Fall 2011 Fall

@BERKELEY

INSIDE Calcium Qubits–Trapping Ions for Quantum Computing Duality and the Promise of of Wonder 111 Advanced Lab– Real-World Hands-On Physics for Undergraduates Undergraduate and Graduate News Alumni News and more! Cover: Top left, Professor Bob Jacobsen with student Guillermo Fong (p.11) and Alan Kubey’s sleep- directed alarm system eyeglass frames (p.13 ; Nobel ) top right, Physics at Berkeley 2011 Prize winner Published annually by the (p.14); center, M.C. Escher Department of Physics Verbum 1942 (p.7) and Mina Aganagic with graduate student Frances Hellman: Chair Claudia Lopez: Kevin Schaeffer (p.6); bottom Director Carol Dudley: center, Sketch of two ions trapped Assistant Director below a wire which studies how Maria Hjelm, Development Officer quantum information can be Devi Mathieu: Editor, Senior Writer transmitted (p.5); bottom left, Tom Colton: Photography Sketch of a graphene-based Meg Coughlin: Design optical modulator (p.9) Department of Physics 366 Le Conte Hall #7300 University of , Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94720-7300

Copyright 2011 by The Regents of the University of California Table of Contents course, has required a lynchpin become every of in the major, physics Advanced Lab–Real-World Hands-On Physics for Undergraduates for Physics Hands-On Lab–Real-World Advanced 111 111

Physics Matter of Wonder of Matter properties extraordinary graphene’s reveals spectroscopy Optical Duality and the Promise of String Theory of Duality the Promise and theory mathematics probes between synergies Aganagic and string Mina Berkeley Calcium Qubits–Trapping Ions for QuantumComputing for Ions Qubits–Trapping Calcium science information quantum in the way leads physicist A Berkeley

DEPARTMENTS 2 the from Chair Notes 14 Department News 25 in the Physics Media 31 Affairs Undergraduate Affairs Graduate 34 Affairs 39 Alumni The Physics Physics The 11 Through experimental novel is making methods, Wang Feng assistant professor strides huge in understanding a material with unsurpassed super-small electronics. potential super-fast, for 8 6 opens theorist a as expertise Aganagic’s physics, as well as math in professor Associate inquiry of new avenues up in both fields. Hartmut Assistant to understanding professor Häffner’s approaches inventive and controlling quantum are bringing phenomena quantum computing closer to . FEATURES 4 well-rounded education physics Berkeley offers its undergraduates. NOTES FROM THE CHAIR

October 5, 2011 DEAR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS, hat a perfect day to write this state budget shortfalls, tuition increases, and operating Wletter! Just yesterday, efficiencies affect us deeply, they should not eclipse all our department celebrated–with of the positive news that comes out of Cal and the champagne, standing ovations, and Department of Physics on a daily basis. loud cheers–the news that professor Physics has had yet another great year, filled with

FRANCES HELLMAN Saul Perlmutter has received the remarkable discoveries and a new faculty hire–Gabriel 2011 in Physics. The award is for the discovery Orebi Gann, a particle/nuclear experimentalist special- “of the accelerating expansion of the through izing in physics–as well as searches for new observations of distant supernovae”. For more details on faculty in condensed matter theory, experi- the award, turn to page 14. ment, theory, and quantum materials. Perlmutter, along with the other researchers who We’ve also had some successful fundraising share the prize, has caused all of us to view the universe, campaigns, including the Charles H. Townes Graduate its expansion, and its fate in radically new ways. The source Fellowship, which is ahead of schedule and nearly com- of the mysterious “”, a term coined to explain pletely funded. And our $1.5 million campaign for the this accelerating expansion, is currently generating Physics 111 Advanced Lab includes a $500,000 match approximately one theory paper every three days, and from the Chancellor. has had tens of millions of hits on Google. Perlmutter, along with the other researchers who Perlmutter’s research and Nobel Prize are testaments share the prize, has caused all of us to view the to the fact that the University of California, Berkeley and universe, its expansion, and its fate in radically the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are great new ways. partners. Together they provide an incredible place to do paradigm-shifting research. THE NEXT TEN YEARS As Chancellor Birgeneau said, “One of the great Acknowledging the accomplishments of the past year aspects of Saul, of course, is that he’s a great researcher, leads me into planning the next 10 years for this depart- but he’s also a great teacher. And I, like all of you, feel ment. We have just started our decadal review, an academic blessed to have colleagues like Saul who cannot be bought tradition in which all aspects of the department are by rich, private universities.” To this I add “and a great assessed by both internal and external reviewers. “What colleague whom I feel privileged to know.” opportunities exist and what challenges face us in making

MORE GOOD NEWS this department the best in the world?” is the question Exciting and happy news is most welcome, especially that frames this assessment. While the recent ranking when the hum of media coverage about UC’s precarious from the National Research Council suggests that we funding situation is the norm. While the of already are one of the top programs in the world, we know better than to rest on those laurels.

2 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 So, we will be looking at all sectors of the Department major, this course requires constant reassessment in order of Physics: research, teaching, students, staff, alumni, to stay current with modern and keep up with state- facilities, and space. Over the past two years, the faculty of-the-art experiments. This is where students apply has made a big effort to consider the most exciting and their primarily classroom-based knowledge of physics to significant research directions for the department–in real-life experiments, get their hands dirty by making other words, defining the intellectual agenda. The prior- experiments work, design and create their own projects, ities of the department, in a very general sense, are and figure out that equations are not just mathematical determined by this agenda. abstractions but represent physical, measurable properties. At the heart of our strategic plan is attracting the For many students, the Advanced Lab sequence best young faculty in the burgeoning fields of physics, offers their first exposure to a wide variety of experiments, ranging from experimental astrophysics, , and it is in the Advanced Lab where many discover their and biophysics, to and atomic, passion for physics. For more details, read the article molecular and optical (AMO) physics. And while strate- that begins on page 11. gically-determined research areas are important, we will State funding for this class has gradually evaporated, always keep our eyes open for excellent candidates who and we are now embarking on a campaign to add new may take us in unanticipated directions. experiments and make enhancements to the rooms, Other focus areas for the decadal review are, of desks, and learning areas. Chancellor Birgeneau has put course, teaching and students. Along with attracting the up a $500,000 match for this campaign, and we are best faculty, we must continue to attract the best graduate hoping to raise $1.5 million to make these significant and undergraduate students to the department. Endowed changes, all in line with the forward-looking decadal graduate student fellowships are key to the former, a review taking place right now. strong major program to the latter, and great research As a part of the decadal review, faculty , staff, and opportunities apply to both. students are also considering other areas of priority. I am excited to see where this review takes us and how we NEW APPROACHES TO THE PHYSICS MAJOR can make this department, YOUR department, even better. We have surveyed our graduate and undergraduate Nobel Prizes are one way to tell us that UC Berkeley’s students and learned that there is a need and desire for Department of Physics is thriving, and I consider it a more electives and a more diverse approach to the phys- great privilege as Chair to ensure that we continue to do ics major. How do we address these wishes while main- so, always aiming to be the best. ■ taining our tried and true classes and teaching methods? The Physics 111 Advanced Lab, both the Experimentation Frances Hellman has been a member of the physics faculty and Instrumentation sections, is a perfect example. A since 2004, and was named Chair in 2007. Her research is great Berkeley tradition, and the “capstone” class for the in experimental condensed matter and materials physics.

3 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 A Berkeley physicist leads the way in Calcium Qubits quantum information T RAPPING IONS FOR QUANTUM COMPUTING science

would reach the point of storing information in single atoms.” At that scale, quantum effects take over and classical algo- rithms no longer work. New technologies will be required. A vast increase in the speed and volume of computa- tion and storage could be achieved using quantum mechanical systems for information processing. Classical computer bits exist in either of two states, 1 or 0. Qubits, on the other hand, can exist in more than one state at a . This condition, known as superposition, enables qubits to hold far more information and process it far more quickly, even compared to huge parallel arrays of classical computers. As Häffner explains it, certain computations that could be performed in a matter of seconds by a 300-qubit quantum computer, “would ASSISTANT PROFESSOR HARTMUT HÄFFNER require every atom in the universe if you wanted to do that same computation with a classical computer.” ne of the new laboratories in renovated Old LeConte Hall features a high-precision apparatus that uses A LEADER IN THE FIELD and electromagnetic forces to trap and Häffner has already been involved in important quantum manipulate chains of highly charged calcium ions. computing breakthroughs, including development of a TheseO trapped ions make particularly good candidates for quantum information processor made of eight ions. While qubits–quantum analogs of the data bits used in classical at Innsbruck, he successfully demonstrated fundamental computers. The ion trap apparatus was designed and built quantum gates (qubits operating together to perform by Hartmut Häffner, UC Berkeley assistant professor of logic functions) and implemented quantum algorithms– physics, and his colleagues. two very challenging aspects of development in this Häffner is an award-winning, internationally recog- arena. nized experimental physicist. He came to Berkeley in He also succeeded in creating large-scale entangled 2009 from a post as senior scientist at the Institute for states, in which the quantum properties of each particle Quantum and Quantum Information in Innsbruck, are inextricably interwoven with all other particles in the Austria. His inventive approach spans the disciplines of system. “Learning something about one particle,” he quantum information processing, atomic and molecular explains, “not only destroys its entanglement with other physics, and condensed matter physics. His research group particles but also, in most cases, destroys entanglement aims to bring about a better understanding of quantum among the other particles. This makes the entangled mechanics and, along the way, develop new computing state very susceptible to decoherence–if one bit of infor- technologies that take advantage of quantum phenomena. mation leaks out of the system, the wave function of the whole quantum register collapses. Entangled states have QUANTUM COMPUTING no classical counter-part. They are the reason why quan- Understanding quantum systems holds potential for many tum computers can be so powerful and why it is so hard advances in computing technology. For example, it will be to calculate the evolution of quantum systems.” key to the continued downsizing of computer components. Häffner not only managed to entangle ions, but also “Classical computing is coming to its natural limits,” has begun finding ways around the challenge of decoher- Häffner points out. “Right now, we’re storing information ence. He demonstrated a quantum error correction in billions of atoms. At the current rate of miniaturization, protocol that permitted information storage and manip- it’s pretty clear that around 2020, only ten years away, we ulation even in the presence of decoherence.

4 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 EXPERIMENTS AT BERKELEY Since arriving at Berkeley, Häffner and his colleagues have begun assembling chains of trapped ions intended to serve as building blocks for quantum information systems. These collections of trapped ions are also being used in experiments designed to reveal how–and whether–the quantum characteristics of a system change as it scales up to include dozens or hundreds of subatomic particles. “We want to know at what complexity SKETCH OF TWO IONS (DOTS) TRAPPED BELOW A WIRE (TOP) TO STUDY HOW and size scale the quantum effects disappear,” he says. QUANTUM INFORMATION CAN BE TRANSMITTED Another of the group’s investigations involves using it is at rest as much as allows. We quantum information processing to simulate the behavior can put it in quantum superpositions, and we can deter- of complex quantum mechanical systems–a feat that mine its quantum state. Next, we want to make it part of ranges from challenging to impossible with classical the electrical circuit so we can control the quantum computing. “Every quantum system is explained by the currents in that circuit in a novel and very precise way.” same formalism,” Häffner notes, which means that A wire is positioned about 50 microns above the algorithms describing the behavior of a well-understood ions–essentially incorporating it into the electrode trap quantum system can be used to get insight into another, that controls the particles. The primary challenge at the less-understood one. moment has to do with electric field noise. “The metals The laboratory setup Häffner’s group has designed do not behave the way we expect them to behave,” he includes several high-precision components, from explains. “There is unexplained noise in the electrodes and electrodes to a state-of-the-art vacuum chamber. “We and nobody knows where it comes from or how to prevent need a vacuum apparatus because we want to isolate the it. We know the noise is greatly reduced if the vacuum ions from the environment,” he explains. “Then we apply chamber is at very low , but we don’t know laser cooling to slow their motion. The ions are cooled to why. That’s an interesting physics question and also a on the order of microKelvins.” technological question.” The mirrors used to stabilize the laser light have to In the search for answers, he is collaborating with be extremely stable. “It’s as though we have to stabilize surface scientists at Berkeley, including physics professor to one micron in the distance between the Earth and the Michael Crommie, and colleagues in the Department of Moon,” he notes. “They have to move less than the Electrical Engineering. “Our conjecture is that we do not diameter of a proton.” clean the surfaces properly,” Häffner says. “It’s hard to get The cooled ions are trapped with electrical potentials a surface very clean. That’s something the surface scien- applied through an electrode structure made of gold. tists have known but the community has “The ions are very well isolated from the rest of the world not appreciated. I think that we can get good ideas what is because they sit in vacuum inside a trap,” Häffner going on within the next year, at least some first insights.” continues. “And we manipulate their electronic states by giving them very well-defined kicks with laser pulses to PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE implement the quantum gates.” “When do I think there will be a quantum computer?” Häffner muses. “You might see a reasonable prototype WIRING THE SYSTEM of a thousand qubits maybe 15 to 20 years from now. I Another quest “is to prove that you can send quantum don’t expect a quantum computer sitting on my desk for information through a wire,” Häffner says. “It’s foreseeable at least 30 years. But who knows what we will discover.” that ion-trap quantum processors will have a size limit of “There’s currently a huge effort going on, trying maybe 50 qubits or so. It’s hard to say where the develop- to understand what you can do with such a machine,” ment will stop. So the question becomes how to connect he continues. “Part of the problem is that humans lack them.” For this, he has borrowed the notion of using the intuition for quantum mechanics, so it’s harder to wires from classical computing. come up with algorithms. By building quantum proces- “This is very exciting,” he continues, “because it’s a sors we hope to get more insight as well as solve known very unusual electronic system. We have great control over problems.” ■ each ion. We can cool each one to the ground state, so that

5 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 DUALITY AND THE PROMISE OF STRINGTHEORY BERKELEY PHYSICIST MINA AGANAGIC PROBES SYNERGIES BETWEEN STRING THEORY AND MATHEMATICS

plicated mathematical problem gets related to a simpler one that looks completely different but describes a differ- ent facet of the same physics. I search for dualities in string theory and explore their consequences in both string theory and mathematics. In general, dualities in string theory show equiva- lencies between phenomena with weak interactions and those with strong interactions, and between phenomena at large distance scales with phenomena at small distance scales–a primary basis for the hope that string theory will lead to understanding quantum .

CAN YOU SAY MORE ABOUT DUALITIES AND THEIR IMPORTANCE IN STRING THEORY? MINA AGANAGIC AND GRADUATE STUDENT KEVIN SCHAEFFER. Dualities are familiar in the context of condensed matter String theory continues to be hailed as the most promising systems. For example, there is a duality in a two-dimen- sional model of ferromagnetism called the Ising model. candidate for combining gravity with quantum mechanics. The duality relates a system at high temperatures with a One of its enthusiastic practitioners is Mina Aganagic, system at low temperatures. Similarly, in the equations UC Berkeley associate professor in the Department of of electromagnetism, one can trade electric fields for Physics and the Department of Mathematics. Aganagic, magnetic fields, while inverting the coupling constant. a member of the Berkeley Center for , These are examples of dualities that relate a weakly describes herself as a string theorist whose research is very interacting to a strongly interacting system. String theory has not one, but many dualities that close to math. In a recent conversation with Physics@ relate different corners of string theory to each other. A Berkeley, she characterizes the relationship between these duality that made a splash in the early 1990s is a type of two disciplines and describes some of her own work. mirror symmetry that relates strings propagating on WHAT DO YOU FIND MOST EXCITING ABOUT STRING entirely different manifolds. Mathematically, mirror sym- THEORY? metry led to a striking prediction. It rephrased very intri- String theory provides a unified framework for describing cate computations involving quantum and stringy geome- all forces, thus realizing Einstein’s dream of a unified the- try of one manifold to very simple, classical geometric ory with gravity and quantum mechanics included. properties of another manifold. Since then, many other While string theorists still struggle to make predictions string dualities have led to sharp and striking mathemati- testable in accelerators, string theory has had a huge cal predictions. impact on more theoretical branches of physics, such as Another example involves a duality relating gravity condensed matter theory and, especially, mathematics. to gauge theory. A version of this duality has been fueling String theory has led, on many occasions, to the unifica- recent interactions between the condensed matter and tion of different branches of mathematics. string theory communities. Another version of it has played Perhaps the most exciting aspect of string theory is a role in mathematics. String theorists have come to the notion of duality. This is the idea that there can be make very precise predictions for previously intractable different mathematical descriptions of the same theory. problems in algebraic geometry–which answer questions Dualities tend to make something that’s complicated in in gravity–in terms of quantities familiar in knot theory– one language very simple in another language. A com- which correspond to gauge theory.

