Eric Lerner
Eric J. Lerner, President of Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, Inc. to the program (see http://lawrencevilleplasmaphysics.com/ and also www.focusfusion.org). Mr. Lerner has been active in DPF research for 20 years. Beginning in 1984, he developed a detailed quantitative theory of the functioning of DPF. Based on this theory, he proposed that the DPF could achieve high ion and electron energies at high densities, suitable for advanced fuel fusion and space population. Under a series of contracts with JPL, he planned and participated in carrying out experiments that tested and confirmed this theory. In addition, he developed an original model of the role of the strong magnetic field effect on DPF functioning, showing that this effect could have a large effect on increasing ion temperature and decreasing electron temperature. He is as well a leading researcher in cosmology and astrophysics, developing original, plasma-based theories of quasars, large-scale structure and other phenomena of the Universe. As a writer about science and technology he is the author of over 600 articles. He was also a visiting astronomer at the European Southern Observatory and he is working with the Thermonuclear Lab of the Chilean Nuclear Commission in Santiago. Mr. Lerner received a BA in Physics from Columbia University and did graduate work in physics at the University of Maryland.