APS News April 2018 Vol. 24, NO. 4

April 2018 • Vol. 27, No. 4

A PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY More from the 2018 March Meeting Pages 3, 4 APS.ORG/APSNEWS

Astrophysicist Helms the NSF Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate By Katherine Kornei The new head of the National Science Foundation’s Mathematical Open-Access Pioneer and Community Organizer and Physical Sciences Directorate invokes Einstein when describ- By Frank Zimmermann medicine. While members of ing her job responsibilities. “The M. Keck Observatory W. Since its start in 1998 Physical the accelerator community make question I ask myself is if Einstein Review Accelerators and Beams essential contributions to a broad were proposing [for NSF funding], (PRAB) has been an all-electronic range of sciences, “their peers would he win?,” says Anne Kinney. journal, a daring novelty at the are other accelerator scientists “We want to make sure the answer time and a testing ground for other and their professional interests to that question is always yes.” Physical Review journals. Equally are related to accelerators and In January, Kinney stepped up unheard of, thanks to external beams” [2]. Almost all accelerator to lead one of the NSF’s largest financial sponsorship, PRAB has experts are working at the nexus directorates, which includes five Anne Kinney been made available free of charge of universities, research centers, an international editorial board and divisions: astronomy, chemistry, pool of referees [2]. a very proud example of what you to both authors and readers around and industry, giving rise to unique physics, materials science, and want to make sure you’re always the world. As such, it is a pioneer- collaboration models and research Martin Blume, APS Editor in mathematics. She oversees how Chief at that time, understood supporting,” Kinney says. ing “gold” open-access journal, far methodologies. fundamental research in these areas Kinney, who holds a doctor- ahead of its time. Innovative and To better serve and nurture the intimate connection between is funded—over 40% of the fed- technology and the resulting sci- ate in physics and astronomy forward-looking, PRAB rapidly this community, in 1997 the APS eral support for basic research at from New York University, spent established its reputation as the Division of Physics of Beams ence, and, departing from Physical academic institutions comes from Review tradition, he was willing to 14 years at the Space Telescope world’s premier journal in accel- (DPB) recommended establishing the Mathematical and Physical Science Institute where she was an erators and beams. a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal champion a journal covering all of Sciences Directorate. Kinney is accelerator research [2]. Instrument Scientist working on the Accelerators have been a part devoted to the science and tech- quick to highlight NSF’s previous Faint Object Spectrograph aboard of one-third of all physics Nobel nology of accelerators and beams. As a result, Physical Review and ongoing research success sto- Special Topics - Accelerators and the Hubble Space Telescope. In Prizes awarded since 1939 [1] as It would cover the full breadth of ries, for example its support of the 1999, Kinney joined NASA to lead well as being engines of discov- accelerators and beams, publish Beams (PRST-AB) was approved Laser Interferometer Gravitational- ery for chemistry, biology, and quickly, circulate widely, and have PRAB continued on page 6 Wave Observatory (LIGO). “That’s NSF continued on page 4

Condensed Matter Physics Gets an AI Assist Kavli Symposium: LIGO, Quantum Computers, and More By Sophia Chen limits: As the number of particles 2018 APS March Meeting, in a model approaches values Los Angeles—At the beginning for actual materials, simulations of his equation-filled PowerPoint require supercomputing facilities. presentation, invited speaker Ehsan “It becomes enormously expen- Khatami pulled up a picture of sive,” says Khatami. a puppy. Khatami and other condensed Gesturing matter researchers think that toward the Barry Barish Shoucheng Zhang Ivan Schuller Manu Prakash Amir Abo-Shaeer puppy’s round, artificial intel-

E. Khatami ligence—which doleful eyes, the By Leah Poffenberger (Stanford) spoke next on the years without detecting gravita- San Jose State includes tech- 2018 APS March Meeting, application of physics to global tional waves. The issue, Barish University phys- niques known as Los Angeles—The Kavli health and education chal- noted, was in the sensitivity icist explained machine learn- Foundation Special Symposium lenges in developing countries. of the instrument, which was how he’d used ing and neural brought five distinguished To round out the evening, Dos constrained by seismic noise. artificial intel- networks—can physicists together to share Pueblos Engineering Academy To combat the constant shaking ligence—the be used along- groundbreaking physics, out- founder Amir Abo-Shaeer of Earth, Advanced LIGO was same approach side conven- For a simple model of spins, a neu- of-the-box physics applications, shared his vision for reimag- constructed using techniques that lets Google’s tional computing ral network can distinguish between and ideas for innovative science ined science education to equip found in everyday objects such image recogni- algorithms for a disordered state at high tempera- education. potential future physicists. as cars and noise-cancelling tion software dis- ture (top) and an ordered state be- studying collec- Barry Barish (Caltech) Barish, recipient of the 2017 headphones. Armed with high- tinguish between low the transition temperature (bot- tions of electrons reviewed the history of the Laser Nobel Prize in Physics, kicked powered shock absorbers and puppies and kit- tom). in a material. Interferometer Gravitational- off the three-hour session with active-seismic isolation tech- tens—to identify phases in a quan- Machine learning algorithms can Wave Observatory (LIGO) a discussion of gravitational niques that measured ambient tum condensed matter model. run on an ordinary desktop com- and the latest discoveries in wave detection, beginning with shaking and corrected for it, Simulation of exotic phases puter beefed up with additional gravitational wave detection. Einstein’s 1916 prediction of Advanced LIGO went online and emergent phenomena is a hot graphical processing units—com- Shoucheng Zhang (Stanford) their existence. Experimental in September 2014. Within topic in condensed matter physics puter chips that are popularly used and Ivan Schuller (University verification took a further 100 five days, it detected the first research, but conventional com- to display video game graphics of California at San Diego) both years. As Barish described, evidence of gravitational puting methods are reaching their AI ASSIST continued on page 5 gave presentations on the future gravitational waves remained waves. Since then, it has seen of computing: Zhang on the dis- elusive for a century because four events caused by black covery of a particle which could no instrument existed that was hole mergers and one—most be critical to topological quan- sensitive enough to detect the recently—from merging neutron tum computing, and Schuller on small stretching of space indi- stars. This neutron star merger the development of computers cating passage of a wave until was also observed by astrono- that mimic the human brain. Advanced LIGO in 2014. mers around the world, creating Creator of the Paperfuge—a Barish became a principal “what we now call multi-mes- simple toy repurposed as a investigator for LIGO in 1994, senger astronomy,” says Barish. medical centrifuge that requires and the instrument began tak- It also solved a mystery: “It was no electricity—Manu Prakash ing data in 1995 and ran for 11 KAVLI continued on page 7

