional work

Lerner received a BA in physics from Columbia University^[5] and started as a graduate student in physics at the University of Maryland, but left after a year due to his dissatisfaction with the mathematical rather than experimental approach there.^[6]^[7] He then pursued a career in popular science writing.

Lerner is an active general science writer, estimating that he has had about 600 articles published.^[3] He has received journalism awards between 1984 and 1993 from the Aviation Space Writers Association. In 2006 he was a visiting scientist at the European Southern Observatory in Chile.^[8]

LPP Fusion

In 1984, he began studying plasma phenomena and laboratory fusion devices, performing experimental work on a machine called a dense plasma focus (DPF). NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has funded mainstream as well as alternative approaches to fusion, and between 1994 and 2001 NASA provided a grant to Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, the company of which Lerner was the only employee, to explore whether Lerner's alternative approach to fusion might be useful to propel spacecraft; a 2007 New York Times article noted that Lerner had not received funding from the US Department of Energy.^[9]^[10] He believes that a dense plasma focus can also be used to produce useful aneutronic fusion energy.^[11]^[12] Lerner explained his "Focus Fusion" approach in a 2007 Google Tech Talk.^[13]

On November 14, 2008, Lerner received funding for continued research, to test the scientific feasibility of Focus Fusion.^[14] On January 28, 2011, LPP published preliminary results.^[15] In March 2012, the company published a paper saying that it had achieved temperatures of 1.8 billion degrees, beating the old record of 1.1 billion that had survived since 1978.^[16]^[17] In 2012 the company announced a collaboration with a lab at the Islamic Azad University Central Tehran Branch in Iran.^[18] In 2017, Lerner et al. published evidence of confined ion energies in excess of 200 keV, with the best “shot” having a mean ion energy of 240 keV ± 20 keV which was reported as a record for confined fusion plasmas.^[19]

In October 2021, the company announced improved results with the latest version of its device, with reduced erosion and higher temperatures,^[20] but the prior month, an independent expert stated that they were not close to a commercial fusion reactor with this device.^[21]

In March, 2023 Lerner et al. published a paper in a special issue of the Journal of Fusion Energy showing that LPPFusion led all fusion companies in achieving” the highest ratio of fusion energy generation to device energy input (wall-plug efficiency).^[22]

The Big Bang Never Happened

In his book, The Big Bang Never Happened,^[6] Lerner rejects mainstream Big Bang cosmology, and instead advances a non-standard plasma cosmology originally proposed in the 1960s by Hannes Alfvén, the 1970 Nobel Prize recipient in Physics. The book appeared at a time when results from the Cosmic Background Explorer satellite were of some concern to astrophysicists who expected to see cosmic microwave background anisotropies but instead measured a blackbody spectrum with little variation across the sky. Lerner referred to this as evidence that the Big Bang was a failed paradigm. He also denigrated the observational evidence for dark matter and recounted a well known cosmological feature that superclusters are larger than the largest structures that could have formed through gravitational collapse in the age of the universe.^[6]

As an alternative to the Big Bang, Lerner adopted Alfvén's model of plasma cosmology that relied on plasma physics to explain most, if not all, cosmological observations by appealing to electromagnetic forces.^[6] Adopting an eternal universe,^[23] Lerner's explanation of cosmological evolution relied on a model of thermodynamics based on the work of the Nobel Chemistry prize winner Ilya Prigogine under which order emerges from chaos.^[6]^[24] This is in apparent defiance of the second law of thermodynamics. As a way of partially acknowledging this, Lerner asserts that away from equilibrium order can spontaneously form by taking advantage of energy flows, as argued more recently by American astrophysicist Eric Chaisson.^[25]

Criticism

Lerner's ideas have been rejected by mainstream physicists and cosmologists. In these critiques, critics have explained that, contrary to Lerner's assertions, the size of superclusters is a feature limited by subsequent observations to the end of greatness and is consistent with having arisen from a power spectrum of density fluctuations growing from the quantum fluctuations predicted in inflationary models.^[26]^[27]^[28] Anisotropies were discovered in subsequent analysis of both the COBE and BOOMERanG experiments and were more fully characterized by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe^[26]^[27] and Planck.

Physical cosmologists who have commented on the book have generally dismissed it.^[26]^[28]^[29]^[30]^[31]^[32] In particular, American astrophysicist and cosmologist Edward L. Wright criticized Lerner for making errors of fact and interpretation, arguing that:^[27]

Lerner's alternative model for Hubble's law is dynamically unstable
the number density of distant radio sources falsifies Lerner's explanation for the cosmic microwave background
Lerner's explanation that the helium abundance is due to stellar nucleosynthesis fails because of the small observed abundance of heavier elements

Lerner has disputed Wright's critique.^[33]

Activism

While at Columbia, Lerner participated in the 1965 Selma March^[34] and helped organize the 1968 Columbia Student Strike.^[35]^[36]

In the 1970s, Lerner became involved in the National Caucus of Labor Committees, an offshoot of the Columbia University Students for a Democratic Society. Lerner left the National Caucus in 1978, later stating in a lawsuit that he had resisted pressure from the U.S. Labor Party, an organization led by Lyndon LaRouche, to violate election law by channeling profits of an engineering firm to the organization.^[37]^[38]

More recently, Lerner sought civil rights protection for immigrants as a member and spokesman for the New Jersey Civil Rights Defense Committee.^[39]^[40] He participated in the Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011.^[41]