6 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 WHAT IS THE OF THE RELATIONSHIP Our work trans- BETWEEN MATH AND STRING THEORY, AND HOW lated something DOES THIS RELATE TO YOUR WORK? that was quite Traditionally, mathematics is the language we use to mysterious and describe physical phenomena. Physics that involves very difficult in quantum theory can provide deep insights for pure mathematics into mathematics. A famous example has to do with knot something that theory–mathematical descriptions of ordinary knots, is easy to calcu- like those that mess up shoelaces and water hoses. late in string the- In attempts to understand how to distinguish knots ory. What is most in three-dimensional space, mathematicians were using striking is that a construction invented in 1984 by Vaughan Jones, a M.C. Escher: Verbum, 1942 STRING THEORISTS OFTEN USE THE WORK OF MC this could not be Fields medalist who is presently a Berkeley math professor. ESCHER TO ILLUSTRATE THE CONCEPT OF A DUALITY. formulated with- To distinguish different knots, Jones associated a poly- out string theory. With string theory, in a very easy way, nomial to a knot, with the property that different poly- we make very strong predictions for mathematics. nomials correspond to different knots. Something else that’s really fascinating in string In 1989, mathematical physicist , of theory is the number of connections between different Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Theory, explained how physical systems, even if they are in a different number the Jones polynomial arises. He did so by looking at a of dimensions. Whenever you understand one corner of gauge theory very much like electromagnetism, but with string theory, as we did in the context of this work, it one less dimension. The knots represent paths of charged implies a host of connections with other corners, which particles, and the Jones polynomial represents the quan- we then want to understand. We’ve barely scratched the tum amplitude needed for the paths to arise. Quantum surface of the possible predictions you can get from this mechanics really plays the central role in Witten’s work. one corner of string theory. Structures that had seemed to mathematicians to arise out of thin air could now be more easily understood, IN ADDITION TO YOUR RESEARCH, YOU MENTOR GRAD- provided you understood quantum physics. UATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCS AS WELL AS TEACH There are some very deep, highly hidden, nontrivial UNDERGRADUATE PHYSICS AND MATH COURSES. HOW DO YOU KEEP EVERYTHING IN BALANCE? equivalencies of entirely different mathematics, which I enjoy it. It’s satisfying and it’s incredibly important. become manifest if you understand string theory and My calculus class in the math department has close to not at all if you don’t. 400 students. Calculus is a language these students YOUR MOST RECENT PAPER, PUBLISHED IN MAY, IN need to be able to speak. If they don’t learn it, they can’t A WAY PARALLELS WITTEN’S WORK WITH THE JONES have a career in the physical sciences. POLYNOMIAL. COULD YOU BRIEFLY DESCRIBE IT? I also teach a large lecture course in the physics This paper was co-authored with Shamil Shakirov, a department, Physics 7C. It’s a hard class to teach, because graduate student in mathematics in my group. Since Jones’ it combines so many topics, including optics, special rela- work, mathematicians have devised better ways of distin- tivity, , and quantum mechanics. But you guishing knots, refining the Jones polynomial, and explain- get a lot of enthusiastic students, and I enjoy being in touch ing a mysterious feature, namely that the coefficients of with so many young people. With big classes, you have to the Jones polynomial are integers–it’s as if the polynomial be in it 100 percent. With hundreds of students, you will not is counting something. We were hoping for a physical capture their attention unless you are completely there. way to shed light on these mathematical constructions. What’s striking is how motivated Berkeley students We were originally interested in questions having to are, how academics are in the forefront of their minds, do with knot theory. What we found is that string duality what a great atmosphere one has in the classroom. It is a relates knot theory to an entirely different piece of math- joy to teach at Berkeley. ematics, more closely related to the theory of groups and Also, I have a family. My son is three. Life can be their representations. While both pieces of mathematics physically intense, but pressure can actually be a good were discovered at about the same time, in the 1990s, we thing. It’s sometimes better to have less time to think were surprised to find that no one had connected them. about something, because it makes your thinking crisper. ■

7 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 Matter of raphene has so much potential for revolutionizing technology that it’s being called a wonder material. GGraphene could make it possible to extend the miniaturization of computer chips beyond the limits of silicon, achieve a tenfold increase in the speed of data communications, and bring electronics into new frequency ranges. Not to mention it’s inexpensive and easily available. Applications already being imagined range from nanoscale transistors and LEDs to super-fast optical switches, tiny chemical sensors, and improved touch-screen technologies. Graphene’s structure couldn’t be simpler. A carbon lattice the thickness of a single atom, it’s as thin as any material can get. Even so, it’s one of the strongest mate- rials ever measured. It has extremely high thermal con- ductivity and, at room temperature, conducts electricity SKETCH OF A DEVICE THAT USES GATE VOLTAGE TO CONTROL RAMAN LIGHT SCATTERING IN MONOLAYER GRAPHENE. DEVELOPED BY BERKELEY’S faster than any other known material. Because it’s virtu- ULTRAFAST NANO-OPTICS GROUP, LED BY ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ally two-dimensional, graphene’s electrons behave as PHYSICS FENG WANG, IN COLLABORATION WITH RACHEL SEGALMAN, BERKELEY ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING. though they have no . They act more like photons than electrons. “We are condensed matter experimentalists who are interested in new phenomena that emerge from Graphene could make it possible to extend the novel materials, and their potential use in technologies,” Wang explains. “Our group works mostly with optical miniaturization of computer chips beyond the limits spectroscopy, which means we use photons to study of silicon, achieve a tenfold increase in the speed of materials. In particular, we use very broadly tunable data communications, and bring electronics into light that covers all the different colors, as well as so-called new frequency ranges. ultra-fast lasers, which pack high energy intensity into very short, femtosecond pulses.” The group has already made some momentous discoveries, from giving graphene “Graphene’s novel physics and exotic materials a bandgap to controlling its light-scattering properties. properties have made it one of the most active areas in condensed matter physics these days,” says Feng Wang, A TUNABLE BANDGAP UC Berkeley assistant professor of physics. “And Although single-layer graphene shows enormous promise Berkeley is a world leader in this research.” for innovations in electronics, it lacks a crucial asset–it has Wang heads one of seven research groups in no bandgap, the gap in electron energy levels that makes Berkeley’s Department of Physics that are exploring fea- it possible to switch the flow of electrons on and off. tures of graphene. His Ultrafast Nano-Optics Group In 2009, Wang’s group not only succeeded in uses nanoscale optical spectroscopy to probe not only opening a bandgap in a two-layer stack of graphene, but graphene, but also carbon nanotubes and nanoscale also discovered they could continuously tune that band- metallic structures. Wang initially came to Berkeley as a gap across a range of frequencies, something that has Miller Fellow in 2005. He joined the physics faculty in never been achieved with any other material. They used 2007 and holds a joint appointment in Lawrence bilayer graphene to construct a nanoscale field-effect Berkeley Laboratory’s (Berkeley Lab) Materials Science transistor (FET) with two voltage gates. In FETs, an elec- Division. tric field shaped by a gate electrode controls the flow of

8 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPY REVEALS GRAPHENE’S EXTRAORDINARY Wonder PROPERTIES electrons through a material. The experimenters found structed a graphene-based optical modulator that turns that by varying the gate voltages they could achieve a light on and off. The device demonstrates the basic continuously variable bandgap. function of an optical network modulator. Further “We demonstrated that we can arbitrarily change improvement could lead to optical modulators that could the bandgap in bilayer graphene from zero to 250 milli- transmit data at speeds ten times faster than ’s electron volts at room temperature,” Wang said in a technologies. Berkeley Lab press release, “which is remarkable, and shows For this device, the researchers positioned a single the potential of bilayer graphene for nanoelectronics.” layer of graphene on top of a silicon waveguide that served as an optical fiber through which light was Further improvement could lead to optical modula- transmitted. By controlling the electric current applied through voltage gates at the sides of the assembly, tors that could transmit data at speeds ten times they could control the number of photons absorbed faster than today’s technologies. by the graphene.

Graphene could also enable new kinds of optoelec- tronic devices for generating, amplifying, and detecting infrared light. The bandgap in bilayer graphene is smaller than that of silicon or gallium arsenide. “Mostly it’s in the infrared frequency range,” Wang explains. “That’s important, because right now there are very few good infrared light sources.” Important applications for infrared frequencies include compact chemical sensors. “Infrared is in the molecular fingerprint range,” Wang says, “where different molecules have a different characteristic vibration. If you see a particular vibration frequency, you know what

kind of molecule you have.” SKETCH OF A GRAPHENE-BASED OPTICAL MODULATOR. A LAYER OF GRAPHENE (FISHNET) IS PLACED ON TOP OF A SILICON WAVEGUIDE, WHICH IS USED AS AN OPTICAL FIBER TO GUIDE LIGHT. ELECTRIC SIGNALS SENT IN CONTROLLABLE OPTICS FROM THE SIDE OF THE GRAPHENE THROUGH GOLD (AU) AND PLATINUM (PT) Electrons in monolayer graphene interact more strongly ELECTRODES ALTER THE AMOUNT OF PHOTONS THE GRAPHENE ABSORBS. (MING LIU GRAPHIC) with photons than almost any other material. A simple manifestation of this high coupling strength is the fact With voltage gates closed, the graphene absorbs that a graphene monolayer, even though only a single photons, making it opaque and switching the light OFF. angstrom thick, can easily be observed with a light With voltage gates open, photons flow freely and the microscope. Moreover, a graphene layer with a large graphene becomes transparent. The light switches ON. enough area can be seen with the unaided eye–samples Such devices have the potential for graphene as wide as 30cm have been fabricated. optical modulators with switching speeds of up to 500 In 2008, Wang demonstrated that the strong opti- gigahertz. And it’s small enough–about 25 square cal absorption in graphene can be controlled through microns–to be incorporated into silicon-based integrated electrical gating. Earlier this year, Wang and colleague circuits. Optical modulators in use today are measured in Xiang Zhang, UC Berkeley professor of engineering, square millimeters. Also, because it absorbs a wide range announced an achievement that takes advantage of gra- of light frequencies, from ultraviolet to infrared, graphene phene’s tunable optical absorption. The researchers con- represents an enormous expansion in bandwidth.

9 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 QUANTUM INTERFERENCE COLLABORATIONS AND STUDENT CONTRIBUTIONS In another of this year’s accomplishments, Wang’s Though Wang is still in the early years of his career– group made the first-ever direct observation of controlled he just received a five-year Early Career Research Grant quantum interference in Raman scattering–a type of from the US Department of Energy–he already mentors inelastic light scattering. a sizeable group of up-and-coming scientists. In addition Inelastic scattering occurs when the light that to seven Berkeley graduate students, several visiting scatters from a material has a different wavelength than students, and two postdoctoral fellows, he guides at the incident light. Raman scattering occurs when an least five undergraduate researchers. electron that has been excited by a photon generates a How does organizing so many individuals, espe- lower-energy photon plus a phonon. Phonons are vibra- cially undergrads, affect his research program? “It has tions in a crystal lattice. Like photons, they can be con- been very fruitful,” he says. “One of the undergraduate sidered as both waves and particles, which means they students even has a first-author paper. It’s a win-win can create interference pathways. situation for all of us.” ■ Wang’s group built a device consisting of mono- layer graphene placed on a silicon dioxide substrate and covered with an ion gel. They used a gate electrode to Obama Selects Feng Wang for 2011 PECASE control the in the graphene, and a near- infrared laser to supply incident light. By controlling On September 26, 2011, gate voltage, they could remove some of the quantum the excitation pathways responsible for Raman scattering. announced that Feng Surprisingly, removal of scattering pathways didn’t Wang, Berkeley assistant dim the scattered light. Instead, the intensity of the light professor of physics, was increased. As Wang explains, this result indicates that chosen by President Barack different quantum pathways had been canceling each Obama to receive a other out. Removing some of those pathways reduced the Department of Energy interference, and more light was scattered off the material. Presidential Early Career “What we’ve demonstrated is the quantum-interfer- Award for Scientists and ence nature of Raman scattering,” Wang said in a Engineers (PECASE). Wang Berkeley Lab press release. “It was always there, but it is one of 94 young scientists nationwide selected for this was so hard to see it was often overlooked.” Gaining the year’s awards. Also selected was Christian Bauer, a phys- ability to manipulate quantum interference offers a new ics graduate student advisor, member of the Berkeley way to study graphene’s properties and opens up new Center for Theoretical Physics, and physicist at the possibilities for nanoscale materials research. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Physics TERAHERTZ ELECTRONICS Division. All the recipients were honored at a White Today’s high-frequency electronics, such as cell phones, House ceremony on October 14, 2011. use microwaves for data transmission; higher frequencies According to the award citation, Wang received the honor are extremely difficult to attain. Optical systems begin for “pioneering research on ultrafast optical characteriza- at frequencies much higher than the speediest electronics, tion of carbon nanostructures that has advanced the fun- in the range of hundreds of terahertz. Wang would like damental understanding of the electronic structure of to push electronics into the realm of 10 to 12 terahertz, graphene and is expected to enable the development of an intermediate range that lies between conventional advanced-energy-relevant technologies.” electronics and optics. “Because graphene’s electrons move so fast,” Wang “For a young scientist the first years are the most critical,” explains, “it’s the material of choice for coupling to the Wang said. “The Presidential Early Career Award provides terahertz range of electromagnetic waves. We’d like to not only financial support but encouragement, letting us show we can modulate, perhaps even generate, wave- know that we’re doing well. I am extremely happy and hon- lengths in this range.” Potential applications include ored by this award. It will have a huge impact on my advanced chemical sensors and improved security work.” screening devices.

10 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 REAL-WORLD HANDS-ON PHYSICS FOR Physics 111 UNDERGRADUATES

PROFESSOR BOB JACOBSEN HELPS GUILLERMO FONG TROUBLESHOOT THE A FIRST-SEMESTER PHYSICS 111 STUDENT BUILDING A PLASMA SPEAKER FOR OPTICAL PUMPING EXPERIMENT. HIS FINAL PROJECT.

he second floor of LeConte Hall is home to a physics course with a reputation as the most terrifying, labor-intensive–and profoundly rewarding–experience shared by all who have earned a T degree in physics from Berkeley. Known for many years as the Physics 111 Lab, it was recently rechristened the Physics Advanced Laboratory. This two-semester series, taken in an undergraduate’s junior or senior year, pulls students out of book-learning and lecture-listening and plunges them into the challenges and excitement of real-world physics. The first semester of Physics 111, formerly called Basic REAL-WORLD PROBLEM SOLVING Semiconductor Circuits, is now dubbed Instrumentation. “These two classes are different from everything else This half of the course guides students through the design we teach at Cal,” says Berkeley physics professor Bob and construction of analog and digital electronic circuits. Jacobsen, a particle physicist who teaches the second Topics range from basic instrumentation to transistors, semester. “They cover a kind of knowledge and experi- operational amplifiers, and computer programming. The ence you just don’t get in a regular classroom. This is semester ends with an independent final project that the only class where these students have a chance to gives students the opportunity to design and build an work with their knowledge in a physical real-world way.” electronic device of their own imagining. Berkeley physics professor Joel Fajans adds, “We’re The second semester, formerly known as Advanced trying to give students a glimmer of what real physics is Lab, is now called Experimentation. During this part like.” Fajans is a plasma physicist who teaches the first of the course, students recreate some of the legendary semester. He notes that much of the challenge for students experiments in atomic, nuclear, and solid-state physics, in either semester of the course involves getting their including several that have led to Nobel prizes. experimental setups to work properly. “They have to Experiments cover topics like spectroscopy, holography, puzzle their way through,” Fajans continues, “and nonlinear dynamics, optical pumping, atom trapping, develop the skills that are needed when there doesn’t laser tweezers, and nuclear magnetic resonance. appear to be an obvious way to get to a solution. They

11 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 In the second semester, students take concepts and mathematical abstractions learned in earlier courses and apply them to phenomena they observe and measure in the lab. “Students are forced to confront their book learning with what is happening right in front of them.” Jacobsen explains. “For example, we ask them to do an experiment called optical pumping, a classic experiment in optical physics that makes quantum mechanics come alive. Almost every student knows the equations, but actually conducting the experiment helps them really understand what those equations mean and how they affect the world.” Physics alumnus Alexander Jacobsen (class of 2011) former head of the Society for Physics Students, calls Physics 111 the most important class he took at Berkeley. “It was exciting to implement things that I had only BERKELEY PHYSICS PROFESSOR JOEL FAJANS TEACHES THE FIRST SEMES- TER OF PHYSICS 111. seen on paper before, and actually have them work,” he says. “Beyond that, I’ve never had so much fun in a learn how to say, ‘If this part of the circuit isn’t working, class. I got to turn the building’s electrical wiring into a what are the likely problems I need to fix?’ They learn how radio transmitter, and some friends of mine made an to parse a big problem into chunks, find some part of the electric hoverer.” problem they can address and get working. Then they can go on and build the next section and, that’s working, put the sections together and get them to interact.” In these labs, students are working with the lab Fajans emphasizes that understanding how to apparatus, and you’re there to help them over the divide a large project into subsets small enough to tackle hard parts. You’re more of an advisor, and that is crucial, not only for physics, but also for almost any can make it a lot more fun. career path a physics graduate is likely to pursue. “It’s a skill they’re going to need, but it’s not a skill that can very easily be taught in a typical undergraduate class.” MEASURING SUCCESS Professor Bob Jacobsen (no relation to Alexander) points SPECIAL PROJECTS AND LEGENDARY EXPERIMENTS out that the experience of teaching Physics 111 is also Probably the most famous component of the very distinct from typical lecture courses. “It’s a different Instrumentation semester is the final project. Students style,” he says. “In these labs, students are working with spend the last few weeks designing and building a the lab apparatus, and you’re there to help them over the device of their own choosing. Past projects have ranged hard parts. You’re more of an advisor, and that can make from remotely operated model cars, to computer games it a lot more fun. It can also be challenging, because controlled with brain waves, to a pulse-oxygen meter there are certain ideas that are hard to grasp, and you’d that calculates the level of oxygen in the blood by shining like to just sit the students down and say, ‘This is the way two different wavelengths of light through a finger and it is.’ But you can’t lecture them, you have to guide them measuring their relative absorption. A REM-sleep activated through figuring it out for themselves.” alarm clock developed in the class a few years ago has Physics 111 is so critical to an undergraduate physics since been awarded a US patent and looks to be on its education at Berkeley that it’s being used as an assess- way to commercialization (see page 13). ment point in the University’s Undergraduate Student “When students come into the first semester of Learning Initiative (USLI). The USLI is a campus-wide Physics 111,” says Fajans, “They expect to learn skills endeavor to establish educational goals and evaluation associated with electronics and programming. But they procedures for all undergraduate programs. The aim is don’t realize they will also gain confidence in taking an to make certain that students are actually getting the idea, starting from scratch, and building something that knowledge and expertise a degree program sets out to works. That’s a great experience.” teach them.

