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Fall 2012 Newsletter

Dear Physics & AstronomyFrom Alumni and the Friends ofChair... the ed to our department. Department: We now have a total of 32 faculty in our de- In reviewing the status of our department in the partment, including full- intervening time since our last newsletter update, I and part-time, plus joint am pleased to report that we have continued to ex- appointments. Books perience remarkable growth, and our faculty and by professors Sergei Ko- students have received many honors and awards in peikin, Carsten Ullrich, and Giovanni Vignale are now recognition of their accomplishments, many of which in print, which you can read about in this newsletter. you will read about in this newsletter. I am apprecia- Our distinguished alumnus Gerald Fishman, a recip- tive of the efforts and generosity of our alumni, which ient of the distinguished Shaw Prize in , assist in the support of our department and our stu- was recently made an Adjunct Professor to our de- dents. partment. Jerry was also the Lloyd B. Thomas Dis- Due to the efforts of our faculty, we continue to re- tinguished Lecturer for Arts and Science just prior to ceive new grant money during challenging economic this Leader’s meeting. Harland Tompkins, also alum- nus of our department and recent seminar speaker external grant funding. Worthy of particular notice is and Saturday Morning Science speaker, was made an times. As of fall 2012, we have almost $22.6 million in Adjunct Professor as well. million grant to establish the Sidney Kimmel Institute the participation of our department in the recent $5.5 encourage collaboration from scientists in several Our University’s official 2011 fall enrollment was for Nuclear Renaissance (SKINR) at MU, which will disciplines, including physics, the MU Research Reac- students.33,805, and We the continue 2012 first-day-of-class to successfully meetnumber the was chal a- - lengesrecord 34,255,of providing with aclasses record andfreshman labs to class an ofever-in 6,560- istry. This grant was facilitated by Rob Duncan, our creasing number of students. tor (MURR), engineering, material science and chem Vice Chancellor of Research, and also jointly appoint- To help meet these challenges and in rec-

I recently named Dr. Dorina Kosztin as the ognition of a role she was already fulfilling,- partment of Physics and Astronomy. newAn (and important first) Associate initial step Chair toward of our devel De- oping a long term strategic plan for our de- partment was undertaken his spring by Paul Miceli and his Planning Committee as they conducted a survey of department resources and needs and then proposed an initial plan for optimizing the use of space in our de- - ings and recommendations in the upcoming yearpartment. and then We see will what follow is left up toon accomplish their find

goals. as we work toward definingContinued our longer-term on page 15 2 precedented power just as they are New Training for Next Generation coming on line. The trainees will Neutron Scatterers at MU develop communication and orga- nizational skills required for geo- graphically dispersed teams to utilize By Hak Taub strumentation, and the potential for these national facilities effectively. Professor, MU new discoveries, the

has invested nearly $2B in new facil- In addition to training leaders for ities for neutron scattering over the future interdisciplinary universi- past decade. ty-based research, the project will Project Description: Innovative provide a pool of potential users and methods of training the next gener- employees of both national research ation of scientists and engineers are facilities and highly competitive in- MU has received its first award from required to maximize the scientific dustries that depend on complex the IGERT Program (Integrative impact of these new capabilities in materials. The interdisciplinary cur- Graduate Education and Research neutron scattering research. To meet riculum is designed to attract future Traineeship Program) of the Na- this challenge, the MU-led IGERT scientists from fields outside of phys- tional Science Foundation for a pro- Program will implement a new par- ics and students from underrepre- posal entitled “Neutron Scattering adigm for interdisciplinary training sented groups. for the Science and Engineering of of Ph.D. students in the application In addition to training leaders for the 21st Century.” The award pro- of neutron scattering research with- future interdisciplinary universi- vides $3 M for the training of grad- in three major themes of science ty-based research, the project will uate students in neutron scattering and engineering. These themes in- provide a pool of potential users and research. Partners in this project are clude: 1) biological macromolecules employees of both national research Indiana University, North Carolina and biomaterials; 2) the structure facilities and highly competitive in- State University, and Fisk Univer- and dynamics of strongly correlated dustries that depend on complex  sity. The Project Director is, Has- electronic materials; and 3) design materials. The interdisciplinary cur- kell Taub, Professor and Director of artificial nanoscale materials. The riculum is designed to attract future of Neutron Scattering, in MU’s De- proposed graduate curriculum will scientists from fields outside of phys- partment of Physics & Astronomy. exploit a combined problem-based ics and students from underrepre- learning/writing intensive approach sented groups. NSF funded approximately 18 IG- accessible to students from tradi- Co-PIs are: ERT awards in this competition out tionally distinct disciplines. It will Dr. Anna Waldron, University of of 100 full proposals submitted. 412 combine in-depth, hands-on train- , proposals were reviewed in the pre- ing at our unique university-based Prof. Arnold Burger, Fisk University liminary proposal stage of the pro- neutron source MURR, the largest Prof. Roger Pynn, Indiana Universi- gram competition for the Fiscal Year research reactor at a U.S. University, ty, 2011. with innovative theoretical courses Prof. Flora Meilleur, North Carolina encompassing the three major re- State University. Background: Fundamental research search themes. utilizing neutron scattering tech- niques has led to a host of techno- On-campus research and training logical advances in such diverse will be enhanced by research expe- areas as drug design, the develop- riences at Oak Ridge National Lab- ment of high-strength metals and oratory and the National Institute of cements, novel materials for elec- Standards and Technology. tronic and magnetic devices, and hydrogen storage materials. Based Broader Impacts: This project on these achievements in science will enlarge the community of re- and engineering, recent progress in searchers capable of exploiting new MU’s Research Reactor the design of neutron scattering in- neutron scattering facilities of un- 3 will participate in this comprehen- The following is a reproduction of an article written and released on 2/10/12 sive scientific effort. These scientists by Christian Basi of MU on a 5.5. million dollar grant to MU, facilitated in will be studying the fundamental a large way by Rob Duncan, MU Associate Dean for Research, with a joint physics of certain energy producing appointment in the Departmnet of Physics and Astronomy. reactions of an unknown origin in their quest for alternative forms of MU Scientists Receive $5.5 Million Gift from energy.