References

^ Lerner, Eric (1992). "Force-Free Magnetic Filaments and the Cosmic Background Radiation" (PDF). IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science. 20 (6): 935. Bibcode:1992ITPS...20..935L. doi:10.1109/27.199554. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 5, 2006. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
^ John Wilford, "Novel Theory Challenges The Big Bang", The New York Times, February 28, 1989
^ ^a ^b Eric Lerner's biography page at Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, Inc.
^ "Eric Lerner | the Space Show".
^ Columbia Alumni Directory, 1988 edition, p.211
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e E. J. Lerner (1991). The Big Bang Never Happened. New York and Toronto: Random House. ISBN 978-0-8129-1853-3. pages 12 - 14, footnote on page 388, 286 - 316, 242
^ Biography at the Space Show Archived November 24, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, 2006
^ ESO Senior Visits in 2006, activities Archived May 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, and ESO Santiago Science Colloquia and Seminars 2006
^ Kenneth Chang, "Practical Fusion, or Just a Bubble?", The New York Times, February 27, 2007
^ JPL Contract 959962 Archived July 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, pg 8, and JPL Contract 960283
^ Patrick Huyghe, "3 Ideas That Are Pushing the Edge of Science", Discover Magazine, June 2008
^ A Novel Form of Fusion Power, The Economist, October 22, 2009
^ Lerner, Eric (October 3, 2007). "Focus Fusion: The Fastest Route to Cheap, Clean Energy" (video). Google TechTalks. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
^ "LPP Receives Major Investments, Initiates Experimental Project". Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, Inc. November 22, 2008. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
^ Lerner, Eric J.; Krupakar Murali, S.; Haboub, A. (January 28, 2011). "Theory and Experimental Program for p-B11 Fusion with the Dense Plasma Focus". Journal of Fusion Energy. 30 (5): 367–376. Bibcode:2011JFuE...30..367L. doi:10.1007/s10894-011-9385-4. S2CID 122230379.
^ Lerner, Eric J.; S. Krupakar Murali; Derek Shannon; Aaron M. Blake; Fred Van Roessel (March 23, 2012). "Fusion reactions from >150 keV ions in a dense plasma focus plasmoid". Physics of Plasmas. 19 (3): 032704. Bibcode:2012PhPl...19c2704L. doi:10.1063/1.3694746. S2CID 120207711.
^ Halper, Mark (March 28, 2012). "Fusion breakthrough". Smart PLanet. Retrieved April 1, 2012.
^ Knapp, Alex (June 4, 2012). "U.S. Company Teams With Iranian University To Develop Fusion Power". Forbes.
^ Lerner, Eric J.; Hassan, Syed M.; Karamitsos, Ivana; Von Roessel, Fred (October 1, 2017). "Confined ion energy >200 keV and increased fusion yield in a DPF with monolithic tungsten electrodes and pre-ionization". Physics of Plasmas. 24 (10). Bibcode:2017PhPl...24j2708L. doi:10.1063/1.4989859. ISSN 1070-664X.
^ Wang, Brian. "LPP Fusion Increases Current and Reaches First Fusion Results". NextBigFuture.com. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
^ "Why Lawrenceville Plasma Physics Results are Not Even Wrong; a Detailed Analysis". impedans.com. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
^ "Focus Fusion: Overview of Progress Towards p-B11 Fusion with the Dense Plasma Focus" (PDF). lppfusion.com. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
^ Chown, Marcus (July 2, 2005). "Did the big bang really happen?". New Scientist.
^ Prigogine, Ilya; Stengers, Isabelle (1984). Order out of Chaos: Man's new dialogue with nature. Flamingo. ISBN 978-0-00-654115-8.
^ Michael Chorost (January 21, 2012). "The Ascent of Life". New Scientist. 213 (2848): 35–37. Bibcode:2012NewSc.213...35C. doi:10.1016/S0262-4079(12)60181-X.
^ ^a ^b ^c Stenger, Victor J. (Summer 1992). "Is the Big Bang a Bust?". Skeptical Inquirer. 16 (412). Archived from the original on September 25, 2006.
^ ^a ^b ^c Wright, Edward L. "Errors in "The Big Bang Never Happened"
^ ^a ^b "Big Bang Theory Makes Sense of Cosmic Facts; No Contradiction", The New York Times, June 18, 1991
^ "Did the Big Bang Happen?", The New York Times, September 1, 1991
^ Feuerbacher & Scranton. "Evidence for the Big Bang".
^ Macandrew, Alec. "The Big Bang is not a Myth".
^ A critique of the tactics of Eric Lerner mentioning him explicitly by name appears on Sean Carroll's blog, Preposterous Universe
^ "The Big Bang Never Happened: Dr Wright is Wrong". Archived from the original on January 8, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
^ Manoocheri, Kasra (February 2007). "Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement — Eric Lerner". crmvet.org.
^ "A Memorandum from the Strike Education Committee" Archived September 7, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, Columbia University archives, May 4, 1968. Lists Eric Lerner as one of the committee members.
^ Eric Lerner | Columbia University 1968
^ King, Dennis (1989). "Chapter 32". Lyndon LaRouche and the New American Fascism. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-23880-9.
^ Dennis King; Patricia Lynch (May 27, 1986). "The Empire of Lyndon LaRouche". The Wall Street Journal (Eastern ed.). p. 1.
^ Hsu, Spencer S. (January 17, 2007). "Immigrants Mistreated, Report Says". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
^ Eman Varoqua, "Not Everyone Is A Terrorist", The Record (Bergen County, NJ), December 7, 2004
^ Harkinson, Josh. "Occupy Protesters' One Demand: A New New Deal—Well, Maybe", Mother Jones, October 18, 2011.

External links

[Transactions_on_Plasma_Science-1] Lerner, Eric (1992). "Force-Free Magnetic Filaments and the Cosmic Background Radiation" (PDF). IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science. 20 (6): 935. Bibcode:1992ITPS...20..935L. doi:10.1109/27.199554. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 5, 2006. Retrieved September 21, 2017.

[2] John Wilford, "Novel Theory Challenges The Big Bang", The New York Times, February 28, 1989

[biography-3] Eric Lerner's biography page at Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, Inc.

[4] "Eric Lerner | the Space Show".

[5] Columbia Alumni Directory, 1988 edition, p.211

[Lerner-6] E. J. Lerner (1991). The Big Bang Never Happened. New York and Toronto: Random House. ISBN 978-0-8129-1853-3. pages 12 - 14, footnote on page 388, 286 - 316, 242

[7] Biography at the Space Show Archived November 24, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, 2006

[8] ESO Senior Visits in 2006, activities Archived May 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, and ESO Santiago Science Colloquia and Seminars 2006

[9] Kenneth Chang, "Practical Fusion, or Just a Bubble?", The New York Times, February 27, 2007

[10] JPL Contract 959962 Archived July 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, pg 8, and JPL Contract 960283

[Huyghe-11] Patrick Huyghe, "3 Ideas That Are Pushing the Edge of Science", Discover Magazine, June 2008

[12] A Novel Form of Fusion Power, The Economist, October 22, 2009

[13] Lerner, Eric (October 3, 2007). "Focus Fusion: The Fastest Route to Cheap, Clean Energy" (video). Google TechTalks. Retrieved January 8, 2009.

[14] "LPP Receives Major Investments, Initiates Experimental Project". Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, Inc. November 22, 2008. Retrieved January 8, 2009.

[15] Lerner, Eric J.; Krupakar Murali, S.; Haboub, A. (January 28, 2011). "Theory and Experimental Program for p-B11 Fusion with the Dense Plasma Focus". Journal of Fusion Energy. 30 (5): 367–376. Bibcode:2011JFuE...30..367L. doi:10.1007/s10894-011-9385-4. S2CID 122230379.

[16] Lerner, Eric J.; S. Krupakar Murali; Derek Shannon; Aaron M. Blake; Fred Van Roessel (March 23, 2012). "Fusion reactions from >150 keV ions in a dense plasma focus plasmoid". Physics of Plasmas. 19 (3): 032704. Bibcode:2012PhPl...19c2704L. doi:10.1063/1.3694746. S2CID 120207711.

[17] Halper, Mark (March 28, 2012). "Fusion breakthrough". Smart PLanet. Retrieved April 1, 2012.

[18] Knapp, Alex (June 4, 2012). "U.S. Company Teams With Iranian University To Develop Fusion Power". Forbes.

[Lerner_et_al._2017-19] Lerner, Eric J.; Hassan, Syed M.; Karamitsos, Ivana; Von Roessel, Fred (October 1, 2017). "Confined ion energy >200 keV and increased fusion yield in a DPF with monolithic tungsten electrodes and pre-ionization". Physics of Plasmas. 24 (10). Bibcode:2017PhPl...24j2708L. doi:10.1063/1.4989859. ISSN 1070-664X.

[20] Wang, Brian. "LPP Fusion Increases Current and Reaches First Fusion Results". NextBigFuture.com. Retrieved December 9, 2021.

[21] "Why Lawrenceville Plasma Physics Results are Not Even Wrong; a Detailed Analysis". impedans.com. Retrieved September 3, 2021.

[22] "Focus Fusion: Overview of Progress Towards p-B11 Fusion with the Dense Plasma Focus" (PDF). lppfusion.com. Retrieved March 9, 2023.

[23] Chown, Marcus (July 2, 2005). "Did the big bang really happen?". New Scientist.

[24] Prigogine, Ilya; Stengers, Isabelle (1984). Order out of Chaos: Man's new dialogue with nature. Flamingo. ISBN 978-0-00-654115-8.

[25] Michael Chorost (January 21, 2012). "The Ascent of Life". New Scientist. 213 (2848): 35–37. Bibcode:2012NewSc.213...35C. doi:10.1016/S0262-4079(12)60181-X.

[Stenger-26] Stenger, Victor J. (Summer 1992). "Is the Big Bang a Bust?". Skeptical Inquirer. 16 (412). Archived from the original on September 25, 2006.

[Wright-27] Wright, Edward L. "Errors in "The Big Bang Never Happened"

[Penzias-28] "Big Bang Theory Makes Sense of Cosmic Facts; No Contradiction", The New York Times, June 18, 1991

[Davies-29] "Did the Big Bang Happen?", The New York Times, September 1, 1991

[30] Feuerbacher & Scranton. "Evidence for the Big Bang".

