James Benford

Last updated
James Benford
James Benford (physicist).jpg
Born (1941-01-30) January 30, 1941 (age 83)
Mobile, Alabama, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Oklahoma
University of California, San Diego
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics

James Nelson Benford is an American physicist, High-Power Microwave (HPM) scientist, book author, science-fiction writer, and entrepreneur, [1] best known for introducing novel technological concepts and conjectures related to the exploration of outer space, among these the design of laser-driven sailships, [2] the possible use of co-orbital objects (moon, asteroids) by alien probes to spy on earth, [3] [4] and the appraisal of technical and safety issues associated with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). [5] [6] He was born in Mobile, Alabama in 1941, as was his twin brother, science-fiction author Greg Benford. [7] He has two children, the eldest being Dominic Benford, an astrophysicist and the Program Scientist for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

Contents

Education

Benford graduated with a BS in physics from the University of Oklahoma in 1963. He further obtained MS (1966), and Ph.D. (1969) degrees from the University of California at San Diego. [8] [9] He received scholarships from the OU Club of Dallas [10] for undergraduate studies, and the Aerojet General Corporation for graduate studies. [11]

Career

While still a graduate student, Benford published his first research papers in the field of plasma physics. [12] From 1969 to 1996 he worked in the Physics International (PI), (San Leandro, CA), initially as a research physicist, then advancing to executive positions, and founding its HPMi division in 1989, [13] [14] whose accomplishments included developing advanced HPM sources, [15] building a large HPM experimental facility, [16] beginning its HPM product line, [17] and implementing program ORION, an important HPM system built to a design specification which arose within the UK. [18] At PI Benford published research papers on particle beams, fusion, pulsed power and HPM, relativistic magnetron and virtual cathode oscillator (vircator) technology. [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24]

In 1996 he founded Microwave Sciences, Inc., (MS, Lafayette, California), where he remains as its president. At MS, his research interests have dealt with HPM systems design, HPM effects testing, and power beaming for space propulsion. [25] Benford is a leader and consultant at Breakthrough Starshot, a research and engineering project aiming to send probes to the nearby stars within the long term. [26] He was a contributor to the Encyclopedia of Applied Physics, [27] in the subject of Intense Particle Beams. [28] He has taught HPM courses worldwide. [29] Videos covering Benford's work can be readily found on the internet. [30] [31] [32]

Membership

He is a member of the American Physical Society. [33] At IEEE he has been a member since 1970, and a Fellow since 1996. [1] [34] He is also an EMP Fellow of the Summa Foundation, University of New Mexico since 1998. [35]

Editorial

With his twin brother Gregory Benford, he was a co-editor of Void , a science fiction fanzine published from 1955 to 1969. [36] He was Guest Editor of the Special Issue on High Power Microwave Generation, IEEE Transactions on Plasma Sciences (vol 20, 1992), and an article reviewer for a number of scientific journals including Physical Review Letters, IEEE Transactions in Plasma Sciences, Journal of Applied Physics, Journal of the British Interplanetary Society and Applied Physics Letters. [37]

Works

Research papers

Benford has published over one hundred research papers in peer-reviewed sources. [24] His most cited research papers [38] are:

Science fiction

His most recent science fiction writings are:

Books

Patents and inventions

Benford has been awarded US invention patents for: Particle beam injection system(1974), [49] and Systems and methods for generating high power, wideband microwave radiation using variable capacitance voltage multiplication (2007). [50] He also invented a number of HPM devices including a Side-Extracted Vircator, [51] a Cavity Vircator. [52] and a High Power Vacuum Horn antenna. [53]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plasma cosmology</span> Non-standard model of the universe; emphasizes the role of ionized gases

Plasma cosmology is a non-standard cosmology whose central postulate is that the dynamics of ionized gases and plasmas play important, if not dominant, roles in the physics of the universe at interstellar and intergalactic scales. In contrast, the current observations and models of cosmologists and astrophysicists explain the formation, development, and evolution of large-scale structures as dominated by gravity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gyrotron</span> Vacuum tube which generates high-frequency radio waves

A gyrotron is a class of high-power linear-beam vacuum tubes that generates millimeter-wave electromagnetic waves by the cyclotron resonance of electrons in a strong magnetic field. Output frequencies range from about 20 to 527 GHz, covering wavelengths from microwave to the edge of the terahertz gap. Typical output powers range from tens of kilowatts to 1–2 megawatts. Gyrotrons can be designed for pulsed or continuous operation. The gyrotron was invented by Soviet scientists at NIRFI, based in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finite-difference time-domain method</span> Numerical analysis technique

Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) or Yee's method is a numerical analysis technique used for modeling computational electrodynamics. Since it is a time-domain method, FDTD solutions can cover a wide frequency range with a single simulation run, and treat nonlinear material properties in a natural way.

