This special issue of Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion comprises refereed papers contributed by invited speakers at the 31st European Physical Society Conference on Plasma Physics. The conference was jointly hosted by the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, by the EURATOM/UKAEA Fusion Association and by Imperial College London, where it took place from 28 June to 2 July 2004. The overall agenda for this conference was set by the Board of the Plasma Physics Division of the European Physical Society, chaired by Friedrich Wagner (MPIPP, Garching) and his successor Jo Lister (CRPP, Lausanne). It built on developments in recent years, by further increasing the scientific diversity of the conference programme, whilst maintaining its depth and quality. A correspondingly diverse Programme Committee was set up, whose members are listed below. The final task of the Programme Committee has been the preparation of this special issue. In carrying out this work, as in preparing the scientific programme of the conference, the Programme Committee formed specialist subcommittees representing the different fields of plasma science. The chairmen of these subcommittees, in particular, accepted a very heavy workload on behalf of their respective research communities. It is a great pleasure to take this opportunity to thank: Emilia R Solano (CIEMAT, Madrid), magnetic confinement fusion; Jürgen Meyer-ter-Vehn (MPQ, Garching), laser-plasma interaction and beam plasma physics; and Jean-Luc Dorier (CRPP, Lausanne), dusty plasmas. The relatively few papers in astrophysical and basic plasma physics were co-ordinated by a small subcommittee which I led. Together with Peter Norreys (RAL, Chilton), we five constitute the editorial team for this special issue. The extensive refereeing load, compressed into a short time interval, was borne by the Programme Committee members and by many other experts, to whom this special issue owes much. We are also grateful to the Local Organizing Committee chaired by Henry Hutchinson (RAL, Chilton), and to the Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion journal team (Institute of Physics Publishing, Bristol), for their work on this conference.At the 2004 European Physical Society Conference on Plasma Physics, plenary invited speakers whose talks spanned the entire field were followed, each day, by multiple parallel sessions which also included invited talks. Invited speakers in both these categories were asked to contribute papers to this special issue (the contributed papers at this conference, and at all recent conferences in this series, are archived at http://epsppd.epfl.ch). The Programme Committee is very grateful to the many invited speakers who have responded positively to this request. Invited papers appear here in their order of presentation during the week beginning 28 June 2004; this ordering provides an echo of the character of the conference, as it was experienced by those who took part.Programme Committee 2004Professor Richard Dendy UKAEA Culham Division, UK Chairman and guest editorDr Jean-Luc Dorier Centre de Recherches en Physique des