[31] Macandrew, Alec. "The Big Bang is not a Myth".

[Carroll-32] A critique of the tactics of Eric Lerner mentioning him explicitly by name appears on Sean Carroll's blog, Preposterous Universe

[33] "The Big Bang Never Happened: Dr Wright is Wrong". Archived from the original on January 8, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2008.

[34] Manoocheri, Kasra (February 2007). "Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement — Eric Lerner". crmvet.org.

[35] "A Memorandum from the Strike Education Committee" Archived September 7, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, Columbia University archives, May 4, 1968. Lists Eric Lerner as one of the committee members.

[36] Eric Lerner | Columbia University 1968

[Larouche-37] King, Dennis (1989). "Chapter 32". Lyndon LaRouche and the New American Fascism. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-23880-9.

[38] Dennis King; Patricia Lynch (May 27, 1986). "The Empire of Lyndon LaRouche". The Wall Street Journal (Eastern ed.). p. 1.

[39] Hsu, Spencer S. (January 17, 2007). "Immigrants Mistreated, Report Says". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 31, 2024.

[40] Eman Varoqua, "Not Everyone Is A Terrorist", The Record (Bergen County, NJ), December 7, 2004

[41] Harkinson, Josh. "Occupy Protesters' One Demand: A New New Deal—Well, Maybe", Mother Jones, October 18, 2011.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Short description|American physicist and author (born 1947)}}
+{{Short description|American plasma researcher and popular science writer}}
-{{Multiple issues|
-{{Essay-like|date=January 2024}}
-{{Unfocused|date=January 2024}}
-{{Primary sources|date=January 2024}}
-{{POV|date=January 2024}}
-}}
 {{Use American English|date=July 2023}}
 {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
 {{Infobox person
 | image              =
-| alt                = A man standing at a lectern in front of a blackboard, holding a slide clicker, and gesturing to the unseen audience
-| caption            = Lerner at a Google TechTalks presentation in 2007
 | birth_name         = Eric J. Lerner
+| birth_date         = {{birth date and age|1947|05|31}}<ref name="Transactions on Plasma Science">{{cite journal |title=Force-Free Magnetic Filaments and the Cosmic Background Radiation |journal=[[IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science]]  |year=1992 |last=Lerner |first=Eric |volume=20 |issue=6 |page=935 |url=http://www.health-freedom.info:80/pdf/Force%20Free%20Magnetic%20Filaments.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060905220209/http://www.health-freedom.info/pdf/Force%20Free%20Magnetic%20Filaments.pdf |archive-date=September 5, 2006 |doi=10.1109/27.199554 |access-date=September 21, 2017 |bibcode=1992ITPS...20..935L }}</ref>
-| birth_date         = {{birth date and age|1947|05|31}}<ref name="Transactions on Plasma Science">{{harvnb|Lerner|1992}}</ref>
 | birth_place        = [[Brookline, Massachusetts]], U.S.
 | death_date         = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
@@ Line 23: / Line 15: @@
 | known_for          =
 | education          =
-| alma_mater         = Columbia University
+| alma_mater         = [[Columbia University]]
 | employer           =
-| occupation         = Physicist
+| occupation         =
-| years_active       = 1975-Present
+| years_active       =
 | height             =
 | title              =
@@ Line 47: / Line 39: @@
 }}
+'''Eric J. Lerner''' (born May 31, 1947) is an American [[popular science]] writer and independent [[plasma (physics)|plasma]] researcher.<ref>John Wilford, [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEED91E31F93BA15751C0A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=3 "Novel Theory Challenges The Big Bang"], ''The New York Times'', February 28, 1989</ref> He wrote the 1991 book ''The Big Bang Never Happened'', which advocates [[Hannes Alfvén]]'s [[plasma cosmology]] instead of the [[Big Bang]] theory. He is founder, president, and chief scientist of LPP Fusion.<ref name="biography" >[http://www.lawrencevilleplasmaphysics.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68&Itemid=86 Eric Lerner's biography page at Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, Inc.]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://thespaceshow.com/guest/eric-lerner|title = Eric Lerner &#124; the Space Show}}</ref>
-'''Eric J. Lerner''' (born May 31, 1947) is an American physicist, inventor, and entrepreneur. His career also includes social activism and science journalism. Lerner’s scientific work is focused on [[plasma physics]], which includes both theoretical and applied aspects of fusion energy and cosmology.
+==Professional work==
-Lerner is founder, president, and chief scientist of LPPFusion, a company whose prime mission is to develop a commercial [[nuclear fusion reactor]].
+Lerner received a [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] in [[physics]] from [[Columbia University]]<ref>Columbia Alumni Directory, 1988 edition, p.211</ref> and started as a graduate student in physics at the [[University of Maryland, College Park|University of Maryland]], but left after a year due to his dissatisfaction with the mathematical rather than experimental approach there.<ref name= "Lerner">{{cite book |author=E. J. Lerner |title=The Big Bang Never Happened |publisher=Random House |location=New York and Toronto |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-8129-1853-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/bigbangneverhapp00lern }} pages 12 - 14, footnote on page 388, 286 - 316, 242</ref><ref>Biography at the [http://thespaceshow.com/guest.asp?q=342 Space Show] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061124091938/http://thespaceshow.com/guest.asp?q=342 |date=November 24, 2006 }}, 2006</ref> He then pursued a career in popular science writing.
-On the cosmology side of his career, Eric Lerner and his colleagues have published significant observational findings which strongly challenge The Big Bang Hypothesis (BBH) and the associated notion of an expanding universe. In toto, Lerner and his research colleague Riccardo Scarpa have identified sixteen failed scientific predictions published in the scientific literature that are dispositive of the BBH. Three of these predictions were proposed and tested by Lerner and his colleagues
+Lerner is an active general science writer, estimating that he has had about 600 articles published.<ref name="biography" />  He has received journalism awards between 1984 and 1993 from the Aviation Space Writers Association. In 2006 he was a visiting scientist at the [[European Southern Observatory]] in [[Chile]].<ref>[http://www.eso.org/sci/activities/santiago/personnel/senior2006.html ESO Senior Visits in 2006], [http://www.eso.org/sci/meetings/santiago/abs06/abstract2006.html activities] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524130733/http://www.eso.org/sci/meetings/santiago/abs06/abstract2006.html|date=May 24, 2011}}, and [http://www.eso.org/sci/meetings/santiago/abs06/index.html ESO Santiago Science Colloquia and Seminars 2006]</ref>
-As a writer, he is best known for his book, ''The Big Bang Never Happened'' published in 1991, where he challenges the [[Big Bang]] hypothesis.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Vinod |first1=Karthik |title=Explained: The Deal With Eric Lerner Saying the Big Bang Didn’t Happen – The Wire Science |url=https://science.thewire.in/the-sciences/eric-lerner-big-bang-jwst/ |access-date=30 January 2024 |date=29 August 2022}}</ref> Since then Lerner has expanded a "non-Bang" cosmology characterized by an evolving, dynamic, though non-expansionary understanding.
-== Early professional career ==
+=== LPP Fusion ===