Kimmel Foundation to Search for the Next “Very much like my commitments Big Thing in Alternative Energy to cancer research, I believe in in- vesting for America’s future gen- erations,” Kimmel said. “I chose Gift given by Sidney Kim- not yet occurred.” the University of Missouri for this mel Foundation, created by important gift because it is a com- The Sidney Kimmel Foundation is founder of The Jones Group prehensive university, experienced donating the large gift, believed to in using its deep scientific research be one of the largest to study en- by Christian Basi capacity across many fields with its ergy alternatives. The Foundation MU News Bureau firm commitment to serve the pub- was created by Sidney Kimmel, lic good. This may be futuristic, but COLUMBIA, Mo. — Sustainable the founder and chairman of The when it comes to energy, our future practices and the search for safe, Jones Group, a leading designer i s n ow.” environmentally friendly energy and marketer of branded appar- has been a priority of scientists for el and footwear. The Jones Group In previous studies, scientists from years. With some success, research- includes brands such as Jones New the Naval Research Laboratory; ers across the globe are continuing York, Anne Klein, Nine West, Glo- ENEA, which is the National En- the hunt for an energy source that is ria Vanderbilt, Bandolino and Ra- ergy Laboratory of Italy; and other clean and abundant. Now, scientists chel Roy. The company recently scientific teams around the globe at the University of Missouri are the acquired footwear brands Stuart have reported observing excess recipients of a five-year, $5.5 million Weitzman and Kurt Geiger. Since heat effects when hydrogen or deu- gift from the Sidney Kimmel Foun- 1993, the Sidney Kimmel Founda- terium has interacted with palladi- dation that will help focus efforts in tion and its subsidiary, the Sidney um, nickel or platinum under cer- fundamental, physical sciences in Kimmel Foundation for Cancer tain extreme conditions. However, the search for new alternative ener- Research, have committed more the researchers do not know how gy sources. than $750 million to philanthrop- the excess heat is being created, nor ic causes, including $550 million can they duplicate the same, exact “We don’t know to cancer research. According to results on a consistent basis in some what the next big Business Week, Kimmel is one of these systems. thing is because of four billionaires in the United it probably hasn’t States who have given over half “This phenomenon – excess heat been invented yet,” their wealth to philanthropy. being observed during the interac- said Rob Duncan, tion of these elements – is intrigu- vice chancellor for Duncan The donation to MU will be used to ing, but we don’t understand where research at MU. “This gift to MU’s create the Sidney Kimmel Institute it is coming from,” said David Rob- scientists will give us the opportu- for Nuclear Renaissance (SKINR), ertson, professor of chemistry and nity to explore new and empirical which will encourage collabo- associate director of research at phenomena in the physical sciences, ration from scientists in several MURR. “The success rate is about which may ultimately be transfor- disciplines, including physics, the 20 percent, so we know the condi- mative and could lead to a new form MU Research Reactor (MURR), tions must be very specific. It’s a hit- of alternative energy. Tomorrow’s engineering, material science and or-miss reaction, which is the rea- solutions depend on scientific dis- chemistry. Seven major research son why we’re trying to understand coveries that are being made now, groups within these disciplines and hence, on innovations that have Continued on page 4 4 Continued from page 3 Chandrasekhar, co-PI Dorina Ko- · Promote institutional change it, and we’re using every tool in the sztin, co-PI Deborah Hanuscin among core partner institutions. toolbox to find the answer. This gift (joint appointment with College of to Mizzou will help us enhance our Education), Project Director Sarah · Increase students’ interest in sci- resources to find the answers to this Hill and Professors Angela Speck, ence coursework in higher grades. phenomenon and potentially un- Paul Miceli and Karen King, Sun- The Summer Academy series, key to cover the secrets of a new, clean al- der Balasubramanian from Lincoln the professional development pro- ternative form of energy.” University and MU Department of gram, is an intensive residential ex- Mathematics co-PI Dorina Mitrea. Robertson says the potential uses for perience that builds in content-level this excess heat energy will depend each year over on how much energy is extracted three years. and how consistent the process is for The acade- generating the energy. mies, held at the Univer- sity of Mis- souri, focus An Update on: on physics content inte- A TIME for Physics grated with pedagogy and First Leadership and Further support is provided by de- leadership training, team-taught by Professional Develop- partment students who work as MU faculty and experienced peer Teaching Assistants. teachers. Academies are four weeks ment Program The partnership aims to build lead- long in Years 1 and 2, and two weeks by Sarah Hill, Physics First Pro- ership skills with research-based in Year 3. Participants earn graduate gram Coordinator, and Meera professional development (PD) credit plus receive a stipend, room,  Chandrasekhar, Professor MU that includes comprehensive phys- board, travel support and a kit of ics content, pedagogy, research and materials. evaluation. Participating 9th grade science teachers will become intel- Physics First Fellows were recruit- lectual leaders as they learn to teach ed in two cohorts based on a de- a yearlong freshman physics course. layed-entry design for purposes of The impact of this sustainable insti- relat ed research. Cohort 1 start- tutional change will ultimately show Hill and Chandrasekhar ed coursework in summer 2010, A TIME for Physics First is a an increase in students’ future sci- while Cohort 2 started in 2011. Both partnership among the University of ence coursework. The goals of the cohorts receive the same treatment, Missouri-Columbia (MU, lead insti- program are to: except for the mode of academic · tution), 37 core partner school dis- Create a cadre of teacher-leaders year mentoring support: Cohort 1 tricts and several supporting part- who will become advocates for receives support from Coaches who ners. The project is funded by the excellence in physics content and visit their classrooms, while Cohort re National Science Foundation grant search-based pedagogy. 2’s Mentors support them online. entitled Academy for Teachers using · Strengthen high school freshman During the academic year Fellows Inquiry and Modeling Experiences science teachers’ and their stu- implement the yearlong Physics for Freshman Physics in Missouri dents’ understanding of physics. First curriculum in their 9th grade (A TIME for Freshman Physics in classrooms. They participate in pro- Missouri). · Enhance teachers’ knowl- fessional learning communities for Several MU faculty and staff play edge and ability to utilize re- small-group teamwork, follow-up pivotal roles in this project, in- form-based pedagogies in teach- sessions, support from trained cluding, from the Department of ing freshman physics coaches or mentors, online peer col- Physics and Astronomy PI Meera laboration, an online science educa- Continued on page 5 Continued from page 4 tion leadership course, online access Biophysics and Your Body...... New 5 to content experts and a classroom kit Team Emphasizes Interdisciplinary Science lending program. Planning is currently underway for in the Middle School Classroom the Summer 2012 Academy, sched- uled during the month of June. Co- By Deborah Hanuscin, Associate tion specialist) to collaborate on the hort 1 Fellows, who are in their third Professor MU and Gavin King, As- design of a biophysics curriculum year of participation, will attend for sistant Professor, MU unit. The result was a collaborative- two weeks, with a choice of two tracks ly