Revised 4/18/18 2 • April 2018

Spotlight on Development This Month in Physics History The Millie Dresselhaus Fund April 17, 1969: Robert R. Wilson’s APS is pleased to announce Congressional Testimony on Founding Fermilab the establishment of the Millie Dresselhaus Fund for Science ver the last five decades or so, Fermilab scien- moments each week with Fermi.” and Society to honor the remark- Otists have made some of the most fundamental Wilson was among those who witnessed the able scientific career and inspiring discoveries in particle physics, garnering numerous Trinity Test, from a bunker 10,000 yards north of community legacy of Mildred S. Nobel Prizes along the way. But the facility may Ground Zero. Noticing that part of the mushroom Dresselhaus. A campaign has been never have been built had a handful of physicists— cloud of radioactive debris had peeled off and was launched to endow this fund and chief among them the lab’s first director, Robert heading for the bunker, he ordered everyone in it, we invite you to consider support- R. Wilson—not convinced the U.S. Congress of including soldiers—“using a vocabulary everyone ing this effort. the project’s value. could understand”—into trucks for evacuation. Millie, as she was known to Born in Frontier, Wyoming, in 1914, Wilson “As we left, that cloud of radioactive debris was everyone, made important con- had a lifelong love of the great outdoors, regal- right on top of us and it was spooky,” he recalled. tributions to science through her ing physics colleagues with tales of his life as a “We were lucky though. About 25 miles later it research on carbon, semimet- Mildred S. Dresselhaus cowboy in the Wild West. (“Most of them turned came down on a bunch of cattle and turned their als, and nanomaterials and other out to be true,” physicist Dale Corson told the New hair white.” travel grants for undergradu- nanostructural systems. Her contri- York Times for Wilson’s obituary in 2000.) He also After the war ended, Wilson moved to the ate women who lack sufficient butions have won significant acco- had a mechanical bent, tin- Laboratory of Nuclear resources to attend these confer- lades in and of themselves—but kering with pumps and vac- Studies at Cornell and ences. In addition, there will be more than this, she was an inspi- uum tubes. As a physicist he designed accelerators. On ration and mentor to many young an “action fund” to provide mini- naturally gravitated towards April 19, 1969, Wilson women and men as they developed grants to local Women-in-Physics the fundamental building was among a number of into scientists and engineers. groups throughout the country, blocks of nature. At the time, scientists who testified in The Millie Dresselhaus Fund for to enable them to conduct activi- “we only had electrons and Washington, DC before the Science and Society will reflect the ties aimed at encouraging young protons, and you could put Joint Committee on Atomic areas in which Millie excelled and women to obtain a physics degree. those together into atoms in Energy concerning a pro- left her mark. The goal is to raise The APS Development Office, various ways and make the posed multimillion-dollar a $600,000 endowment to support in partnership with the Executive whole universe,” he recalled. particle accelerator to be activities in the areas of science Committees of the APS Divisions “It was a very simple theory built in Batavia, Illinois. and society to honor her remark- of Material Physics (DMP) that even a dope could under- Despite the key role physi- able scientific career and inspir- and Condensed Matter Physics stand. I decided then that I cists played in ending World ing legacy. This initiative is unlike (DCMP), is currently recruiting wanted to go into physics.” War II, some members of any other at APS—not only will it volunteers to serve on the Millie By 1932 he was working in Congress were skeptical of recognize scientific contributions Dresselhaus Fund Fundraising Ernest O. Lawrence’s flagship paying a hefty price tag for of one or two recipients per year, Committee. The objective of the cyclotron laboratory (a.k.a., the a machine that did not seem but its reach and impact will ben- Committee will be to identify and “Rad Lab”) at the University to directly benefit the U.S. Robert R. Wilson efit thousands of aspiring women solicit major gift commitments of California, Berkeley and national interest. physicists each year. The Fund will that will help raise 60%-80% of received his Ph.D. in During Wilson’s support the following activities: 1940. He was infa- testimony, then- the goal. This will position APS Science: $300,000 will fund mously fired twice: Fermilab senator John Pastore to launch the Campaign, and suc- awards to individuals who have once for losing a rub- bluntly asked, “Is cessfully raise the balance from the excelled in science and who have ber seal right before there anything membership of DMP, DCMP and made significant contributions to a presentation to a connected with nanoscience and nanomaterials— related units, as well as the broader potential donor, and the hopes of this areas pioneered by Millie. This physics community. once for accidently accelerator that in APS prize will provide an annual Gifts of any amount will be melting a pair of pli- any way involves $10,000 stipend, travel to an APS greatly appreciated and recog- ers while welding. the security of the national meeting, and a certificate. nized on the Dresselhaus campaign The lab still offered country?” Society: $300,000 will be used website (go.aps.org/2G82o5C). For him his job back, “No, sir, I don’t to endow a named keynote address more information on ways to sup- but after his second believe so,” Wilson to be delivered to the more than port The Millie Dresselhaus Fund firing, he decided to replied. 1,900 young women who attend for Science and Society, please con- move to Princeton “It has no value Conferences for Undergraduate tact Irene I. Lukoff, APS Director University instead. in that respect?” Women in Physics (CUWiP) each of Development at [email protected] He left Princeton The sculpture "Broken Symmetry" at Fermilab “It has only to do year. The fund will also provide or 301-209-3224. when J. Robert with the respect with Oppenheimer invited him to join the then-fledg- which we regard one another, the dignity of man, ling Manhattan Project. Despite initial reluctance, our love of culture. It has to do with: Are we good he wound up being the youngest group leader painters, good sculptors, great poets? I mean all the in the experimental division when Enrico Fermi things we really venerate in our country and are persuaded him to head the Cyclotron Group—by patriotic about. It has nothing to do directly with promising to meet with Wilson every week to talk defending our country except to make it worth ONLINE about physics. “Sure, I sold out,” Wilson later defending.” said. “Everyone has his price, and mine was a few WILSON continued on page 4 aps.org/apsnews

Series II, Vol. 27, No. 4 April 2018 APS COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES 2018 General Councilors ternational Physics), Pushpa Bhat* (Forum on Physics © 2018 American Physical Society Gail McLaughlin*, Bonnie Fleming, Andrea Liu*, and Society), Beverly Berger* (Gravitational Physics), President Vivian Incera Nicholas Bigelow* (Laser Science), Samuel Bader Roger W. Falcone*, University of California, Berkeley/ (Materials), Akif “Baha” Balantekin (Nuclear Phys- Editor...... David Voss LBNL International Councilors ics), Elizabeth Simmons (Particles & Fields), Thomas Eliezer Rabinovici, Johanna Stachel, Marta Losada*, Roser (Physics of Beams), Cary Forest (Plasma Phys- Staff Science Writer...... Leah Poffenberger President-Elect Ahmadou Wagué ics), Murugappan Muthukumar (Polymer Physics), Contributing Correspondent ...... Alaina G. Levine David J. Gross*, KITP, University of California, Santa Philip Johnson (Mid-Atlantic Section), Carlos Wexler Barbara Chair, Nominating Committee (Prairie Section), Charles Bennett (Quantum Informa- Design and Production...... Nancy Bennett-Karasik David Meyerhofer, Los Alamos National Laboratory tion) Copy Editor and Proofreader...... Edward Lee Vice President Philip H. Bucksbaum*, Stanford University, SLAC Chair, Panel on Public Affairs Senior Management Team Michael Marder, University of Texas, Austin Mark Doyle, Chief Information Officer; Jane Hopkins APS News (ISSN: 1058-8132) is published monthly, Subscriptions: APS News is an on-membership publica- Past-President Gould, Chief Financial Officer; Kate P. Kirby, Chief except for a combined August-September issue, 11 times tion delivered by Periodical Mail Postage Paid at Col- Laura H. Greene*, Florida State University, Magnet Editor in Chief Executive Officer; Matthew M. Salter, Publisher; Fran- per year, by the American Physical Society, One Physics lege Park, MD and at additional mailing offices. Laboratory Michael Thoennessen, Michigan State University (on cis Slakey, Chief Government Affairs Officer;James W. Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844, (301) 209-3200. leave) Taylor, Deputy Executive Officer and Chief Operating It contains news of the Society and of its Divisions, Topi- For address changes, please send both the old and new Chief Executive Officer Officer; Michael Thoennessen, Editor in Chief cal Groups, Sections, and Forums; advance information addresses, and, if possible, include a mailing label from Kate P. Kirby, Harvard Smithsonian (retired) Division, Forum, and Section Councilors on meetings of the Society; and reports to the Society a recent issue. Changes can be emailed to membership@ Michael Coleman Miller (Astrophysics), Timothy * Voting Members of the APS Board of Directors by its committees and task forces, as well as opinions. aps.org. Postmaster: Send address changes to APS Speaker of the Council Gay* (Atomic, Molecular & Optical Physics), William News, Membership Department, American Physical Timothy Gay*, University of Nebraska Bialek (Biological Physics), Robert Continetti (Chemi- Letters to the editor are welcomed from the member- Society, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740- cal Physics), John Bradley Marston* (Condensed Mat- ship. Letters must be signed and should include an ad- 3844. Treasurer ter Physics), Giulia Galli (Computational Physics), dress and daytime telephone number. APS reserves the James Hollenhorst*, Agilent Technologies Ann Karagozian (Fluid Dynamics), Noah Finkelstein right to select and to edit for length and clarity. All cor- (Forum on Education), Julia Gonski, (Forum on Grad- respondence regarding APS News should be directed to: Coden: ANWSEN ISSN: 1058-8132 Corporate Secretary uate Student Affairs), Virginia Trimble (Forum on His- Editor, APS News, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, Ken Cole, APS tory of Physics), John Rumble* (Forum on Industrial MD 20740-3844, Email: [email protected]. and Applied Physics), Emanuela Barzi (Forum on In- April 2018 • 3 Q&A with Danielle Bassett on the Physics of Brains