+In 1984, he began studying [[plasma (physics)|plasma]] [[phenomena]] and laboratory fusion devices, performing experimental work on a machine called a [[dense plasma focus#Fusion power|dense plasma focus]] (DPF). NASA's [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] has funded mainstream as well as alternative approaches to fusion, and between 1994 and 2001 NASA provided a grant to Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, the company of which Lerner was the only employee, to explore whether Lerner's alternative approach to fusion might be useful to propel spacecraft; a 2007 ''New York Times'' article noted that Lerner had not received funding from the US Department of Energy.<ref>Kenneth Chang, [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/27/science/27fusion.html?_r=3&th=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&emc=th&adxnnlx=1172588880-XacSLlMti1+1/2yzSxBbsA&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin&oref=slogin "Practical Fusion, or Just a Bubble?"], ''The New York Times'', February 27, 2007</ref><ref>[http://trs-new.jpl.nasa.gov/dspace/bitstream/2014/23572/1/96-0007.pdf JPL Contract 959962] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719202509/http://trs-new.jpl.nasa.gov/dspace/bitstream/2014/23572/1/96-0007.pdf |date=July 19, 2011 }}, pg 8, and JPL Contract 960283</ref> He believes that a dense plasma focus can also be used to produce useful [[aneutronic fusion]] energy.<ref name="Huyghe">Patrick Huyghe, [http://discovermagazine.com/2008/jun/29-3-ideas-that-are-pushing-the-edge-of-science "3 Ideas That Are Pushing the Edge of Science"], ''Discover Magazine'', June 2008</ref><ref>[http://www.economist.com/sciencetechnology/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14698355 A Novel Form of Fusion Power], ''[[The Economist]]'', October 22, 2009</ref> Lerner explained his "Focus Fusion" approach in a 2007 Google Tech Talk.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1518007279479871760
-Lerner received a [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] in [[physics]] from [[Columbia University]]<ref>Columbia Alumni Directory, 1988 edition, p.211</ref> and started as a graduate student in physics at the [[University of Maryland, College Park|University of Maryland]], but left after a year due to his dissatisfaction with the mathematical rather than experimental approach there.<ref name="Lerner" /><ref>Biography at the [http://thespaceshow.com/guest.asp?q=342 Space Show] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061124091938/http://thespaceshow.com/guest.asp?q=342|date=November 24, 2006}}, 2006</ref> He then pursued a career in popular science writing before beginning a series of investigations into the [[Dense Plasma Focus]] approach to building an experimental nuclear fusion reactor device.
+ | title= Focus Fusion: The Fastest Route to Cheap, Clean Energy
+ | last= Lerner | first= Eric | author-link= Eric Lerner
+ |date= October 3, 2007 | format= video  |work= Google TechTalks | access-date= January 8, 2009 }}</ref>
+On November&nbsp;14, 2008, Lerner received funding for continued research, to test the scientific feasibility of Focus Fusion.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.lawrencevilleplasmaphysics.com/index.php?pr=News
-Over almost a 40 year career Eric Lerner has published 27 papers published in peer reviewed journals and one book. He's been an invited speaker at five professional conferences. Eight of his papers are on the topic of nuclear fusion energy and plasma physics. Nineteen papers are devoted to cosmology and astrophysics.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-18 |title=Peer Review Papers on Focus Fusion Development |url=https://www.lppfusion.com/peer-reviewed-papers/ |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=www.lppfusion.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
+ | title= LPP Receives Major Investments, Initiates Experimental Project
+ | date= November 22, 2008 | publisher= [[Lawrenceville Plasma Physics]], Inc.
+ | access-date= January 8, 2009 }}</ref>   On January 28, 2011, LPP published preliminary results.<ref>{{cite journal | title= Theory and Experimental Program for p-B11 Fusion with the Dense Plasma Focus
+ | date= January 28, 2011 | journal= [[Journal of Fusion Energy]]
+ | doi= 10.1007/s10894-011-9385-4
+ | last1= Lerner
+ | first1= Eric J.
+ | last2= Krupakar Murali
+ | first2= S.
+ | last3= Haboub
+ | first3= A.
+ | volume= 30
+ | issue= 5
+ | pages= 367–376
+ | bibcode= 2011JFuE...30..367L | s2cid= 122230379 }}</ref> In March 2012, the company published a paper saying that it had achieved temperatures of 1.8 billion degrees, beating the old record of 1.1 billion that had survived since 1978.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Lerner|first=Eric J. |author2=S. Krupakar Murali |author3=Derek Shannon |author4=Aaron M. Blake |author5=Fred Van Roessel|s2cid=120207711 |title=Fusion reactions from >150 keV ions in a dense plasma focus plasmoid|journal=Physics of Plasmas|date=March 23, 2012|volume=19|issue=3|pages=032704 |doi=10.1063/1.3694746|bibcode = 2012PhPl...19c2704L }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Halper|first=Mark|title=Fusion breakthrough|url=http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/intelligent-energy/fusion-breakthrough/14516|access-date=April 1, 2012|newspaper=Smart PLanet|date=March 28, 2012}}</ref> In 2012 the company announced a collaboration with a lab at the [[Islamic Azad University Central Tehran Branch]] in Iran.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Knapp|first1=Alex|title=U.S. Company Teams With Iranian University To Develop Fusion Power|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2012/06/04/u-s-company-teams-with-iranian-university-to-develop-fusion-power/|work=Forbes|date=June 4, 2012}}</ref> In 2017, Lerner et al. published evidence of confined ion energies in excess of 200 keV, with the best “shot” having a mean ion energy of 240&nbsp;keV ± 20&nbsp;keV which was reported as a record for confined fusion plasmas.<ref name="Lerner et al. 2017">{{cite journal |last1=Lerner |first1=Eric J. |last2=Hassan |first2=Syed M. |last3=Karamitsos |first3=Ivana |last4=Von Roessel |first4=Fred |title=Confined ion energy &gt;200 keV and increased fusion yield in a DPF with monolithic tungsten electrodes and pre-ionization |journal=Physics of Plasmas |date=1 October 2017 |volume=24 |issue=10 |doi=10.1063/1.4989859 |bibcode=2017PhPl...24j2708L |language=en |issn=1070-664X}}</ref>
+In October 2021, the company announced improved results with the latest version of its device, with reduced erosion and higher temperatures,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Wang|first=Brian|title=LPP Fusion Increases Current and Reaches First Fusion Results|website=NextBigFuture.com|url=https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2021/12/174018.html|access-date=December 9, 2021|language=en-US}}</ref> but the prior month, an independent expert stated that they were not close to a commercial fusion reactor with this device.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Why Lawrenceville Plasma Physics Results are Not Even Wrong; a Detailed Analysis.|url=https://www.impedans.com/why-lawrenceville-plasma-physics-results-are-not-even-wrong-detailed-analysis|access-date=September 3, 2021|website=impedans.com}}</ref>
-Lerner is an active general science writer, estimating that he has had about 600 articles published.<ref name="biography">[http://www.lawrencevilleplasmaphysics.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68&Itemid=86 Eric Lerner's biography page at Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, Inc.]</ref>  He has received journalism awards between 1984 and 1993 from the Aviation Space Writers Association.{{cn|date=January 2024}} In 2006 he was a visiting scientist at the [[European Southern Observatory]] in [[Chile]].<ref>[http://www.eso.org/sci/activities/santiago/personnel/senior2006.html ESO Senior Visits in 2006], [http://www.eso.org/sci/meetings/santiago/abs06/abstract2006.html activities] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524130733/http://www.eso.org/sci/meetings/santiago/abs06/abstract2006.html|date=May 24, 2011}}, and [http://www.eso.org/sci/meetings/santiago/abs06/index.html ESO Santiago Science Colloquia and Seminars 2006]</ref>
+In March, 2023  Lerner et al. published a paper in a special issue of the Journal of Fusion Energy showing that LPPFusion led all fusion companies in achieving” the highest ratio of fusion energy generation to device energy input (wall-plug efficiency).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Focus Fusion: Overview of Progress Towards p-B11 Fusion with the Dense Plasma Focus|url=https://www.lppfusion.com/storage/s10894-023-00345-z.pdf|access-date=March 9, 2023|website=lppfusion.com}}</ref>
-== Fusion energy research and development ==