designed curriculum supplement – either a Praxis preparation course focused on several aspects of the for higher teaching certification or in- physics of the human body. Further, dependent work in which Fellows col- in an effort to sustain the group’s laborate to create electronic resources efforts, students also gained experi- Hanuscin King like videos and animations, write cur- ence writing grants, several of which ricular revisions for Special Ed stu- School science is usually divided were recently submitted. dents, create assessments and vignettes into historic disciplines and taught The Physics of the human body top- of lessons that illustrate the pedagogy separately, often with very little to ic is widely inclusive and provides of modeling. Cohort 2 Fellows will at- no overlap. Concepts from physical ample opportunities to discuss tend for four weeks, learning the con- science are taught one term, life sci- quantitative physical science con- tent and pedagogy associated with the ences the next, and so on. Further, cepts in a context that is generally second half of the yearlong Physics physics and the human body are considered to be biological – and First curriculum. This includes labs, usually thought of as unrelated— hence, provides a bridge toward Socratic dialogue, and inquiry-based like to break down sys- building fundamental understand- discussions. tems to their barest essentials, while ings in both fields. Given the ste- Along with physics content and ped- the human body is typically taught reotypical preferences of biology agogy, Fellows receive leadership in a more holistic way, emphasizing and physics for females and males, training to help them evolve into in- the complex interactions of systems. respectively, this curriculum also tellectual leaders. Math teachers and Yet, at the forefront of scientific re- provides opportunities to address administrators from the Fellows’ search, the barriers between these gender inequity in the science class- schools attend mini-academies to disciplines are fading. For example, room. Specific topics in the curricu- help support science teachers during when examined at the nanoscale, lum supplement include force gen- the academic year. In total, up to 120 biological molecules become mech- eration, vision, hearing, and energy. attendees are expected at this year’s anistic objects that change shape, Molecular-scale descriptions of the summer academy. orientation or position in response biological phenomena were empha- The project is in its third year of a five- to their interactions. sized whenever possible. year funding period. For more details, In an effort to promote interdisci- Building on the momentum from the Physics First website at www.phys- plinary education and scientific lit- this past fall semester, Prof. Hanus- icsfirstmo.org is a rich resource. eracy, Prof. Deborah Hanuscin and cin, Prof. King, and Prof. Cornish Prof. Gavin King joined forces and have teamed up with several conver- spearheaded a new class in fall 2011 gence journalism students (lead by entitled “Biophysics Education Out- Prof. Mike McKean, MU Journalism reach”. Soon thereafter Prof. Peter School) to develop new multimedia Cornish (MU Biochemistry) joined content directly related to the cur- the group, and the group became riculum supplement. The hope is to even more interdisciplinary. The put the curriculum and associated class, which met once a week (over media content through a pilot test lunch, usually pizza!), provided an opportunity for doctoral students this summer and fall 2012 so that in physics and science education disseminated to middle schools it can be fine tuned before being (including a middle school educa- across the state in the future. ed to a number of other physics fac- 6 A New Collaboration – ulties at the UWC, namely, Profes- sors Reginaldt Madjoe (Department University of the Western Cape Chair), Christopher Arendse, Basil Julies, and Robert Lindsay. November 2011, a number of astron- By Haojing Yan We are now quite positive that we omy faculties from both sides began Assistant Professor, can move forward to build a rela- to discuss possible collaborations. MU tion and collaboration. As we knew We at the MU side are interested in at the very beginning, in order to developing a partnership because make such a collaboration sustain- our UWC colleagues have access to On behalf of our department, Hao- able we need to think what we (MU) a number of telescopes, in particular jing Yan paid the first visit to the have to offer. the 10-m optical/IR South African University of the Western Cape During the visit, a number of ideas Large Telescope (SALT). Currently (UWC), South Africa, in January were suggested to our UWC col- South Africa is actively bidding for 20 - 26. leagues, including the collabora- being the host of the Square Kilome- OurUniversity and the UWC have tions at all levels (with the staffs, ter Array (SKA), which will be the had an enduring friendship since the postdocs and the students), and largest, next generation radio tele- 1986, which has inspired a series possible joint educational programs scope. It was agreed that we should of fruitful collaborations and ex- at both the graduate and the under- start exchange of visits as soon as graduate levels. In addition to as- possible to bring out trophysics, it also seems possible to ideas. collaborate in other fields of physics, The exchange began such as alternative energy, micros- with Haojing’s trip copy, etc. To materialize these latter to the UWC in this ideas will of course require further January. His main  interactions of interested individu- objectives included: als of both sides. (1) gathering first- Prof. Roy Maartens will be visiting hand information on us this September. We hope that the UWC astronomy these first visits will be the seed program; (2) explor- for a full-scale collaboration in the ing possible collabo- near future. In fact, Haojing has al- rations in astronomy, Universty of the Western Cape ready started working with some of both in research and in education; the UWC colleagues on one of his changes between the two institu- and (3) exploring possible interests projects. A joint proposal, led by Dr. tions in many in other aspects of physics. With Russell Johnston, a postdoc at the disciplines over the years. the great help from Rodney Uphoff, UWC, was submitted on February Haojing’s visit fulfilled all these ob- 24 to request observing time at the This long-standing tie is now ex- jectives. During his 3-day stay in SALT. The proposal was approved tending to our department and Cape Town, he had in-depth discus- on April 4 and at least 2/5 of the ob- the Department of Physics at the sions with three UWC astronomy servations are guaranteed time on UWC, in particular to the astrono- staff members, namely, Professors the telescope. We are looking for- my programs at both places. Catherine Cress and Roy Maartens, ward to even more productive col- Initiated by Dr. James Scott (Direc- and Dr. Enrico Olivier. He also laborations very soon. tor of UM International Center), talked to five postdocs (out of sev- UWC website: Prof. Rodney Uphoff (Director of en total) and one PhD student. He http://www.uwc.ac.za UM South Africa Education Pro- also had lunch with the UWC Vice gram), Prof. Robert Duncan (UMC Chancellor Bharuthram, and brief- UWC Group website: Vice Chancellor of Research) and ly met with the UWC Rector Brian http://www.uwcastro.org/ Prof. Ramashwar Bharutharm O’Connell. In addition, he also talk- (UWC Deputy Vice Chancellor) in 7 Karen King, PI, and Linda Godwin, Co-PI have received a grant from PhysTEC (a coalition of the American Physical Society and the Association of Physics Teachers) to recruit into and promote educational program for futre secondary physics teachers. Other Co-PIs are: Dorina Kosztin and Carlos Wexler from Physics, Deborah Hanuscin, jointly appointed in Physics and Education, Patricia Friedrichsen, jointly appointed in Biology and Education, and Troy Sadler, College of Education and director of MU Science Education Center. TOP Teachers Program Will Help to Curb Teacher Shortage