12 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 REM-Sleep Directed Visual Alarm System Jacobsen explains that, since all physics majors take and Method Physics 111 at or near the end of their undergraduate coursework, “we can use this class to tell whether they are able to put their book-learning into real use. Physics 111 is a lot more like what students are going to be doing after they graduate than the average lecture hall. So here’s a chance, by watching what they can do in the lab, for us to learn whether we have taught them to use this knowledge.”

CHANCELLOR’S MATCHING FUNDS Continuing advancements in physics and technology have transformed the structure of research experiments.

ALAN KUBEY’S SLEEP-DIRECTED ALARM SYSTEM USES EYEGLASS FRAMES To keep up with these changes, ongoing improvements WIRED WITH SENSORS. to the lab are essential. The Department of Physics Berkeley physics alumnus Alan Kubey (BA ’07) created recently began a capital campaign that aims to stabilize a first-semester Physics 111 project that not only led to funding for the Physics 111 Laboratory facility. The goal an invention recently awarded a US patent, but also led is to raise $1.5 million, and UC Berkeley Chancellor him along a fascinating career path. Robert Birgeneau’s office will match the first $500,000 in donations. (For more details, see the insert at the center of Kubey built an alarm clock that detects sleep cycles and this issue of Physics@Berkeley.) wakes the sleeper at an optimal time to avoid the “sleep “The lab contains millions of dollars of equipment drunkenness” that can result from awakening from deep we’ve built up over the years,” Jacobsen notes. “We have sleep. The alarm uses an infrared LED and photocell to find a way to keep modernizing these experiments. mounted on eyeglasses to detect rapid eye movements Just as this class teaches in a different way, it also (REM) during part of each sleep cycle. Kubey analyzed requires support in a different way. That presents a fun- the pattern of eye movements during the night with a damental fundraising challenge.” novel computer algorithm that can activate the alarm at “We’re trying to put the funding for this course on the optimal time after the sleeper’s final REM cycle, or a more stable long-term footing,” he continues. “So far, turn on the to shift the sleeper’s circadian rhythm. we’ve been working in an ad hoc way–but instead of ‘feast and famine’, we want to create an upward spiral In an ecstatic email to his Physics 111 instructor Joel for ongoing improvement that will better enable the lab Fajans, Kubey wrote, “I never in my wildest dreams to stay up-to-date.” ■ would have thought that this little project would lead to working… with my boyhood scientific/inspirational hero: NASA. It has been a thrill of a ride, one that I hope will Sumner P. Davis continue well into the future, and it would not have been Physics 111 has long been a part of every Berkeley possible without you.” physics major’s education–no one in the department today can remember when it wasn’t a required Since graduation, Kubey has been involved with the course. But it wasn’t until the early 1990s that the Stanford and UCLA sleep medicine communities, held late Berkeley physics professor Sumner P. Davis a summer job at the Harvard Division of Sleep Medicine turned it into the lynchpin of a well-rounded physics studying astronaut sleep, and spent a summer working education. at NASA designing lighting for the International Space “Sumner Davis transformed Physics 111 from Station. He is now a second-year medical student at a sort of rote, ‘cookbook’ lab to the incredibly rich Jefferson Medical College, where he is involved in educational experience we have now,” Jacobsen recounts. “And he did it himself, basically by force research with a leader in sleep/performance biology. of his own will. Now, through this new fundrais- He reports being excited about the prospects for the ing campaign, we’re trying to take it the next step positive impact his invention might provide for shift forward, to solidify its value as the high point of an workers, pilots, on-call doctors, and others who face undergraduate education in physics at Berkeley.” sleep challenges.

13 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 DEPARTMENT NEWS

Saul Perlmutter Wins Nobel Prize the in 1997. “His groundbreaking work showed us that the expansion of the universe is actu- Saul Perlmutter, ally speeding up rather than slowing down. Dr. a professor in Perlmutter’s award is another reminder of the incredible the Department talent and world-leading expertise America has at our of Physics at National Laboratories. On a more personal note, I am UC Berkeley and delighted about this well-deserved recognition, and to have an astrophysicist worked with Saul during the time I spent at Berkeley Lab.” at the US The accelerating expansion of the universe was Department of discovered after years of work by the Energy’s Lawrence Project, an international collaboration of Berkeley National researchers from the , France, Sweden, Laboratory, has the , Chile, Japan, Spain, and other won the 2011 countries, based at Berkeley Lab. The Supernova Nobel Prize in Cosmology Project was cofounded by Perlmutter in Physics. The award 1988 to devise methods of using distant supernovae was given “for the to measure the expansion rate of the universe. discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe through observa- tions of distant supernovae.” “It’s wonderful that the Nobel Prize is being awarded Perlmutter heads the International Supernova for results which reflect humanity’s long quest to Cosmology Project, which pioneered the methods used understand our world and how we got here.” to discover the accelerating expansion of the universe, and he has been a leader in studies to determine the nature of dark energy. Another group of astronomers and began Perlmutter shares the prize with , a similar search in the mid-1990s, reaching the same leader of the High-z Supernova Search Team in , conclusion at nearly the same time as the Supernova and , first author of that team’s analysis, which Cosmology Project. findings of the led to their almost simultaneous announcement of accel- Supernova Cosmology Project and the High-Z Supernova erating expansion. Search Team, led by Schmidt and of which Riess was On learning of the award, Perlmutter said, “I am a prominent member, were jointly named the “break- delighted, excited, and deeply honored. It’s wonderful through of the year” by the journal Science in 1998. that the Nobel Prize is being awarded for results which The accelerating expansion of the universe implies reflect humanity’s long quest to understand our world the existence of so-called dark energy, a mysterious force and how we got here. The ideas and discoveries that led to that acts to oppose gravity and increase the distance our ability to measure the expansion history of the universe among galaxies. The nature of dark energy is unknown have a truly international heritage, with key contributions and has been termed the most important problem facing from almost every continent and culture. And quite 21st century physics. appropriately, our result–the acceleration of the universe The 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics recognizes this –was the product of two teams of scientists from around profound shift in the paradigm of and the world. These are the kinds of discoveries that the cosmology. The Physics prize consists of a diploma, a whole world can feel a part of and celebrate, as humanity gold medal, and 10 million Swedish kroner (about 1.5 advances its knowledge of our universe.” million U.S. dollars) with one half to Perlmutter and the “I offer my congratulations to Dr. Perlmutter and the other half jointly to Schmidt and Riess. The Nobel entire Berkeley Lab team for their extraordinary contribu- award ceremony and banquet will be held December 10 tions to science, which are being recognized with the 2011 in Stockholm, Sweden. Nobel Prize in Physics,” said Energy Secretary , From a Lawrence Berkeley Lab press release by Paul Preuss, former director of Berkeley Lab and himself a winner of October 4, 2011

14 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 DEPARTMENT NEWS

PERLMUTTER WINS EINSTEIN MEDAL universe through measurements of distant supernovae. The year 2011 has been replete with He also discussed recent experiments designed to honors for Berkeley cosmologist Saul obtain more detailed measurements that will help shed Perlmutter. In addition to receiving light on the mystery of dark energy. the Nobel Prize in Physics, he was Perlmutter began his talk by emphasizing the collab- awarded a 2011 Einstein Medal for orative nature of today’s scientific endeavors and recog- “discovering the acceleration of the nizing the many students and colleagues whose contri- universe.” He shared the honor with butions have been crucial to his group’s accomplishments. Adam Riess of the Space Telescope Science Institute and He made special mention of his advisor Rich John Hopkins University. Both scientists received medals Muller, Berkeley emeritus physics professor, acknowl- at an award ceremony in Bern, Switzerland on May 27. edging his guidance in passing on not only the tradition Perlmutter leads the international Supernova of but also the idea of using super- Cosmology Project (SCP), which he co-founded in 1988. novae to do cosmology research. “We were just working Based at Lawrence Berkeley Lab, the SCP was established in his group,” Perlmutter said, “and followed through on to develop ways of using distant supernovae as standard ideas he had begun.” Perlmutter also acknowledged the candles to measure the expansion rate of the universe. In many contributions of Berkeley physicist Gerson January of 1998 the group announced their discovery that Goldhaber, who died last year. the expansion of the universe is not slowing, as almost Perlmutter described how his group managed to all scientists expected. It has been hailed as one of the obtain the telescope time they needed to find and top discoveries of the 20th century. observe distant supernovae, which involved developing The cause of the acceleration was at first assumed cameras that could produce images of wide swaths of to be the originally proposed by the sky as well as computer software to analyze those Einstein in his theory of general relativity but has since images. He recounted how the group initially thought been labeled ‘dark energy’. The nature of dark energy is their unexpected results came from analytical errors. still a mystery, and it is now thought to constitute “We kept recalibrating to get rid of this unexpected almost three-quarters of the known universe. effect,” he said, “but the more we studied it, the more it The Einstein Medal is an annual honor that was first didn’t go away.” presented to theoretical physicist in The discovery of the accelerating expansion of the 1979. It has been awarded to many distinguished scientists universe was announced in 1998. Since then, Perlmutter whose work is closely related to Einstein’s theories, noted, “a new theoretical paper trying to explain what’s including Berkeley physicist in 2003, going on has been published roughly every three days.” Of three years before he won the Nobel Prize in Physics. these thousands of ideas, none stand out as being especially From a Berkeley Lab news release posted by Paul Preuss, compelling. When talking with theorists about the situa- February 2011 tion, he said, “They turn it back to the experimentalists, saying ‘You have to give us something more to go on.’” PERLMUTTER GIVES FACULTY RESEARCH LECTURE He went on to describe new experimental methods On April 7, Berkeley cosmologist Saul Perlmutter gave that are beginning to provide more detailed data, including the 98th annual Faculty Research Lecture. UC Berkeley the proposed Supernova Acceleration Probe, a space Chancellor and physics professor Robert Birgeneau gave mission that was listed as the highest priority in the the introduction, noting that this lecture series honors Astro2010 survey published by the National Academy of faculty members “by offering a celebrated public forum Sciences last year. Perlmutter also described the recent for presentation of scholarly research of the highest caliber. identification of ‘twin’ supernovae–supernovae that These public lectures give the campus community an exhibit identical spectral characteristics as they brighten opportunity to hear from some of our very finest faculty.” and fade–which will contribute to significant improve- Perlmutter’s lecture was titled “Stalking Dark ments in the way supernovae can be used as cosmological Energy and the Mystery of the Accelerating Universe.” ‘standard candles.’ He covered the history of his research group’s ground- “I’m very optimistic that we are going to be able to breaking discovery of the accelerating expansion of the make these measurements to improve standard candles,”

15 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 DEPARTMENT NEWS

he concluded, “and that we’re going to be able to bring even greater success–the trapping of 309 antiatoms for as the next step forward with a much better constrained long as 1000 seconds. “This is long enough to be certain history of the expansion of the universe.” that the atoms are in the ground state,” says Fajans, “and more than long enough to begin testing the properties of BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR: ANTIHYDROGEN antihydrogen and comparing them to that of hydrogen.” The ASACUSA team announced in December 2010 that they had produced a focused beam of antihy- drogen “suitable for making spectroscopic measure- ments at microwave energy levels.” Those studies could provide evidence for charge-parity violation, which would also help solve the matter- mystery.

ROSENFELD WINS GLOBAL ENERGY PRIZE Art Rosenfeld, Emeritus Professor of Physics at UC Berkeley and Distinguished Scientist at Lawrence JOEL FAJANS (LEFT) AND JONATHAN WURTELE Berkeley National Laboratory, has been Berkeley physics professors Joel Fajans and Jonathan awarded the Global Energy Prize in Wurtele are part of a team chosen by Physics World as recognition of his contributions to the the Top Breakthrough of the Year for 2010. The Berkeley field of energy efficiency. The Global physicists are members of the ALPHA experiment at Energy Prize was established by Russian scientists in 2002 CERN–an international collaboration that, for the first “for outstanding scientific achievements in the field of ener- time, successfully trapped antihydrogen atoms long gy which have proved of benefit to the entire human race.” enough to study their spectroscopic properties in detail. In announcing the prize, the organization said, ALPHA stands for Antihydrogen Laser Physics Apparatus. “Arthur Rosenfeld is known for his innovation and tech- The group’s aim is to study the symmetries between nological research in the field of construction of energy- matter and antimatter by comparing antihydrogen with efficient buildings. Arthur Rosenfeld has been honored ordinary hydrogen. by fellow scientists by giving his name to a unit of Fajans and Wurtele will also share the 2011 John energy savings equaling three billion kilowatt-hours.” Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics With a decades-long career in energy analysis and Research with other members of the ALPHA collabora- standards, Rosenfeld is often credited with being personally tion for this research. responsible for billions of dollars in energy savings and is The Physics World announcement, published viewed by many as “the godfather of energy efficiency.” December 20, 2010, explained that the Top He began his career in the 1950s as a particle phys- Breakthrough award went “to two international teams of icist in the Nobel Prize-winning research group of Luis physicists at CERN who have invented new ways of con- Alvarez. In 1974 he switched his focus to energy and the trolling antiatoms of hydrogen.” The other award-win- environment. He founded the Center for Building ning team is ASACUSA, which stands for Atomic Science at Berkeley Lab in 1975, where a broad range of Spectroscopy And Collisions Using Slow Antiprotons. energy efficiency standards and technologies were devel- In November 2010, the ALPHA collaboration had oped over the next 20 years. Last year he completed two announced successful trapping of 38 antihydrogen atoms five-year terms on the California Energy Commission for about 170 milliseconds, long enough to study the and then returned to Berkeley Lab to continue champi- energy levels in antihydrogen in detail. According to oning scientific solutions for society’s most urgent envi- Physics World, “Any slight differences in the levels c ronmental problems. Rosenfeld was also chosen last ompared to ordinary hydrogen could shed light on one of year by US Energy Secretary Steven Chu to serve on the the biggest mysteries in physics–why there is so much Secretary of Energy Advisory Board. more matter than antimatter in the universe.” From a Berkeley Lab news release posted by Julie Chao, Subsequently, in June of this year, ALPHA reported April 2011

16 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 DEPARTMENT NEWS

NEW CAMPBELL HALL UPDATE says the content of the physics major We are excited to report that construction on the program was already fairly well docu- Campbell Hall Replacement Building Project is about to mented. It has now been expanded to start. Demolition of the existing building is expected to better articulate educational goals. begin at the start of 2012, and New Campbell Hall The document is posted on the should be ready for occupancy mid-year 2014. Department of Physics web site. New Campbell Hall will be devoted to Integrated A new approach is being used to Physics and Astronomy. In addition to offices, the building LEROY KERTH assess how well the department is will contain modern astronomy teaching and research meeting those goals. “From the students’ performances facilities, including a roof-top observatory. The basement in the course work and Advanced Laboratory, we have a will house The Center for Integrated and Precision good measure of their learning,” Kerth explains. “To Quantum Measurement, a high stability, low-noise assess their understanding of the fundamentals and research facility funded by the National Institute of how well they can apply them to new physical situations, Science and Technology. A bridge connecting New we are asking students in the Advanced Laboratory Campbell Hall to Old LeConte will facilitate interaction course, Physics 111 (see page 11), to volunteer for a 15- or among students and faculty in both astronomy and physics. 20-minute discussion with an instructor who will probe Project bidding and pre-construction began in how well the student can make sense of some physical September. Pre-construction work will include the system, hopefully with a minimum of calculations. We removal of furnishings and hazardous materials, and want to find out if the student thinks like a physicist. modifications to relocate existing University Drive parking The results of these discussions may give us a deeper and redirect pedestrian walkways. understanding of how well we are doing in ‘making We face a few years of disruption, construction noise physicists’.” and dust, but all fades in comparison to the promise of our long-awaited new building and the research and THE END OF SPACE-TIME Nima Arkani-Hamed, distinguished Berkeley alumnus teaching programs it will support. and former physics faculty member, visited campus earlier Contributed by Eleanor Crump, Facilities and Operations this year to take part in a workshop presented by the Manager for the Department of Physics Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics (BCTP) from April 29 through May 1. The workshop–Embarking on a UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT LEARNING INITIATIVE New Era of Discovery: LHC, , and Their UC Berkeley’s Undergraduate Student Learning Initiative Interplay–explored connections between dark matter and (USLI) is part of a university-wide endeavor to establish collider physics by bringing together researchers to discuss educational goals and evaluation procedures for all recent events in both fields. undergraduate programs. The aim is to give faculty and Physics professor Lawrence Hall, students a shared understanding of the purpose of each founding director of the BCTP, was major, the knowledge students are expected to gain, and accorded special honor at the work- the skills students are expected to acquire by the end of shop for his leadership as well as his their studies. research. Hall took the lead in forming The Academic Senate Committee on Educational the BCTP and fostering collaborations Policy and the Vice Provost for Teaching, Learning, among some of the world’s leading Academic Planning and Facilities are responsible for LAWRENCE HALL cosmologists and theoretical and par- seeing the initiative through to completion. According to ticle physicists. He has made important contributions to the Vice Provost’s office, “The initiative is in keeping particle physics and offered fascinating predictions of what with the fundamental principle at Berkeley that the eval- data from the the Large Hadron Colider(LHC) at CERN uation of student achievement should be locally defined, in Switzerland might reveal. Hall stepped down from the discipline specific, and faculty-driven.” BCTP directorship earlier this year. Emeritus physics professor Leroy Kerth, who has Arkani-Hamed,–one of Lawrence Hall’s PhD taken charge of USLI for the Department of Physics, students–is one of the leading particle physics phenom-

