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{{Short description|American plasma researcher and popular science writer}}
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{{Infobox person
'''Eric J. Lerner''' is a ] <ref>See Amazon where Lerner is described as a "plasma physicist" twice</ref> and one of the most prominent advocates of the ] ].<ref>H. Ratcliffe, "The First Crisis in Cosmology Conference" (), ''Progress in Physics'' (Oct 2005)</ref> He is the President of Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, Inc.<ref>See Personnel listed on the Web site for </ref> which describes itself as an "advanced technology research, consulting and communications firm". He was invited by fellow Big Bang critic and ] enthusiast Riccardo Scarpa to visit the ] in ].<ref> at the ESO website</ref>
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| 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=] |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_place = ], U.S.
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| website = LPPFusion.com
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'''Eric J. Lerner''' (born May 31, 1947) is an American ] writer and independent ] researcher.<ref>John Wilford, , ''The New York Times'', February 28, 1989</ref> He wrote the 1991 book ''The Big Bang Never Happened'', which advocates ]'s ] instead of the ] theory. He is founder, president, and chief scientist of LPP Fusion.<ref name="biography" ></ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://thespaceshow.com/guest/eric-lerner|title = Eric Lerner &#124; the Space Show}}</ref>
==Personal history==


==Professional work==
Lerner received a ] in ] from ] and did graduate work in physics at the ] without completing a degree. Lerner is currently the ] of the ] and president of ] in ]. Lerner wrote a popularization of ], '']'' (1991). He has studied cosmic ] ] and laboratory fusion devices, especially the ].


Lerner received a ] in ] from ]<ref>Columbia Alumni Directory, 1988 edition, p.211</ref> and started as a graduate student in physics at the ], 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 {{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.
He is a life-long ], a veteran of the ] ] and the ] ]. He is a member of the ], and ].


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 ] in ].<ref>, {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524130733/http://www.eso.org/sci/meetings/santiago/abs06/abstract2006.html|date=May 24, 2011}}, and </ref>
==Scientific activities==


=== LPP Fusion ===
He is a ] of the ] ] and advocates an ] ]. Lerner has developed original theories of ]s, ], the ] and the origin of light elements all based on the plasma cosmology approach. He claims that the ] is a strong absorber of the ] with the absorption occurring in a fog of narrow ]s. He has analyzed data on the surface brightness of galaxies that contradict the predictions of ]s. Most of his astronomical work is contradicted by mainstream astrophysicists and cosmologists.
In 1984, he began studying ] ] and laboratory fusion devices, performing experimental work on a machine called a ] (DPF). NASA's ] 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, , ''The New York Times'', February 27, 2007</ref><ref> {{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 ] energy.<ref name="Huyghe">Patrick Huyghe, , ''Discover Magazine'', June 2008</ref><ref>, '']'', 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
| 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
Lerner developed a theory postulating that quasars are not related to ]s but are rather produced by a ] 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 ] and ] energies at high ], suitable for advanced fuel ] and ]. Lerner has done experimental work on the plasma focus in collaboration with the ] in ], with ] in ] and with the Chilean Nuclear Energy Commission. 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.
| title= LPP Receives Major Investments, Initiates Experimental Project
| date= November 22, 2008 | publisher= ], 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= ]
| 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 ] 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>
==Criticism of Lerner's ideas==
Univ. of Hawaii Professor Emeritus of Physics and Astronomy, Victor J. Stenger, and author of "God: The Failed Hypothesis", criticised Lerner's book, ''The Big Bang Never Happened'', in a 1992 edition of the popular magazine, ]. Stenger writes:
:"Lerner uses the kinds of arguments one often hears in public discourse on science, but rarely among professional scientists themselves. For example, he argues that plasma cosmology is in closer agreement with everyday observation than big-bang cosmology, and hence is the more sensible. A look through a telescope reveals spirals and other structures similar to those observed in the plasma laboratory (and, as cosmologist ] has remarked, in your bathroom toilet as well). Following Lerner's line of reasoning, we would conclude, as people once did, that the earth is flat, that the sun goes around the earth, and that species are immutable."<ref>Victor J. Stenger, "Is the Big Bang a Bust?" ''Skeptical Inquirer'', 16, 412, Summer 1992.</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>
UCLA ] Edward L.(Ned) Wright maintains a web page titled "Errors in the 'The Big Bang Never Happened'" in which he chronicles point by point, errors in Lerner's cosmological proposals.<ref>Edward L.(Ned) Wright, </ref>. Lerner later posted a response to some of Wright's critiques.<ref></ref>