-Since November 2009, LPPFusion has operated a working experimental fusion energy device FF-1 and in recent years, its modified successor device, called FF-2B<ref name="Lerner et al. 2023">{{harvnb|Lerner |Hassan |Karamitsos-Zivkovic |Fritsch|2023}}</ref> These experimental fusion energy devices are distinct for the unique dense plasma focus (DPF) design which Lerner calls "focus fusion".  A focus fusion machine such as the FF-2B contrasts with prevailing magnetic confinement (chiefly tokamak and stellerator) configurations and with laser-based, inertial confinement models. Lerner characterizes DPF "focus fusion" as exploiting “a series of natural instabilities in the plasma, with each instability further concentrating the plasma and the magnetic field produced by the currents running through the plasma. In the past few decades, substantial advances have occurred in understanding the basic physics of such instabilities through experiments and observations of space plasma.”{{R|Lerner et al. 2023}}
+==''The Big Bang Never Happened''==
-To date, the FF-2B device has achieved two of the three performance benchmarks -known as the [[Lawson criterion|Lawson criteria]]- required to achieve breakeven reactor performance including small amounts of net fusion energy. In the race to achieve commercial fusion energy, the FF-2B device has set several performance benchmarks, leading one commentator to identify LPPFusion designs as “Nuclear Fusion the easy way”.<ref>{{harvnb|Tennenbaum|2020}}</ref>
+In his book, ''The Big Bang Never Happened'',<ref name=Lerner /> Lerner rejects mainstream [[Big Bang cosmology]], and instead advances a [[nonstandard cosmology|non-standard]] [[plasma cosmology]] originally proposed in the 1960s by [[Hannes Alfvén]], the 1970 [[Nobel Prize]] recipient in Physics. The book appeared at a time when results from the [[Cosmic Background Explorer]] satellite were of some concern to astrophysicists who expected to see [[Cosmic microwave background radiation#Primary anisotropy|cosmic microwave background anisotropies]] but instead measured a [[blackbody]] spectrum with little variation across the sky. Lerner referred to this as evidence that the Big Bang was a failed paradigm. He also denigrated the [[dark matter#Observational evidence|observational evidence for dark matter]] and recounted a well known cosmological feature that [[supercluster]]s are larger than the largest structures that could have formed through [[virial theorem|gravitational collapse]] in the [[age of the universe]].<ref name=Lerner />
-=== LPPFusion ===
-In 1984, Eric Lerner began studying [[plasma (physics)|plasma]] [[phenomena]] and laboratory fusion devices, performing experimental work on a machine called a [[dense plasma focus#Fusion power|dense plasma focus]] (DPF). NASA's [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] has funded mainstream as well as alternative approaches to fusion, and between 1994 and 2001 NASA provided a grant to Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, the company of which Lerner was the only employee, to explore whether Lerner's alternative approach to fusion might be useful to propel spacecraft; a 2007 New York Times article noted that Lerner had not received funding from the US Department of Energy.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chang |first1=Kenneth |date=27 February 2007 |title=Practical Fusion, or Just a Bubble? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/27/science/27fusion.html |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |title=The NASA-JPL Advanced Propulsion Program |last1=Frisbee |first1=Robert H. |date=1996 |page=8, and JPL Contract 960283 |hdl-access=free |hdl=2014/23572}}</ref> He believes that a dense plasma focus can also be used to produce useful [[aneutronic fusion]] energy.<ref name="Huyghe">Patrick Huyghe, [http://discovermagazine.com/2008/jun/29-3-ideas-that-are-pushing-the-edge-of-science "3 Ideas That Are Pushing the Edge of Science"], Discover Magazine, June 2008</ref><ref>[http://www.economist.com/sciencetechnology/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14698355 A Novel Form of Fusion Power], [[The Economist]], October 22, 2009</ref> Lerner explained his "Focus Fusion" approach in a 2007 Google Tech Talk.<ref>{{cite web |last=Lerner |first=Eric |author-link=Eric Lerner |date=October 3, 2007 |title=Focus Fusion: The Fastest Route to Cheap, Clean Energy |url=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1518007279479871760 |access-date=January 8, 2009 |work=Google TechTalks |format=video}}</ref> In 2013, Lawrenceville Plasma Physics was renamed LPPFusion. {{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}
+As an alternative to the Big Bang, Lerner adopted Alfvén's model of plasma cosmology that relied on [[plasma physics]] to explain most, if not all, cosmological observations by appealing to [[electromagnetic force]]s.<ref name=Lerner /> Adopting an eternal universe,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Chown |first=Marcus|title=Did the big bang really happen? |journal=New Scientist |date=July 2, 2005 |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18625061.800-did-the-big-bang-really-happen.html}}</ref> Lerner's explanation of cosmological evolution relied on a model of [[thermodynamics]] based on the work of the Nobel Chemistry prize winner [[Ilya Prigogine]] under which order emerges from chaos.<ref name=Lerner /><ref>{{cite book | last=Prigogine | first=Ilya | year=1984 |author2=Stengers, Isabelle | title=Order out of Chaos: Man's new dialogue with nature | publisher=Flamingo | isbn=978-0-00-654115-8}}</ref> This is in apparent defiance of the [[second law of thermodynamics]]. As a way of partially acknowledging this, Lerner asserts that away from equilibrium order can spontaneously form by taking advantage of energy flows, as argued more recently by American astrophysicist [[Eric Chaisson]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Ascent of Life |author=Michael Chorost |journal=New Scientist |issue=2848 |date=January 21, 2012 |volume=213 |pages=35–37|doi=10.1016/S0262-4079(12)60181-X |bibcode=2012NewSc.213...35C }}</ref>
-On November&nbsp;14, 2008, Lerner received funding for continued research, to test the scientific feasibility of Focus Fusion.<ref>{{cite web |date=November 22, 2008 |title=LPP Receives Major Investments, Initiates Experimental Project |url=http://www.lawrencevilleplasmaphysics.com/index.php?pr=News |access-date=January 8, 2009 |publisher=[[Lawrenceville Plasma Physics]], Inc.}}</ref>   On January 28, 2011, LPP published preliminary results.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lerner |first1=Eric J. |last2=Krupakar Murali |first2=S. |last3=Haboub |first3=A. |date=October 2011 |title=Theory and Experimental Program for p-B11 Fusion with the Dense Plasma Focus |journal=Journal of Fusion Energy |volume=30 |issue=5 |pages=367–376 |bibcode=2011JFuE...30..367L |doi=10.1007/s10894-011-9385-4 |s2cid=122230379}}{{primary source inline|date=November 2023}}</ref> In March 2012, the company published a paper saying that it had achieved temperatures of 1.8 billion degrees, beating the old record of 1.1 billion that had survived since 1978.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lerner |first=Eric J. |author2=S. Krupakar Murali |author3=Derek Shannon |author4=Aaron M. Blake |author5=Fred Van Roessel |date=March 23, 2012 |title=Fusion reactions from >150 keV ions in a dense plasma focus plasmoid |journal=Physics of Plasmas |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=032704 |bibcode=2012PhPl...19c2704L |doi=10.1063/1.3694746 |s2cid=120207711}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Halper |first=Mark |date=March 28, 2012 |title=Fusion breakthrough |url=http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/intelligent-energy/fusion-breakthrough/14516 |access-date=April 1, 2012 |newspaper=Smart PLanet}}</ref> In 2012 the company announced a collaboration with a lab at the [[Islamic Azad University Central Tehran Branch]] in Iran.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Knapp |first1=Alex |date=June 4, 2012 |title=U.S. Company Teams With Iranian University To Develop Fusion Power |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2012/06/04/u-s-company-teams-with-iranian-university-to-develop-fusion-power/ |work=Forbes}}</ref>
+== Criticism ==