The static induction thyristor is a thyristor with a buried gate structure in which the gate electrodes are placed in n-base region. Since they are normally on-state, gate electrodes must be negatively or anode biased to hold off-state. It has low noise, low distortion, high audio frequency power capability. The turn-on and turn-off times are very short, typically 0.25 microseconds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trident laser</span>

The Trident Laser was a high power, sub-petawatt class, solid-state laser facility located at Los Alamos National Laboratory, in Los Alamos, New Mexico, originally built in the late 1980s for Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) research by KMS Fusion, founded by Kip Siegel, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, it was later moved to Los Alamos in the early 1990s to be used in ICF and materials research. The Trident Laser has been decommissioned, with final experiments in 2017, and is now in storage at the University of Texas at Austin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vircator</span>

A vircator is a microwave generator that is capable of generating brief pulses of tunable, narrow band microwaves at very high power levels. Its application is mainly in the area of electronic warfare, by way of interfering with electronic equipment such as radars or radio equipment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atmospheric-pressure plasma</span> Plasma in which the pressure equals that of the surrounding atmosphere

Atmospheric-pressure plasma is a plasma in which the pressure approximately matches that of the surrounding atmosphere – the so-called normal pressure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mounir Laroussi</span> American physicist

Mounir Laroussi is a Tunisian-American scientist. He is known for his work in plasma science, especially low temperature plasmas and their biomedical applications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Peratt</span> American physicist

Anthony L. Peratt is an American physicist whose most notable achievements have been in plasma physics, plasma petroglyphs, nuclear fusion and the monitoring of nuclear weapons.

The GLAss Spherical Tokamak is a name given to a set of small spherical tokamaks located in Islamabad, Pakistan. They were developed by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) as part of the National Tokamak Fusion Program (NTFP) in 2008 and are primarily used for teaching and training purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reconfigurable antenna</span> Antenna capable of modifying its frequency and radiation properties dynamically

A reconfigurable antenna is an antenna capable of modifying its frequency and radiation properties dynamically, in a controlled and reversible manner. In order to provide a dynamic response, reconfigurable antennas integrate an inner mechanism that enable the intentional redistribution of the RF currents over the antenna surface and produce reversible modifications of its properties. Reconfigurable antennas differ from smart antennas because the reconfiguration mechanism lies inside the antenna, rather than in an external beamforming network. The reconfiguration capability of reconfigurable antennas is used to maximize the antenna performance in a changing scenario or to satisfy changing operating requirements.

Chandrashekhar Janardan Joshi is an Indian–American experimental plasma physicist. He is known for his pioneering work in plasma-based particle acceleration techniques for which he won the 2006 James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics and the 2023 Hannes Alfvén Prize.

Richard J. Temkin is a plasma physicist and researcher on plasma-heating gyrotrons and other electromagnetic devices involving high-powered microwaves or terahertz radiation.

Phillip A. Sprangle is an American physicist who specializes in the applications of plasma physics. He is known for his work involving the propagation of high-intensity laser beams in the atmosphere, the interaction of ultra-short laser pulses from high-power lasers with matter, nonlinear optics and nonlinear plasma physics, free electron lasers, and lasers in particle acceleration.

Valery A. Godyak is a Russian-American physicist who specializes in plasma physics. As a scientist, he made fundamental contributions to the understanding of radio frequency (RF) induced discharges in plasmas as well as in associated nonlinear phenomena. As an industrial physicist, he developed induction lamps such as the Icetron-Endura RF lamp and received honors from companies such as Osram Sylvania and Siemens.