By Laura Lindsey Director of Communications, The College of Arts and Science University of Missouri tion is the Science and Mathematics Academy for the Recruitment and Beginning this Retention of Teachers (SMAR2T), The United States faces a critical short- fall, she and God- which targets seniors or recent age of qualified physics and physical win will recruit graduates who are looking for jobs. science teachers in high schools. More students for the This program offers an entry into than one half of physics teachers do program through teaching for graduates who have al- not have a physics degree, and the high school visits, ready earned a degree in physics or American Association for Employ- college classroom engineering. Additional education King ment in Education consistently lists presentations, training with a mentor teacher and high school physics as one of the fields and partnering with the College of Ed- classroom teaching will be required. with the most severe teacher short- ucation. “The hardest group to recruit is ages. Physics is the foundation for “It is never too early or too late to re- sophomores and juniors,” says King. all other sciences, but in the past five cruit a student into the teaching pro- “We need to find ways to get them years, MU has graduated only three fession,” says Godwin. “That is why we  interested in teaching, even though new physics teachers. will target high school students, col- they aren’t majoring in education.” Karen King, assistant teaching profes- lege students at all stages of their ed- One of the initiatives King and God- sor, and Professor Linda Godwin hope ucation, and recent graduates who are win will implement this year is the to increase those numbers thanks searching for a career.” Learning Assistant (LA) Program. to funding they received from the Students can get their teaching certifi- As an LA, students will have an op- Physics Teacher Education Coalition cations in several ways. The first is to portunity to teach in a high school (PhysTEC) program. The title of King earn a dual degree in education and or college-level physics classroom. and Godwin’s program is Tomorrow’s physics (www.t2d2.missouri.edu). This “This is a great part of the program Outstanding Physics Teachers (TOP option will better prepare students to because the students will get an au- Teachers.) PhysTEC is supported teach advanced placement classes and thentic teaching experience and will by the National Science Foundation opens the door for graduate school get excited about the possibility of (NSF) and the American Physical So- if college-level teaching is appeal- teaching,” says King. ciety. Since 2001, PhysTEC’s mission ing. Students interested in this option Learning assistants will work has been to improve and promote the should start early in their college ca- with faculty to make courses stu- education of future physics teachers. reers, so, ideally, high school students dent-centered and interactive. These So far, the funded institutions have and freshmen are the targets in that programs will provide potential fu- doubled their production of physics scenario. Another option is to earn a ture teachers with support and a teachers and have developed mentor bachelor of science degree in educa- low-stress early teaching experience programs to help retain them. tion with an emphasis in physics. This that will encourage them to pursue A former high school teacher, King option works best for those students a teaching certification. Other insti- is the principal investigator for this who already have plans for an educa- tutions that have tried this program project. She understands from first- tion degree and do not want to start have found that it can increase the hand experience the importance of over with a dual major. The last op- pool of students from which to re- recruiting quality physics teachers. cruit future physics teachers. Continued on page 8 Continued from page 7 8 “We want to grow students’ in- preparation program is to have a years, with the College of Arts and terest in physics as a whole,” says Science and the Department of King. “We want to emphasize that applies classroom wisdom to the Physics agreeing to fund an addi- you can do a lot with a physics de- tasksteacher-in-residence of identifying, training, (TIR) whoand tional three. Their goal is to have gree—one does not just have to supporting teachers of physics. go to graduate school. Physics is a Doug Steinhoff, a physics teacher the program every three years. at Jefferson Junior High School Otherat least contributors 10 students graduate to the grant from Learning assistants will receive will take on this role at MU. His include: Troy Sadler, professor of comparableflexible and usefulcompensation major.” to a experience in the Columbia Pub- science education and director research assistant. The goal is to lic School system will be ben- of MU Science Education Center; elevate teaching to the level of a Deborah Hanuscin, associate pro- researcher as a career choice. local schools and in creating pro- fessor of physics and education; Not all of their attention will cen- fessionaleficial in development building bridges courses. with Dorina Kosztin, associate teaching ter on current college students, Steinhoff will also serve an active professor of physics; Carlos Wex- however. One potential program role in recruiting future teachers, ler, associate professor of physics; will allow 11th and 12th graders to mentoring student teachers, and and Patricia Friedrichsen, associ- design mini lesson plans for 9th- designing new courses aimed at ate professor of biological scienc- grade students with the goal of preparing physics teachers.. es and education. discovering potential prospects. The TOP Teacher Program is fund- The key to a successful teacher ed through PhysTEC for three