-In 2017, Lerner et al. published evidence of confined ion energies in excess of 200 keV, with the best “shot” having a mean ion energy of 240 keV ± 20 keV (nearly 3 Billion degrees C) which was reported as a record for any type of fusion device.<ref>E.J. Lerner, S.M. Hassan, I. Karamitsos, F. Von Roessel, Phys. Plasmas 24, 102708 (2017)</ref> Such temperatures are 200 times hotter than core temperatures of the sun.<ref>Ibid (6)-"World-Record Confined Ion Energy" Section</ref>
-Furthermore, among all fusion devices, the LPPFusion "focus fusion" design has achieved a new world record for purity in a fusion-producing plasma.<ref>Ibid-   "World-Record Confined Ion Energy" Section</ref><ref>Ibid (6) section Highest nτT Product Among Private Fusion Efforts"</ref><ref>Ibid (6) section “World Record Fusion Plasma Purity”</ref> Reducing impurity levels has long been extremely important in fusion research. Impurity elements can greatly increase radiation that cools the plasma, preventing the achievement of the high temperatures needed for fusion and eroding device components. According to Lerner, “LPPFusion’s reduction of plasma impurity levels are better than any achieved elsewhere, and this is a major step forward for fusion energy research.”
-Significantly, the machine has achieved two of the three Lawson criteria (dubbed “nτT ”); namely, temperature, and confinement time (T and tau), leaving only the density metric (n) as the last barrier to achieving a controlled, fusion energy reaction. Among privately funded fusion devices that have published their research milestones, the LPPFusion device has the highest n,tau,T by a wide margin.<ref>Ibid (6) “Highest nτT Product Among Private Fusion Efforts” section
-In common units, the FF-2B has achieved an nτT&nbsp; of 3.4 ± 0.8 × 10<sup>20</sup> keV-s/m<sup>3</sup>.
-TAE Technology’s C-2W device with a nτT product of 2.3 × 10<sup>17</sup> keV-s/m<sup>3</sup>, &nbsp;is a factor of more than 1,000 less than for FF-1, the earlier version of the FF-2B model.</ref>
-Also among private fusion efforts, the FF-2B device also has achieved the highest “wall-plug” efficiency, i.e. net energy produced in fusion reaction of its type.<ref>Ibid (6) section “Highest Wall-Plug Efficiency Among Private Fusion Efforts”</ref> At a total development cost of $11 million-- $9 million of which mostly came from small investors—the LPPFusion device is far and away the most cost-effective investment in fusion energy, where billions are often the norm.<ref>Ibid (6) “Private Public Partnership for Fusion” section</ref>
-== Aneutronic fusion energy ==
-The chief operating advantage of a DPF design is that it is [[Aneutronic fusion|aneutronic]], and thus generates negligible radioactivity as it generates electric energy.<ref>Ibid (6), “Introduction—the Promise of p-B<sup>11</sup> Fusion Fuel” section</ref> Radioactive contamination is a key liability in tokamak designs that some scientists have declared effectively disqualifies tokamaks as likely templates for commercial fusion energy.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hirsch |first1=Robert L. |title=Necessary and sufficient conditions for practical fusion power |journal=Physics Today |date=2017 |volume=70 |issue=10 |pages=11–13 |doi=10.1063/PT.3.3708 |url=https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/article/70/10/11/910381/Necessary-and-sufficient-conditions-for-practical|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hirsch |first1=Robert L. |title=Fusion Research: Time to Set a New Path |journal=Issues in Science and Technology |date=1 July 2015 |volume=XXXI |issue=4 |url=https://issues.org/fusion-research-time-to-set-a-new-path/ |access-date=20 November 2023}}</ref>
-Heretofore FF-2B utilizes a deuterium based fuel (D-D), for experimental purposes, but in early 2024 LPPFusion is scheduled to introduce a far more potent hydrogen-boron mixture (pB11),<ref>Ibid, “Current Experimental Challenges and Path to Net energy” section</ref> which fusion energy company TAE and Japanese company recently demonstrated to be a viable fuel for aneutronic fusion reactors.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Magee |first1=R. M. |last2=Ogawa |first2=K. |last3=Tajima |first3=T. |last4=Allfrey |first4=I. |last5=Gota |first5=H. |last6=McCarroll |first6=P. |last7=Ohdachi |first7=S. |last8=Isobe |first8=M. |last9=Kamio |first9=S. |last10=Klumper |first10=V. |last11=Nuga |first11=H. |last12=Shoji |first12=M. |last13=Ziaei |first13=S. |last14=Binderbauer |first14=M. W. |last15=Osakabe |first15=M. |title=First measurements of p11B fusion in a magnetically confined plasma |journal=Nature Communications |date=21 February 2023 |volume=14 |issue=1 |page=955 |doi=10.1038/s41467-023-36655-1 |pmid=36804939 |pmc=9941502 |bibcode=2023NatCo..14..955M }}</ref>
-== Developments (2015-2022) ==
-Significant re-designs of LPPFusion devices between 2015 and 2022 solved several challenges that aborted the full fusion process. One key barrier to reaching fusion thresholds is the contamination of debris – mostly metallic oxides—that infiltrate the plasma.<ref>ibid (6)&nbsp; “World Record Fusion Plasma Purity” section</ref> This occurs when operating the LPPFusion reactors at ultra-high temperatures of nearly 3 Billion degrees C. Intensive investigation of the device focused on new coatings and materials, and resized components that eliminated reaction by-products <ref>ibid (6)&nbsp; “World Record Fusion Plasma Purity” section</ref> that inhibited effective plasma phases in attaining a robust [[plasmoid]], where the fusion reaction actually occurs.<ref>Ibid (6)” Current Experimental Challenges and Path to Net energy” section</ref>
-== Recent developments (2023) ==
-Another further challenge needed to be addressed during this phase developing the FF-2B research reactor: achieving complete symmetry of plasma filaments that proliferate up the central anode of the device. The solution required the invention and engineering of capacitor switches that fire within a few nanoseconds of each other. That was achieved in the spring of 2023. As of June, 2023 the FF-2B began executing a series of trial “shots” in anticipation of heightened performance from the upgrades engineered in 2022–2023.<ref>Ibid (6), “Dense Plasma Focus (DPF)” Section</ref>
-In October 2021, the company announced improved results with the latest version of its device, with reduced erosion and higher temperatures.,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wang |first=Brian |title=LPP Fusion Increases Current and Reaches First Fusion Results {{!}} NextBigFuture.com |url=https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2021/12/174018.html |access-date=December 9, 2021 |language=en-US}}</ref> notably,<blockquote>...substantially increased... peak electric current in the machine to... 1.8 MA (million amps.) </blockquote>LPPFusion notes that this peak electric current is now benchmarked at about half the magnitude needed to begin [[Aneutronic fusion|aneutronic]] fusion experiments with the proton boron fuel, which marks considerable progress. In late Fall 2023 further scientific investigations at LPPFusion sought to optimize high plasma temperature and density together with improved peak current and gas pressures, by utilizing mixes of deuterium  and other gases. Once these optimal mixtures are achieved, the company will then<blockquote>... transition to a mix with hydrogen and finally introduce small amounts of decaborane, our proton-boron fuel.&nbsp; In this way, we have the best chance to ensure we will get measurable fusion yield with the first shots of our limited supply of decaborane.</blockquote>In short, LPPFusion has advanced to the very cusp of experiments in aneutronic fusion energy. However, the company has also candidly tempered current aspirations by noting: <blockquote>We can determine from our data that the [[plasmoid]] temperature was 33 keV (the equivalent of 360 million K). While that seems pretty toasty, (it’s 30 times the temperature in the center of the sun) it is cooler than our record of 200 keV and the 150 keV we need to burn proton-boron fuel. So, we need a factor of five jump in temperature, which would also bring our fusion yield above the record that we achieved back in 2016. With our new understanding of some key processes, we think we can achieve that pretty quickly.</blockquote>
-== Response from peers ==