Keith Howard Burrell is an American plasma physicist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Malka</span> French physicist (born 1960)

Victor Malka is a French plasma physicist and a pioneer in laser plasma acceleration. In 2004, Malka demonstrated that high energy monoenergetic electron beams could be generated using the technique of laser wakefield acceleration, and subsequently used them to develop compact X-ray and gamma radiation sources with applications in medicine, security technology and phase-contrast imaging. For these contributions to the field, he was awarded the IEEE Particle Accelerator Science and Technology Award in 2007, the Julius Springer Prize for Applied Physics in 2017, and the Hannes Alfvén Prize in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edl Schamiloglu</span> American physicist, electrical engineer, and inventor

Edl Schamiloglu is an American physicist, electrical engineer, pulsed power expert, inventor, and distinguished professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering at the University of New Mexico. He has been known in public media for his expertise in the design and operation of directed-energy weapons. He is also known for his assessment on the possible origins of alleged health damages presumably caused on U.S. embassy personnel in Cuba in 2016 as part of the Havana syndrome incident. He is the associate dean for research and innovation at the UNM School of Engineering, where he has been a faculty since 1988, and where he is also special assistant to the provost for laboratory relations. He is also the founding director of the recently launched UNM Directed Energy Center. Schamiloglu is a book author and co-editor, and has received numerous awards for his academic achievements. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the American Physical Society. Starting on July 1, 2024, Schamiloglu was selected as Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, where he succeeds Steven J. Gitomer who has held that role for over 40 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">André Anders</span> German-American physicist (born 1961)

André Anders is a German-American experimental plasma physicist and materials scientist. He has been the director of the Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering in Leipzig, Germany, since 2017. Previously, 1992-2017, he worked at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California. He is best known for his work on metal plasmas and thin film deposition by cathodic arcs and high power impulse magnetron sputtering. He was the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Applied Physics (2014-2024) published by AIP Publishing.