Two Professors Join the Department for the Fall Semester of 2011

 Dr. Haojing Yan Telescope. He has been deeply in- deployed the Gamma Ray Observa- comes to MU volved in a number of other space- tory in 1991, and has participated in from Ohio State based survey programs, such as two spacewalks and conducted ro- University. the “Great Observatories Origins botic arm operations. Her missions Deep Survey’’ (GOODS) and the also included Earth science (with a Haojing is an “Spitzer Extended Deep Survey” synthetic aperture radar), other lab- observation- (SEDS), and most recently the oratory research, and visits to the al astronomer “Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Russian space station MIR and the who has a broad interest in galaxy Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey” International Space Station. Prior formation and evolution, and is an (CANDELS). to NASA, Linda was a graduate stu- active user of a variety of ground- dent in this department working in based and space-based telescopes low temperature condensed matter and their archives. Currently he is physics under Dr. Henry White. largely focused on searching for and Dr. Linda Godwin understanding galaxies in the early returned to the de- She will teach introduction to as- universe when it was only less than partment following tronomy and will also be involved ~ 1 billion years after the Big Bang a 30-year career at with doing outreach in the Colum- (or in other words, ~ 13 billion years the NASA Johnson bia community, plans to integrate ago), and on investigating the mass Space Center in her experiences at NASA into un- assembly history of galaxies over Houston, TX. Her career there in- dergraduate teaching to show the cosmic time. He has been leading cluded participating in four shuttle application of physics to space-relat- a large program, “Hubble Infrared missions. A veteran of four space ed scenarios and develop new cur- Pure Parallel Imaging Extragalac- flights, she has logged over 38 days ricula based on space applications. tic Survey’’ (HIPPIES), using the in space, was part of the crew that data obtained by the Hubble Space 9 Our Students

Recent Undergraduate Degrees: Recent Master’s and PhD degrees: Fall 2010: BS in Physics - 2011 Fall 2011: Diana Katherine Bolser MS in Physics Nelson De Queiroz E Souza Ajay Mishra MS in Physics Corinne L. Fletcher Brandon Hester Lorien Hayden PhD in Physics Jagath Gunasekera Alex Hoban Jhuma Das Alexander Ispa-Cowan PhD in Physics: Harrison Lewis Knoll Spring 2011: Gengsheng Chen Nicholas David Kullman John Gaddy Lindsey L Sinovic MS in Physics Michal Gramlich Richard L Sieightholm Monika Golebiowska Menzi Mchunu Kyle Gregory Williams Dhanashree Moghe

Raina Olsen Spring 2012: BA in Physics 2011 Matthew Elisha Taylor PhD in Physics MS in Physics Jagat Lamsal Matthew McCune BS in Physics 2012 Raina Olsen Kevin Tarwater Andrew Alferman  Jiong Zhang Andrew Austin Summer 2011: Andrew Barton Ph.D in Physics Daniel Blake MS in Physics Matthew Beckner Alexander Buffard David Arrant Jimmy Romanos Anoff Cobblah David Stalla Justin Grayer Mitali Madhusmita Jared Grice New graduate Harrison Knoll students, Fall 2011, Michael Kramps From left to right Lucas Miller Back row: An- Anthony Pace drew Gillespie, Lee Seow Grant Knotts, Sean Baldridge, Jacob Jordan Wheeler Brown, Nelson de Souza, Alex Miller BA in Physics 2012 Front row: Tina AmandaStevenson-Grund Rezaie Matin, Marat Musin, Fengfei Wang, Chengfei Yan Continued on page 10 Continued from p. 9 demonstrates their leadership in 10 In the Fall 2011 our department admitted 10 new graduate students: their field. Sean Baldridge, Jacob Brown, Nelson DeSouza, Andrew Gillespie, Grant The PAGSA website now features a Knotts, Alex Miller, Muarat Musin, Tina Rezaie Matin, and Fengfie Wang. detailed calendar with many events including departmental seminars Two new graduate students joined our department in the Spring of 2012: and colloquia, PAGSA General As- Gregory Kissinger and James Runge. sembly and Journal Club meetings, outreach and social events, training For the Fall, 2012 semester, our department welcomed 9 students to our activities, non-departmental events graduate studies: Zachary Buck, Justin Grayer, Hannah Groom, Shahrzad at Mizzou, as well as regional and Karimi, Harrison Knoll, Zhiyuan Ma, Bradley Mills, Alexander St. John, Mo- national APS, AAS and Biophysical hammad Mahdi Valizadeh, bringing our number of full-time graduate stu- Society meetings. dents to 56. New graduate students, Fall 2012, from left to right: Zhiyuan Ma, Justin Gray- er, Mohammad Mahdi Valiza- deh, Alex St. John, Shahrzad Karimi, Zack Buck, Hannah PAGSA Members at NSTA Sci- Groom, Harrison ence Matters Night at Lange Middle Knoll, and Brad- School  ley Mills The Teaching Excellence Commit- tee, headed by Jesse Kremenak, has made a huge push for mid semester PAGSA: A Year in Retrospect evaluations to improve the quality of graduate student instructors. First a survey by MoCAT, but more recent- ly the survey was implemented on blackboard to ensure greater student By Christopher Owens and Matt participation. These mid-semester McCune dents in the department. evaluations give TA’s an opportuni- 2012 PAGSA Executive Board To honor our alumni and pro- ty to find ways they can improve as Members and Graduate Students, mote the department, PAGSA educators before the semester ends MU has chosen to construct an en- and improve their final evaluations. hanced Alumni Directory. PAG- This is particularly helpful for first The Physics and Astronomy Grad- SA’s hope is that potential gradu- semester teachers to get some early uate Student Association (PAGSA) ate students will use the directory feedback on their teaching skills. has completed another successful as recent examples of the various In Jan 2012, PAGSA created a new year helping to enrich the lives of careers and achievements that Public Outreach Committee, head- graduate students in the depart- can be attained with an advanced ed by Matt McCune, which has orga- ment. The organization is a place degree in physics from Miz- nized the outreach capabilities of the for members to voice concerns, zou. Also, some of the more se- organization, more than doubling practice presentations in Journal nior alumni have been included the service performed in previous Club, and produce a feeling of ca- on a Select Alumni page which years. PAGSA members have par- maraderie among graduate stu- Continued on page 11 11 Continued from page 10 ticipated in the Missouri Science Olympiad, NSTA’s Science Matters Night at Lange Middle School, and a summer program entitled “The Physics of Superheroes”, among Department Hosted many others. Currently, the com- mittee is working with Sigma Pi Distinguished Sigma to unite our outreach efforts with the department’s undergradu- Alumni: The Department of Physics and As- A&S Fall Welcome tronomy hosted Dr. William Brinkman, Director, Office of Science, U.S. Depart- ate students. ment of Energy, for the Vice Chancellor