17 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 DEPARTMENT NEWS

enologists of his generation. He received his PhD in physics from Berkeley in 1997, and is now a professor at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. He concerns himself with the relationship between theory and exper- iment. His research has shown how the extreme weak- ness of gravity, relative to other forces of nature, might be explained by the existence of extra dimensions of space, and how the structure of comparatively low-energy physics is constrained within the context of string theory. He has taken a lead in proposing new physical theories that can be tested at the LHC. PHYSICIST AND FORMER ASTRONAUT SALLY RIDE During the BCTP workshop he gave a public talk titled “The End of Space-Time.” In an abstract describing the talk, he wrote, “The union of quantum mechanics and gravity strongly suggests that space-time is doomed– what replaces it? Violent short-distance quantum fluctu- ations make the existence of a macroscopic world wildly implausible, and yet we comfortably live in a huge uni- verse–what tames these violent quantum fluctuations, and why is there a macroscopic universe?” He described several new experiments, including experiments at the LHC as well as astronomical and cosmological probes, which could shed light on some of these questions, and of 18 year-olds are showing up for college of career discussed what we might know by the year 2020. unprepared. Fully 80 percent of the jobs in the next decade (including basic living wage jobs) will require SALLY RIDE GIVES REGENTS’ LECTURE technical and analytical skills–and without a grounding Sally Ride–the first American woman in space, President in science and math, today’s students will not be pre- and CEO of Sally Ride Science, and Professor Emeritus pared to compete for these jobs.” of Physics at UC San Diego–gave the 2011 Regents’ Lecture in February. The audience numbered over 400 LISA RANDALL GIVES OPPENHEIMER LECTURE and included many young people taking advantage of This year’s J. Robert the opportunity to hear from this distinguished mem- Oppenheimer Lecture ber of the US space program. was presented by Lisa Ride received Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD Randall, the Frank B. degrees in physics from . Following Baird, Jr. Professor of her career at NASA, she joined the UC San Diego faculty Science at Harvard as a Professor of Physics and Director of University of University. Randall, one of California’s Space Institute. In 2001 she founded her the world’s most influen- own company, Sally Ride Science, to pursue her long- tial physicists, studies the- time passion of motivating girls and young women to oretical particle physics pursue careers in science, math and technology. and cosmology. Recipient In her talk, called “Reach for the Stars,” she described of many scientific awards her path into the space program and discussed needed and honors, she has also improvements to science and math education. In an authored two popular abstract of her talk, she wrote, “Future rocket scientists books, the recently published Knocking on Heaven’s Door: aren’t the only ones that need a good foundation in sci- How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the ence and math. In today’s world, all students do–but Universe and the Modern World and Warped Passages: our education system is failing them. Nearly two-thirds Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe’s Hidden

18 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 DEPARTMENT NEWS

Dimensions. She has written the libretto for an opera, ARTHUR MACDONALD PRESENTS SEGRÈ LECTURE Hypermusic: A Projective Opera in Seven Planes, and co- were the focus of the 2010 created an art exhibit, Measure for Measure, that Segrè lecture, presented last October explores the concept of scale. by Arthur B. McDonald, Director of In her lecture, titled “What’s Small to You is So the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory Large to Me,” Randall explored the nature of experi- (SNO) and the Gordon and Patricia ments underway at the (LHC) at Gray Chair in Particle Astrophysics at CERN, and commented on dark matter searches taking Queens University, Ontario. place at the LHC and elsewhere. In an abstract describ- In his talk, titled “Understanding Neutrinos Using ing her talk, she wrote, “New developments in physics Deep Dark Science,” McDonald surveyed the last 100 years have the potential to radically revise our understanding of neutrino research, including experiments featuring of the world: its makeup, its evolution, and the funda- substantial leadership from the UC Berkeley Department mental forces that drive its operation. The Large Hadron of Physics. Throughout his remarks, he noted that Berkeley Collider… contains the most extensive and elaborate has excelled at neutrino physics for many years and con- experiments ever built.” tinues to contribute to important international collabora- She explained that the LHC will produce particle tions in the field, including SNO in , KamLAND collisions at energies seven times higher than previous in Japan, the Daya Bay Neutrino Experiment in China, colliders and achieve a luminosity–number of colli- Ice Cube at the South Pole, the Deep Underground sions–one hundred times greater than other experi- Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL) in South ments. These characteristics will make it possible to Dakota, and the CUORE experiment in . observe the . McDonald explained that neutrino experiments are Discovery of the Higgs, she said, “would constitute located deep underground to avoid contamination from experimental evidence that the Higgs mechanism atmospheric neutrinos produced by cosmic rays. He sum- explains how particles acquire mass.” She went on to marized the highlights of what is presently known about describe the theory behind the Higgs mechanism, these enigmatic particles: they have mass; they rarely saying, “The Higgs field prevents particles from moving interact with other particles; and they oscillate among unimpeded through the vacuum. How big a particle’s three forms, or flavors, as they travel through space. mass is depends on how big its interaction with the “Now that we know something about neutrinos Higgs field is.” and how they behave,” he said, “let’s try to use them as Randall also described how theories of supersym- astronomical probes.” Doing so could help reveal what metry and theories of extra dimensions of space could happened to the antimatter that must have been pro- reveal the nature of dark matter and perhaps uncover duced in the , and perhaps shed light on the a connection between gravity and subatomic forces. “If composition of Dark Matter. supersymmetry is true, the LHC will see some fraction “The universe appears to begin with a vast amount of supersymmetric particles,” she noted, adding that the of energy that is converted to equal parts of matter and LHC might also make it possible to test the idea of extra antimatter,” McDonald explained. “These largely annihi- dimensions. late, leaving only a small residue of matter. The small She concluded by saying, “Every time we’ve explored asymmetry between matter and antimatter could arise smaller or larger length scales, we’ve found new phenomena. from neutrino properties.” Experiments designed to It’s hard to guess what will be there. There could be a explore the role of neutrinos in this asymmetry include much richer world out there than what we’ve seen before.” ongoing observations of neutrinos produced by nuclear Berkeley’s J. Robert Oppenheimer Lectureship reactors and particle accelerators. celebrates Oppenheimer’s contributions to science by Although experimental data indicate that neutrinos bringing some of the brightest minds in physics to the have mass, the exact value is still unknown. McDonald Berkeley campus. It was established in 1998 with support pointed out that detection of a rare process called neu- from Berkeley alumni Steve and Arlene Krieger, the trino-less double beta decay could answer this question, Jane and Robert Wilson Endowment in Physics, and and experiments designed to do that are now underway. other Friends of Physics. He also explained that neutrino observatories could

19 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 DEPARTMENT NEWS

help identify constituents of Dark Matter. “The best ■ tomography and radiography of cell organelles, candidates for Dark Matter are supersymmetric particles ■ x-ray absorption studies for identifying atoms and that might be observed at the Large Hadron Collider,” chemical species, he said, “but also, we think these particles were pro- ■ detection of trace metals in soil and sediments, and duced in the original Big Bang and we hope to observe ■ the atomic structure of biological proteins. those in our deep dark experiments as well.” He described He concluded by describing the Linac Coherent several new experiments being constructed at SNO, Light Source, an X-Ray Free Electron Laser at Stanford some of which could detect the supersymmetric partners Linear Accelerator Center. The apparatus produces ultra- of neutrinos. fast ‘movies’ of atomic motion, leading toward advanced The Emilio Segrè Lectureship enables the Department computer simulation of processes such as defect forma- of Physics to bring some of the world’s most important tion in solids, understanding of ultrafast energy and and influential scientific figures to the Berkeley campus. information flow in molecular systems, new revelations It was established by an endowment from the Raymond about electron dynamics, and high-resolution imaging and Beverly Sackler Foundation to honor Segrè, who of biological molecules. shared with the 1959 Nobel Prize in “X-rays are an enabling technology for energy, health, physics for the discovery of the antiproton. and information technology,” Falcone said. “Large x-ray facilities that serve thousands of scientists and engineers FALCONE PRESENTS CHUPP LECTURE from universities, labs, and industry are inherently dem- Roger Falcone, award-winning ocratic and a great way to discover transformational ideas.” Berkeley physics professor and The Warren William Chupp Distinguished Director of the Advanced Light Lectureship recognizes outstanding contributions in sci- Source at Lawrence Berkeley National ence education. It commemorates Chupp’s life and work Laboratory, delivered the Fifth as a Berkeley Lab physicist who worked on the Manhattan Annual Warren W. Chupp Project under Ernest O. Lawrence and was instrumental Distinguished Lecture November 17, in the building and operation of the Bevatron particle 2010 at Lawrence Hall of Science. accelerator. Chupp earned his undergraduate and doctoral In his talk, “Light Speed: X-rays, Molecular Movies, degrees at Berkeley. Sponsored jointly by Lawrence Hall and Advances in Revealing the Unseen” Falcone offered of Science (LHS) and the UC Berkeley Department of an inside look into some of the extraordinary cutting-edge Physics, the lecture is funded by the William Warren research taking place at Berkeley Lab. He described Chupp Endowment at LHS. Berkeley Lab’s synchrotron, a piece of equipment that produces ultra-fast pulses of x-ray light, explained how it CAL DAY 2011 works and how it is enabling some of the world’s best Cal Day, UC Berkeley’s annual open house, took place scientific minds to study the behavior of atomic matter. Saturday, April 16. The day featured a variety of physics At the beginning of his lecture, Falcone reviewed a events, from lectures on cutting-edge physics to guided recent talk at Berkeley Lab that was given by Michigan tours of research labs to demonstrations and lab Representative and Berkeley alumnus Vernon Ehlers. experiments. Falcone also relayed some of the comments he heard from Visitors enjoyed “Hands-On Physics”, interactive community focus groups, including a request that exhibits and demonstrations for all ages, hosted by physics Berkeley Lab help get kids excited about science and graduate and undergraduate students in the second-floor technology, because “they’ll need this to get good jobs.” labs of LeConte Hall. The rest of Falcone’s talk covered current research at Guided tours titled “Dark Matter Search” and “The the Advanced Light Source X-ray synchrotron, including Quantum Nanoelectronics Lab” were offered throughout the day. ■ experiments with bilayer graphene that could lead to transistors less than a nanometer thick, Visitors were treated to several lectures. Professors Howard Shugart and Bob Jacobsen offered the perenni- ■ studies of combustion chemistry and chemical dynamics of new fuels, ally popular lecture-demonstration “Fun with Physics: Why Should Students Have all the Fun?” Professor ■ extreme ultraviolet lithography of silicon microchips,

20 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 DEPARTMENT NEWS

On November 7, Wonderfest moved to UC Berkeley’s Stanley Hall, where visitors enjoyed a Bay Area Science Expo full of art, books, and crafts for science lovers. “Dare We Try to Engineer Earth’s Climate?” “How will Evolution Shape Human Behavior?” and “Do We Understand the Structure of the Universe?” were the dialogs presented that day. Wonderfest has been an annual since 1998. Its Director, Berkley alumnus Tucker Hiatt, reports that the organization and its activities are growing. As of this year, Wonderfest is merging with the new Bay Area Science Festival, which will incorporate key elements of Wonderfest’s popular activities. The 2011 Bay Area Science Festival takes place this fall. For more information and a schedule of upcoming events, visit www.bayareascience.org.

BERKELEY STUDENTS KRISTIN SCHIMERT AND ALEXANDER JACOBSEN

Hitoshi Murayama talked about “Conquering the Dark Side of the Universe,” and Emeritus Professor Rich Muller presented “The Instant Physicist.” Potential physics majors were invited to meet with the undergraduate advisor, who answered questions about the physics program, academic requirements and opportunities, and life as an undergraduate. Tables for Physical Science Majors were set up in the Information Marketplace on Sproul Plaza, along with a Society of Physics Students MAXWELL EQUATIONS T-SHIRT CONTEST table that featured startling physics demonstrations. Emeritus physics professor J.D. Jackson, shown on the Cal Day 2012 is set for Saturday, April 21. right, has again awarded t-shirts to the Berkeley physics undergraduates who demonstrated the highest excellence WONDERFEST 2010 in their study of electricity and magnetism. The 2010-2011 The 2010 edition of Wonderfest, the Bay Area Beacon winners were Matthew Nichols, shown above left, Monica of Science, took place November 6 and 7 at Stanford Jin Woo Kang, second from left, and Eugene Kur. University and UC Berkeley. The t-shirts have the four Maxwell equations printed On November 6, the festivities were held at Stanford on the front and a portrait of James Clerk Maxwell on University’s Hewlett Teach Center. Offerings included an the back. The Maxwell equations describe electric and amateur science forum as well as the Bechtel WonderCup magnetic fields as they relate to charge density and cur- “Innovation Challenge” Championship–two top high rent density. They are used to show that light behaves as schools facing off in a science quiz. There were three an electromagnetic wave. dialogs between expert researchers: “Does 10,000 Hours of Videogaming have Side Effects?” “Is Mathematics FACULTY AWARDS AND HONORS More Art than Science?” and “Will Synthetic Biology Dmitry Budker was named a Distinguished Visiting Make Industrial Chemistry Obsolete?” The 2010 Carl Researcher by the Swinburne University of Technology, Sagan Prize for Science Popularization was awarded to Melbourne, Australia. Donald Kennedy, Emeritus Professor of Environmental received a Berkeley Citation, University of Science at Stanford. John Clarke California, 2011.

21 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 DEPARTMENT NEWS

Marvin Cohen is a Visiting Member, Institute for sional magnetic origin, anisotropy and quantum size effect Advanced Study, Hong Kong University of Science and in magnetic nanostructures, and for the development of Technology, 2010–2013. He also received a Berkeley novel approaches involving wedged samples, curved sub- Citation, University of California, 2011. stances and the Surface Magneto-Optic Kerr Effect.” Michael DeWeese received a Special Initiative Grant Paul Richards was awarded the Cocconi Prize of the from the McDonnell Foundation. European physical Society with Prof. Paolo de Bernardis of Rome. He also received two additional prizes, the Joel Fajans received a 2011 John Dawson Award for Felice Pietro Chisesi and Caterina Tomassoni Prize Excellence in Plasma Physics Research. Citation: “For the from the University of Rome, La Sapienza, and the introduction and use of innovative plasma techniques IEEE Council on Superconductivity Award. which produced the first demonstration of the trapping of antihydrogen.” Arthur Rosenfeld wins the Global Energy International Prize along with Dr. Philip Rutberg. The prize is awarded Stuart Freedman was awarded a Lady Davis Fellowship annually to scientists whose work has had a significant to visit Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 2011. He is impact in addressing global energy and ecological problems. also Chair Elect for the American Physical Society’s Topic Group on Precision Measurement and Bernard Sadoulet was appointed a Miller Professor, Fundamental Constants 2011. Spring 2011. Stephen Leone received the Irving Langmuir Prize “For Charles Townes received Docteur d’Honneur de l’ Ecole his pioneering use of soft x-rays in probing ultrafast Polytechnique 2010 University of Strathclyde in , dynamics in atomic and molecular systems.” Scotland. “By pioneering the maser, and carrying out pivotal work in the development of the laser, he helped to Holger Müller was elected as an executive committee pave the way for technology which has a vast range of uses member of the American Physical Society’s Topic Group in today’s world, in medicine, energy, communications on Precision Measurements and Fundamental Constants. and computing. After more than 70 years, he continues Hitoshi Murayama was elected as a member of the Science to contribute to exploration in physics and to the debate Council of Japan, an organization established for the pur- on its huge potential.” He also received 2011 Honorary pose of promoting and enhancing the field of science. Doctor of Letters, Texas A&M University. Saul Perlmutter received the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, Martin White has been awarded a shared with Brian Schmidt of Australian National 2011 Guggenheim Fellowship. He University and Adam Riess of the Space Telescope Science was also elected a Fellow of the Institute and John Hopkins University. Perlmutter was also American Physical Society, Citation: awarded the 2011 Einstein Medal by the “For his numerous contributions to Society of Bern, Switzerland, for “discovering the accelera- theoretical astrophysics and cosmology tion of the universe via the observation of very distant in the areas of the cosmic microwave MARTIN WHITE supernovae”. He shared this award with Adam Reiss. background, evolution of galaxies and P. Buford Price presented the James R. Arnold Lecture probes of large scale structure, for developments in in honor of Jim Arnold, emeritus professor of chemistry numerical cosmology and for his investigations of dark at UC San Diego and founder of the Chemistry energy, dark matter and .” Department. The talk was titled “Adventures on an Jonathan Wurtele received a 2011 John Dawson Award Ultrasmall Scale: from Nuclear for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research. Citation: Tracks in Solids to Microbial Life in “For the introduction and use of innovative plasma tech- Polar Ice.” niques which produced the first demonstration of the Zi-Qiang Qiu was elected a Fellow of trapping of antihydrogen.” the American Physical Society, Ahmet Yildiz is the recipient of the 2011 National Citation: “For outstanding experi- Science Foundation Career Award. He is also the ments to understand the two-dimen- ZI-QIANG QIU recipient of the Hellman Faculty Award.