==''The Big Bang Never Happened''==
Björn Feuerbacher, physicist at the ] and Ryan Scranton, physicist at the ] wrote of Eric Lerner's analysis:
:"Lerner's arguments against the ] fall well short of convincing.... At the same time, Lerner's claims about the ability of the plasma cosmology model to describe the observations correctly are simply wrong.... Lerner also has a bad habit of citing scientific articles in support of his case when, in fact, they actually run contrary to his claims." <ref></ref>


In his book, ''The Big Bang Never Happened'',<ref name=Lerner /> Lerner rejects mainstream ], and instead advances a ] ] originally proposed in the 1960s by ], the 1970 ] recipient in Physics. The book appeared at a time when results from the ] satellite were of some concern to astrophysicists who expected to see ] but instead measured a ] 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 ] and recounted a well known cosmological feature that ]s are larger than the largest structures that could have formed through ] in the ].<ref name=Lerner />
Gregg Sapp, (current Head of the Science Library, University Albany), in the ''Library Journal'' wrote that:
:"Lerner, a plasma physicist, points out flaws in the Big Bang model and proposes an alternative theory: an eternal, self-sustaining "plasma" universe where electromagnetic fields within conducting gases provide other, simpler explanations for observed phenomena. His contention that the Big Bang is merely a repackaged creation myth is presumptuous, but well argued."<ref></ref>


As an alternative to the Big Bang, Lerner adopted Alfvén's model of plasma cosmology that relied on ] to explain most, if not all, cosmological observations by appealing to ]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 ] based on the work of the Nobel Chemistry prize winner ] 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 ]. 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 ].<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>
British physicist and writer Alec MacAndrew wrote that:
:"The Lerner book, at least, is quirky and badly flawed. Anyone who is really interested in understanding the science needs to read much more widely than that."<ref></ref>


== Criticism ==
], assistant professor in the Physics Department, Enrico Fermi Institute, and Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at the ] writes about Lerner's understanding of ] (GR):
:"But if your professional activity consists of combating a cosmological model that is based on GR, you shouldn't open your mouth without understanding at least the basics. So if I get to decide whether to allocate money or jobs to one of the bright graduate students working on some of the many fruitful issues raised by the Big Bang cosmology, or divert it to a crackpot who claims that the Big Bang has no empirical successes, it's an easy choice. Not censorship, just sensible allocation of resources in a finite world."<ref>http://preposterousuniverse.blogspot.com/2004/05/doubt-and-dissent-are-not-tolerated.html Preposterous Universe</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 ] and is consistent with having arisen from a ] of density fluctuations growing from the ]s predicted in ].<ref name=Stenger /><ref name=Wright /><ref name=Penzias /> Anisotropies were discovered in subsequent analysis of both the COBE and ] experiments and were more fully characterized by the ]<ref name=Stenger /><ref name=Wright /> and ].
], winner of the ], wrote to the ]:
:"The sizes of the vast ribbons of galaxies that Eric J. Lerner refers to come straight out of the Big Bang model itself.... Contrary to Mr. Lerner's claim, therefore, the "simple mathematics" he cites rests upon, rather than contradicts the Big Bang model."<ref></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 = ] | 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>, ''The New York Times'', June 18, 1991</ref><ref name=Davies>, ''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 ]'s ], </ref> In particular, American astrophysicist and cosmologist ] criticized Lerner for making errors of fact and interpretation, arguing that:<ref name=Wright>] "''''</ref>
In 1992, ] had a public debate with Eric Lerner at ] over the Big Bang. Lerner was not able to respond to most of Spergel's arguments and had trouble with simple interpretation of ].
* Lerner's alternative model for ] is dynamically unstable
* the ] of distant ] falsifies Lerner's explanation for the ]
* Lerner's explanation that the helium abundance is due to ] 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==
==Partial list of papers and articles ==
While at Columbia, Lerner participated in the 1965 ]<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 ].<ref> {{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></ref>


