List of plasma physicists

This is a list of physicists who have worked in or made notable contributions to the field of plasma physics.

Name	Known for
Anatoly Vlasov	first suggested the Vlasov equation, a correct description of plasma with long-range interaction between particles
Andrey Dmitriyevich Sakharov	proposed the development of the tokamak device for use in controlled thermonuclear fusion.
Anthony Peratt	influential advocate of plasma cosmology
David Bohm	derived the Bohm sheath criterion, which states that a plasma must flow with at least the speed of sound toward a solid surface
Eric Lerner	pioneer of focus fusion and advocate of plasma cosmology
Forrest S. Mozer	electric field measurements in space plasma
Fran Bošnjaković
F. F. Chen	the plasma physics textbook "Introduction to Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion"
Franklin Chang-Diaz	Created the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) concept, an electromagnetic thruster for spacecraft propulsion
Friedrich Paschen	Paschen's law, an equation relating the breakdown voltage to the gas pressure and electrode gap length
Ghulam Murtaza
Hannes Alfvén	1970 Nobel Prize in Physics "for fundamental work and discoveries in magneto-hydrodynamics with fruitful applications in different parts of plasma physics"
Harold Furth	Director of Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (1981-1990)
Harold P. Eubank
Irving Langmuir	Coined the term "plasma" to hint at the lifelike behavior of this state of matter. Developed electron temperature concepts and an electrostatic probe, the Langmuir probe.
Katherine Weimer	Scientific research in the field of plasma magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium and stability theory
Kristian Birkeland	First suggested that polar electric currents (or auroral electrojets) are connected to a system of filaments (now called "Birkeland currents") that flow along geomagnetic field lines into and away from the polar region.
Lev Landau	Landau damping
Li Jiangang
Liu Chen	recipient of numerous awards for research on plasma physics (e.g. John Dawson Prize (2004), Hannes Alfvén Prize (2008) and James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics (2012))
Lyman Spitzer	theoretical contributions to plasma physics, Spitzer resistivity
Marshall Rosenbluth	fundamental theoretical contributions plasma physics, and in particular, plasma instabilities
Meghnad Saha	Saha ionization equation
Mounir Laroussi	Plasma pencil, seminal contributions to the biomedical applications of low temperature plasma, plasma medicine
Nam Chang-hee
Oscar Buneman	computational plasma physics and plasma simulation, Farley–Buneman instability
Peter Debye	Nobel Prize–winning physicist and chemist, after whom Debye shielding and Debye length are named
Philo Farnsworth	invention of the cathode ray tube, television and Farnsworth-Hirsch Fusor
Predhiman Krishnan Kaw	founding director of the Institute for Plasma Research (1986-2012)
Radu Bălescu	recipient of the Hannes Alfvén Prize in 2000
Ratko Janev
Ronald C. Davidson	first director of MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center (1991-1996)
Rudolf Seeliger	specialized in electric discharges in gases and plasma physics
Subrata Roy	invention of the Wingless Electromagnetic Air Vehicle and serpentine geometry plasma actuator
Shaukat Hameed Khan	Laser isotope separation and Chief Science Officer of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (1969 - 2005)
Sydney Chapman	development of the kinetic theory of gases
Vitaly Ginzburg	the theory of electromagnetic wave propagation in plasmas
Vitaly Shafranov	theoretical contributions to plasma physics (e.g. Grad–Shafranov equation, Kruskal–Shafranov instability)
Willard Harrison Bennett	Z-pinch is a form of "Bennett pinch". Also invented radio frequency mass spectrometry.
William Crookes	pioneer of vacuum tubes and the Crookes tube

See also