22 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 DEPARTMENT NEWS

STAFF NEWS AND AWARDS

Paul Richards Honored in Italy and the US CLAUDIA LOPEZ AWARDED COSA FOR 2011 Claudia Lopez, Director of Berkeley emeritus Business Administration for the physics professor Paul Department of Physics, received Richards received three the Chancellor’s Outstanding Staff distinguished awards Award (COSA) this spring. The this year. He was award- award was conferred at a campus ed the Felice Pietro ceremony held on April 15. Chisesi and Caterina Each year, the COSA is pre- Tomassoni Prize from sented to staff members and teams the University of Rome, who have made significant contributions toward the La Sapienza and the IEEE Council on Superconductivity University of California’s mission of excellence in teaching, Award. He also shared the Cocconi Prize of the research, and public service. Administered and presented European Physical Society with Professor Paolo de by the Chancellor’s Staff Advisory Committee, these Bernardis of Rome. awards are among the highest honors bestowed upon staff by the Chancellor. They recognize staff members who The award citation from the University of Rome reads, serve as role models in the workplace, contribute to the in part: “for his fundamental contributions to the mea- campus and community at large, and consistently perform surements of the Cosmic Microwave Background their job at an outstanding level. (CMB), and in particular: Claudia was nominated for this year’s COSA as a ■ the continuous development cryogenic bolometers, member of the Organizational Simplification - Shared

■ the measurement of the anisotropy of the CMB Services Design Team. This team of eight staff members with the MAXIMA experiment that, along with the from various departments on campus was tasked with BOOMERanG experiment, first established that the developing a plan that would allow our campus to deliver geometry of the universe is flat (Euclidean). human resources, finance, and information technology services more effectively and affordably. These experiments provided the first high fidelity images The team collectively dedicated thousands of hours of the last scattering surface in the early universe, and over a six-month period to the production of their report. demonstrated the existence of oscillations in the This project assignment was in addition to completing primeval baryon-photons plasma.” the work required by their current campus positions. The citation from IEEE reads, in part: “for significant and After interviewing dozens of individuals and groups and sustained contributions in the field of superconductor leading a series of focus groups across the campus, they high frequency detectors and mixers, in particular: delivered recommendations that promise to achieve sig- nificant savings for the campus–savings that can be re- ■ for pioneering the development of SIS devices as invested in its academic mission. mixers and detectors of microwave and millimeter Claudia’s role was to analyze financial transaction wave radiation specifically for radio astronomy, data, and in that role she helped her team develop an ana- ■ for pioneering the use of superconductor transition lytical approach to work efforts in finance edge bolometers and arrays of these bolometers with Congratulations to Claudia and all the members of SQUID readout electronics which have been used the Organizational Simplification–Shared Services for many astronomical applications, and Design Team on a job well done!

■ for his many contributions to the mapping of the sky at millimeter wavelengths using superconducting.”

23 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 DEPARTMENT NEWS

IN MEMORY

NORMA RIVADENEYRA (June 05, 1973-August 25, 2011) ANGELO GIUSTI (August 1, 1924-March 17, 2011) Norma Angelo Giusti Rivadeneyra, a passed away in beloved mem- Santa Rosa ber of the after a short ill- Department of ness. Angelo Physics staff, came to UC passed away Berkeley in the after a long bat- 1970’s as a labo- NORMA RIVADENEYRA WITH HER SON SEBASTIAN tle with leuke- ratory assistant mia. Norma had been in remission and was able to with the physics return to work for a short period this summer, but a set- instructional back forced her to return to treatment at Summit Hospital. labs unit, a posi- At the time of her death, Norma was surrounded by her tion he held for ANGELO GIUSTI family. Services were held at Holy Angels Saint Joseph in 20 years. His San Pablo, California. daughter Ann Marie writes, “My dad dearly loved his co- Norma was a UC Berkeley graduate who spent her workers and his job in the physics department.” career working on campus. She began in the campus Angelo was born in Fort Bragg. He joined the navy in central payroll office in August, 2000. On January 3, 1943, fighting on the battleship USS Indiana. After 2001 she transferred to the Department of Physics. retirement, he returned to Fort Bragg and became a com- She received steady, progressive promotions and at the mercial salmon fisherman on the “Ramona Jean” out of time of her death was the department’s Financial Noyo Harbor in Mendocino County, California. Services Manager. Angelo is survived by his daughter Ann Marie (Michael) Norma was respected and appreciated by physics LaRocco of Benicia, grandson Anthony Sloss of Benicia, faculty, staff, visitors, and students. Throughout her years granddaughter Camille Sloss of San Luis Obispo, and of service her contribution to the mission of the depart- nephew Walter Burbeck of Fort Bragg. ment was always outstanding. Devoted to her family and friends, she was also an avid soccer and music fan. She will be sorely missed. Norma is survived by her husband Humberto, her 12-year old son Carlos, her 5-year old son Sebastian, her parents Mr. & Mrs. Alvarado, her brother Juan Alvarado, and her sister Nora Alvarado. A memorial fund has been established for each of her children. Donations may be sent to Wells Fargo Bank, 2260 Otis Drive, Alameda CA 94501. The routing number is 121042882. Account num- ber for Carlos Rivadeneyra: 3014317428. Account number for Sebastian Rivadeneyra: 3014317436.

24 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 PHYSICS IN THE MEDIA

PHYSICS IN THE NEWS Fajans, an animated 53-year-old MIT graduate and tenured professor at the University of California, EXCERPTS FROM MEDIA COVERAGE OF BERKELEY PHYSICISTS Berkeley, spends about half of his time at CERN, the CARBON : GRAPHENE’S TWO DIMENSIONS European Organization for Nuclear Research. His work- OFFER NEW PHYSICS, NOVEL ELECTRONICS place is a massive warehouse in the middle of which sits from Science News August 13, 2011 by Alexandra Witze a bewildering array of machinery. It is here that Fajans … scientists at UC Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley and the ALPHA team managed to trap 309 anti-hydrogen Lab recently took a closer look at what happens when atoms for up to 1,000 seconds, or just over 16 minutes, graphene and boron nitride meet. Using a scanning tun- an achievement they announced in June’s edition of neling microscope, which can see at the level of individual Nature Physics. atoms, the team compared graphene mounted on silicon dioxide with graphene mounted on boron nitride. The WHEN THE AND MANY-WORLDS COLLIDE silicon dioxide version turned out to be strewn with From New Scientist Physics & Math June 1, 2011 by ‘charge puddles’, or spots where the electron flow got Justin Mullins hung up. In contrast, the boron nitride samples were When [cosmologists] apply quantum mechanics–which practically puddle-free. Michael Crommie, Alex Zettl, and successfully describes the behaviour of very small objects colleagues reported the findings this year in NanoLetters. like atoms–to the entire , the equations imply that it must exist in many different states simultaneously, WHAT THE LATEST ANTIMATTER BREAKTHROUGH a phenomenon called a superposition. Yet that is clearly MEANS not what we observe. From August 8, 2011 by David Wroe Global Post Cosmologists reconcile this seeming contradiction by …scientists at CERN announced recently that they had assuming that the superposition eventually “collapses” to managed to create, isolate and hold a small quantity of a single state. But they tend to ignore the problem of how antimatter for over 16 minutes–the longest by far that or why such a collapse might occur, says cosmologist had been achieved. …explains Joel Fajans, a physicist at the University of California, from the ALPHA project, which made the breakthrough. … Berkeley. “We’ve no right to assume that it collapses. The question of what happened to antimatter is one We’ve been lying to ourselves about this,” he says. of the grand challenges of physics,” Fajans told a GlobalPost ...physicists have in recent years replaced the idea reporter on a visit to CERN, located just outside Geneva of superpositions collapsing with the idea that quantum near Switzerland’s border with France. “It is astounding, objects inevitably interact with their environment, allow- and it’s also embarrassing, that no one knows why this ing information about possible superpositions to leak is the case. away and become inaccessible to . All that “Matter and antimatter annihilate one another … is left is the information about a single state. We shouldn’t be here. But we are here. There is clearly Physicists call this process “decoherence”. If you an excess of matter … which means something is likely can prevent it–by tracking all the information about all wrong with the theory of the Big Bang.” possible states–you can preserve the superposition. CPT [charge parity] basically says that processes in What Bousso and Susskind have done is to come physics should turn out the same even when you flip the up with an explanation for how the universe as a whole charges, turn everything inside out and run it backwards. might decohere. …The new idea is that our universe is Put another way, CPT gives the universe a nice, harmo- just one causal patch among many others in a much nious symmetry. If antimatter contradicts it, other theo- bigger multiverse. ries may unravel. …Bousso and Susskind suggest that information “As soon as you open a little crack, your imagination can leak from our causal patch into others, allowing our and ability to discover can run wild. Any difference will part of the universe to decohere into one state or open up possibilities. It would show that there is some another, resulting in the universe that we observe. bigger, as yet unknown, set of laws. It would truly be the proverbial Big Deal.”

25 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 PHYSICS IN THE MEDIA

UNZIPPED GRAPHENE REVEALS ITS SECRETS GRAPHENE MODULATORS COULD BREAK NETWORK From Physics World May 13, 2011 by Belle Dumé SPEED LIMITS Researchers in the US have made the first precise mea- From PC World May 8, 2011 by Kevin Lee surements on the “edge states” of graphene nanoribbons. Fiber optic networks are at the forefront of record-setting These states have been predicted to have extraordinary Internet speeds. Now the scientists at the University of properties and the work could help build improved California, Berkeley have developed a graphene modulator nanoscale devices in the future. that could push the curve forward by a ten-fold leap. …nanoribbons of this material are strips of graphene “Graphene enables us to make modulators that are just nanometres across. Physicists believe that, depending incredibly compact and that potentially perform at on the angle at which they are cut, such ribbons should speeds up to ten times faster than current technology have a range of different–and technologically useful– allows,” explained UC Berkeley engineering professor electronic, magnetic and optical properties. Xiang Zhang, who led the research group. However, until now, scientists have been unable to …Zhang’s colleague Feng Wang, assistant professor test these predictions because they could not study the of physics and head of the Ultrafast Nano-Optics Group atomic-scale structure at the edges of cut nanoribbons– at UC Berkeley, added that the graphene could be tuned and therefore ensure their samples have the appropriate to other frequencies. “Graphene can also be used to edges. modulate new frequency ranges, such as mid-infrared Michael Crommie’s team at the Lawrence Berkeley light, that are widely used in molecular sensing.” National Laboratory (LBNL) and the University of Q&A WITH RICHARD MULLER: A PHYSICIST AND California, Berkeley (UCB) has overcome this problem HIS SURPRISING CLIMATE DATA by looking at specially made nanoribbons with smooth From AAAS Science Insider April 6, 2011 by Eli Kintisch edges using a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM). The researchers discovered that these ribbons Richard Muller of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory support 1D electronic edge states and that electrons in in California [and emeritus professor in the UC Berkeley these states are confined to the nanoribbon edge and Department of Physics] has gained a solid scientific rep- have an energy gap. “This kind of behaviour has been utation for his work in astrophysics and particle physics. predicted for many years but never experimentally …But that impressive track record of research, teaching, and service wasn’t why the science committee verified,” Crommie told physicsworld.com. of the U.S. House of Representatives invited Muller to testify last week. The topic was research and policy, and Republicans wanted Muller to discuss his recent reanalysis of global temperature records. Republicans expected Muller to challenge the accepted wisdom that the earth has warmed 0.7 C since the 1880s. But to the dismay of skeptic bloggers, his prelim- inary analysis supports that canonical view. “He is a very, very independent thinker. He does not take it for granted when he is told something. His instinct is to go check it out for himself,” says fellow Berkeley physicist Raymond Jeanloz, who has served with Muller as a JASON panelist. … He also began to question what scientists were saying about the likely impacts of present-day climate change, and in November 2009 he became concerned UNZIPPING CARBON NANOTUBES PRODUCES GRAPHENE RIBBONS WITH SMOOTH EDGES AND DIFFERENT CONFIGURATIONS. about what he regarded as the imperial behavior shown by some climate scientists in leaked e-mails released as part of what’s become known as Climategate.

26 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 PHYSICS IN THE MEDIA

So in 2009, Muller assembled a team of physicists and transfer information is the spintronic grand prize and statisticians and launched the and a key to winning this prize is understanding and Surface Temperature project. controlling a multiferroic property known as spontaneous The project has sought to use new techniques to magnetization. analyze temperature data to see whether problems like Now, researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley the bad stations could bias the results. National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have enhanced spon- taneous magnetization in special versions of the multi- RESEARCHERS MAKE FIRST PEROVSKITE-BASED ferroic material bismuth ferrite. What’s more, they can SUPERLENS FOR THE INFRARED turn this magnetization “on/off” through the application From March 29, 2011 by Lynn Yarris Physics News of an external electric field, an ability for the advancement Superlenses earned their superlative by being able to of spintronic technology. capture the “evanescent” light waves that blossom close “Taking a novel approach, we’ve created a new to an illuminated surface and never travel far enough magnetic state in bismuth ferrite along with the ability to to be “seen” by a conventional lens. Superlenses hold electrically control this magnetism at room temperature,” enormous potential in a range of applications, depending says Ramamoorthy Ramesh, [UC Berkeley professor of upon the form of light they capture, but their use has physics and] a materials scientist with Berkeley Lab’s been limited because most have been made from elaborate Materials Sciences Division, who led this research. “An artificial constructs known as metamaterials. enhanced magnetization arises in the rhombohedral The unique optical properties of metamaterials, phases of our bismuth ferrite self-assembled nanostruc- which include the ability to bend light backwards–a tures. This magnetization is strain-confined between property known as negative refraction–arise from their the tetragonal phases of the material and can be erased structure rather than their chemical composition. by the application of an electric field. The magnetization However, metamaterials can be difficult to fabricate and is restored when the polarity of the electric field is tend to absorb a relatively high percentage of photons reversed.” that would otherwise be available for imaging. Now, …Ramesh, He, and their co-authors discovered that researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s the enhanced spontaneous magnetization in their special Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) bismuth ferrite films can be controlled through the use have fabricated a superlens from perovskite oxides that of an external electric field without any noticeable current are simpler and easier to fabricate than metamaterials, passing through the film. “We have demonstrated a superlens for electric eva- nescent fields with low absorption losses using perovskites in the mid-infrared regime,” says Ramamoorthy Ramesh, a materials scientist with Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division [and physics professor at UC Berkeley], who led this research. “Spectral studies of the lateral and vertical distributions of evanescent waves around the image plane of our lens show that we have achieved an imaging resolution of one micrometer, about one- fourteenth of the working wavelength.”