Education & Diversity Update By Sophia Chen Nearly 100 physicists gathered February 9–10 for the annual conference 2018 APS March Meeting, of the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (phystec.org/conferences/2018/) Los Angeles—Human thought is to network and learn more about preparing future physics teachers. Sev- capable of beauty and baseness, eral of them stayed for the next two days (February 10 & 11) for the boredom and inspiration. And your triennial Building Thriving Undergraduate Physics Programs workshop brain, that creased chunk of meat (phystec.org/conferences/thriving18/index.cfm), where more than 100 in your head, produces all of it. faculty developed strategies to strengthen their undergraduate physics But how? What, physically, is Pennsylvania Ari E. Kahn/Univ. programs. thought? To help institutions prepare future physics teachers, the PhysTEC project Researchers are still a long way has released a new rubric for characterizing teacher preparation programs from answering that question. But in order to help faculty identify how their programs can grow and improve. Danielle Bassett, a physicist at The Physics Teacher Education Program Analysis Rubric (phystec.org/ the University of Pennsylvania, is thriving/), along with its user-friendly supporting materials, can help pro- developing tools that could even- gram leaders emulate the thriving programs. tually link the qualitative ideas of psychology to measurable signals in the brain. The Hunt For the Elusive Majorana Qubit Bassett, the animated recipient By Sophia Chen along with supporting experiments, of a 2014 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, uses the mathemati- 2018 APS March Meeting, suggests that these half-electron cal framework of network theory Los Angeles—It’s a tale oft told in quasiparticles can exist at the ends The brain houses an intricate wiring network that serves as an information to study how different parts of the transmission highway system. physics: researchers are, yet again, of one-dimensional semiconduct- brain share information. With a excited about a phenomenon that ing wires that are attached to a turally connected. In your brain, How noisy is your data? team of neuroscientists, doctors, may or may not exist. This time, superconductor. all neurons have a long tail called The common sources of noise and engineers, she studies human it’s Majorana fermions—weird One predicted property of these an axon, and these tend to line up are actually cardiac or respira- brains with a magnetic resonance objects that act as their own anti- quasiparticles is that they have a together. When you have thou- tory artifacts that cause the blood imaging scanner as the subjects particles. Some condensed matter “memory” of how they’ve been sands of these tails lining up, you flow to change in your brain. Also complete cognitive tests—includ- physicists think they’ve seen these moved around. For example, if get something called a tract. We motion—our biggest source of ing one similar to the video game elusive beasts, but others aren’t so you swap two quasiparticles’ posi- count how many of these tracts noise is a person moving in the Guitar Hero. Then, she converts the sure. Either way, Microsoft has put tions on a nanowire, “they would go from one piece of the brain to scanner. We try to tell them to stay data into an interconnected map out a bounty for the Majoranas and remember whether they had been another piece. still. It actually complicates tak- that could easily also describe the hopes one day to harness them for moved clockwise or counterclock- The other type of connection ing images with kids, because the interactions between friends on a quantum computing. wise around each other,” says is called a functional edge. Here, younger they are, the more likely social media website. Bassett and While particle physicists also Pendharkar. instead of asking whether two they’re going to move. You can store information in a her colleagues look for patterns in study a version of the Majorana things are structurally connected, You’re interested in a psy- pair of quasiparticles by exploit- the maps. fermion (neutrinos might be of we’re asking if they are sharing chological concept called ing this property, says Christina They’ve analyzed brain maps of this ilk), the ones of interest to information with one another. So “cognitive control,” which is Knapp, a graduate student at UCSB schizophrenia patients, eight-year- quantum computing are quasi- we measure the level of activity basically like self-control. who also presented in the same ses- old kids, and of course, University particles—many electrons acting over time in two pieces of the brain Cognitive control includes sion. For example, in a simplistic of Pennsylvania undergrads. She collectively in materials to mimic and compare how similar they selecting and monitoring behav- encoding scheme, moving one qua- spoke with APS News following particles. In 2012, researchers at are. You can use something super ior, as well as attention and inhibi- siparticle clockwise with respect her invited talk at the 2018 APS the Delft University of Technology simple, like calculating if they are tion. It’s really interesting because to the other could correspond to March Meeting in Los Angeles. in the Netherlands first reported linearly related to each other, or it’s the most pervasively altered a 1, while moving counterclock- experimental evidence of the How long has this field been you can compare their spectra, or function in psychiatric disease, but wise could correspond to a 0. To quasiparticle in a semiconductor around? do other things that estimate causal we don’t know why. You see it in nanowire attached to a supercon- read out the qubit, in principle, I would say it really took off relations. These relations are prob- people with autism, schizophrenia, ductor. Subsequent measurements you would collide the two half- around 2010. The first paper tech- ably supported by structure, but bipolar disorder, major depression, by several other research groups electron quasiparticles together nically came out 14 years ago, you don’t need to know the struc- and post-traumatic stress disorder. also match theoretical predictions, on the nanowire and measure the but it was sort of a trickle ini- ture to estimate the relationship. We want to know how much our although it is still possible that the outcome, which would yield a dif- tially. My first paper in the field We measure these connections measurements relate to cognitive signals could come from some ferent signal depending on whether was in 2006. The first textbook, using a type of imaging called dif- control. Our results so far indicate other interaction in the nanowire. they were in a 0, 1, or a superposi- Brain Network Analysis, came fusion MRI, which basically tracks that they are related, which is neat. tion state. out in 2016, and the first journal, Because of these tantalizing water molecules in the brain. Water What kinds of technical Researchers predict that these Network Neuroscience, was [pub- experimental results, research- molecules are constantly bounc- limitations do you struggle quasiparticles will be more robust lished] in 2016 as well. I still feel ers think that someone will ing around in the brain, but they’re against? at holding information than the it’s quite new. conclusively nail down the qua- constrained by these tracts. Either I’m really interested in human qubits that Google and IBM are siparticle soon. “It looks like a How do you divide the brain they’re bouncing inside one of cognition because humans have currently building. The latter are dog, and it walks like a dog,” says into nodes in a network? these tubes, or against it. capabilities that lots of animals error-prone because of “local” Mihir Pendharkar, a Microsoft- There are actually very strict don’t—but that means we have noise, such as ambient electromag- So you study how these net- funded graduate student at the boundaries between different to stick with imaging techniques netic fields. Consequently, thou- works change while someone University of California, Santa sectors of the brain, and these that don’t hurt the person. Right sands of superconducting qubits is in the scanner. Barbara (UCSB), who presented broad anatomical boundaries are We measure something called now, the imaging technique can are required to lower the error rate his research at the 2018 March very consistent across humans. network flexibility, which is how only go down to about one cubic enough to perform a logical opera- Meeting. But still, he adds, it might Different types of neurons exist in these functional connections millimeter. Eventually, I would tion. Google, the current record- not be a dog. each spot, or different patterns of change in time. We also look at love to be able to go down to holder, has put only 72 of these Quantum computing research- connections between neurons exist something called network control, individual neurons. But it’s really qubits together. This constrains ers want to use a specific kind of in each spot. So there’s something which is how the structural con- hard to identify where neurons are researchers to design algorithms Majorana fermion, known as a different about the material in dif- nections change in time. We take in the brain, even when you do it that are still useful despite inevi- Majorana zero mode, as a qubit. ferent parts of the brain. We study data every thirty seconds for about invasively. You certainly can’t do table errors. “In classical terms, a Majorana the entire brain and divide it up an hour. it non-invasively. Unlike Google’s computer, zero mode is like half an elec- into about 200 pieces, and we look Also, the pattern of connec- Have you ever tested your tron,” says Pendharkar. Theory, QUBIT continued on page 7 at the connections from one piece tion is not very consistent across own brain? to another. humans, which is really interesting. We do have a couple scans In your talk, you said that you The differences have been con- where I really needed preliminary classify these connections in nected to everything from your IQ data for a grant. two different categories. Can to your personality. There’s a recent This interview has been edited you explain? paper that showed that the pattern and condensed for clarity. One type is called a structural is sort of a fingerprint of you. It’s Sophia Chen is a freelance edge, where the neurons are struc- different from anyone else’s. writer based in Tucson, Arizona.