In the 1970s, Lerner became involved in the ], an offshoot of the Columbia University ]. Lerner left the National Caucus in 1978, later stating in a lawsuit that he had resisted pressure from the ], an organization led by ], 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>
;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.
* Extended list of from Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System | ()


More recently, Lerner sought ] 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, , ''The Record'' (Bergen County, NJ), December 7, 2004</ref> He participated in the ] protests in 2011.<ref>Harkinson, Josh. "", ''Mother Jones'', October 18, 2011.</ref>
; Industrial Physicist articles
* "''''". Industrial Physicist.
* "''''". Industrial Physicist. October 2000, Volume 6, Number 5. (])
* "''What's Wrong with the Electric Grid?''" Industrial Physicist. Vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 8,10-13. Oct.-Nov. 2003.


== References ==
; Arxiv.org
{{reflist}}
* "'': Electron, ion energy >100keV in a dense plasma''". physics/0205026, 36 pgs.
* "''''". physics/0401126. Invited presentation, 5th Symposium "Current Trends in International Fusion Research: A Review" March 24-28, 2003, Washington, D.C., 25 pgs.


== External links ==
; 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.
* (archived)
* "''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.


{{Authority control}}
==Notes==
<div style="font-size: 95%">
<!--See ] for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref(erences/)> tags-->
<references/>
</div>


{{DEFAULTSORT:Lerner, Eric}}

]
==See also==
]

]
* ]
]
* ]
]

]
==External links and references==
]
*
]
* Eric Lerner, "''''"
]
** Edward Wright, "''''".
]
** Eric Lerner, "''Dr. Wright is Wrong --
]
* "''''"cosmologystatement.org. Published in ], May 22, 2004.
]
* - Interview with Eric Lerner. (''OSEN''; Nov. 2, 2005) ()
]
*
*

]
]
]

Latest revision as of 17:55, 22 September 2024

American plasma researcher and popular science writer

Eric Lerner
BornEric J. Lerner
(1947-05-31) May 31, 1947 (age 77)
Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma materColumbia University
WebsiteLPPFusion.com

Eric J. Lerner (born May 31, 1947) is an American popular science writer and independent plasma researcher. 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.

Professional work

Lerner received a BA in physics from Columbia University 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. 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. 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.

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. He believes that a dense plasma focus can also be used to produce useful aneutronic fusion energy. Lerner explained his "Focus Fusion" approach in a 2007 Google Tech Talk.

On November 14, 2008, Lerner received funding for continued research, to test the scientific feasibility of Focus Fusion. On January 28, 2011, LPP published preliminary results. 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. In 2012 the company announced a collaboration with a lab at the Islamic Azad University Central Tehran Branch in Iran. 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.

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

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).

The Big Bang Never Happened

In his book, The Big Bang Never Happened, 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.

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. Adopting an eternal universe, 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. 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.

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. Anisotropies were discovered in subsequent analysis of both the COBE and BOOMERanG experiments and were more fully characterized by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe and Planck.

Physical cosmologists who have commented on the book have generally dismissed it. In particular, American astrophysicist and cosmologist Edward L. Wright criticized Lerner for making errors of fact and interpretation, arguing that:

Lerner has disputed Wright's critique.

Activism

While at Columbia, Lerner participated in the 1965 Selma March and helped organize the 1968 Columbia Student Strike.

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.

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

References

  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
  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
  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
  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.
  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.
  26. ^ Stenger, Victor J. (Summer 1992). "Is the Big Bang a Bust?". Skeptical Inquirer. 16 (412). Archived from the original on September 25, 2006.
  27. ^ Wright, Edward L. "Errors in "The Big Bang Never Happened"
  28. ^ "Big Bang Theory Makes Sense of Cosmic Facts; No Contradiction", The New York Times, June 18, 1991
  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".
  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
  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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