Plasmas, Lausanne, Switzerland (Co-ordinator of dusty plasmas and guest editor)Professor Jürgen Meyer-ter-Vehn Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Garching, Germany (Co-ordinator of laser-plasma interaction and beam plasma physics and guest editor)Dr Peter Norreys Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, UK (Scientific Secretary and guest editor)Dr Emilia R Solano CIEMAT Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión, Madrid, Spain( Co-ordinator of magnetic confinement fusion and guest editor)Dr Shalom Eliezer Soreq Nuclear Research Centre, IsraelDr Wim Goedheer FOM-Instituut voor Plasmafysica, Rijnhuizen, NetherlandsProfessor Henry Hutchinson Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, UKProfessor John Kirk Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, GermanyDr Raymond Koch École Royale Militaire/Koninklijke Militaire School, Brussels, BelgiumProfessor Gerrit Kroesen Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, NetherlandsDr Martin Lampe Naval Research Laboratory, Washington DC, USADr Jo Lister Centre de Recherches en Physique des Plasmas, Lausanne, SwitzerlandDr Paola Mantica Istituto di Fisica del Plasma, Milan, ItalyProfessor Tito Mendonça Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, PortugalDr Patrick Mora École Polytechnique, Palaiseau, FranceProfessor Lennart Stenflo Umeå Universitet, SwedenProfessor Paul Thomas CEA Cadarache, Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, FranceProfessor Friedrich Wagner Max-Planck-Institut f̈r Plasmaphysik, Garching, GermanyProfessor Hannspeter Winter Technische Universität Wien, Austria
本特刊收录了第31届欧洲物理学会等离子体物理会议特邀报告人提交的经同行评审的论文。该会议由卢瑟福·阿普尔顿实验室、EURATOM/UKAEA聚变协会和伦敦帝国学院联合主办，于2004年6月28日至7月2日举行。会议总体议程由欧洲物理学会等离子体物理分会理事会制定，主席为弗里德里希·瓦格纳（马克斯·普朗克量子光学研究所，加兴），其继任者为约·利斯特（瑞士等离子体研究中心，洛桑）。会议在延续近年发展的基础上，进一步扩大了会议议程的科学广度，同时保持了其深度。为此设立了相应的程序委员会，成员名单如下。程序委员会的最后一项任务是筹备本特刊。在开展此项工作以及筹备会议科学议程的过程中，程序委员会设立了代表等离子体科学各领域的专业分组委员会。各分组委员会主席尤其承担了繁重的工作量，为各自的研究领域作出了贡献。借此机会，谨向以下人士致以诚挚谢意：埃米利娅·R·索拉诺（CIEMAT，马德里），负责磁约束聚变；于尔根·迈尔-特尔-费恩（马克斯·普朗克量子光学研究所，加兴），负责激光等离子体相互作用与束等离子体物理；以及让-吕克·多里耶（瑞士等离子体研究中心，洛桑），负责尘埃等离子体。天体物理和基础等离子体物理方面的少量论文由本人领导的一个小型分组委员会协调完成。本人与彼得·诺里斯（卢瑟福·阿普尔顿实验室，奇尔顿）等五人共同组成本特刊的编辑团队。繁重的审稿工作得以在短时间内完成，离不开程序委员会成员及众多其他专家的贡献，本特刊对此深表感谢。同时，我们也感谢由亨利·哈钦森（卢瑟福·阿普尔顿实验室，奇尔顿）担任主席的地方组织委员会，以及《等离子体物理与受控聚变》期刊团队（英国物理学会出版社，布里斯托尔）为本次会议所做的工作。在第31届欧洲物理学会等离子体物理会议上，全体会议特邀报告人的报告涵盖了整个学科领域，随后每天安排了多个并行分会，其中也包括特邀报告。上述两类特邀报告人均被邀请为本特刊撰稿（本次会议及历届会议的报告论文均存档于 http://epsppd.epfl.ch）。程序委员会非常感谢众多特邀报告人积极响应了这一邀请。特邀论文按2004年6月28日当周的报告顺序排列；这一排序也体现了与会者所体验到的会议特色。2004年程序委员会：理查德·登迪教授，UKAEA 卢瑟福·阿普尔顿实验室，英国奇尔顿，主席兼特邀编辑；让-吕克·多里耶博士，瑞士等离子体研究中心，瑞士洛桑（尘埃等离子体协调人兼特邀编辑）；于尔根·迈尔-特尔-费恩教授，马克斯·普朗克量子光学研究所，德国加兴（激光等离子体相互作用与束等离子体物理协调人兼特邀编辑）；彼得·诺里斯博士，卢瑟福·阿普尔顿实验室，英国奇尔顿（科学秘书兼特邀编辑）；埃米利娅·R·索拉诺博士，CIEMAT，西班牙马德里（磁约束聚变协调人兼特邀编辑）；沙洛姆·埃利泽博士，索雷克核研究中心，以色列；维姆·古德海尔博士，FOM 等离子体物理研究所，荷兰赖恩赫伊曾；亨利·哈钦森教授，卢瑟福·阿普尔顿实验室，英国奇尔顿；约翰·柯克教授，马克斯·普朗克核物理研究所，德国海德堡；雷蒙德·科赫博士，比利时皇家军事学院，比利时布鲁塞尔；格里特·克鲁森教授，埃因霍温理工大学，荷兰埃因霍温；马丁·兰普博士，海军研究实验室，美国华盛顿特区；约·利斯特博士，瑞士等离子体研究中心，瑞士洛桑；保拉·曼蒂卡博士，等离子体物理研究所，意大利米兰；蒂托·门东萨教授，高等技术研究所，葡萄牙里斯本；帕特里克·莫拉博士，综合理工学院，法国帕莱索；伦纳特·斯滕弗洛教授，于默奥大学，瑞典于默奥；保罗·托马斯教授，CEA 卡达拉什，法国圣保罗-莱迪朗斯；弗里德里希·瓦格纳教授，马克斯·普朗克等离子体物理研究所，德国加兴；汉内斯·温特教授，维也纳技术大学，奥地利维也纳。