News and commentary about research from the APS journals

S. Das Sarma, M. Freedman, C. Nayak, Phys.Today (July 2006) S. Das Sarma, M. Freedman, C. Nayak, Phys.Today Sign up for Alerts: physics.aps.org

Trajectories of Majorana quasiparticles can be arranged to be topologically distinct and might form the basis for robust qubits in quantum computing. 4 • April 2018

WILSON continued from page 2

Letters Congress approved the fund- Wilson is often called the “father Members may submit letters to [email protected]. APS reserves the right to select letters and edit for length and clarity. ing, and Wilson took the lead on of proton therapy,” thanks to his the design and construction of the 1946 paper on the radiological use facility. Under his guidance, the of high-energy protons. The paper AIP and The Physical Review National Accelerator Laboratory grew out of his wartime research (later renamed Fermilab) was com- into the effects of radiation dam- th APS is celebrating the 125 I encourage my fellow APS mem- of Physics Students, the Statistical pleted on time and under budget. age on the human body; Wilson anniversary of the founding of The bers to thank our chemistry col- Research Center’s education and “No one was more aware of the had been deeply affected by two Physical Review with a number of leagues for their community’s role work force studies, the Center for technical subtlety of accelerators, Los Alamos scientists who died publications and program events. in our history.) History of Physics, the Niels Bohr no one more ingenious in practical of acute radiation sickness after Roberto Lalli’s article (APS News, Lalli points out that The Physical Library & Archives, and publica- designs, no one paid more atten- accidents while testing plutonium February 2018) on the early history Review editor at the time, Jack Tate, tions such as Physics Today, the tion to their aesthetic qualities,” cores. For the treatment of cancer of the journal, however, omits an instituted voluntary page charges GradSchoolShopper, FYI science Wilson’s former Cornell colleague patients, most proton therapy facil- influential series of events set in and page reductions to combat the policy news, and Inside Science for Boyce McDaniel recalled. “He ities today follow the tenets and motion by the 1929 stock market significant budget pressures on the science literacy. thought of accelerator builders as techniques he established. crash that had significant impact journal. This is true, but the econ- APS initiated the formation the contemporary equivalent of the Wilson suffered a stroke in 1999 on the fortunes of the APS journals omies of scale generated by the of AIP when APS leadership was builders of the great cathedrals in and never fully recovered. He died and many other American physics joint publishing operations of AIP deeply concerned about our com- France and Italy.” on January 16, 2000, at the age of journals. had significant positive impact on munity’s ability to disseminate It was aesthetics that drove 85, and is buried at a 19th century In 1929 APS formed a publishing as well. This fascinating research findings. Future challenges Wilson to design Fermilab’s main cemetery on the Fermilab site. “Committee on Applied Physics,” story is recounted by Henry Barton, facing science can be addressed accelerator ring to be visible from Further Reading: initially to look at the role of AIP’s first director, in the January more effectively by societies work- the air, via a 20-foot-high berm Glanz, J. 2000. Robert R. Wilson, industrial physicists and their par- 1956 issue of Physics Today [1] and ing together. The lesson from our running the entire length of the physicist who led Fermilab, dies at 85, ticipation in APS programs and in Tom Scheiding’s article[2] pub- history in the 1930s validates this ring. Nor did he want the facility to New York Times. 18 January. meetings. The effects of the Great lished in 2013. collaborative approach. look like a typically sterile govern- Hoddeson, L. and Kolb, A. 2003. Vi- Depression on scholarly journals AIP served as the publisher of 1. Barton,H. A. 1956. The story of ment lab. So he restored part of the sion to reality: from Robert R. Wilson’s soon became a pressing committee APS journals up until 2004 when the American Institute of Physics, surrounding prairie, complete with frontier to Leon Lederman’s Fermilab, Physics Today 9, 1, 56-66. Physics in Perspective 5: 67-86. topic. The Committee invited The APS began to manage its own pub- a herd of bison. His own abstract Optical Society and the Acoustic lishing operations. APS and AIP 2. Scheiding, T. 2013. Building the sculptures—he studied sculpture in Ouellette, J. 2011. Protons and Pistols: Remembering Robert Wilson. Cocktail Society of America to collaborate continue to partner on scholarly scholarly infrastructure in phys- Italy during a 1961 sabbatical—are on addressing these economic chal- publishing industry initiatives, ics in interwar America, Studies in Party Physics. Scientific American. 23 dotted all over the grounds, most September. lenges. Together with the American such as co-founding the non-profit History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 44, 450-463. notably “Broken Symmetry,” an Association of Physics Teachers CHORUS in 2014 to provide public Wilson, R. 2000. From frontiersman orange-and-black arch across one to physicist. Physics in Perspective and the Society of Rheology, they access to publications describing H. Frederick Dylla of the entrances. 2:141-203. formed the American Institute of publicly funded research. Lewes, Delaware Physics (AIP) in 1931 to consoli- AIP now manages a $25M The author was the Executive date their publishing operations. annual portfolio of outreach ser- Director and CEO of AIP from (AIP was largely financed by the vices on behalf of all 120,000 mem- 2007-2015, and currently serves NSF continued from page 1 Chemical Foundation until the new bers of AIP’s ten Member Societies. on the Board of CHORUS as AIP organization became self-sufficient. These programs include the Society Publishing’s representative. its Universe Division and manage a variety of current and planned space missions such as the Spitzer Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope. Her work Silent Sky Sparks Discussion of Women in Physics at NASA and a subsequent job at the W. M. Keck Observatory as By Amanda Babcock chief scientist cemented her role in 2018 APS March Meeting, management, a field that combines Los Angeles—A popular event at her scientific background with her nearly every March Meeting is the Roman Tracey interest in policy. “I know how the staged reading of a physics-ori- federal budget works or doesn’t ented play. This year’s selection work,” she jokes. basic research. “Different scien- was Lauren Gunderson’s Silent Kinney is looking forward to tific agencies used to have ‘an off- Sky, which dramatizes the life of helping to develop several “big handed look’ at each other,” she Henrietta Swan Leavitt from the ideas” for future NSF investments. says, “[but] I think that culture beginning of her time at Harvard One of these initiatives, Windows has really changed.” NSF, NASA, Observatory until her death. The on the Universe: The Era of Multi- and the Department of Energy cast from International City Theatre Messenger Astrophysics, is about are working together much more in Long Beach staged the produc- combining different astronomical closely, Kinney notes. “That’s a tion last year, and read the play at datasets—electromagnetic radia- huge positive for science.” the March Meeting. Silent Sky cap- tion, cosmic rays, neutrinos, and Leading the Mathematical and tures the essence of being female gravitational waves, for instance— Physical Sciences Directorate is an and a scientist during a time when to better understand the universe. enormous responsibility, Kinney it was considered paradoxical to Another initiative, Harnessing the admits. There’s an “amazing his- be both. Data Revolution, is focused on tory” of scientific results from In addition to Henrietta, her real developing methods and infra- NSF-funded research, says Kinney, life colleagues Williamina Fleming From left: Jennifer Parsons (Williamina), Leslie Stevens (Annie), Jennifer structure to effectively process, and she’s committed to continu- and Annie Jump Cannon play sup- Cannon (Henrietta) and Eric Wentz (Peter) in International City Theatre’s Silent Sky visualize, and store the enormous ing that tradition. “I will do my portive and occasionally sassy datasets that are now hallmarks of damnedest to make sure the very roles. Fleming, a Scotswoman and Observatory. She expresses her uncomfortable—passion?” many fields of science. best science comes out of this former maid to observatory director passion for astronomy and her need “That’s a bit excessive for phys- Kinney also hopes to foster col- institution.” Edward Pickering, is the original to understand “where we are” in the ics,” is Shaw’s taken-aback reply. laboration between NSF and other The author is a freelance sci- member of “Pickering’s Harem,” universe. Margie asserts she should Henrietta goes on to explain governmental agencies that fund ence writer in Portland, Oregon. the casually sexist term used at the be home with her family or start- why passion is important. She time for the women “computers” ing one of her own. Her arguments points out that, unlike Shaw, she who analyzed photographic plates. reflect the attitudes of the time. has had to work to earn her place Annie Jump Cannon, as Henrietta Henrietta however is determined every step of the way. Passion is in the play points out, is known and eventually Margie relents and the only way she can see to go after for the stellar spectra classification agrees to help her convince their her dream. In a time when women system she and Fleming worked father she should go. did not become professionals, cer- to develop. Henrietta’s star-struck The audience travels with tainly did not become scientists, reaction to meeting Cannon and Henrietta to Harvard and her first Henrietta’s drive kept her on a Fleming is perhaps more fitting encounter with fictional astrono- path to becoming an astronomer. of a modern teen girl meeting her mer Peter Shaw. It is his job to Her own passion is not misstated. favorite pop star, but it gets the “make rounds” checking on the An obituary for Leavitt published point across: these women should ladies’ work and to orient the new in Popular Astronomy in January be respected. computers to their positions. Shaw 1922 describes her as unusually The play opens with Henrietta remarks in an offhand way that he devoted to her work. arguing with fictional sis- considers the work tedious. An Shaw’s character plays the dual ter Margaret “Margie” Leavitt affronted Henrietta asks Shaw, about taking the job at Harvard “It’s not—how best to make you SILENT SKY continued on page 5 April 2018 • 5

