Interactions the Newsletter of the UB Department of Physics Volume 8, Fall 2015

Interactions The Newsletter of the UB Department of Physics Volume 8, Fall 2015

It has been an eventful year since Quantum Control in Oct. 2014. This I last wrote to you. Once again, our summer, Professors Krotscheck undergraduates are our brightest stars. and Gasparini organized the 2015 It is safe to say that our program can International Symposium on Quantum only be as good as our students, and our Fluids and Solids and Professors students certainly showed us how far we Krotscheck and Han organized the 18th have gone. Leading the way, Dante Iozzo International Conference on Recent (physics major), Nigel Michki (physics Progress in Many-Body Theories. major), and Andrew Harris (math Major) Professors Krotscheck and Gasparini are the Outstanding Winners of the world- of our students. The new curriculum is also organized the workshop on Phase wide Mathematical Contest in Modeling scheduled to be rolled out during the Transitions in Low Dimensions in (MCM), one of ten winners among 7636 next academic year. The Department November 2014. Professors Simone teams from all over the globe. They has been doing its part to make this a Marzani, Doreen Wackeroth and presented their work “Turning the tables: reality. Ciaran Williams organized the QCD modeling the fight against Ebola” in In January, our own Professor John Ho Factorization Workshop in October Washington DC in August. This year’s returned to the Department after years of 2015. Professors Dejan Stojkovic and academics based Sekula Scholarship being the Dean of Graduate School. One Will Kinney organized the Rust Belt had to raise the bar to a minimum GPA of the first things he did was to donate Cosmology and High Energy Physics of 3.9, so that we can limit the number $154,000 to the Department, to start the Meeting in November 2015. The of recipients to seven, which is unheard endowment for The John Ho and Martha successful Loopfest series of workshops of in the history of the scholarship. To Leung Scholarship. The first round is returning to UB in 2016. Professors adequately recognize their excellence of awards went to three outstanding Roppaccio and Marzani successfully put as a group, the Department also graduate students. forth a bid for BOOST 2017, which will awarded additional scholarships to more be held at Niagara Falls to be organized With fast-changing job markets, there undergraduates. One of the Sekula mainly by our own high energy physics has been a shift in enrollment toward Scholarship recipients, Geoffrey Faitin, group. BOOST is a series of successful Science, Technology, Engineering received a nearly perfect score for the joint theory/experiment workshops and Math (STEM), with corresponding Graduate Record Examinations, again, which bring together the world leading financial challenges for the College of a first here by a large margin and very experts from theory and the Tevatron/ Arts and Sciences (CAS). To provide rare worldwide. Dante Iozzo received LHC experiments to discuss the latest the right programs for our students, an honorable mention for the 2015 progress and develop new approaches CAS, with help from the Provost Office, Goldwater Scholarship. Graham P. to discover new physics. This is a list that went through a productive process of Lyon was the Recipient of a Woodrow will be hard to top. identifying new and improved programs Wilson National Teaching Fellowship. to meet the fast-changing student and This year’s speaker for our Rustgi Graduate student Mengyang Xu was market needs. Some of the programs Lecture was the renowned Prof. Philip awarded the SPIE Optics and Photonics will be ready for students as early as the Kim from Harvard, whose work on two- Education Scholarship, and graduate next academic year. dimensional materials has opened many students Ashley Parker and Bahareh new opportunities . Roohzbahani received “Guests and This year can be considered as one for Visitors” grants from the Fermilab LHC recognition. Recently, UB has hosted Stay in touch and share things at work Physics Center for summer 2015. or has been chosen to host numerous and in life with us! international and regional physics The University is in the process of Best regards, meetings. This is a great recognition of revamping the General Education the Department. Professor Hu organized Requirement curriculum, an enormous the 4th International Workshop on Hong Luo, Chair undertaking, intended to bring our Entanglement, Decoherence and Professor of Physics curriculum up to date, meeting the needs Fall 2015 Feature Article

UB Physics Undergraduates leave He is a co-author on a recently submitted is not surprising that he recently received