References

  1. 1 2 "James Benford". IEEE . Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  2. ↑ Ackerman, Elise. "Seven Sci-Fi Scenarios For Interstellar Space Travel That Could Happen In This Century". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-12-25.
  3. ↑ Curtis, Sophie (2019-10-01). "Aliens 'spying on us from asteroids that orbit the Sun in sync with Earth'". mirror. Retrieved 2021-12-25.
  4. ↑ "Astronomer probes idea of ET 'lurkers' | Space | EarthSky". earthsky.org. 2019-09-29. Retrieved 2021-12-26.
  5. ↑ Kehe, Jason. "Romantic or Reckless? The Plan to Message Aliens with Twitter". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 2021-12-26.
  6. ↑ Patton, Paul (2015-02-19). "Who Speaks for Earth? The Controversy over Interstellar Messaging". Universe Today. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  7. ↑ "Summary Bibliography: James Benford". www.isfdb.org. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  8. ↑ Benford, J. N. (1970). "Rotation in the Implosion Phase of a Theta Pinch" (Ph.D. dissertation). University of California at San Diego: 1.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. ↑ Benford, James (1972-03-01). "Rotation during the Implosion of a Theta Pinch". The Physics of Fluids. 15 (3): 435–445. Bibcode:1972PhFl...15..435B. doi:10.1063/1.1693926. ISSN   0031-9171.
  10. ↑ "Trap Door" (PDF). www.fanac.org.
  11. ↑ "UCSD Special Fellowships and Regents Fellowships Granted some UCSD students" (PDF). ucsd.edu.
  12. ↑ Benford, James; Lovberg, R. H.; Niblett, G. B. F. (1968-01-01). "Resistive Instabilities in a Low-Energy Theta Pinch". The Physics of Fluids. 11 (1): 218–221. Bibcode:1968PhFl...11..218B. doi:10.1063/1.1691757. ISSN   0031-9171.
  13. ↑ Sze, H.; Smith, R.R.; Benford, J.N.; Harteneck, B.D. (1992). "Phase-locking of strongly coupled relativistic magnetrons". IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility. 34 (3): 235–241. Bibcode:1992ITElC..34..235S. doi:10.1109/15.155835. ISSN   1558-187X.
  14. ↑ Benford, J.; Benford, G. (2002). "Survey of pulse shortening in high-power microwave sources". IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 25 (2).
  15. ↑ Swegle, J.A.; Benford, J.N. (1998). "High-power microwaves at 25 years: The current state of development". 12th International Conference on High-Power Particle Beams. BEAMS'98. Proceedings (Cat. No.98EX103). Vol. 1. pp. 149–152 vol.1. doi:10.1109/BEAMS.1998.822405. ISBN   0-7803-4287-9. S2CID   120376230.
  16. ↑ Benford, James N.; Miller, Gabriel; Potter, Seth; Ashby, Steve; Smith, Richard R. (1995-05-01). "High Power Microwave Source Development". Archived from the original on January 17, 2022.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  17. ↑ Price, David; Goldman, Edward; Nett, David; Putnam, Sidney; Weidenheimer, Doug; Bloemker, Carl; White, Roger; Wynn, Tony (2003). "DEW Technology at the Titan Corporation" (PDF). 1st International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference (IECEC). 1st International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference (IECEC), OE/LASE '89. Vol. 1061. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. pp. 1–11. doi:10.2514/6.2003-5913. ISBN   978-1-62410-088-8.{{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  18. ↑ "The High Power Microwave Facility: Orion" (PDF). apps.dtic.mil. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 18, 2022.
  19. ↑ Benford, James; Ecker, Bruce (1971-05-10). "Transport of Intense Relativistic Electron Beams in a z Pinch". Physical Review Letters. 26 (19): 1160–1163. Bibcode:1971PhRvL..26.1160B. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.26.1160. ISSN   0031-9007.
  20. ↑ Benford, James; Sze, H.; Young, T.; Bromley, D.; Proulx, G. (1985). "Variations on the Relativistic Magnetron". IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science. 13 (6): 538–544. Bibcode:1985ITPS...13..538B. doi:10.1109/TPS.1985.4316470. ISSN   0093-3813. S2CID   22500523.
  21. ↑ Price, D.; Benford, J.N. (1998). "General scaling of pulse shortening in explosive-emission-driven microwave sources". IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science. 26 (3): 256–262. Bibcode:1998ITPS...26..256P. doi:10.1109/27.700752.
  22. ↑ Spark, S.N. (2001). "The high power microwave facility: Orion". IEE Symposium Pulsed Power 2001. Vol. 2001. London, UK: IEE. p. 13. doi:10.1049/ic:20010142 (inactive 7 December 2024).{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of December 2024 (link)
  23. ↑ Benford, James (1987). "High power microwave simulator development". Microwave Journal. 30: 97–106. Bibcode:1987MiJo...30...97B. ISSN   0192-6225.
  24. 1 2 "Microsoft Academic - James Benford". academic.microsoft.com. Archived from the original on 2021-12-28. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
  25. ↑ "Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact (1960-Present Dell) comic books 1996". www.mycomicshop.com. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  26. ↑ "Breakthrough Initiatives". breakthroughinitiatives.org. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  27. ↑ Encyclopedia of applied physics. George L. Trigg. New York, N.Y.: Wiley. 2010. ISBN   978-3-527-60043-4. OCLC   516135307.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  28. ↑ Wiley-Vch Verlag Gmbh & Co. Kgaa, ed. (2003). Major Reference Works. Wiley Online Library. doi:10.1002/3527600434. ISBN   9783527268412 . Retrieved 2021-12-29.