Tournament Volunteers (from left to for Research Seminar lecture, “Science 2012 Missouri Science Olympiad State- for Energy,” on February 18, 2011. Dr. se Kremenak, Deepika Menon, Grant Knotts, Mattright): McCune, Dhanashree Lindsey Moghe, Ortiz, Jiong Jagath Zhang, Gunase Jes- Brinkman is an alumnus of the Depart- kera, and Andrew Miskowiec (not shown: ment and received the 2011 College of Kevin Tarwater, Keshab Paudel, Matt Mower, Arts & Science Distinguished Alumni Award (2011 Arts & Science Week). and Prof. Yun Zhang) On March 19-10, 2012, the department hosted Dr. Gerald Fishman, NASA as- trophysicist and the winner of the 2012 prestigious Shaw award in Astronomy. Awards and Recognition Dr. Fishman presented both the O. M. Congratulations to... Stewart Colloquium on “Gamma-Ray Bursts” and the Astrophysics & Relativi- ty Seminar on “Terrestrial Gamma-Ray ....Kattesh Katti on his induction in. contributions to neutron scatter- Flashes Above Thunderstorms” to the Academy of Science, St. Louis, ing in North America. The award for his pioneering research in green will be presented at the American nanotechnology. Conference on Neutron Scatter- Dr. Katti was inducted as a Fellow of ing (ACNS), June 24 - 28, 2012, in .... Angela Speck on her election as the Academy on November 9, 2011 Washington, DC in a commemorative ceremony held Councilor of the American Astronom- in St. Louis, MO. ....Debi Hanuscin for winning ical Society (AAS). Her term in office one of the five Kemper Awards for will begin at the end of the annual busi- ....Gabor Forgacs on the St. Louis Teaching Excellence. ness meeting in May 2011, in Boston, Science Center’s inauguration of the and end at the conclusion of the annual .... Gavin King on his NSF CA- exhibit, “Organ Printing--Building business meeting in 2014 Tissues and Body Parts in the Future” REER Award, “Structure and Dy- (funded by the NSF), with a special namical Mechanisms of Mem- ..... Dorina Kostin on receiving the MU lecture of his (Star Trek Lecture), on brane Transport Proteins: New Excellence in Advising Award, which Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012. Vistas Via Ultra-stable Force Mi- recognizes outstanding advising ser- croscopy” vices to the students of the University of .... Hak Taub on his election as Fel- Missouri. Both Prof. Angela Speck and .... Xiaoqin Zou on her NSF CA- low of the Neutron Scattering Soci- Prof. Dorina Kosztin were nominated REER Award, “A computational ety of America (NSSA). Fellowship for this award. Prof. Dorina Kosztin is approach to template-based struc- in the NSSA is limited to less than also the recipient of the MU Excellence ture selection for protein-protein 1% of the membership, every two in Education Award, that recognizes years, and recognizes outstanding interactions.” Continued on page 12 12 Continued from page 11

faculty members, advisers and ac- ademic administrators who have MU Excellence in Advising Award. made significant contributions to Peter Pfeiffer, Lucas Miller, Dorina Kosztin, Paul Miceli, Angela Speck, the out-of-class learning experi- Meera Chandrasekhar, Ioan Kosztin, ences of MU students and who Giovanni Vignale have demonstrated a long-standing commitment to student learning and personal development.