Physics Physique физика International News Freely Available Online The Qatar Physics Society As a service to the community, APS has made By Ilham Y. Al-Qaradawi Physics Physique физика freely available online. In 2016, I had the honor of This small journal published fewer than 100 articles founding the first scientific society between 1964-1968 and includes papers by many in Qatar, and one of the first soci- notable physicists, including J. S. Bell’s paper “On eties focusing solely on physics in the Einstein Podolsky Rosen Paradox.” the Gulf region—the Qatar Physics Ilham Al-Qaradawi Society (QPS). QPS was created with many goals in mind, but Read More at journals.aps.org/ppf/ mainly to bring together physics professionals, students, and even those with merely an interest in the field, and offer events and programs to advance their knowledge, as well as enhance their skills. As a fast-developing nation, Qatar's knowledge-based economy is a vital aspect of the country's plan for development. QPS has a role in this, by promoting scientific excellence, empowering members The QPS Particle Physics Masterclass AI ASSIST continued from page 1 with knowledge of best practices Masterclass took place during the Society (QPS) has planned for and the latest news, and provid- last week of February for the first students, as well as teachers and and are perfect for fast parallel ies. “We’ve shown that we can ing support and networking for time in Qatar. This event allowed physics professionals in Qatar. computations. reproduce results seen with other physicists. high school students in Qatar to Events such as the Particle Physics In a machine learning algorithm, techniques with much less effort,” In the short time since the experience being a physicist for Masterclass allow academics and a neural network can be “trained” says physicist Simon Trebst of the launch of QPS, the Society has a day. The masterclass included non-academics alike to immerse to recognize patterns: Show the University of Cologne. Trebst, made great strides towards its hands-on experience for the stu- themselves in the world of physics, algorithm as many photos of dogs who presented an invited talk after goals of promoting and advancing dents to discover the world of which not only raises their aware- and cats as possible, and it can Khatami, identified phase transi- physics in Qatar and the region. In quarks and leptons with real data ness of the relevance of physics in learn to distinguish one animal tions in a system of several hundred November 2017, QPS hosted the from CERN. The students analyzed our world today, but also expands from the other. In condensed mat- fermions using a hybrid method 9th International Conference on live data from particle physics their horizons. ter physics, instead of sorting cats that combines machine learning Isotopes in Doha, Qatar, for the first experiments. The students had the The emergence of QPS plays and dogs, you’re sorting images of with a conventional numerical time in the Middle East region. The opportunity to unravel the myster- a vital role in the educational as known electron configurations that method, the Quantum Monte Carlo conference attracted 200 attend- ies of particle physics, as well as well as the scientific sectors in are above and below some critical algorithm. ees from more than 30 countries to gain insights about various areas Qatar. These fields have been temperature, says Khatami. Machine learning could be use- around the globe, and this dynamic and methods of basic research into expanding both at the primary Condensed matter physicists ful in other areas of condensed mat- international environment allowed the fundamentals of matter and and higher education levels, from have only begun to use these arti- ter research. Khatami thinks that for a lively exchange and discus- forces, thus enabling students to multiple American universities ficial intelligence techniques in experimentalists could use machine sion of ideas in the isotopes field. perform measurements on real opening branch campuses in Qatar the past few years. Khatami was learning to look for patterns in elec- The topics discussed ranged from data from particle physics experi- Foundation, to recently established introduced to machine learning at tron microscopy or scanning tun- the policy, economics, and global ments themselves. In addition, the STEM schools in Qatar. Education the March Meeting just two years neling microscopy images. impact of isotope production and students were able to join a video is now a priority in Qatar, as stated ago. “It was a Friday talk, and I Trebst believes that combining use, to isotopes in the environment; conference to further discuss the in the Qatar National Vision of had nothing better to do,” Khatami machine learning with condensed additionally, special panels were results of the experiments with sci- 2030 and the Qatar National told APS News. “I just dropped in, matter experiments could help held, such as a plenary session to entists at CERN and other groups Research Strategy, which both th and I stepped out of the room com- answer questions about the inner mark Marie Curie’s 150 birthday. of students in Helsinki, Brussels, emphasize as well as highlight the pletely fascinated by the idea of workings of the network itself. QPS organized its first high Cyprus, and Trieste in Italy. importance of developing the aca- neural networks.” Right now, researchers know that school event in 2018. The This exhilarating experience is Khatami has since used neural the machine can find patterns, but International Particle Physics one of many that the Qatar Physics QATAR continued on page 6 networks to look for phase transi- they don’t really understand how it tions in a 64-particle version of the finds them. Research suggests that Hubbard model, a quantum model some machine learning processes of charged particles in a lattice. work like a mathematical technique SILENT SKY continued from page 4 These particles—simplistic mod- used in both particle and condensed els of electrons—have spin and can matter physics called “renormaliza- role of romantic interest and butt culture. Though it was pointed out wanting to accidentally misstate move freely in the three-dimen- tion.” This method systematically of the ladies’ jokes throughout. that the play takes liberties with Cannon’s achievements. This atten- sional lattice. While still a simple maps a microscopic picture onto a His interactions with the women some historical details, the cast tion to detail is evident throughout, model, it is complicated enough macroscopic one. Intuitions gained highlight the feminist themes of the explained their desire to represent especially in the use of the photo- to predict certain phase transitions in condensed matter physics could play every time Fleming or Cannon the emotion and the personal drama graphic plate prop that effectively and difficult to simulate without help unlock how machines learn. poke fun at him. Was there a real of being a female scientist. mimicked the real thing. supercomputers. romantic interest in Henrietta’s When asked if any of the cast In the final monologue of the Machine predictions alone will Based on the Hubbard model, life? Is it necessary to include members had taken an astronomy play, Henrietta somberly describes not directly confirm new physics, Khatami produces a series of one? Aside from the dramatic class prior to being cast in the play, the historical events following says Trebst. The neural network is images, where each pixel repre- effect, Shaw seems out of place. two stated they had taken a fresh- her death. Among these include a mathematical algorithm only as sents a particle, and its color repre- Henrietta’s work and accomplish- man-level astronomy course but a detail from 1925 when she was good as the data it has been given, sents the particle spin direction. If ments stand on their own. most had no exposure to the field. sent a letter about a nomination and the process it uses to identify all the spins are aligned, “the image The final scene of the play high- However, the play itself inspired for the Nobel Prize in Physics. and extrapolate patterns is still is completely black or completely lights a reality of the women com- the actors to research their char- Leavitt had died more than three mysterious. white,” he says. But Hubbard puters. They performed complex acters, either the real people or years earlier and was no longer Instead, machine learning pre- model images usually aren’t one calculations and recorded count- similar historical figures of the eligible. Historically, then-direc- color: Thanks to quantum noise, dictions can help guide condensed less astronomical objects but were time, and to draw on the details of tor of the observatory Harlow they ultimately resemble a poorly matter experiments that probe the forbidden from touching the tele- their lives. Actress Jennifer Cannon Shapley downplayed Henrietta’s played game of Tetris. interactions of hundreds, thou- scope. A brilliant flight of fancy (Henrietta Leavitt) noted Dava accomplishments. 23 Khatami trains the neural net- sands, even 10 electrons. These sees the group breaking into the Sobel’s The Glass Universe as an Only much later were Leavitt, work with these images. Then he systems are difficult to simulate Harvard Observatory and Henrietta invaluable resource for understand- Fleming, and Cannon acknowledged asks the algorithm to predict what with normal computational meth- gazing through the telescope at her ing her character. for their groundbreaking work, rel- the model will look like under a ods, yielding approximate pre- beloved stars. At one point the cast asked all egated as they were to “the harem.” different set of conditions. His dictions that are difficult to test. Following the performance, the physicists in the room to raise Despite the lack of recognition in neural network predicts a type of Machine learning results can physics professors Brian Schwartz their hands. The majority of the their lifetimes, their work has with- spin ordering that is consistent with be used to help build consensus from Brooklyn College and Smitha audience tentatively raised a hand stood the test of time. As Henrietta results found using a more tradi- among these various predictions Vishveshwara from the University to the delight of the cast. Jennifer states and the cast members enthu- tional technique, he says. to steer the next steps. “These prob- of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana Cannon declared, “We were so siastically repeat, “The universe Because the use of machine lems are so hard that any guidance moderated a discussion with the nervous!” Leslie Stevens (Annie doesn’t much care what we wear.” learning in condensed matter is needed,” says Trebst. audience and the cast. The con- Cannon) noted she had checked The author is the Science physics is so new, researchers are The author is a freelance sci- versation centered on the use of her notes on the Draper star cata- Writing Intern at APS in College still doing proof-of-principle stud- ence writer in Tucson, Arizona. art to convey science in popular log before the performance not Park, Maryland. 6 • April 2018