-In 2021, a committee of four senior scientists, led by the former head of the US government fusion program, [[Robert Hirsch (energy advisor)|Robert Hirsch]], concluded that "LPPFusion has made an impressive effort to address Dense Plasma Focus (DPF) physics and engineering issues given the limited number of personnel involved", adding that the "program is vastly underfunded and merits a much higher funding level."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-06-16 |title=Evaluation of LPPFusion Dense Plasma Focus Research - LPP Fusion |url=https://www.lppfusion.com/technology/focus-fusion-energy/dpf-device/evaluation-of-lppfusion-dense-plasma-focus-research/ |access-date=2023-12-10 |website=www.lppfusion.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
-== Cosmology ==
-In his book, ''The Big Bang Never Happened'',<ref name="Lerner" /> Lerner which rejects mainstream [[Big Bang cosmology]], and instead advances a [[nonstandard cosmology|non-standard]] [[plasma cosmology]] originally proposed in the 1960s by [[Hannes Alfvén]], the 1970 [[Nobel Prize]] recipient in Physics. The book appeared at a time when results from the [[Cosmic Background Explorer]] satellite were of some concern to astrophysicists who expected to see [[Cosmic microwave background radiation#Primary anisotropy|cosmic microwave background anisotropies]] but instead measured a [[blackbody]] spectrum with little variation across the sky. Lerner referred to this as evidence that the Big Bang was a failed paradigm. He also denigrated the [[dark matter#Observational evidence|observational evidence for dark matter]] and recounted a well known cosmological feature that [[supercluster]]s are larger than the largest structures that could have formed through [[virial theorem|gravitational collapse]] in the [[age of the universe]].<ref name="Lerner">{{cite book |author=E. J. Lerner |url=https://archive.org/details/bigbangneverhapp00lern |title=The Big Bang Never Happened |publisher=Random House |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-8129-1853-3 |location=New York and Toronto |pages=12–14, footnote on page 388, 286–316, 242 |url-access=registration}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=November 2023}}
-=== An alternative plasma-based cosmology ===
-As an alternative to the Big Bang, Lerner adopted Alfvén's model of plasma cosmology that relied on [[plasma physics]] to explain most, if not all, cosmological observations by appealing to [[electromagnetic force]]s.<ref name="Lerner" /> Adopting an eternal universe,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Chown |first=Marcus|title=Did the big bang really happen? |journal=New Scientist |date=July 2, 2005 |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18625061.800-did-the-big-bang-really-happen.html}}</ref> Lerner's explanation of cosmological evolution relied on a model of [[thermodynamics]] based on the work of the Nobel Chemistry prize winner [[Ilya Prigogine]] under which order emerges from chaos.<ref>{{cite book | last=Prigogine | first=Ilya | year=1984 |author2=Stengers, Isabelle | title=Order out of Chaos: Man's new dialogue with nature | publisher=Flamingo | isbn=978-0-00-654115-8}}</ref> This is in apparent defiance of the [[second law of thermodynamics]]. As a way of partially acknowledging this, Lerner asserts that away from equilibrium order can spontaneously form by taking advantage of energy flows, as argued more recently by American astrophysicist [[Eric Chaisson]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Ascent of Life |author=Michael Chorost |journal=New Scientist |issue=2848 |date=January 21, 2012 |volume=213 |pages=35–37|doi=10.1016/S0262-4079(12)60181-X |bibcode=2012NewSc.213...35C }}</ref>
 Lerner's ideas have been rejected by mainstream physicists and cosmologists. In these critiques, critics have explained that, contrary to Lerner's assertions, the size of superclusters is a feature limited by subsequent observations to the [[end of greatness]] and is consistent with having arisen from a [[power spectrum]] of density fluctuations growing from the [[quantum fluctuation]]s predicted in [[cosmic inflation|inflationary models]].<ref name=Stenger /><ref name=Wright /><ref name=Penzias /> Anisotropies were discovered in subsequent analysis of both the COBE and [[BOOMERanG]] experiments and were more fully characterized by the [[Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe]]<ref name=Stenger /><ref name=Wright /> and [[Planck (spacecraft)|Planck]].
-Physical cosmologists who have commented on the book have generally dismissed it.<ref name=Stenger>{{cite journal | first = Victor J. | last = Stenger | title = Is the Big Bang a Bust? | url = http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/Cosmo/bang.txt | journal = [[Skeptical Inquirer]] | volume = 16 | issue = 412 | date =Summer 1992 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060925150243/http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/Cosmo/bang.txt | archive-date = September 25, 2006 }}</ref><ref name=Penzias>{{cite news |title=Opinion {{!}} Big Bang Theory Makes Sense of Cosmic Facts; No Contradiction |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/18/opinion/l-big-bang-theory-makes-sense-of-cosmic-facts-no-contradiction-092291.html |work=The New York Times |date=18 June 1991 }}</ref><ref name=Davies>{{cite news |title=Did the Big Bang Happen? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/01/books/l-did-the-big-bang-happen-547891.html |work=The New York Times |date=1 September 1991 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Feuerbacher|author2=Scranton|name-list-style=amp|url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/astronomy/bigbang.html#lerner|title=Evidence for the Big Bang}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.evolutionpages.com/big_bang_no_myth.htm|title=The Big Bang is not a Myth|author=Macandrew, Alec}}</ref><ref name=Carroll>A critique of the tactics of Eric Lerner mentioning him explicitly by name appears on [[Sean M. Carroll|Sean Carroll]]'s [[blog]], [http://preposterousuniverse.blogspot.com/2004/05/doubt-and-dissent-are-not-tolerated.html ''Preposterous Universe'']{{User-generated inline|date=November 2023}}</ref> In particular, American astrophysicist and cosmologist [[Edward L. Wright]] criticized Lerner for making errors of fact and interpretation, arguing that:<ref name=Wright>[[Edward L. Wright|Wright, Edward L.]] "''[http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/lerner_errors.html Errors in "The Big Bang Never Happened"]''</ref>
+Physical cosmologists who have commented on the book have generally dismissed it.<ref name=Stenger>{{cite journal | first = Victor J. | last = Stenger | title = Is the Big Bang a Bust? | url = http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/Cosmo/bang.txt | journal = [[Skeptical Inquirer]] | volume = 16 | issue = 412 | date =Summer 1992 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060925150243/http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/Cosmo/bang.txt | archive-date = September 25, 2006 }}</ref><ref name=Penzias>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE5DD1F39F93BA25755C0A967958260 "Big Bang Theory Makes Sense of Cosmic Facts; No Contradiction"], ''The New York Times'', June 18, 1991</ref><ref name=Davies>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CEFD8123CF932A3575AC0A967958260 "Did the Big Bang Happen?"], ''The New York Times'', September 1, 1991</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Feuerbacher|author2=Scranton|name-list-style=amp|url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/astronomy/bigbang.html#lerner|title=Evidence for the Big Bang}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.evolutionpages.com/big_bang_no_myth.htm|title=The Big Bang is not a Myth|author=Macandrew, Alec}}</ref><ref name=Carroll>A critique of the tactics of Eric Lerner mentioning him explicitly by name appears on [[Sean M. Carroll|Sean Carroll]]'s [[blog]], [http://preposterousuniverse.blogspot.com/2004/05/doubt-and-dissent-are-not-tolerated.html ''Preposterous Universe'']</ref> In particular, American astrophysicist and cosmologist [[Edward L. Wright]] criticized Lerner for making errors of fact and interpretation, arguing that:<ref name=Wright>[[Edward L. Wright|Wright, Edward L.]] "''[http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/lerner_errors.html Errors in "The Big Bang Never Happened"]''</ref>
-* Lerner's alternative model for [[Hubble's Law]] is dynamically unstable
