ICNSP'98

General Information

The 16^th International Conference on Numerical Simulation of Plasmas, combined with the joint US-Japan workshop on Nonlinear Plasma Simulation & Visualization, and organized in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was held on Tuesday through Thursday, 10^th - 12^th February, 1998, at the Holiday Inn, Goleta, California. Goleta is a suburb of Santa Barbara and is the home of UC Santa Barbara.

The International Conference of the Numerical Simulation of Plasmas is held about every 3 years. Its purpose is to share advances and experiences in numerical methods and practice in computational plasma physics. All areas of plasma simulation are welcome, including fusion energy research, space plasma physics, plasma device simulation, accelerators, beam propagation, astrophysics and others. This conference is special because it is an opportunity for practitioners in the field to learn what goes on "behind the scenes" in many codes, issues which are often not mentioned in physics conferences, where physical results rather than methods are important.

Since the last meeting in  Valley Forge, PA, in 1994, the area of plasma modeling has broadened in scope, ambition, and realism, driven by advances in parallel processing, algorithm development, and programming techniques. We welcome both those who have knowledge to share and those who desire to learn.

The next conference will be the 17th, hosted by U. Alberta, Canada, (Richard Sydora) and will be held in Banff, Alberta in 2000. The 18th will be hosted by NIFS (National Institute for Fusion Science), Japan, (Tetsuya Sato) and will be held in Hawaii in 2002.  Additional information on these events will be posted as it becomes available.

The first "Oscar Buneman" awards were presented for the most insightful visualization, with one prize in the still category and one in the animation category. See the Oscar Buneman page for the names of the winners and a picture of the award

The conference was hosted by the Dept. of Physics & Astronomy of UCLA, the Department of Energy, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

The conference coordinator was:
Mr. Tom Thompson 

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