QATAR continued from page 5 demic attainment of students, par- in schools and universities, physics Holloway College, London, in ticularly in math and science. Thus, and science educators, researchers, 1991 and was a research fellow at QPS will help students explore the industry professionals working in University College London from fields of math as well as science, areas related to physics, and deci- 1998 to 1999. She is an adjunct and in particular physics, through sion-makers as well as the gen- professor of physics at Texas A&M this shared platform. This not only eral public. University (Doha) and is a Fellow allows the students to increase their QPS aspires to engage in part- of the Institute of Physics (UK). knowledge, but also ignites their nerships and collaborations with curiosity about the field of physics local and global scientific organi- and its relevance to our daily lives. zations and other physics societ- QPS aims to be the primary ies worldwide for the benefit of voice for physics in Qatar and the humanity. To learn more about the region, and so we work to pro- Society, please visit the main web- mote and advance the knowledge site at QatarPhysics.org. of physics. QPS is changing the The author is Professor of way physics is perceived through Physics at Qatar University in awareness campaigns, training, Doha, Qatar, and President of the networking, exposure, and events. Qatar Physics Society. She received QPS involves physicists, students her Ph.D. in physics from Royal

PRAB continued from page 1

by the APS Council in November more than thirty-five institutes and Suggestions.” A selected few have 1997 and Robert H. Siemann of the six companies sponsor PRAB. A been covered by the APS commen- Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, list of all sponsors is available at tary journal Physics. In addition, Stanford University, became the journals.aps.org/prab/sponsors. aesthetically attractive pictures, one first editor. In 2016, the name With this support, day-to-day per month, appear on the journal was changed to Physical Review operations are coordinated by webpage with links to the corre- Accelerators and Beams to bet- a Lead Editor, three Associate sponding articles. ter integrate the journal into the Editors, and a Journal Manager. The Through special editions, invited Physical Review family. Editors are assisted by an Editorial contributions, articles related to The first PRST-AB article was Board—a valuable resource for dis- the APS Robert R. Wilson Prize published on 12 May 1998, and for cussions of policies and new initia- for Achievement in Accelerator more than a decade it was the fastest tives. Board members also serve as Physics, editorial outreach, tutori- growing APS journal. At the same referees in cases where there are als, and Editorial Board meetings time, PRST-AB quickly became contentions or questions on which during the International Particle more international. At the start, the Editors need advice. These Accelerator Conferences, PRAB has 80% of the published articles origi- board members are well-respected become an important “Community nated in the Americas; this number accelerator scientists, who repre- Organizer,” thereby realizing one decreased to 35% by 2017. Currently sent different research specialties, of the intentions of its founders. the European and Asian regions con- strike a balance between univer- For the coming years, PRAB looks tribute 45% and 21%, respectively. sities and large laboratories, and forward to further transforming PRAB continues to be com- connect PRAB internationally. A list scientific publication in the field pletely free of charge for both of present PRAB staff and Editorial of accelerators. authors and readers. It is an Board members is posted at jour- We welcome your feedback and arrangement called “diamond” nals.aps.org/prab/staff#ed. suggestions ([email protected]). open access, made possible through In a further innovation, the APS References: the generous support of its spon- DPB and the European Physical 1. E. Haussecker and A. W. Chao, sors, who recognize the importance Society Accelerators Group share Influence of Accelerator Science of publishing accelerator science responsibility for the health and on Physics Research, ICFA Beam Dynamics Newsletter, no. 53, De- and technology. Initially eight vitality of the journal by advising cember 2010, p. 11, 2010. large U.S. national laboratories on the membership of the Editorial 2. R. Siemann, Essay: Accelera- supported the journal financially. Board, and by encouraging schol- tors, Beams and Physical Review Since then many other laborato- arly publication in accelerator sci- Special Topics - Accelerators and ries and research institutions—in ence and technology. Beams, Phys. Rev. ST - Accel. Beams 11, 050003, 2008. the Americas, in Europe, and more In response to increasing inter- recently in Asia, especially Japan, est and demand, as well as to PRAB Lead Editor Frank Korea, and China, as well as vari- better cover topics at the bound- Zimmermann is a Senior Scientist ous accelerator conference series— aries between disciplines, PRAB at the European Organization joined as sponsors. Two years ago, has recently introduced new for Nuclear Research (CERN) in PRAB welcomed its first industrial dedicated topic sections (go.aps. Geneva, Switzerland, a Fellow of sponsors—companies active in org/2Gbs4dz). And like other APS APS, and a Board Member of the the fields of accelerator physics or journals, PRAB highlights impor- Accelerator Group in the European accelerator technology. At present tant articles in the form of “Editors’ Physical Society. April 2018 • 7