RESEARCHERS FIND ENHANCED MAGNETIZATION IN BISMUTH FERRITE FILMS From R&D Magazine March 21, 2011 …there’s little doubt the nation that leads the development of advanced magnetoelectronic or spintronic devices is THE STRUCTURAL ARRANGEMENT OF RHOMBOHEDRAL AND TETRAGONAL PHASES IN A SPECIAL BISMUTH FERRITE FILM–MAGNETIZATION IS CONFINED going to have a serious leg-up on its Information Age TO THE RHOMBOHEDRAL PHASE. CREDIT: RAMESH GROUP competition. A smaller, faster, and cheaper way to store

27 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 PHYSICS IN THE MEDIA

LIGHT SCATTERING CONTROLLED IN GRAPHENE Bonaccini Calia (European Southern Observatory), and From Photonics March 21, 2011 Dmitry Budker (University of California, Berkeley) has Controlling the way light is scattered in graphene has proposed a lower-cost ground-to-space system that been achieved, providing a new tool for the study of exploits the interaction of beams from ground-based these single sheets of carbon that may lead to practical lasers with sodium atoms in the mesosphere, about 90 applications for controlling light and electronic states in km above Earth’s surface. The team’s system would har- nanometer-scale devices made of the material. ness the existing and expanding infrastructure of high- Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory powered lasers that generate artificial stars for optical (LBNL) and the University of California, Berkeley, led by telescopes by exciting mesospheric sodium. Feng Wang of LBNL’s Materials Sciences Div. [and UC FIGHTING CANCER ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES Berkeley’s Department of Physics], made the first direct From Physorg February 21, 2011 by Monica Friedlander observation, in graphene, of so-called quantum interference Questions … on the cutting edge of in Raman scattering. modern cancer research, lie at the A familiar example of quantum interference in interface of many disciplines. The everyday life is antireflective coating on eyeglasses,” said answers are increasingly being Wang, who also is an assistant professor of physics at the sought not only by biologists but also university. “A photon can follow two pathways, scattering by large, multidisciplinary teams that from the coating or from the glass. Because of its quantum also include physicists, chemists, nature, it actually follows both, and the coating is designed mathematicians, engineers, and computer scientists. so that the two pathways interfere with each other and This approach to research is supported by the National cancel light that would otherwise cause reflection.” Cancer Institute, which has recently started a network of 12 “The hallmark of quantum mechanics,” he added, Physical Science-Oncology Centers nationwide, including “is that if different paths are nondistinguishable, they one at UC Berkeley, funded at $15.7 million. must always interfere with each other. We can manipu- The effort here is being led by Jan Liphardt, an late the interference among the quantum pathways that associate professor of physics at UC Berkeley. Its goal, are responsible for Raman scattering in graphene he explains, is not to immediately race to develop new because of graphene’s peculiar electronic structure.” drugs or diagnostic tools, but to step back and try to BUILDING AN ATOMIC GEOMAGNETOMETER FROM approach cancer in novel ways. THE GROUND UP “Biology is beginning to explicitly consider how From Physics Today February 28, 2011 physics and mechanics influence what cells and tissue by Jeremy N. A. Matthews do,” says Liphardt. “… Our center is an example of what Measurements of the geomagnetic question-driven research increasingly looks like”. field at the smallest scales are used to Traditional research efforts and universities that locate sunken ships and mineral-rich are organized strictly according to traditional fields are geological formations. Large-scale increasingly obsolete, Liphardt says. “As Richard measurements probe properties of Feynman said, ‘Nature doesn’t care what you call it!’ It’s Earth’s core. At length scales of tens either an interesting and important question or it’s not, to hundreds of kilometers, geomag- and it really doesn’t matter if we label it as physics or netic maps yield clues about the chemical dynamics in biology or chemistry. There’s increasing evidence that Earth’s outer mantle and the effects of ionic currents on the way you solve these big problems–whether it’s ocean circulation. climate or energy or disease–is by bringing together To avoid ground-based electromagnetic interference, the right kind of teams with the right talent in a sort geomagnetometers are typically placed aboard orbiting of smart-mob-like structure, rather than worrying satellites, which are deployed sporadically and at a rela- what to call it or which department it should be in.” tively high cost. Now, an international team of scientists led by James Higbie (Bucknell University), Domenico

28 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 PHYSICS IN THE MEDIA

QUEST FOR DARK ENERGY MAY FADE TO BLACK “Once you lose your atmosphere, that’s the end of From January 4, 2011 any evolved life,” Lin added. “This mission will also tell by us what might happen to other planetary atmospheres, An ambitious $1.6 billion spacecraft that would investi- even Earth’s, in the long run.” gate the mysterious force that is apparently accelerating the expansion of the universe–and search out planets around other stars, to boot–might have to be postponed for a decade, NASA says, because of cost overruns and mismanagement on a separate project, the James Webb Space Telescope. The news has dismayed many American astronomers, who worry they will wind up playing second fiddle to their European counterparts in what they say is the deepest mystery in the universe. “How many things can we do in our lifetime that will excite a generation of scientists?” asked Saul Perlmutter, an astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley, who is one of dark energy’s discoverers. There is ARTIST’S CONCEPTION OF MAVEN MARS ORBITER. (NASA/GODDARD SPACE a sense, he said, “that we’re starting to give up leadership FLIGHT CENTER) in these important areas in fundamental physics.” ‘ Last summer, after 10 years of debate and interagency PHYSICS IN THE NEWS wrangling, a prestigious committee from the National BOOKS AUTHORED OR EDITED BY BERKELEY PHYSICISTS Academy of Sciences gave highest priority among big WHAT IS THE UNIVERSE MADE OF? space projects in the coming decade to a satellite telescope Hitoshi Murayama, Gentosha, 2010 that would take precise measure of dark energy, as it is UC Berkeley physics professor and known, and also look for planets beyond our solar system. member of the Berkeley Center The proposed project goes by the slightly unwieldy acronym for Theoretical Physics Hitoshi Wfirst, for Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope. Murayama won a “2010 Paperback Grand Prize”–known NASA MISSION ASKS WHY MARS HAS NO as the Shinso Award in Japan– ATMOSPHERE for his book What is the Universe From Physorg October 7, 2010 by Robert Sanders Made of? The book, published NASA this week gave the green light to a mission to only in Japanese, was released Mars that will seek to understand why and how the red in September 2010, and sold planet lost its atmosphere 3-4 billion years ago. more than 264,000 copies the Dubbed the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, first year. or MAVEN, mission… More than half the instruments The book includes a description of the SuMIRe aboard the spacecraft, with a planned launch in late 2013, Project–Subaru Measurement of Images and . will be built at the University of California, Berkeley’s SuMIRe aims to trace the evolution of the universe Space Sciences Laboratory (SSL) under the direction of and elucidate the nature of dark matter and dark MAVEN deputy-principal investigator Robert Lin. “There’s energy, using a newly developed Hyper Suprime-Cam lots of evidence that in the past, Mars had running water, & Spectrograph that are to be installed in the Subaru but to have running water you need a thick atmosphere, Telescope. and that’s gone now,” said Lin, a UC Berkeley professor Murayama is Director of Japan’s Institute for the of physics and former director of the SSL. Physics and Mathematics of the Universe in Tokyo During its planned one-year mission, MAVEN will and Principle Investigator of SuMIRe. He is a popular collect evidence to support or refute the reigning theory Japanese-language spokesman for science, appearing that once Mars lost its magnetic field, the solar wind frequently on radio and TV whenever he is in Japan. and solar storms scoured the atmosphere away.

29 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 PHYSICS IN THE MEDIA

UNDERGRADUATE AFFAIRS

AN INTRODUCTION TO TENSORS AND GROUP Berkeley Physics Undergraduate Scholars THEORY FOR PHYSICISTS (BPURS) 2010-2011 Nadir Jeevanjee, Birkhäuser Boston, 2011, The BPURS program pairs faculty with physics majors ISBN 978-0-8176-4714-8 (hardcover) who are ready to engage in advanced research, These Nadir Jeevanjee, a doctoral student scholarships provide a $500 per semester stipend, funded in the Berkeley Department of by donations from the Friends of Physics. The program Physics, has written a new text- is designed to enhance undergraduate education and to book, An Introduction to Tensors contribute to the growth of the intellectual community and Group Theory for Physicists. on campus. “I wrote the book to fill a niche Fall 2010 I perceived in the literature,” he Janos Botyanszki said. “I taught a seminar based Ko-Chieh Chang on early chapters of the book Alexander Chanson in the spring 2011 semester here at Raymond Co Berkeley, and will likely lead another based on the later Jasper Drisko chapters in the fall.” Alexander Georges Jeevanjee completed the book during a four-year Chi-Sing Ho leave of absence, taken also for the purpose of playing Eric Jin drums professionally. Originally from , Zlatko Minev he earned BS degrees in mathematics and physics at Thibaut Mueller the University of Southern California in 2002. Matthew Nichols According to the publisher, Jeevanjee’s book “ Uttam Paudel provides both an intuitive and rigorous approach to Allic Sivaramakrishnan tensors and groups and their role in theoretical physics Andrew Wong and . A particular aim is to demys- Lucas Zipp tify tensors and provide a unified framework for under- standing them in the context of classical and quantum Spring 2011 physics. Connecting the component formalism prevalent Janos Botyanszki in physics calculations with the abstract but more concep- Ko-Chieh Chang tual formulation found in many mathematical texts, Raymond Co the work will be a welcome addition to the literature Jasper Drisko on tensors and group theory.” Chi-Sing Ho Griffin Hosseinzadeh Eric Jin Jinwoo Kang Zlatko Minev Thibaut Mueller Matthew Nichols Hyungmok Son Dennis Wang Lucas Zipp

30 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 UNDERGRADUATE AFFAIRS

Undergraduates of Distinction An active member of the Berkeley physics commu- nity, Jacobsen consistently volunteered at department RAYMOND TUNG-MING CO events ranging from CalDay and picnics to Job Fairs Raymond Co, Student Speaker for co-sponsored by the Career Center. He was a member the 2011 Department of Physics of the Teaching Mad Science Team, an after-school commencement ceremony, majored program at Willard Middle School, an academically in both physics and applied math. low performing school in the Bay Area He came to UC Berkeley as a transfer with a large number of students from historically disad- student from De Anza City College vantaged backgrounds. Mad Science’s goal is to develop in the fall semester of 2009. While experiment-based science lesson plans and to inspire at De Anza, Raymond was part of a Research Experience students to think about science. for Undergraduates program in an astrophysics group Jacobsen also took leadership of the Society of at the University of Washington, under the supervision Physics Students for a year. He completed his degree of Professor Leslie Rosenberg. His work involved writing while negotiating a very busy schedule of academics and software to simulate images used to tile the sky and volunteer work. The Department of Physics presented study the artificial effects for the Synoptic Survey him with the 2011 Student Service Award in gratitude Telescope. and recognition for his leadership and contributions. At Berkeley, Co first joined Professor Stuart Freedman’s neutrino physics group, working on improving Society for Physics Students the background suppression necessary to detect rare Berkeley’s Society for Physics Students (SPS), founded and neutrino events in the Kamioka Liquid Scintillator operated by undergraduate students, was established to Antineutrino Detector. He was fascinated by how the foster a sense of community in the Departments of Physics law of energy conservation predicted the existence and and Astronomy. SPS sponsors monthly barbecues, helps properties of new particles 25 years before their discovery. out with annual Cal Day activities, organizes tutoring He presented a poster on his research and was selected sessions for lower division students, sponsors an annual as one of four nominees from the entire UC Berkeley Undergraduate Poster Session, and presents a series of campus to advance to the national competition for the noontime seminars that give students an opportunity prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. to learn about the careers of physics alumni. Co was also part of the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship at , where he studied UNDERGRADUATE POSTER SESSION dark matter under the supervision of Dr. Jonhee Yoo Eighteen research projects were included in the and Lauren Hsu. Upon returning to Berkeley from Undergraduate Poster Session held Friday April 8, 2011 Fermilab, he began working on his senior thesis under in 375 LeConte Hall. This year’s research topics and the the sponsorship of Professor Wick Haxton. His theoretical students who presented them included: physics project involved many-body and effective field ■ The Palomar Transient Factory, Janos Botyanszki theories. He graduated as one of our top seniors and is ■ Mu2e Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC) Project, pursuing his PhD in physics at UC Berkeley Ko-Chieh (Jessica) Chang ALEXANDER REID JACOBSEN ■ Unitary Gas in a Harmonic Trap for Many-Body Alex Jacobsen, recipient of the 2011 System, Raymond Co Student Service Award from the ■ Series-parallel two dimensional arrays of YBa2Cu3O7−δ Department of Physics, came to UC thin film ion damage Josephson Junctions, Jasper Drisko

Berkeley in the fall semester of 2007. ■ The Higgs Boson, Alexander Georges He received his AB degree in physics ■ Plasmonic Nanostructure for High Harmonic this spring. Jacobsen was one of Generation, Chi-Sing Ho the first members of COMPASS– ■ Measuring the Index of Refraction of Liquid a collaboration among undergraduate and graduate Scintillator in the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino students in the physical sciences that helps students Experiment, Griffin Hosseinzadeh develop the skills needed to succeed in their studies.

31 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 UNDERGRADUATE AFFAIRS

SPS Noontime Career Seminars At each noontime career seminar, undergraduate students are treated to pizza and a presentation about how a physics education can lead to a wide variety of successful careers. Most presenters are Berkeley physics alumni. The 2010- 2011 academic year featured some high-profile offerings, including a visit from astronaut Sally Ride and a request for physics advice from a District Attorney working on a homicide case.

UNDERGRADUATES ZLATKO MINEV AND THIBAUT MUELLER AT THE Karen Brockwell is Senior Director of the Cell Culture UNDERGRADUATE POSTER SESSION Manufacturing Facility at Genentech. Her presentation was titled Reflections on a Career in Engineering and Biotechnology. Recently retired from Genentech, she now mentors young women in science and engineering. Brockman was honored in 2008 with the Woman of Distinction Award from the San Francisco Business Times. Anton Kast (PhD ’95) is Vice President of Research & Development at Digg.com, a social news site. His talk was titled Abstracting the Real World: Physics is like Computer Programming. An expert in computational mathematics, scientific computing, and user interface ERIC JIN TALKS WITH FELLOW UNDERGRADUATES ABOUT HIS RESEARCH. design, Kast served as a visiting professor in the UC ■ Element-specific study of epitaxial CoO/Fe and Jim Berkeley Department of Physics before joining Digg. Son NiO/Ag/CoO/Fe films grown on vicinal Ag(001) Asit Panwala (BA ’96) currently works in the homicide using Photoemission Electron Microscopy, Eric Jin unit of the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office. His ■ Temperature Dependence of Magnetic Properties of talk was titled Physics and the Law: Does Learning Physics Metal-Insulator Hetero-Structures, Monica Jin Woo Kang Matter? He shared with students a homicide investigation that was making some good use of his physics background. ■ Packaging of Nicked DNA by the Bacteriophage Phi29, Joseph Magliocco Bahman Rabii (MA ’99, PhD ’02), former graduate

■ Optimizing the Josephson Parametric Amplifier–A student in Nobelist George Smoot’s research group, is Rajamani Vijayaraghavan numerical study, Zlatko Minev a staff software engineer at Google. He worked on the MAXIMA project with George Smoot, Paul Richards, ■ Delta rays in ATLAS silicon, Thibaut Mueller Adrian Lee, and others. ■ Low-Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Matthew Nichols Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, is CEO ■ Role of Intramolecular Tension in Kinesin Motility, of Sally Ride Science and emeritus physics professor at Kristin Schimert UC San Diego. In her talk, Sally Ride: An Inspiring Career ■ The Dynamics of Ratcheting States of Cellular Flames, in , Science Education, and Physics, Allic Sivaramakrishnan she surveyed her career as an astronaut, physicist, and science educator. ■ Fragmentation Function Analysis using Multiple Monte Carlo Simulations, Andrew Wong SEGRÈ SUMMER INTERNS 2011 ■ A Technique to Increase the Resolution of the Triplespec Berkeley’s Emilio Segrè Internships are eight-week summer Medium Resolution Infrared Spectrometer, Andrew programs that give undergraduates an opportunity to Vanderburg support and enhance the Physics 111 Advanced Laboratory curriculum (see page 11). This summer, ■ Diamond Magnetometry, Lucas Zipp thanks to an increase in the annual donation from

32 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 UNDERGRADUATE AFFAIRS

observe this effect and find that nature violates either the concept of locality or the principle that properties of objects might be ill-defined, such as in quantum mechanics. William Morong tested the single photon detectors, designed the power supply for them, developed soft- ware to handle the data and, with help from Bennett Sodergren, assembled the optical components. Compton Scattering Guillermo Fong led a substantial upgrade of the Compton Scattering Experiment, which had remained virtually SEGRÈ INTERN BENNETT SODERGREN FINISHES REBUILDING THE unchanged since its creation 37 years ago. He tested a LASER TWEEZERS EXPERIMENT. new Cd-Te X-ray detector that replaces the massive old Dewar-mounted detector with a single pocket-sized unit, and designed and fabricated a new apparatus that will allow students to test a variety of scattering targets. The new experiment gives students more options for creative- ly exploring the Compton effect and analyzing results at higher resolution. Optical Tweezers Bennett Sodergren began the summer by tearing apart the laser tweezers experiment, down to the bare bread- board. He rebuilt the microscope and beam path in a modular cage system that allows easier alignment and WILLIAM MORONG AND GUILLERMO FONG WORK ON THE NEW QUANTUM INTERFERENCE AND ENTANGLEMENT EXPERIMENT. shields the beam without restricting access to the con- trols. He designed and assembled a second laser beam alumnus and author Douglas Giancoli (BA ‘60, PhD path to add capability for fluorescence microscopy. ‘66), the Department of Physics was able to offer three Students will use the new equipment to measure internships instead of the usual two. the stalling forces of single kinesin motor molecules, an Guillermo Fong, William Morong, and Bennett experiment that comes from professor Yildiz’s biophysics Sodergren were selected as Segrè Interns. Additional help research. Students will use the laser tweezers to maneuver came from student assistant David Bauer, retired alumnus a kinesin-coated bead onto a fluorescent-labeled bundle Tom Andrade, graduate student Jonathan Ouellet, and of microtubules, then measure the force developed by several faculty members, including Robert Jacobsen, the kinesin molecule as it pulls the bead along the Hartmut Häffner, and Yury Kolomensky. microtubules. Quantum Interference The Segrè Internships for undergraduates are made The summer’s biggest project was a new experiment possible with funding from Dr. Douglas Giancoli in called Quantum Interference and Entanglement. The memory of Nobel laureate Emilio Segrè. Giancoli is the experiment is related to professor Häffner’s research in author of several physics textbooks. quantum computing (see page 4), and additional support for its development came from Häffner’s National Science Foundation Career Award and a donation from alumnus Hans Mark (BA ’51). The experiment creates entangled pairs of photons and demonstrates the phenomenon Einstein called “spooky action at a distance.” In the Advanced Lab, students will

