Eric Lerner

Eric J. Lerner is the President of Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, Inc. an "advanced technology research, consulting and communications firm". He is associated with plasma physics and plasma cosmology. Lerner's theories are mostly regarded as pseudoscence by the mainstream physics community and his research is not respected outside of his own circle of associates.

Personal history

Lerner received a BA in Physics from Columbia University and did graduate work in physics at the University of Maryland, College Park without completing a degree. Lerner is currently the executive director of the Focus Fusion Society and president of Lawrenceville Plasma Physics in West Orange, New Jersey. Lerner wrote a popularization of plasma cosmology, The Big Bang Never Happened (1991). He has studied cosmic plasma phenomena and laboratory fusion devices, especially the dense plasma focus.

Between 1984 and 1993 he won the Aviation Space Writers Association award for journalism a number of times.

Lerner has written widely on scientific and technological topics for magazines such as IEEE Spectrum, Aerospace America, Discover, Industrial Physicist and IBM Research. His original scientific papers have been published in the Astrophysical Journal, Astrophysics and Space Science, Laser and Particle Beams and IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science.

He is a life-long political activist, a veteran of the 1965 Selma March and the 1968 Columbia Student Strike. He is a member of the NJ Civil Rights Defense Committee, and Workers Democracy Network.

Scientific activities

He is a critic of the big bang theory and advocates an infinitely old Universe. Lerner has developed original theories of quasars, large scale structure, the microwave background and the origin of light elements all based on the plasma cosmology approach. He claims that the intergalactic medium is a strong absorber of the cosmic microwave background radiation with the absorption occurring in a fog of narrow filaments. He has analyzed data on the surface brightness of galaxies that contradict the predictions of expanding-universe models.

Lerner developed a theory postulating that quasars are not related to black holes but are rather produced by a magnetic self-compression process similar to that occurring in the plasma focus. Through this work, he developed a detailed quantitative theory of the functioning of the plasma focus. Based on this theory, he proposed that the plasma focus could achieve high ion and electron energies at high densities, suitable for advanced fuel fusion and space propulsion. Lerner has done experimental work on the plasma focus in collaboration with the University of Illinois in 1994 and with Texas A&M University in 2001. In addition, he developed an original model of the role of the strong magnetic field effect on plasma functioning, showing that this effect could make net energy production more feasible, potentially leading to an economical and safe source of energy.

Partial list of papers and articles

Peer reviewed papers

• "Radio absorption by the intergalactic medium" Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 361, Sept. 20, 1990, p. 63-68. DOI: 10.1086/169167
• "Confirmation of radio absorption by the intergalactic medium". Astrophysics and Space Science, Volume 207, Number 1; Pg 17-26 , September 1993. ISSN 0004-640X DOI 10.1007/BF00659126
• "Intergalactic radio absorption and the cobe data". Astrophysics and Space Science, Volume 227, Numbers 1-2 Pg 61-81, May 1995. ISSN 0004-640X DOI 10.1007/BF00678067
• "Two world systems revisited: a comparison of plasma cosmology and the big bang". IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, 2003.

Industrial Physicist articles

• "Fraud Shows Peer-Review Flaws". Industrial Physicist.
• "Plasma Propulsion in Space". Industrial Physicist. October 2000, Volume 6, Number 5. (PDF)
• "What's Wrong with the Electric Grid?" Industrial Physicist. Vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 8,10-13. Oct.-Nov. 2003.

Arxiv.org

• "Towards advanced-fuel fusion: Electron, ion energy >100keV in a dense plasma". physics/0205026, 36 pgs.
• "Prospects for P11B Fusion with the Dense Plasma Focus: New Results". physics/0401126. Invited presentation, 5th Symposium "Current Trends in International Fusion Research: A Review" March 24-28, 2003, Washington, D.C., 25 pgs.

Other articles

• "Bucking the big bang". New Scientist. Vol. 182, no. 2448, pp. 20. 22 May 2004.
• "The Case Against the Big Bang". Progress in New Cosmologies : Beyond the Big Bang, New York : Plenum Press, 1993., p.89.
• "The Cosmologists' New Clothes". Sky and Telescope, V. 83, No., 2/Feb., pg 124, 1992.
• "Diode arrays boost efficiency of solid-state lasers". Laser Focus World, Vol. 34, no. 11, Nov 1998.

See also

• Plasma cosmology
• Plasma Universe

External links and references

• Focus Fusion Society
• Eric Lerner, "The Big Bang Never Happened"
  • Edward Wright, "Errors in the "The Big Bang Never Happened".
  • Eric Lerner, "Dr. Wright is Wrong -- a reply to Ned Wright's "Errors in The Big Bang Never Happened"
• "An Open Letter to the Scientific Community"cosmologystatement.org. Published in New Scientist, May 22, 2004.
• Focus Fusion poses overwhelming competition to $10 billion Tokamak - Interview with Eric Lerner. (OSEN; Nov. 2, 2005) (also at PESN)
• Eric Lerner biography
• Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, Inc.