Robert Jahn,
Professor of Aerospace Science
and Dean, Emeritus
Professor Jahn is Dean Emeritus of the School of Engineering and Applied Science. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and has been chairman of the AIAA Electric Propulsion Technical Committee, associate editor of the AIAA Journal, and a member of the NASA Space Science and Technology Advisory Committee. He is vice President of the Society for Scientific Exploration and Chairman of the Board of the International Consciousness Research Laboratories consortium. He has been a long-term member of the Board of Directors of Hercules, Inc. and chairman of its Technology Committee, and a member and chairman of the Board of Trustees of Associated Universities, Inc. He has received the Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Electric Propulsion, the Curtis W. McGraw Research Award of the American Society of Engineering Education, the Edgar Mitchell Award for Noetic Achievement, and an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Andhra University.
Research Projects
Electric Propulsion and Plasma Dynamics
Investigators: R.G. Jahn and E.Y. Choueiri
Support: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, U. S. Air Force
High-power electrical discharges are used to accelerate a variety of working fluids to very high velocities. These intense discharges and the plasma streams they produce are configured into several types of magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters which offer a desirable combination of high specific impulse and high thrust density for advanced space propulsion applications. The research emphasis is on the physical processes by which the electrical input is converted to useful thrust, and on those which limit the operational lifetime of such thrusters. Most of the studies are conducted in the Electric Propulsion and Plasma Dynamics Laboratory, which features a number of space-simulating vacuum facilities, a variety of specialized diagnostic devices, and sophisticated computational equipment.
Publications
Plasma Propulsion
Physics of Electric Propulsion (1968). McGraw-Hill Series in Missile and Space Technology, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
(with E.Y. Choueiri)
“Electric Propulsion” (2002). In Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology, 3rd Edition. R.A. Myers, ed. San Diego: Academic Press, Vol. 5, pp. 125–141.
“Electric Propulsion” (2002). In Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology, 3rd Edition. R.A. Myers, ed. San Diego: Academic Press, Vol. 5, pp. 125–141.
Both of the above are downloadable from the publications page of the Electric Propulsion and Plasma Dynamics Lab.
Engineering Anomalies Research
Investigators: R.G. Jahn and B.J. Dunne
Support: Several philanthropic organizations and individuals
The interaction of human operators with sensitive information processing devices and systems has been studied by combining appropriate engineering facilities and techniques with a selection of protocols and insights drawn from modern cognitive science. Premium has been placed on extraordinarily precise yet robust instrumentation, tight environmental and quality control, multiply redundant on-line data collection and processing, rapid accumulation of large data bases, and sensitive analytical measures to facilitate extraction of small systematic trends from high levels of background noise, while rejecting spurious artifacts. Under these rigorous conditions, certain aspects of these human/machine interactions have been found to yield anomalous effects currently inexplicable on the basis of established physical concepts and statistical theory.
Over its 30-year history, the program has produced immense databases generated under highly controlled laboratory conditions, indicating the existence of small but replicable and statistically significant correlations between operator intention and the output characteristics of a variety of random digital and analogue processors. Experiments have involved several microelectronic, mechanical, fluid dynamical, acoustical, and optical devices, and a complementary program of remote perception research, from which a number of technical, psychological, and environmental correlates have been identified. Complementary analytical studies and theoretical models have been developed to facilitate the extraction of the most salient correlations from the empirical data, and to help explicate the basic phenomena in fundamental terms.
PEAR has recently completed its laboratory program on the Princeton University campus, but continues to process data, develop theoretical models, and mentor young investigators, as one part of the International Consciousness Research Laboratories (ICRL) agenda (a 501(c)3 not-for-profit). Other ICRL activities include a program of educational outreach, and the development of pragmatic applications.
Publications
Engineering Anomalies Research
(with B.J. Dunne)
Margins of Reality: The Role of Consciousness in the Physical World (1987). New York-San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Margins of Reality: The Role of Consciousness in the Physical World (1987). New York-San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
“EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing” (2007). SPECIAL ISSUE: The Pertinence of the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) Laboratory to the Pursuit of Global Health. May/June, 3, No. 3 (and extensive bibliography therein).
(with B.J. Dunne)
“The PEAR Proposition” (2005). J. Scientific Exploration, 19, No. 2, pp. 195–246 (and extensive bibliography therein).
“The PEAR Proposition” (2005). J. Scientific Exploration, 19, No. 2, pp. 195–246 (and extensive bibliography therein).
(with B.J. Dunne)
“On the Quantum Mechanics of Consciousness, with Application to Anomalous Phenomena” (1986). Foundations of Physics, 16, No. 8, pp. 721–772.
“On the Quantum Mechanics of Consciousness, with Application to Anomalous Phenomena” (1986). Foundations of Physics, 16, No. 8, pp. 721–772.
(with B.J. Dunne)
“A Modular Model of Mind/Matter Manifestations (M5)” (2001). J. Scientific Exploration, 15, No. 3, pp. 299–329.
“A Modular Model of Mind/Matter Manifestations (M5)” (2001). J. Scientific Exploration, 15, No. 3, pp. 299–329.
(with B.J. Dunne)
“Sensors, Filters, and the Source of Reality” (2004). J. Scientific Exploration 18, No. 4, pp. 547–570.,
“Sensors, Filters, and the Source of Reality” (2004). J. Scientific Exploration 18, No. 4, pp. 547–570.,
(with B.J. Dunne)
“Endophysical Models Based on Empirical Data” (2005). R. Buccheri, A. Elitzur, M. Saniga, eds., Endophysics, Time, Quantum and the Subjective: Proceedings of the ZiF Interdisciplinary Research Workshop, Bielefeld, Germany, 17–22 January 2005. (Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 2005) pp. 81–102.
“Endophysical Models Based on Empirical Data” (2005). R. Buccheri, A. Elitzur, M. Saniga, eds., Endophysics, Time, Quantum and the Subjective: Proceedings of the ZiF Interdisciplinary Research Workshop, Bielefeld, Germany, 17–22 January 2005. (Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 2005) pp. 81–102.
(with B.J. Dunne)
“Science of the Subjective” (1997). J. Scientific Exploration, 11, No. 2, pp. 201–224.
“Science of the Subjective” (1997). J. Scientific Exploration, 11, No. 2, pp. 201–224.
(with B.J. Dunne)
“Consciousness, Information, and Living Systems” (2005). Cellular & Molecular Biology, 51, pp. 703–714.
“Consciousness, Information, and Living Systems” (2005). Cellular & Molecular Biology, 51, pp. 703–714.
(with B.J. Dunne)
“Information and Uncertainty in Remote Perception Research” (2003). J. Scientific Exploration, 17, No. 2, pp.207–241.
“Information and Uncertainty in Remote Perception Research” (2003). J. Scientific Exploration, 17, No. 2, pp.207–241.
(with B.J. Dunne)
“Change the Rules!” (2008). J. Scientific Exploration, 22, No. 2, pp. 193–213.
“Change the Rules!” (2008). J. Scientific Exploration, 22, No. 2, pp. 193–213.
(with P. Devereux and M. Ibison)
“Acoustical Resonances of Assorted Ancient Structures” (1996). J. Acoustical Soc. America, 99, No. 2, pp. 649–658.
“Acoustical Resonances of Assorted Ancient Structures” (1996). J. Acoustical Soc. America, 99, No. 2, pp. 649–658.