33 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 GRADUATE AFFAIRS

The Class of 2011 he UC Berkeley Departments of Physics, Astronomy, and Physical Sciences celebrated the 2011 Commencement at Zellerbach Auditorium on May 16, 2011. Richard Muller, UC Berkeley Emeritus Professor of Physics, delivered the commencement address. Carly Anne Chubak was Student Speaker for Astronomy. Raymond Tung-Ming Co T was Student Speaker for Physics. COMMENCEMENT CEREMONIES In his talk, Muller noted that the word commence- Officiating ment means ‘a beginning’. He encouraged the new were Mark graduates to continue what they started at Berkeley, to Richards, Dean continue learning. “The pace at which you are mastering of Physical new material can actually increase,” he said, “now that Sciences in the you’ve learned how to learn.” College of He exhorted students to never cease embarking on Letters and new endeavors, even if uncomfortable or confusing, and Science, even if others don’t approve. He called on students to be Frances adventurous while reminding them that adventures DEAN MARK RICHARDS Hellman, Chair aren’t always pleasant. He recounted experiences of his of the Department of Physics, Imke de Pater, Chair of own that became treasured memories and turning the Department of Astronomy, , Faculty points in his Undergraduate Advisor for the Department of Astronomy, life, although Robert Jacobsen, Vice-Chair of the Department of Physics, they were Yury Kolomensky, Head Faculty Undergraduate Advisor in uncomfortable the Department of Physics, and Eliot Quataert, Faculty or even fright- Undergraduate Advisor in the Department of Astronomy. ening at the For the 2010-2011 academic year, 111 bachelor time. “… if you degrees were awarded in Physics and 44 bachelor degrees relish the con- were awarded in Astrophysics, Physical Sciences, and fusing,” he Engineering Physics. Master degrees were awarded to said, “the RAYMOND TUNG-MING CO AND FRANCES HELLMAN 40 students in Physics and six students in Astrophysics. things that make no sense, the mysteries–if you relish The degree of was awarded to eight being lost–then, at least in spirit, you are a scientist.” students in Astronomy and 43 students in Physics. He pointed out to students that, now they have an edu- cation in physics, they’ve learned how to solve problems COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS they haven’t encountered before. Commencement Speaker Richard Muller is Emeritus Professor of Physics and Professor of the Graduate School at UC Berkeley, Faculty Senior Scientist at the “ the things that make no sense, the mysteries–if Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and President you relish being lost–then, at least in spirit, you of Muller Associates LLC. His honors include a MacArthur are a scientist.” Prize, the National Science Foundation Alan T. Waterman Award, UC Berkeley Distinguished Teaching Awards, In his conclusion he said, “Keep up that spirit of and the Donald Sterling Noyce Prize. Known primarily childhood discovery and wonder through constant learning. for his research in astrophysics and geophysics, he has …Learn more every year than you did the previous year. also worked in paleoclimatology. Muller is the author of … the possibilities are limitless. Work hard at it, accept more than 120 scientific papers and eight books, including the challenge, don’t avoid uncertainties and discomfort. Physics for Future Presidents: The Science Behind the Never stop learning and never lose the sense of adventure. Headlines (Norton, 2008). Go for it!”

34 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 GRADUATE AFFAIRS

ZYLBERBERG WINS HHMI STUDENT AWARD ASTRONOMY PRIZES AND AWARDS Joel Zylberberg, Department Citation graduate student Jieun Choi with UC Berkeley Dorothea Klumke Roberts Prize biophysicist Marin Mallory Anderson Michael DeWeese, Mary Elizabeth Uhl Prize was named a 2011 Daniel Alan Perley International Student Research Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award Amber Nicole Bauermeister Fellow by the Therese Marie Jones Howard Hughes Medical Institute PHYSICS PRIZES AND AWARDS (HHMI). Department Citation According to the Raymond Tung-Ming Co award announcement, the fellowship is being offered for Student Service Award the first time this year. Its purpose is to support science Alexander Reid Jacobsen and engineering students during their third, fourth, and fifth year of graduate school. Zylberberg, who is Lars Commins Memorial Award in Experimental from Ontario, Canada, is one of 48 students from 22 Physics Victor Watson Brar countries who were selected for this year’s awards. Erik D. Shirokoff “There are very few fellowship opportunities for our international students,” says Anne Takizawa, Jackson C. Koo Award in Condensed Matter Physics Yi “Frank” Zhang Supervisor of Student Services for the Department of Physics. “It’s really great that Joel received this award! OUTSTANDING GRADUATE STUDENT His application was selected by the Graduate Division INSTRUCTOR AWARDS from a campus-wide competition.” Recipients of the Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor While attending Simon Fraser University in British (OGSI) Awards are recognized for their dedication and skill Columbia, Zylberberg conducted original research at in teaching physics undergraduates. Each recipient receives one of Canada’s top laboratories and published peer- a certificate of commendation from the Graduate Division, reviewed articles in nuclear physics, astrophysics, and a cash award of $250, membership in the American materials science. He is also a Fulbright Scholar. Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), and a subscrip- According to Fulbrightonline.com his “undergraduate tion to the AAPT journal from the Friends of Physics thesis was on the topic of Dark Energy, the as-of-yet Fund. Professor Robert Karplus established the tradition of unexplained accelerating expansion of the universe. Joel the AAPT memberships that the Department of Physics collaborated on computer simulations to determine how continues in his honor. well future experiments might probe its properties, and Bradley Donald Anderson how they might optimize strategies to obtain the maxi- Aaron Joe Bradley mum amount of information from their observations.” Hung-Chung Fan When Zylberberg first arrived at Berkeley in 2008, Michele Kotiuga his interest in cosmology led him to work with physics Dan Mainemer Katz professor Saul Perlmutter, leader of the Supernova Nathan Paul Moore Cosmology Project. Zylberberg shifted his focus to Ali Sucipto Tan biophysics last year and describes his current research Zachary Sebastian Travis as “systems neuroscience using mathematical and Patrick Russell Zulkowski computational modeling.” He is also an Outstanding Joel Leon Zylerberg Graduate Student Instructor award recipient.

35 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 GRADUATE AFFAIRS

LARS COMMINS AWARD COMPASS VOLUNTEERS RAISE $10,000 The 2011 Lars Commins Memorial Award in The Compass Project, founded in 2006, provides a free, Experimental Physics was awarded to graduate students residential summer program of physics exploration and Victor Watson Brar and Erik D. Shirokoff. discovery for 15-20 incoming freshmen every year. The Victor Brar received his PhD degree in Fall 2010. summer program is the centerpiece of the Compass Project’s He was a research student with physics professor Mike suite of student services, which include continuous mentor- Crommie in condensed matter experimentation. One of ship with graduate student volunteers throughout a partici- Brar’s many successes in the lab was to help set up a new pant’s physics education, along with a special lecture series. spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscope (STM). He “When you come from a graduating class of maybe led an effort to explore the behavior of atomic adsorbates a few hundred students to a university where the atten- on graphene, and was the first to perform STM spectros- dance at one of your lectures may eclipse that, you can copy of single atoms sitting on a back-gated surface. feel lost and on your own,” says Compass volunteer Josh Brar showed that it is possible to charge individual Shiode. “The Compass Project aims to create and sustain atoms on graphene using a backgate electrode, and to a collaborative, academic community of peers and mentors detect this ionization and resulting screening via the in which students feel comfortable and confident.” STM tunnel current. Crommie, in his nominating letter, “This May,” he adds, “we were looking at an account wrote, “Victor has a beautiful combination of deep phys- balance closer to zero than the minimum $10,000 needed ical insight, profound intuition for choosing the most to put on even a shortened program run entirely by important problem, tenacity, experimental talent to volunteers.” The group responded by launching a single-mindedly follow his instincts, and uncanny ability one-month fundraising effort, using email and to extract gorgeous physics from a morass of (seemingly) to contact friends, family, and colleagues. hopelessly complex data.” “The month was a blur of generosity,” Shiode Erik Shirokoff, a student with physics professor reports. “We vaulted over our original $10,000 fundraising Bill Holzapfel in astrophysics experimentation, com- target. Everyone at the Compass Project would like to pleted his thesis work this summer. In his nominating send their most heartfelt thanks to all our donors for letter, Holzpafel wrote, “Erik is an extraordinarily tal- making the summer program a reality for our 2011 ented experimental physicist who has built the world’s class of 16 students.” most sensitive cosmic microwave background receiver, spent a year the South Pole operating the 10-meter South JACKSON KOO AWARD Graduate student Yi “Frank” Zhang received the 2011 Pole telescope, and used the resulting data to produce Jackson C. Koo Award in Condensed Matter Physics. exciting new constraints on cosmological models. In the The award was given in recognition of his research and course of this work, he overcame considerable technical work in physics professor Ashvin Vishwanath’s group. challenges, worked remarkably long hours, and exceeded In his nominating letter, Vishwanath said Zhang’s any reasonable expectations at every turn. In the course of research “has focused on Topological Insulators, a recently his graduate work, Erik has built state of the art instru- discovered phase of matter. Usually, these are defined in mentation, used it to make groundbreaking observations, terms of their unusual metallic surfaces. Frank showed and used those observations to confront some of the that line defects of a crystal–dislocations–when inserted most interesting questions in cosmology.” in a topological insulator, can be metallic. Moreover, these Lars Commins, the son of Berkeley emeritus physics natural `wires’ are perfect metals at low temperatures. professor Eugene Commins and his wife Ulla, was an Imperfections and disorder do not impede the flow of accomplished engineer with a deep interest in experi- current. This was an important and unexpected result, mental physics. The Lars Commins Award was created published in the April 2009 issue of and in 2004 as a lasting tribute to Lars and to help perpetu- Nature Physics featured on the cover. Frank made important contributions ate the strong tradition of experimental physics that has to this work, from the first numerical calculations verify- always existed at Berkeley. ing this effect, to an elegant proof of the central formula that governs when metallic defects occur, despite being a second year student at that time.”

36 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 GRADUATE AFFAIRS

The Jackson C. Koo Award was created in 2009 in GRADUATE STUDENT FELLOWSHIPS 2010-2011 honor of Jackson Koo, a bright and hardworking student Chilean Scholarship who received BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering D. Mainemer-Katz and a PhD in Physics from UC Berkeley under the Department of Energy (DOE) Computational Fellowship guidance of Professor . He was a member D. Dandurand* of Phi Beta Kappa and of the Honor Students society of UC Berkeley. After graduating, he worked at AT&T Bell DOE National Nuclear Security Administration Laboratories then joined Livermore National Laboratory. Stewardship Science Graduate Fellowship During his career he published numerous papers and J. Renner was listed as an inventor on eight patents. DOE Oak Ridge Istitute for Science Education S. Hoyer, P. Kehayias, M. Ramm, N. Roth, C. Thomas HELMHOLZ AWARD AT I-HOUSE The Carl and Betty Helmholz Scholarship Endowment Helmholz/Rosevear International House Award and the Kathleen Rosevear Gateway Fellowship for 2012 G.Y. Cho have granted Gil Young Cho, a graduate student in physics HERTZ Foundation Fellowship at Berkeley, the 2010-2011 Helmholz Award for full D. Lecoanet*, M. Schwartz*, E. Marti room and board at International House as a Gateway Fellow. The award also pays a stipend of $5000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellowship Cho, a third-year graduate student from Korea, J. Zylberberg* works with physics professor Joel Moore in condensed Lam Research Corporation Fellows matter theory. Cho was nominated for the award by the T. Barter*, S. Lourette*, A. Tan Department of Physics. Mentored Research Award GRADUATE STUDENT POSTER SESSION D. Speller More than 50 graduate students shared their research at National Science Foundation the Department of Physics Annual Graduate Student Poster N. Antler, J. Brosamer*, J. Burkart, S. Byrnes, N. Session held October 29, 2010 in the Helmholz room, Carlson, N. Carruth*, K. Cassella*, R. Co*,I. Kimchi, J. 375 LeConte Hall. The 2010 session was organized by Lynn, K. Meaker, K. O’Brien, V. Rosenhaus, J. Schwab, graduate students Punit Gandhi and Sönke Möller. D. Thorpe*, N. Torres Chicon, D. Yu, M. Zaletel Poster exhibits covered a variety of topics in physics and astrophysics, ranging from studies of cosmic micro- National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate wave background radiation and neutrino physics to dark Fellowship D. Vigil Currey, A. Bradley, E. Levenson-Falk matter, star formation, the search for supersymmetric particles, plasmons, laser trapping, superconductors, University of California Fellowships graphene, and carbon nanotubes. A. Lee, S. Marzen*,S. Miarecki, D. Qiu*, J. Varela*, D. The Best in Show honor went to Christopher Wong* Smallwood of Alessandra Lanzara’s research group for UC Mexus Conejo Nacional de Ciencia Y Tenología his poster, titled “Probing Dynamic Excitations of Fellowship Complex Materials by Pump and Probe Photoemission D. Perez-Becker* Spectroscopy.” Graduate students have an opportunity each year *First-time awardee to this fellowship to share their research at the annual poster session. Throughout the academic year they have additional opportunities to talk about their work and practice for oral exams at student-only research seminars, which are open only to physics graduate students.

37 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 GRADUATE AFFAIRS

PHYSICS PHD DEGREES

FALL 2010 SPRING 2011 Kam S. Arnold Advisor: Adrian Lee Victor M. Acosta Design and Deployment of the POLARBEAR Cosmic Advisor: Dmitry Budker Microwave Background Polarization Experiment Optical Magnetometry with Nitrogen-Vacancy Centers in Mark S. Bandstra Advisor: Steven Boggs Diamond Observation of the Crab Nebula in Soft Gamma Rays with Kyle H. Barbary the Nuclear Compton Telescope Advisor: Saul Perlmutter Lacramioara Bintu Advisor: Carlos Bustamante High- Rates in Galaxy Cluster Dynamic Interactions and Molecular Rearrangements and Field Environments Occurring when RNA Polymerase II Meets the Nucleosome Eric C. Bellm Victor W. Brar Advisor: Michael Crommie Advisor: Steven Boggs Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy of Graphene and Magnetic Studies of Gamma-Ray Burst Prompt Emission with Nanostructures RHESSI and NCT Sarah E. Busch David W. Cooke Advisor: Frances Hellman Thermodynamic Measurements of Applied Magnetic Materials Advisor: John Clarke Ultra-low Field MRI of Prostate Cancer using SQUID Roland De Putter Detection Advisors: Eric Linder and Saul Perlmutter Hal M. Haggard Probing Dark Energy with Theory and Observation Advisor: Robert Littlejohn Daniel R. Garcia Advisor: Alessandra Lanzara Asymptotic Analysis of Spin Networks with Applications to Exploring Competing Orders in the High-Tc Cuprate Phase Diagram Using Angle Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy Qing He Martin V. Lueker Advisor: William Holzapfel Advisor: Ramamoorthy Ramesh Measurements of Secondary Cosmic Microwave Background Interface Magnetism in Multiferroics Anisotropies with the South Pole Telescope William L. Klemm Michael J. Myers Advisor: Adrian Lee Advisor: Hitoshi Murayama Antenna-coupled Superconducting Bolometers for Observations Mass, Spin, and Physics Beyond the Standard Model at of the Cosmic Microwave Background Polarization Colliders Roger C. O’Brient Advisor: Adrian Lee Stefan Leichenauer A Log-Periodic Focal-Plane Architecture for Cosmic Microwave Advisor: Raphael Bousso Background Polarimetry Predictions from Grigol G. Ovanesyan Jeremy Mardon Advisors: Christian Bauer and Yasunori Nomura Advisor: Yasunori Nomura Applying Effective Theories to Collider Phenomenology Clues in the Quest for the Invisible Universe Simon M. Rochester Advisor: Dmitry Budker Jesse D. Noffsinger Modeling Nonlinear Magneto-optical Effects in Atomic Vapors Advisor: Marvin L. Cohen Eric S. Roman Advisor: Ivo Souza The Electron-Phonon Interaction from First Principles Orientation Dependence of the Anomalous Hall Effect in Lauren A. Tompkins 3d-Ferromagnets Advisor: Beate Heinemann Yuki D. Takahashi Advisor: William Holzapfel A Measurement of the Proton-Proton Inelastic Scattering Measurement of the Cosmic Microwave Background Cross-Section at sqrt(s)=7 TeV with the ATLAS Detector at Polarization with the BICEP Telescope at the South Pole the LHC Kevin C. Young Pu Yu Advisors: Birgitta Whaley and Irfan Siddiqi Advisor: Ramamoorthy Ramesh Controlling Quantum Systems for Quantum Information Emergent Phenomena at Complex Oxide Interfaces Processing Bradley M. Zamft Liang Yu Advisor: Carlos Bustamante Advisor: Robert Littlejohn Single Molecule and Synthetic Biology Studies of Semiclassical Analysis of SU(2) Spin Networks Transcription