  29. ↑ "2019 Shoemaker Lecture with Dr. James Benford | Beyond Center". live-asu-beyond-center.ws.asu.edu. Archived from the original on 2022-01-10. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
  30. ↑ IS ET Lurking In Our Cosmic Backyard? With James Benford and Paul Davies, 27 February 2020, retrieved 2022-01-10
  31. ↑ Looking for Technosignatures on the Moon with Dr. James Benford, 15 October 2020, retrieved 2022-01-10
  32. ↑ James Benford - Is ET Lurking in Our Cosmic Backyard? (TechnoClimes 2020), 14 August 2020, retrieved 2022-01-10
  33. ↑ "Members in the Media". www.aps.org. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
  34. ↑ "IEEE Fellows Directory - Alphabetical Listing". IEEE . Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  35. ↑ "Summa Foundation - EMP and HPEM FELLOWS" (PDF). unm.edu.
  36. ↑ "VOID". fanac.org. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  37. ↑ "James Benford - Routledge & CRC Press Author Profile". www.routledge.com. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  38. 1 2 "Google Scholar". scholar.google.es. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  39. ↑ Benford, J.; Sze, H.; Woo, W.; Smith, R. R.; Harteneck, B. (1989-02-20). "Phase Locking of Relativistic Magnetrons". Physical Review Letters. 62 (8): 969–971. Bibcode:1989PhRvL..62..969B. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.62.969. PMID   10040384.
  40. ↑ Benford, J.; Benford, G. (1997-04-01). "Survey of pulse shortening in high-power microwave sources". IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science. 25 (2): 311–317. Bibcode:1997ITPS...25..311B. doi:10.1109/27.602505. ISSN   1939-9375. S2CID   55624109.
  41. ↑ Haworth, M.D.; Baca, G.; Benford, J.; Englert, T.; Hackett, K.; Hendricks, K.J.; Henley, D.; LaCour, M.; Lemke, R.W.; Price, D.; Ralph, D. (1998). "Significant pulse-lengthening in a multigigawatt magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator". IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science. 26 (3): 312–319. Bibcode:1998ITPS...26..312H. doi:10.1109/27.700759. ISSN   1939-9375.
  42. ↑ Benford, James (2008-06-01). "Space Applications of High-Power Microwaves". IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science. 36 (3): 569–581. Bibcode:2008ITPS...36..569B. doi:10.1109/TPS.2008.923760. ISSN   1939-9375. S2CID   47137955.
  43. ↑ Benford, James; Benford, Gregory; Benford, Dominic (2010-06-01). "Messaging with Cost-Optimized Interstellar Beacons". Astrobiology. 10 (5): 475–490. arXiv: 0810.3964 . Bibcode:2010AsBio..10..475B. doi:10.1089/ast.2009.0393. ISSN   1531-1074. PMID   20624056. S2CID   24833741.
  44. ↑ "A Science Critique of Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson". www.centauri-dreams.org. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  45. ↑ Benford, James N.; Benford, Dominic J. (2016-07-07). "Power Beaming Leakage Radiation as a SETI Observable". The Astrophysical Journal. 825 (2): 101. arXiv: 1602.05485 . Bibcode:2016ApJ...825..101B. doi: 10.3847/0004-637X/825/2/101 . ISSN   1538-4357. S2CID   118790653.
  46. ↑ Bennett, Christopher L.; McCarthy, Wil; Benford, Gregory (2018-01-01). Analog Science Fiction and Fact, May-June 2018. Fred Gambino (1st ed.). Dell Magazines.
  47. ↑ "Starship Century: Towards The Grandest Horizon edited by James Benford and Gregory Benford (book review)". SFcrowsnest. 2013-08-23. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  48. ↑ Society, National Space (2014-07-06). "Book Review: Starship Century - National Space Society" . Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  49. ↑ US 3831101,Benford, James Nelson; Putnam, Sidney Darwin& Stallings, Charles Henry,"Particle beam injection system",published 1974-08-20, assigned to Physics International Co.
  50. ↑ USapplication 2009224610,Fuks, Mikhail; Schamiloglu, Edl& Benford, James,"Systems and methods for generating high power, wideband microwave radiation using variable capacitance voltage multiplication",published 2009-09-10, assigned to General Dynamics Ordnance & Tactical Systems- Canada Inc., now abandoned.
  51. ↑ Sze, H.; Benford, J.; Young, T.; Bromley, D.; Harteneck, B. (1985). "A Radially and Axially Extracted Virtual-Cathode Oscillator (Vircator)". IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science. 13 (6): 492–497. Bibcode:1985ITPS...13..492S. doi:10.1109/TPS.1985.4316463. ISSN   1939-9375. S2CID   41071107.
  52. ↑ Benford, J.; Price, D.; Sze, H.; Bromley, D. (1987-03-01). "Interaction of a vircator microwave generator with an enclosing resonant cavity". Journal of Applied Physics. 61 (5): 2098–2100. Bibcode:1987JAP....61.2098B. doi:10.1063/1.337965. ISSN   0021-8979.
  53. ↑ Price, D.; Sze, H.; Fittinghoff, D.; Harteneck, B.; Benford, J. (1989-07-25). Brandt, Howard E (ed.). "High-Power Vircator Phase-Locking Demonstrations At Physics International". Microwave and Particle Beam Sources and Directed Energy Concepts. 1061. SPIE: 206–221. Bibcode:1989SPIE.1061..206P. doi:10.1117/12.951798. S2CID   111008656.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.