QUBIT continued from page 3 KAVLI continued from page 1 which stores information in a single says, a research group must dem- a puzzle forever where heavy ele- localized object, a Majorana-based onstrate that a pair of them yields ments like gold came from—but qubit would encode a single bit of the predicted properties when now we know they probably come

information in multiple quasiparti- swapped. from colliding neutron stars.” foldscope.com cles. According to theory, this type However, Palmstrøm’s group is Like Barish, Zhang spoke on a of quantum information should be already working to design a chip- breakthrough physicists have been much less likely to go bad. The based architecture for the expected chasing for decades: the discovery quasiparticle still “remembers” qubits. They have designed a of the chiral Majorana fermion. whether it has been moved clock- layered chip made primarily of Until recently, this particle that wise or counterclockwise with indium-based materials contain- would act as its own antiparticle respect to its twin, even if you ing sheets of electrons that inter- was pure conjecture, or as Zhang move it around on a nanowire. The act only two-dimensionally. They put it, “fictitious.” Research at information is also immune to local can then etch those sheets into Stanford University using exotic environmental noise. one-dimensional “wires” that they materials resulted in the discovery The researchers liken these can couple to a superconductor to that the Majorana fermion—first qubits to a knot on a shoestring, so create the Majorana edge modes. predicted by Ettore Majorana in 1937—exists. And its existence that how the knot is tied indicates Etching is a much more feasible— The Foldscope - an easy to assemble microscope. the information stored. “The knot and scalable—manufacturing pro- could be key to new breakthroughs doesn’t really change if you tug at cess than laying single nanowires in topological quantum computing. more efficient power usage can driven science,” says Prakash. the part of the shoestring,” says in parallel, says Pendharkar. Quantum computing is plagued help mitigate the energy consump- Abo-Shaeer concluded the Knapp. “It doesn’t care about little Pendharkar and Palmstrøm are by the instability of quantum bits, tion issue. As an emerging field, symposium with the story of his changes in the system.” careful not to over-promise their or qubits, which are easily per- many fundamental questions exist journey from struggling science To be clear, no one is tying device. After all, unlike Google, turbed, but the topological tech- surrounding neuromorphic comput- student to founder of Dos Pueblos physical knots in a nanowire—but IBM, and Intel’s quantum comput- nique of quantum braiding (see ing which, according to Schuller, Engineering Academy. From his you can mathematically visualize ers, theirs doesn’t exist yet. “There illustration at the bottom of page 3) will require an interdisciplinary personal experiences, Abo-Shaeer the timeline of these quasiparti- are different bottlenecks for differ- can create a more robust quantum approach to seek out answers. has developed a charge for sci- cles as you swap their positions ent technologies,” says Palmstrøm. computer. Chiral Majorana fermi- Prakash moved the symposium ence academia: “It’s time we begin as knots or braids. These knots are “We’re at the bottleneck where we ons may give way to a new quan- away from the future of comput- thinking differently about how known as topologically protected don’t even know whether the tech- tum braiding technique: one qubit ing and transported the audience we measure talent,” he says. Dos states; hence, the proposed quan- nology works.” could be split into two Majorana to areas of the world facing global Pueblos Engineering Academy, tum computers built with Majorana But other quantum computing fermions that would braid naturally health issues. Physics, as it turns which he founded in 2002, brings fermions are known as topological architectures could hit a differ- as they move through space-time. out, can be applied to a number hands-on, project-based learning quantum computers. ent bottleneck, Palmstrøm says: “We are in an exciting moment,” of practical problems such as dis- to high school students, abandon- Theorists have already begun They’ll be difficult to expand into said Zhang. “Finally, I think topo- ease diagnosis and global vector ing traditional textbook-based designing solid-state qubits the thousand and million qubit logical quantum computing can be surveillance. Prakash shared his physics courses. In the Academy’s using the hypothesized quasipar- devices that will ultimately be possible.” work in developing low-cost tools hands-on lab, students—50 per- ticle, although Pendharkar and his broadly useful to society. Because Schuller presented an alterna- for “diagnostics under a tree,” cent of whom are female—have adviser, physicist Chris Palmstrøm a topological qubit doesn’t need tive to quantum computing for the and making the experience of sci- a chance to explore concepts of of UCSB, say that it will likely the same type of error correction as future: developing computers that ence accessible to communities physics through experimentation be decades before anyone makes superconducting qubits, it should work more like the human brain across the globe. The Paperfuge and design, while gaining direct a topological qubit. “Right now, be easier to make a working thou- than machines. This idea of neu- and Foldscope, both produced in engineering experience. we don’t even know if the funda- sand-qubit quantum computer out romorphic computers is fairly new Prakash’s lab, are examples of As a college student, Abo- mental thing actually exists,” says of topological qubits. A topological and inspired by the potential end of what he calls frugal science: a Shaeer’s aptitude for physics and Palmstrøm. To conclude once qubit should be a fundamentally rapid advances in traditional com- philosophy that inspires design of engineering was never fully real- and for all that they’ve created better piece of hardware—they just putation. If the limits of computing powerful scientific tools at an ultra- ized in traditional courses, where Majorana zero modes, Pendharkar have to figure out how to make it. are reached, Schuller says there are affordable price point. he often felt out of place, work- three options: quantum computing, At 20 cents a unit, the Paperfuge ing twice as hard as other stu- neuromorphic computing, or “just can be used in place of a centrifuge dents to achieve similar grades. learning to live with this.” with just a few minutes of human Abo-Shaeer says he was “saved According to Schuller, the goal power: modeled after classic spin- by the sun,” after high marks of neuromorphic computing is ning toys, the Paperfuge can reach on a solar-powered water heater not to create a biological system, 125,000 RPM and separate blood transformed his college career and or recreate the human brain, but from plasma in less than two min- his feelings towards his own sci- to learn from biology, much like utes. This low-cost tool, which entific skills. His mission at Dos airplanes were developed using replaces expensive centrifuges, can Pueblos Engineering Academy is the principles of flight observed be used to diagnose anemia and to bring similar experiences to his E in birds. The brain, for example, malaria. The Foldscope is another students, providing a space where collocates memory and processing, inexpensive tool—costing about a any student can bloom into a sci- bypassing a bottleneck in comput- dollar per unit—that can be used entist or engineer—and he asked ing. It also functions with much for both medical diagnostics and that others do the same. “We need lower energy consumption, a prin- education. According to Prakash, to work together to find an educa- ciple Schuller says may be used to the Foldscope has been deployed in tional model in which every person complement current computational over 130 countries. “The Foldscope can find their place in science, and capabilities. As the global demand has produced a massive global contribute to the scientific com- for computational power rises, community engaged in curiosity- munity,” says Abo-Shaeer. The 5+ Club

2016-2017 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (8) M. Prakash Brigham Young University (7) Rowan University (6) Stony Brook University (6) University of Texas at Austin (6) City College of New York (5) Georgia State (5) Illinois State University (5) University of Wisconsin–River Falls (5)

PhysTEC is led by the American Physical Society (APS) and the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT).

Manu Prakash's centrifuge made from a spinning toy. 8 • April 2018

For SHE’s a Jolly Good Fellow? By Kerstin Nordstrom, Jacinta Conrad, Karen Daniels, and Jennifer Ross