38 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 ALUMNI AFFAIRS

ALUMNI NEWS AND AWARDS As explained in a UCSD press Steven Chu release, “physicists have recently (PhD ’76, Vernon Ehlers (AB ’56, PhD ’60, developed new methods to make Research Research Advisor: William special states of antimatter in Advisor: Eugene Nierenberg), GOP Representative which they can create large clouds Commins) was from Michigan and the first research of antiparticles, compress them, named 2011 physicist to serve in Congress, and make specially tailored beams Scientist of the announced in February 2010 that for a variety of uses.” Year by R&D Magazine. The he was retiring and would not seek Surko gave a talk titled announcement, made on another Congressional term. “Taming Dirac’s Particle” at this September 29, 2011, said, “Dr. A CBS news story described year’s annual meeting of the Steven Chu is a familiar face to all, Ehlers as “a moderate Republican American Association for the and he brings to the Award a depth who sought protections for the Advancement of Science. In his of knowledge and ability that is Great Lakes and funding for math remarks, he described how electric reflected in both his accomplish- and science education.” A ranking and magnetic fields are being used ments in science and the influence member of the Subcommittee on to form ‘bottles’ that can hold he now exercises in his role as head Research and Science Education, positrons–anti-electrons–for of the U.S. Dept. of Energy. …His he had represented Michigan hours. The positrons are cooled enduring influence in the scientific District 3 since 1993, a district with liquid helium and compressed world, his ability to exercise that President Gerald R. Ford to very high densities. thoughtful analysis on a wide range once represented. “One can then carefully of scientific topics, and his unwav- Ehlers was quoted as saying, push them out of the bottle in a ering dedication to the advance of “Each of us should recognize that thin stream, a beam, much like scientific knowledge all contribute the world doesn’t depend just on squeezing a tube of toothpaste,” his selection as Scientist of the Year.” us and I’ve been there 16 years Surko said. “These beams provide Chu was a Professor of now and that’s more than enough new ways to study how antiparticles Physics at Berkeley from July 01, time for most people and I’ve interact or react with ordinary 2004 until January 21, 2009, accomplished a great deal.” matter. They are very useful, for when he resigned his position and Ehlers also served in the example, in understanding the became US Secretary of Energy. Michigan State Legislature. Before properties of material surfaces.” From August 2004 until January entering politics, he taught physics “We are now working to 2009 he also served as the sixth for 16 years, from 1966-1983, at accumulate trillions of positrons or Director of the Lawrence Berkeley Calvin College in Grand Rapids, more,” he continued, “in a novel National Laboratory. Michigan. In retirement, he contin- ‘multi-cell’ trap–an array of mag- The R&D announcement lists ues to be active with the American netic bottles akin to a hotel with Chu’s numerous achievements, Physical Society (APS) and issues many rooms, with each room con- including the 1997 Nobel Prize in of science education. taining tens of billions of antiparticles.” Physics, “earned for breakthroughs Clifford Surko (AB ’64, PhD ’68, He added that the benefits of in cooling and trapping atoms with Research Advisor: Frederick Reif), trapping large numbers of positrons laser light at the former Bell Labs professor physics at UC San Diego include improved formation and in the late 1980s.” (UCSD), is constructing what he study of antihydrogen, investigation As Director of Lawrence hopes will be the world’s largest of electron-positron plasmas, and Berkeley Laboratory, Chu brought antimatter container. Antimatter creation of a gamma ray laser. a strong focus to energy research, particles are difficult to store Surko’s long-term goal is to create especially biofuels and solar tech- because they are annihilated portable antimatter traps for situa- nologies. “Applying his analytical when they come in contact tions in which positron sources approach to large-scale energy with ordinary matter. are difficult to fabricate. problems,” said the R&D announce-

39 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 ALUMNI AFFAIRS

CLASS NOTES 2011 ment, “he made sweeping proposals, Class Notes are a great way to keep in Joseph Yellin (PhD ’65, Research including a low-carbon ‘glucose’ touch with old friends. Please update Advisor: Richard Marrus) has economy, and efforts to help manage us about your activities, both profes- retired and is currently a professor global temperatures through reflec- sional and personal. Write to us when emeritus from the Institute of tion and absorption of sunlight.” you have interesting news or just when Archaeology, faculty of humanities you want to update us on what you’ve at The Hebrew University of Lindley Winslow been doing for the past few years. We Jerusalem. (AB 2001, PhD will include your message to fellow 2008, Research alums in the next issue of Physics @ Advisor: Stuart Berkeley. Email updates may be sent ’70 Freedman) won to [email protected] or Christopher Quigg (PhD ’70, a L’Oreal USA by U.S. mail to Maria Hjelm or Research Advisor: J.D. Jackson) for Women in Carol Dudley, Department of Physics, is in the theoretical physics depart- Science Fellowship Grant last year. U.C. Berkeley, 366 LeConte, #7300, ment at Fermi National Accelerator She received the $60,000 award in Berkeley, CA 94720-7300. Laboratory. Chris received the 2011 October 2010, and is using it to J.J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical support her efforts to design and ’60 Particle Physics along with Drs. Ian build a particle accelerator based on Vernon Ehlers (AB ’56. PhD ’60, Hinchliffe, Kenneth Lane, and quantum dots. The new device Research Advisor: William Estia Eichten, Citation: “For their could improve methods used for Nierenberg) Republican Congressman, work, separately and collectively, to monitoring the operation of nuclear from the state of Michigan, chart a course of the exploration reactors and tracking nuclear fuel. announced his decision to retire of TeV scale physics using multi- The aim of L’Oreal’s fellowship after eight full terms in Congress. TeV hadron colliders.” program is to recognize and reward the most promising postdoctoral ’63 ’72 female scientists in the United States. (AB ’57, PhD ’63, (PhD ‘72, Research “I’m delighted to be a recipient of Research Advisor: A. Carl Helmholz) Advisor: Stanley Mandelstam) is the L’Oréal for Women in Science Linde Professor of physics, emeritus, co-founder of a branch of string Fellowship,” Winslow said in a news high-energy physics at Caltech, theory known as string field theory. release from MIT. “It’s exciting to assumed the presidency of the He has taught physics at the City have a project that I can own and American Physical Society on College of New York for more control from beginning to end. This January 1, 2011. He is also the than 25 years and presently holds grant will give me the opportunity Director of the Global Design Effort the Henry Semat Chair and to prove myself at a point that’s for the International Linear Collider Professorship in theoretical physics. pivotal in my career.” (ILC), and the Ronald and Maxine Kaku has published at least seven Winslow is a postdoc in Linde Professor of Physics Emeritus popular books about science, particle physics at MIT, in the at Caltech. including Physics of the Future: How Neutrino and Dark Matter Group Science Will Shape Human Destiny with professor Janet Conrad. She ’65 and Our Daily Lives by the Year focuses on answering the question 2100, released earlier this year, and Robert Armstead (PhD ’65, of why there is more matter than Physics of the Impossible, which antimatter in the universe. Winslow Research Advisor: Charles Schwartz) appeared on the NY Times bestseller is an associate professor of Physics is also an active mentor for several list in 2008. He has appeared in at the graduate school of engineer- MIT physics students, and has several television documentaries, ing and applied sciences, Naval been a teaching assistant for hosts regular radio programs, and Postgraduate School, Monterey, minorities and women in physics writes for numerous magazines California. He currently teaches and engineering. and blogs. physics and the computer simula- tion of free-electron lasers.

40 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 ALUMNI AFFAIRS

Hadrian R. Katz (MA ’72) is a Previously he was senior vice presi- partner at Arnold and Porter, LLP, dent of global intellectual property ’94 Washington, DC, where he special- at Yahoo! James Bock (MA ’90, PhD ’94, izes in cases with high technology Research Advisor: Andrew Lange) content. ’86 is currently a visiting associate professor in physics at Caltech. He Joseph Kahn ’75 (AB ’81, MS ’83, PhD is the recipient of the 2011 NASA ’86, Research Advisor: Leo Falicov) Group Achievement Award David Berke writes, “Go is presently a professor of electrical (AB ’75) Data Analysis and Operations University of California/L.B.L. engineering at Stanford University. Support Team. His research interest (“Cal”) Physics and Cosmology In 2000 he co-founded StataLight is in infrared/millimeter-wave Department! The best in the World! Communications, Inc. in Campbell, detectors and instrumentation, Continuing to bring teaching, CA. From 2003-2008 he was one far-infrared galaxy photometric and research, and public service to of their advisory board members spectroscopic surveys, and cosmic the World! Go Bears!” and consultant. microwave background anisotropy ’77 ’89 and polarization. Aephraim Steinberg (PhD ’94, Ann Parker (AB ’77) is the author Marcus Hertlein (AB ’89) has Research Advisor: Raymond Chiao) of several books, including recent worked at the Lawrence Berkeley is a professor of physics at the paperback edition of Leaden Skies: Laboratory for the past 10 years. He University of Toronto. His research A Silver Rush Mystery. Other books currently works as a synchrotron- work is in the field of quantum include her award-winning Silver laser X-ray beam physicist. On optics. Rush and Iron Ties. Ann is a member August 29, 2011 he was part of a of several writing groups including team of artists and scientists who the National Association of Science helped build “The One Mile Clock ’95 Writers and the Mystery Writers Project”. An idea created by Jim Carl Schroeder (MA ’95, PhD ’99, of America. Bowers, an Auburn multi-media Research Advisor: Jonathan Wurtele) artist. “Marc is building the joined the Lawrence Berkeley ’80 mechanical contraption at the core National Laboratory (LBNL) in of it all: a box in the tower with 2001. He is in the Lasers, Optical William Rison (MA ’75, PhD ’80, three 1-watt YAG lasers and syn- Accelerator Systems Integrated Research Advisor: John Reynolds) Studies (LOASIS) program. He is is currently a professor of electrical chronized rotating mirrors. It will also one of six recipients of the John engineering at New Mexico Institute keep time, sundown to sunrise, Dawson Award for Excellence in of Mining and Technology, Socorro, until the Burners decamp on Labor Plasma Physics, Citation: “For NM. His primary research areas Day. “I’m responsible for it,’’ he experiments and theory leading to are observations of lightning and says, with just the slightest hint of the demonstration of high-quality thunderstorms, and the design of panic in his eyes. “I have to design electron beams from laser-plasma instrumentation to make such and build it, and make it work.” accelerators.” observations. Something more is at stake than merely keeping time. Word is ’85 that this clock could make it into the ’96 Guinness Book of World Records. Sarah Bolton (PhD ’96, Research Joseph Siino (AB ’85) is the princi- “Largest timepiece. A new category,” Advisor: Daniel Chemla) is pal founder and CEO of Ovidian says Marc.” Dean of the College, professor of Group, a US-based intellectual physics at Williams College, property firm that provides IP Excerpted from an article written by Williamstown, MA. investment and business solutions Sabin Russell, in “Today at Berkeley to companies around the world. lab.”

41 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 ALUMNI AFFAIRS

’97 ’01 ’10 Jose Menchero (PhD ’97, Research Aaron Lindenberg (PhD 2001, Lacramioara Bintu (PhD 2010, Advisor: Steven Louie) previously Research Advisor: Roger Falcone) is Research Advisor: Carlos was head of Quantitative Research an assistant professor in the depart- Bustamante) was selected for a at Thomson Financial. He is pres- ment of materials science and engi- Harold M. Weintraub Graduate ently an Executive Director in neering at Stanford University. His Student Award to recognize the research department at MSCI research is focused on probing the outstanding achievements in Barra, where his focus is on factor ultrafast dynamics and atomic-scale Graduate Studies. modeling and portfolio analytics. structure of materials on femtosec- ond and picosecond time-scales. ’11 ’98 Victor Acosta (PhD 2011, Research David Cooperberg (PhD ’98, ’04 Advisor: Dmitry Budker) is work- Research Advisor: Joel Fajans) is Kyle Dawson (PhD 2004, Research ing at Hewlett Packard Laboratory. an associate at the firm of Kenyon Advisor: William Holzapfel) joined He is the recipient of a Silver and Kenyon, LLP, New York in the department of physics and Award from the Materials Research Intellectual Property Law. astronomy at the University of Utah Society in Warrendale, PA. Previously, David was a staff in 2009. His work there primarily process and modeling engineer focuses on at Lam Research Corporation. and the instrumentation required for astronomical observations. ’00 Jonathan Levine (PhD 2004, Ryan Bay (PhD 2000, Research Research Advisor: Richard Muller) Advisor: P. Buford Price) is currently is currently an assistant professor an associate research physicist at of physics and astronomy at Cal Space Sciences Laboratory. Colgate University, New York. Ryan is participating in the UCB IceCube research group. ’05 John Colton (MA ’97, PhD 2000, Cameron Geddes (PhD 2005, Research Advisor: Peter Yu) after Research Advisor: Wim Leemans graduation joined the Naval Research and Jonathan Wurtele) is a staff Laboratory in Washington, DC as scientist in the Lasers, Optical a National Research Council Accelerator Systems Integrated Postdoctoral Fellow. Followed by Studies (LOASIS) program of an Assistant Professor appointment Lawrence Berkeley National at the University of Wisconsin La Laboratory. He is also one of six Crosse University. Since September recipients of the John Dawson 2007 John is an associate professor Award for Excellence in Plasma in the physics and astronomy Physics, Citation: “For experiments department, Brigham Young and theory leading to the demonstra- University, Provo, Utah. tion of high-quality electron beams from laser-plasma accelerators.”

42 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011 ALUMNI AFFAIRS

IN MEMORY Leon Kaufman (PhD ’67, Research “Lee’s unbridled enthusiasm Advisor: Victor Perez-Mendez), a for his work and music was both pioneer in the development of mag- engaging and stimulating and lit a netic resonance imaging (MRI), died fire in his colleagues for not only on December 8, 2010, at the age of 70. working harder but also for making Kaufman was Professor sure that our conclusions were Emeritus of Physics, University of based on solid research,” said California at San Francisco (UCSF). Berkeley Lab scientist Ed Vine. He established UCSF’s MRI program …“we always looked forward to in 1975 and over the next 24 years was Lee’s latest jokes and humor, as a responsible for key breakthroughs, way to lighten our day.” including the first commercially LEE SCHIPPER WITH ENERGY ENVIRONMENT SIM- (excerpted from a Berkeley Lab press successful MRI scanner and the ULATOR. (Berkeley Lab photo archives, 1974) release written by Julie Chao, August launching of open MRI technology. known and widely respected in 2011) His developments set the stage for energy circles around the world.” MRI standards still in use today. Schipper broke new ground by Kaufman left UCSF in 1994 to analyzing energy data in various serve as Chief Scientist and Vice countries and comparing them. He President of Engineering at demonstrated that energy intensity Toshiba. In 2001 he became CEO of did not correlate with GDP in any AccuImage Diagnostics Corp., a simple way and was able to show why. company that develops scanners for In the early he joined producing 3D images of the heart, UC Berkeley’s Energy and coronary arteries, and other areas Resources Group where he worked of the human body. with John Holdren, now President Leon J. (Lee) Schipper (PhD ’85, ’s science advisor. He Research Advisor: Eugene first worked at Berkeley Lab as a Commins), energy efficiency expert graduate student in 1972 and joined and former scientist in Lawrence as a scientist in 1978. He went on Berkeley National Laboratory’s leave in 1995 to work as a visiting Environmental Energy Technologies scientist for the International Division, died August 16 of pancre- Energy Agency in Paris. atic cancer. He was 64. After leaving LBNL in 2001, Schipper gained prominence Schipper helped found EMBARQ early in his career for a paper pub- at the World Resources Institute lished in Science in 1976 showing Center for Sustainable how Sweden, an affluent country, Transportation. He had appoint- had an energy intensity far lower ments at Stanford University’s than that of the U.S. “This became Precourt Energy Efficiency Center a very famous paper,” said Mark and UC Berkeley’s Global Levine, who was Schipper’s super- Metropolitan Studies. He contrib- visor for most his career at LBNL uted to the Second and Third and now leads Berkeley Lab’s China Assessment Reports of the Energy Group. “By the mid-1970s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate he was one of the most highly Change, which was awarded the regarded energy analysts in the US, in 2007.

43 PHYSICS AT BERKELEY/FALL 2011

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

START OF FALL SEMESTER 2011 Thursday, August 18th FIRST DEPARTMENT TEA Monday, August 29, 4:00 PM 1 LeConte Hall Annex

SEGRÈ LECTURE Professor Blas Cabrera Professor of Physics, Stanford University Monday, October 24, 5:00 PM Sibley Auditorium, Bechtel Engineering Center

GRADUATE STUDENT POSTER SESSION Friday, November 18, 3:00 PM A. Carl Helmholz Room, 375 LeConte Hall

THE BAY AREA SCIENCE FESTIVAL Saturday, October 29th–Sunday, November 6th http://www.bayareascience.org

WARREN WILLIAM CHUPP DISTINGUISHED LECTURESHIP TBD Lawrence Hall of Science

THE 114TH BIG GAME Saturday, November 19th. Stanford Stadium Stanford University

START OF SPRING SEMESTER 2012 Tuesday, January 10th

J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER LECTURE IN PHYSICS Monday, March 5th Gerard ‘t Hooft Nobel Laureate (Physics 1999) Academy Professor of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences And Distinguished Professor of Utrecht University The Netherlands

UNDERGRADUATE POSTER SESSION April 2011 375 LeConte Hall

CAL DAY Saturday, April 21, 9:00-4:00 PM http://www.berkeley.edu/calday

GRADUATION Monday, May 14, 7:00 PM Zellerbach Hall Berkeley Campus

START OF SUMMER SESSION http://summer.berkeley.edu Monday, May 21, 2012 University of California, Berkeley Non-Profit Org. Department of Physics U.S. Postage 366 LeConte Hall, #7300 P A I D Berkeley, CA 94720-7300 University of California, ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Berkeley

For the latest information from the Berkeley Physics Department–news on current research, special events, lecture/demos, and student activities–visit the UC Berkeley Physics Home Page. www.physics.berkeley.edu