Physics Leaders Meeting - October 21-22, 2011

The Physics Leaders gathered on after which the leaders had a diffi- for Recruiting Science and Engineer- October 21at MU to meet with cult decision to award first and sec- ing Majors” the faculty and students of the de- ond place to both undergraduate partment. Dr. Peter Pfeifer, Chair, and graduate students: First Place, Undergraduate: Justin Grayer updated the leaders on the latest Second Place, Undergraduate: Luke faculty statistics and research, Dr. Andrea Justin Grayer (UGR): “Precision First Place, Graduate: Andrew Miskowiec Carsten Ullrich summarized the Optical Techniques in Biology: Second Place, Graduate: Danish Adil current graduate program, and Progress towards Optimization of Dr. Dorina Kostin discussed un- an Ultrastable Force Microscope” Following lunch in the Physics Li- dergraduates and undergraduate brary, Physics Leader Dr. Homam- recruitment. Graduate students Luke Andrea (UGR): “Large Scale mad Salehpour, University of Kevin Tarwater and Matt McCune Fabrication of Active Hybrid Plas- M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in described the activities of the Phys- monic Nanosensors” Houston, gave an interesting presen- ics and Astronomy Graduate Stu- tation on “What is Actually Medical dent Association (PAGSA). Tyler Rash (GRAD): “Industrial Physics?”, including his own path to Scale Hydrogen Storage on Activat- this career, as well as some early his- Several of the faculty made presen- ed Carbon at MU” torical links between our department tations: and medical physics. Andrew Miskowiec (GRAD): “Study Dr. Hak Taub, Director of Neutron of Water Diffusion on Single-Sup- The leaders voted to approve Philip Scattering: “IGERT at MU: Neutron ported Bilayer Lipid Membranes by Chumbley as the new Chair of Phys- Scattering for Science and Engi- Quasielastic Neutron Scattering” ics Leaders, as the prior Chair, Linda neering of the 21st Century” Godwin, has jointed the MU Depart- Danish Adil (GRAD): “Studying ment of Physics and Astronomy. Dr. Haojing Yan (new faculty): Organic Field Effect Transistors: Dr. Peter Pfeiffer and his wife Therese “Galaxy Formation in the Early Towards Building More Reliable hosted the Friday night dinner at the Universe” Plastic Electronics” Upper Crust. Faculty and student Ashkan Shafiee (GRAD): “The Pow- awards were presented, and Philip Dr. Ioan Kosztin: “Multi-Scale er of Printers: From Printed Elec- Chumbley provided humorous rem- Modeling of Biomolecular Systems” tronics to Organ Printing” inicenses from his graduate student Matt Connolly (GRAD), “Pore days. Dr. Dorina Kosztin: “On-Line Structure of Activated Carbon” Teaching” The next Physics Leader’s meeting Nelson DeSouza (GRAD): “FIRST will take place on September 28- Undergraduate and graduate stu- Robotics Competition: Opportunity dents made excellent presentations, 29, 2012. 13 Student Awards and Scholarships Graduate Students: & Astronomy (2/21/12) Alexander Buffard: Newell S. Gin- Matt Mower: GSA Outstanding grich Scholarship Award, Dept. of Graduate Student Award (Gradu- Physics & Astronomy (2/21/12) ate Student Association; 3/8/12) and 2012 winner of the TA Choice Award Nathan Frey: Paul E. Basye Scholar- presented by MSA/GPC. ship Award, Dept. of Physics & As- tronomy (2/21/12) PAGSA -- Physics and Astronomy Matt Mower, TA Choice Award 2012 Graduate Student Association: 2nd Justin Grayer: Paul E. Basye Schol- Place Ribbon at Mizzou Adventures arship Award, Dept. of Physics & in Graduate Education (4/20/12) Astronomy (2/21/12) http://gradschool.missouri.edu/ Deepika Menon, Jared Grice: Donald L. Packwood about-us/initiatives/graduate-educa- Chancelor’s Excel- tion-week/ lence Award, 2012 Scholarship Award, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy (2/21/12) Jacob Brown: Harry E. Hammond Award for Excellence in Undergrad- Colby Johnson: Paul E. Basye Schol- uate Teaching; Dept. of Physics & As- arship Award, Dept. of Physics & tronomy (5/3/12) Astronomy (2/21/12) Jagath Gunasekera: Harry E. Ham- Christopher Lutsch: Paul E. Basye mond Award for Excellence in Un- Undergraduate Scholarship Award, Dept. of Physics dergraduate Teaching; Dept. of Phys- & Astronomy (2/21/12) ics & Astronomy (5/3/12) Students: Lucas Miller: Clifford W. Tompson  Cody Allard: Rose Marie (Rice) Scholarship Award, Dept. of Physics Keshab Paudel: Harry E. Hammond Dishman Scholarship Award, Dept. & Astronomy (2/21/12) Award for Excellence in Undergrad- of Physics & Astronomy (2/21/12) uate Teaching; Dept. of Physics & As- Antony Pace: Newell S. Gingrich tronomy (5/3/12) Michael Andrade: Paul E. Basye Scholarship Award, Dept. of Physics Scholarship Award, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy (2/21/12) Deepika Menon: 2012 recipient of the & Astronomy (2/21/12) Nicholas Parmely: Paul E. Basye Chancellor’s Excellence Award for Richard Barber: Newell S. Gingrich Scholarship Award, Dept. of Physics Graduate Student Leadership. Scholarship Award, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy (2/21/12) Dylan Register: Newell S. Gingrich Scholarship Award, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy (2/21/12) Lee Seeow: Paul E. Basye Schol- arship Award, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy (2/21/12) Sean Sweany: Paul E. Basye Schol- arship Award, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy (2/21/12)

PAGSA-2012 Chancellor's Award in Public Outreach (2nd Place) at the Mizzou Adven- Jordan Wheeler: Clifford W. Tomp- tures in Graduate Education Event (from left to right): Kevin Tarwater, Raghu Sanganna son Scholarship Award, Dept. of Gari, Matt McCune, Chris Owens, and Dr. George Justice (not shown: Matt Mower, Deep- Physics & Astronomy (2/21/12) ika Menon, and Nelson de Souza). 14

For Your Bookshelf:

Giovanni Vignale, Beautiful Invis- ible Carsten Ulrich, Time-Dependent Sergei Kopeikin, Michale Efro- Publication Date: April 15, 2011 Density-Functional Theory, Con- imsky, George Kaplan, Relativistic

cepts and Applications Celestial Mechanics of the Solar Challenging the image of theoreti- Released Dec. 22, 2011 By Oxford System cal physics as a dry discipline, The Graduate Texts Published August 2011 Beautiful Invisible shows that this highly abstract science is in fact This authoritative book presents This is a first, comprehensive, self teeming with beautiful concepts, the theoretical development of contained textbook in the field of and the task of imagining them gravitational physics as it applies TDDFT, written by a leader in the demands profound creativity, just to the dynamics of celestial bodies field. The book has a strong empha- as creative as the work of poets or and the analysis of precise astro- sis on a pedagogical treatment, with magical realist novelists such as nomical observations. In so doing, many examples and 125 exercises, Borges and Musil. “A good scientif-  it fills the need for a textbook that and is suitable as a textbook or com- ic theory is like a symbolic tale, an teaches modern dynamical astron- panion book for graduate courses allegory of reality,” writes Giovan- omy with a strong emphasis on the in electronic structure theory, theo- ni Vignale, as he uncovers the un- relativistic aspects of the subject retical spectroscopy, theoretical and expected links between theoretical produced by the curved geome- computational chemistry, materials physics and artistic creativity. In try of four-dimensional spacetime. science and many other topics engaging and at times poetic prose, The book presents an overview of and with ample quotations from The first three chapters review the the state of the art of the field of many of the writers he admires, fundamental principles of celestial TDDFT, with over 800 references. Vignale presents his own unortho- mechanics and of special and gener- Many additional resources are con- dox accounts of fundamental theo- al relativity. This background mate- tained in the appendices, including retical concepts such as Newtonian rial forms the basis for understand- a long list of review literature and mechanics, superconductivity, and ing relativistic reference frames, available computer codes. Einstein’s theory of relativity, illumi- the celestial mechanics of N-body Time-dependent density-function- nating their profound implications. systems, and high-precision as- al theory (TDDFT) describes the Throughout, the author treats read- trometry, navigation, and , quantum dynamics of interacting ers to glimpses of physics as “exer- which are then treated in the follow- electronic many-body systems for- cised in the still night, when only ing five chapters. The final chapter mally exactly and in a practical and the moon rages.” Indeed, as we delve provides an overview of the new efficient manner. TDDFT has be- behind now-familiar concepts such field of applied relativity, based on come the leading method for calcu- as “electron spin” and “black hole,” recent recommendations from the lating excitation energies and opti- the world that we take for grant- International Astronomical Union. cal properties of large molecules, ed melts away, leaving a glimpse with accuracies that rival traditional of something much stranger. The book is suitable for teach- Continued on page 15 Continued on page 15 Continued from page 14 (Ulrich) Continued from page 14 (Kopeikin)

wave-function based methods, but at a fraction of the ing advanced undergraduate honors programs15 computational cost. and graduate courses, while equally serving as a reference for professional research scientists This book is the first graduate-level text on the concepts working in relativity and dynamical astronomy. and applications of TDDFT, including many examples and exercises, and extensive coverage of the literature. The authors bring their extensive theoretical and practical experience to the subject. Sergei Kopeikin is a professor at The book begins with a self-contained review of ground- the University of Missouri, while Michael Efroimsky and state DFT, followed by a detailed and pedagogical George Kaplan work at the United States Naval Obser- treatment of the formal framework of TDDFT. It is ex- vatory, one of the world’s premier institutions for exper- plained how excitation energies can be calculated from tise in astrometry, celestial mechanics, and timekeeping. linear-response TDDFT. Among the more advanced topics are time-dependent current-density-function- al theory, orbital functionals, and many-body theory. Many applications are discussed, including molecular excitations, ultrafast and strong-field phenomena, ex- citons in solids, van der Waals interactions, nanoscale transport, and molecular dynamics. Readership: Graduate students and postgraduate scien- tists in theoretical and computational chemistry, bio- chemistry, physical chemistry, physics, materials sci- ence, and nanoscience.

 Continued from page 1, From the Chair...

South Africa, as he presented our O. M. Stewart Colloquium/Justin Huang Memorial Lecture and our As- trophysics-RelativityOn September 24-25, Seminar. we hosted South Professor Africa recently Roy Maartens was recently from theselected University as one of of the two Western sites for Cape, the Square Kilometer Array radio telescope, expected to revolutionize radio astronomy, and we are very in- terested in collaboration between our respective astrophysics research programs. Haojing Yan repre-

MUsented undergraduate our department students on our as first part visit of our to UWC continuing earlier effortsthis year. to increase our number of students. We hadOn several September visitors 20, throughout we held our the first day Department with some potentialof Physics new and majors Astronomy and weOpen plan house to continue exclusively this for in

followingOur department years. On webpageSeptember has 6, a we new hosted look, aas busload Dorina ofKosztin physics has high done school a fantastic students job fromin updating St. Joseph, the lookMO, theand first content. such visitPlease from check Central it out High at Physics.Missouri.edu School, and look forward. And, toif youmany are happy in the returns. habit of visiting Face- book, please “like” our University of Missouri Department of Physics and Astronomy Facebook page as an easy way to help advertise our department. - ules to travel to our campus every fall. Thank you for your continued support of our department. I hope youOnce enjoy again, reading I am of very the manypleased events and respectfuland activities of the associated number ofwith leaders our professors who find time and fromstudents, their and sched are as impressed as I am of what they continue to accomplish. Please continue to check our website frequent- ly for updates on our activities. 16

Coming up, Fall 2014: Department of Physics and Astronomy Alumni Reunion!

For up-to-date news, reference: Physics.Missouri.edu

Department of Physics  and Astronomy 223 Physics Building Columbia, MO 65211