n October, APS announced its 2017 Fellows. As members as of January 1 of the year prior to nomina- Imid-career women physicists who hope to one tion; maintaining membership is important for those day be named Fellows, we despaired that several who wish to be considered. of our Units had no women Fellows in 2017. We Department actions: Departments should nom- asked each other: Was it a fluke? Was it true in inate their senior women for Fellowship. Many other Units? For other underrepresented groups? We departments have awards committees to assemble show that APS Units do award proportionally fewer nominations of mid-career faculty for Fellowship. Fellowships to women, and propose actions that we Because departments are stakeholders in the success can take to work towards a less biased process for of their faculty, increased departmental involvement groups underrepresented in physics. reduces the chance that less-visible nominees are Our own Units were not unique: zero women overlooked. Ensuring that their senior women are were selected in 42 of 97 opportunities in the Units recognized as Fellows sends a strong message that over the last three years. Small-number statistics are departments value and respect women. often faulted for a lack of representation of women: Unit Fellowship Committee actions: Annually, zero is a common outcome. And while regression each Fellowship Committee should discuss the APS to the mean yields symmetric distributions for large guidelines for nominations, which advise on fair and samples, small samples (such as Fellowship allo- rigorous practices. Committee members should not cations) exhibit long-tailed, asymmetric distribu- assume that they understand the requirements. Fair tions [1]. Accounting for the range of outcomes outcomes are more likely when guidelines are estab- thus requires inspecting the distributions rather than lished prior to evaluation. One Committee member the means. should be assigned to oversee the diversity aspects For example, the Topical Group on Soft Matter of the nomination process. This person should be (GSOFT) has about 23% women, and selected zero respected, and should not necessarily be a member women for 5 Fellows slots in 2017 (Fig. 1a). In an of an underrepresented group. unbiased selection [1], zero is a common outcome Unit leadership actions: Each Unit’s leadership (27%). 73% of the time, however, there should be should view canvassing for candidates as part of its Figure 1: (a,b) Probability distributions of the number of women Fellows expected one or more women, with 33% of the outcomes cor- for (a) n = 5 selections from a population with 23% women (GSOFT 2017) and (b) charge, yet Fellowship committees are often formed responding to two or more women. Further, GSOFT n = 10 selections from a population with 13% women (DAP 2017). Arrows indicate too late to contribute substantially. Early on, Unit has selected zero women several years in a row, the number of women Fellows selected by GSOFT and DAP in 2017. (c) Percentage leadership should act on carryover nominations and which is statistically unlikely for repeated unbiased of Units with at least five Fellow slots classified as under/over-performing. (d,e) request a list of senior women physicists in the Unit selections. Probability distributions of the number of women Fellows from each Unit with (d) who are not Fellows. Working from a list is less likely five and (e) six Fellow slots. APS data (red) are compared to the expected number Because women are the largest underrepresented of women Fellows assuming the percentage of women members is 10% (dark blue) to amplify unconscious biases. Leaders should hold group within APS, constituting 14% of APS mem- or 15% (light blue). their Fellowship Committees accountable by training bers in 2016 [2], a statistical analysis was possible. in best practices, examining the nominee list, and We hope that our findings spur similar analyses along other point, the data would show underrepresentation in the tail completing the final selection report required by APS. After lines. For instance, we observed that Fellows with names of of the distribution (N ≥ 2), and overrepresentation of N = 1. the nomination season, each Unit should present the statistics Chinese origin were also underrepresented. In selections of six Fellows (Fig. 1e), women are over- of nominees to their members and Executive Committee. We examined three years of data, excluding students represented at N = 0 and N = 2, underrepresented at N = 1, Units should manage the turnover in committee membership and Fellows from our calculations. We include Divisions and N = 3 is expected to appear once in this sample but does because a rotating chair may not have a chance to promote or Topical Groups, but not Forums [3]. For a given Unit not. This suggests that some Units may intentionally over- cases from prior years, and a junior chair may have difficulty and year, we compared the number of female Fellows to compensate, though this should not be viewed negatively: in requiring actions by senior Fellows. a null model: random sampling of the Unit population. nominated candidates met qualifications for Fellowship, APS actions: APS leadership has a responsibility to act, We then analyzed each Unit’s performance—over, under, and APS has a mission to promote a diverse membership. and APS staff have been working to improve the diversity or neutral— in selecting women (Fig. 1c), determined by We conclude that, overall, there is a subtle but pervasive of nominees and recipients. Much effort has concentrated median values and likelihoods generated by the model [4]. bias against women being selected as Fellows. Effort by one on junior members, rather than those who are post-tenure. To be fair to Units with small allocations, we discuss only Unit may counteract the lack of effort of another, but does APS should publicize summary statistics to help Units gauge Units with five or more Fellow slots. not fix the issue for women who aren’t members of those their performance. The APS Committee on Fellowship could The ratio of under- to overperformance was 3:1 for Unit Units. Through conversations with colleagues, we identified consider additional slots for Units that perform well by met- selections in 2017, prompting our concern. In contrast, two types of biases at work: rics like ours. Indeed, APS previously offered an additional 2015 and 2016 had roughly equal numbers of under- and Accumulation of individual biases: Units should both Fellow slot to Units that put forward international candidates. overperformance. This makes the three-year total roughly under- and over-perform, so why do we commonly observe We propose a similar mechanism to encourage women and equal, with a slight edge to underperformance. underperformance? Nominators may not think of women or minority Fellows. While this may appear reassuring, we found other dis- may not acknowledge their own potential for bias—no one The APS Council recently reduced the number of Fellow turbing patterns in the data. Many (9 of 19) Units never is truly objective. Committees may stop after selecting one slots because previous allocations were based on the total overperformed in these three years. Half of the overperfor- woman per year, without searching their networks for other membership (now almost 40% students). This will further mance can be attributed to just three units—the Division qualified women. This might be surprising when mid-career strain the selection process and may be a reason that fewer of Astrophysics (DAP) [Fig. 1b], the Division of Physics women serve in the Unit leadership, indicating that high- women were 2017 Fellows. Taking the actions we recom- of Beams (DPB), and the Division of Particles and Fields level service [6] may not alone raise visibility. mend will help prevent underrepresented groups from being (DPF)—which overperformed in at least 2 of 3 years. In Systemic biases: Cultural biases often lead women to further marginalized. We hope that this will energize physi- contrast, four units—the Division of Biophysics (DBIO), be primary caregivers, and thus make career compromises cists at all levels to combat bias and recognize excellence the Division of Nuclear Physics (DNP), the Division of such as reduced travel. This could make women less visible through Fellowship across a diverse membership. Polymer Physics (DPOLY), and GSOFT—underperformed to their community, even with a strong publication record. Kerstin Nordstrom is assistant professor of physics at in at least 2 of 3 years. These include units with both higher Likewise, women may wait for the “right” year to apply Mount Holyoke College. Jacinta Conrad is associate pro- (DBIO) and lower (DNP) percentages of women members: for Fellowship: either willingly holding off to feel assured fessor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the more women in the field does not necessarily lead to more of success, or unwillingly, told to wait. Finally, support for University of Houston. Karen Daniels is professor of physics or fewer women Fellows. Further, there appear to be over- women faculty often drops dramatically at mid-career [7], at North Carolina State University. Jennifer Ross is associ- performers who wash out the underperformers, but in an the key time for Fellowship nominations. ate professor of physics at the University of Massachusetts equitable system every Unit should strive to be fair to its We therefore recommend actions by individuals, depart- Amherst. The authors thank Marcia Gumpertz, Scott own members. ments, Units, and APS elected leaders to counteract biases. Franklin, Chad Higdon-Topaz, Dean Lee, and Eric Weeks Next, we compared distributions of selections of five and These actions must be taken by allies to benefit members of for insightful comments. six Fellows across Units (2015-2017) to the null model for underrepresented groups, as well as those at the intersection References

two scenarios (Fig. 1d,e) spanning best and worst-cases [5]. of different groups. This problem cannot be tackled only by 1. aanandprasad.com/diversity-calculator Although the small dataset is sensitive to noise, this exercise underrepresented physicists, since it disproportionately adds 2. go.aps.org/2FPhQTv nonetheless reveals interesting features. to their workloads and would further contribute to the sense 3. Forums account for only 10% of Fellows and are too different In selections of five Fellows (Fig. 1d), one data point cor- that they are outsiders. from Divisions and Groups to apply our analysis, though their responds to N = 3 women: the Topical Group on Magnetism Individual actions: Any active APS member can nomi- gender breakdown is even more skewed against women. (GMAG) 2016 selection. All other selections involve zero nate! Sponsors should collect at least two letters of support 4. For methodological details visit: tinyurl.com/apsfellows 5. go.aps.org/2HwgMRG. Women received 10% and 15% of or one female Fellows; N = 2 is expected once or twice but from high-stature persons in the field who can compellingly PhDs in 1990 and 2003 (a rough approximation of a “mid- does not appear. Based on GMAG’s selection history and champion the nominee’s Fellowship. For those wishing to career” range). the estimated likelihood of the N = 3 selection, this may nominate a member for Fellowship, please visit go.aps. 6. aps.org/publications/apsnews/201707/backpage.cfm reflect a concerted effort to nominate women. Without this org/2IstEJF for guidelines. Potential Fellows must be APS 7. doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2017.1411337

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