+* Lerner's alternative model for [[Hubble's law]] is dynamically unstable
 * the [[number density]] of distant [[radio astronomy|radio sources]] falsifies Lerner's explanation for the [[cosmic microwave background]]
 * Lerner's explanation that the helium abundance is due to [[stellar nucleosynthesis]] fails because of the small observed abundance of heavier elements
 Lerner has disputed Wright's critique.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://bigbangneverhappened.org/p25.htm | title = The Big Bang Never Happened: Dr Wright is Wrong | access-date = July 13, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160108004949/http://bigbangneverhappened.org/p25.htm | archive-date = January 8, 2016 }}</ref>
-== Activism ==
+==Activism==
-While at Columbia, Lerner participated in the 1965 [[Selma to Montgomery marches|Selma March]]<ref>Kasra Manoocheri, [http://www.crmvet.org/vet/lernere.htm "Selma Interview: Eric Lerner"], Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement web site, February 2007</ref> and helped organize the 1968 [[Columbia University protests of 1968|Columbia Student Strike]].<ref>[http://beatl.barnard.columbia.edu/columbia68/documents/doc18.htm "A Memorandum from the Strike Education Committee"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060907191103/http://beatl.barnard.columbia.edu/columbia68/documents/doc18.htm |date=September 7, 2006 }}, Columbia University archives, May 4, 1968. Lists Eric Lerner as one of the committee members.</ref><ref>[http://www.columbia1968.com/eric_lerne/ Eric Lerner | Columbia University 1968<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
+While at Columbia, Lerner participated in the 1965 [[Selma to Montgomery marches|Selma March]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Manoocheri|first1=Kasra |title=Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement — Eric Lerner |url=http://www.crmvet.org/vet/lernere.htm |website=crmvet.org|date=February 2007}}</ref> and helped organize the 1968 [[Columbia University protests of 1968|Columbia Student Strike]].<ref>[http://beatl.barnard.columbia.edu/columbia68/documents/doc18.htm "A Memorandum from the Strike Education Committee"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060907191103/http://beatl.barnard.columbia.edu/columbia68/documents/doc18.htm |date=September 7, 2006 }}, Columbia University archives, May 4, 1968. Lists Eric Lerner as one of the committee members.</ref><ref>[http://www.columbia1968.com/eric_lerne/ Eric Lerner | Columbia University 1968]</ref>
-In the 1970s, Lerner became involved in the [[National Caucus of Labor Committees]], an offshoot of the Columbia University [[Students for a Democratic Society]]. Lerner left the National Caucus in 1978, later stating in a lawsuit that he had resisted pressure from the [[U.S. Labor Party]], an organization led by [[Lyndon LaRouche]], to violate election law by channeling profits of an engineering firm to the organization.<ref name=Larouche>{{cite book |title=Lyndon LaRouche and the New American Fascism |last=King |first=Dennis |year=1989 |publisher=Doubleday |isbn=978-0-385-23880-9 |chapter=Chapter 32 |chapter-url=http://lyndonlarouchewatch.org/fascism32.htm |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/lyndonlarouchene0000king }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| edition = Eastern| page = 1 | author = Dennis King|author2=Patricia Lynch| title = The Empire of Lyndon LaRouche| work = Wall Street Journal| date = May 27, 1986}}</ref>
+In the 1970s, Lerner became involved in the [[National Caucus of Labor Committees]], an offshoot of the Columbia University [[Students for a Democratic Society]]. Lerner left the National Caucus in 1978, later stating in a lawsuit that he had resisted pressure from the [[U.S. Labor Party]], an organization led by [[Lyndon LaRouche]], to violate election law by channeling profits of an engineering firm to the organization.<ref name=Larouche>{{cite book |title=Lyndon LaRouche and the New American Fascism |last=King |first=Dennis |year=1989 |publisher=Doubleday |isbn=978-0-385-23880-9 |chapter=Chapter 32 |chapter-url=http://lyndonlarouchewatch.org/fascism32.htm |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/lyndonlarouchene0000king }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| edition = Eastern| page = 1 | author = Dennis King|author2=Patricia Lynch| title = The Empire of Lyndon LaRouche| work = The Wall Street Journal| date = May 27, 1986}}</ref>
-Lerner sought [[Civil and political rights|civil rights]] protection for immigrants as a member and spokesman for the New Jersey Civil Rights Defense Committee.<ref>{{cite news |title=Immigrants Mistreated, Report Says |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/16/AR2007011601463_pf.html |date=January 17, 2007 |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=20 November 2023}}</ref><ref>Eman Varoqua, [https://web.archive.org/web/20121022051014/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-103196116.html "Not Everyone Is A Terrorist"], The Record (Bergen County, NJ), December 7, 2004</ref> He participated in the [[Occupy Wall Street]] protests in 2011.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Harkinson |first1=Josh |title=Occupy Protesters' One Demand: A New New Deal—Well, Maybe |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/10/occupy-wall-street-demands-new-deal/ |work=Mother Jones |date=18 October 2011 }}</ref>
+More recently, Lerner sought [[Civil and political rights|civil rights]] protection for immigrants as a member and spokesman for the New Jersey Civil Rights Defense Committee.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hsu |first1=Spencer S. |title=Immigrants Mistreated, Report Says |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/16/AR2007011601463_pf.html |access-date=31 January 2024 |date=January 17, 2007|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref><ref>Eman Varoqua, [https://web.archive.org/web/20121022051014/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-103196116.html "Not Everyone Is A Terrorist"], ''The Record'' (Bergen County, NJ), December 7, 2004</ref> He participated in the [[Occupy Wall Street]] protests in 2011.<ref>Harkinson, Josh. "[http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/10/occupy-wall-street-demands-new-deal Occupy Protesters' One Demand: A New New Deal—Well, Maybe]", ''Mother Jones'', October 18, 2011.</ref>
 == References ==
-{{ibid|date=November 2023}}{{reflist}}
+{{reflist}}
-==Bibliography==
-* {{cite journal |last1=Lerner |first1=E.J. |title=Force-free magnetic filaments and the cosmic background radiation |journal=IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science |date=December 1992 |volume=20 |issue=6 |pages=935–938 |doi=10.1109/27.199554 |bibcode=1992ITPS...20..935L }}{{primary source inline|date=November 2023}}
-*{{cite journal |last1=Lerner |first1=Eric J. |last2=Hassan |first2=Syed M. |last3=Karamitsos-Zivkovic |first3=Ivana |last4=Fritsch |first4=Rudolph |title=Focus Fusion: Overview of Progress Towards p-B11 Fusion with the Dense Plasma Focus |journal=Journal of Fusion Energy |date=June 2023 |volume=42 |issue=1 |doi=10.1007/s10894-023-00345-z }}
-*{{cite journal |last1=Lerner |first1=Eric J. |last2=Hassan |first2=Syed M. |last3=Karamitsos-Zivkovic |first3=Ivana |last4=Fritsch |first4=Rudolph |title=What are the fastest routes to fusion energy? |journal=Physics of Plasmas |date=1 December 2023 |volume=30 |issue=12 |doi=10.1063/5.0170216|ref={{harvid|Lerner et al.|2023b}}}}
-*{{cite news |last1=Tennenbaum |first1=Jonathan |title=Focus fusion is hottest idea in nuclear energy (also in Chinese and Russian) |url=https://asiatimes.com/2020/07/focus-fusion-is-the-hottest-idea-in-nuclear-energy-2/ |access-date=31 January 2024 |work=Asia Times |date=29 July 2020}}
-* {{cite web |last1=Vinod |first1=Karthik |title=Explained: The Deal With Eric Lerner Saying the Big Bang Didn’t Happen – The Wire Science |url=https://science.thewire.in/the-sciences/eric-lerner-big-bang-jwst/ |access-date=30 January 2024 |date=29 August 2022}}
 == External links ==
@@ Line 150: / Line 118: @@
 [[Category:American cosmologists]]
 [[Category:1947 births]]
-[[Category:Plasma physicists]]
+[[Category:American plasma physicists]]
+[[Category:Pseudoscientific physicists]]
+[[Category:University System of Maryland alumni]]

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