their Mark in Research, National paper on the growth of large area MoS2 a nearly perfect score for the Graduate Competitions, and Outreach monolayers. Record Examinations (GRE). He is now By Dr. Doreen Wackeroth applying to graduate school. UB Senior Geoffrey Fatin has been working An integral and important part of majoring with Dr. Zutic and Visiting Professor Dr. Apart from gaining research experience in physics at a research university, such Matos Abiague for the past two years at UB, our students actively seek out as UB, is the participation in cutting-edge on elusive Majorana fermions (MFs), research opportunities outside UB research. Our undergraduate students take particles that are their own antiparticle. during the summer break, for instance full advantage of the opportunities offered While the original considerations of MFs through NSF’s Research Experiences for in both theoretical and experimental were in the context of particle physics, in Undergraduates (REU) programs or at research in the Department. They conduct recent years there was a huge interest in the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory independent studies and undergraduate exploring if it would be possible to emulate offered by our experimental high-energy research with physics faculty and very a similar behavior in solid-state systems physics group (see article on page xy). often present their work at poster sessions using electronic states in materials with Luke Lyle (who did independent research organized by the Center for Undergraduate projects in Dr. Ganapathy’s and Dr. Cerne’s Research & Creative Activities (CURCA), labs) did a REU at Clemson University. at the UB Celebration of Excellence, and Luke will present his REU work at the even at national conferences. Some of the American Physical Society Southeastern research projects result in publications in Section Meeting in Mobile, Alabama. research journals, which is testimony to the He studied ion transport in insulating high quality of the research conducted by macrocapillaries looking for a way to our students. Here we highlight just a few flexibly transport ions via a self-organizing of the recent achievements of our students beam propagation effect that occurs due in undergraduate research. to charge patch formation inside insulating The three-member team consisting of UB macrocapillaries. UB Senior Michael Benson has been a undergraduate students Dante Iozzo, Nigel Michki, and Andrew Harris (from left to right) research student with Dr. Sen’s group was one of ten Outstanding Winners out of 7636 Sarah Freed (who did an independent for the past three years, working on teams in the 2015 COMAP Mathematical Contest research project in our experimental high- in Modeling. multimillion atom simulations involving energy physics group) did a REU at the collisions of faceted nanoparticles. This superconducting order. MFs are neither University of Arkansas. Sarah presented work has been in collaboration with fermions nor bosons, but instead obey her work on time evolution of discord in a Yoichi Takato, a former graduate student non-Abelian statistics with nontrivial system of two quantum dots at a poster in Dr. Sen’s group, and has resulted in a topological properties useful for fault- session at Frontiers in Optics, a conference forthcoming paper in Physical Review E tolerant quantum computing. Geoffrey organized by the APS and The Optical entitled “Collision dynamics of soft and is the first author of a paper entitled Society in October 2015 in San Jose. sticky nanoparticles”, with Michael being “Wireless Majorana Fermions: From Eric Bigenwald, who had worked in Dr. a co-author. Michael has presented at Magnetic Tunability to Braiding,” recently Ganapathy’s group in fall 2014 and spring several poster sessions organized by submitted to Physical Review Letters 2015, spent the 10 weeks this summer at CURCA. He is now preparing to study (http://arxiv.org/pdf/1510.08182v1.pdf). Cornell, doing research in the Materials patent law. Geoffrey was also able to use knowledge Science and Engineering Department as acquired in research on theoretical particle part of their REU program. Brett Blizzard, a mathematical physics physics with Dr. Wackeroth, to show major, started working in Dr. Zeng’s intriguing opportunities for the exchange Eric studied iridium oxide thin films in laboratory in spring 2015 and has won (braiding) of MFs, the key to revealing their Dr. Darrell Schlom’s lab. At the end of a SUNY 4E (Energy, Environment, non-Abelian properties and implementing the program, he wrote and presented a Economics, Education) Network of fault-tolerant computing. Goeffrey has research paper and a research talk about Excellence summer scholar fellowship. excelled in research and academics, so it his work.

2 Fall 2015 Feature Article

of medical resource implementation. They developed a highly adjustable computer simulation that illustrated not only the interactions between cities and regions, but also the interactions on the individual level (For more information see the UB News release: www.buffalo.edu/ news/releases/2015/04/072.html. In 2014 Nigel was selected a Barry Goldwater Scholar and in 2015 Dante received an Honorable Mention. Goldwater Scholars and Honorable Mentions are selected on the basis of academic merit in STEM fields and are nominated by faculty at colleges Dante Iozzo (right background) and Luke Lyle (right foreground) present physics demonstrations to and universities nationwide. Both Nigel 7th graders from Westminster Charter School. and Dante have extensive research two real-world problems are given and the experience. Nigel did research in Dr. teams have 96 hours to design, construct, Markelz’s lab while Dante worked in Dr. and test an original mathematical Weinstein’s lab and conducted research model to find a solution. Andrew, Dante in theoretical particle physics related to and Nigel competed for UB this past the Higgs boson with Dr. Wackeroth. February, developing a mathematical and We are very proud of our undergraduate computational model of the 2014 Ebola student’s achievements, not only in Epidemic in West Africa. The teams in academics and research but also in Dante Iozzo levitating a superconductor. the 2015 competition were also tasked their amazing engagement in outreach with using their model to analyze the Our students not only excel in research activities. The activities featured here are effect of the implementation of vaccines only a few examples where the students but also on the national stage when or cures. The UB team developed a took the initiative and leadership in participating in competitions such as mathematical model that helped to reaching young minds and conveying the the Consortium for Mathematics and its analyze the spread of Ebola and the effect excitement of science. Applications (COMAP) Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM) and prestigious national programs such as the Barry Goldwater Scholarship. In the 2015 MCM competition, 7636 teams representing institutions from seventeen countries participated. The team from UB, advised by Associate Professor of Mathematics John Ringland, was one of ten teams designated as Outstanding Winners and has been selected by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) to present their work at the MAA conference in Washington, D.C. UB’s winning team members are: Andrew Harris, an aerospace engineering major, Dante Iozzo, a mathematics and physics major, and Nigel Michki, a computational At UB’s Science Exploration Day undergraduate students Tyler Barrett (right) and Johnny Hayes (left) explain the physics of sound waves and show how a ringing bell in a vacuum makes no audible noise physics major. At the start of the contest to an audience of 7th and 8th graders from Buffalo Public Schools.

3 Alumni News

feature article continued ... second floor of Davis Hall. The students Hughes STX Corporation. When Hughes were very engaged with the egg drop and was acquired by Raytheon, he became the wide variety of mechanisms for saving the senior vice president. During his Undergraduate students Tyler Barrett, the egg demonstrated their creativity as years in industry, he worked with NASA, Ben Cammett, Johnny Hayes, and Dante they explored the concepts of force and air the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Iozzo participated in Science Exploration resistance. Administration (which was for many years Day in April 2015. Roughly 30 Buffalo under the leadership of own alumnus Tom Thanks to the enthusiasm and initiative Public School students from 7th and 8th Bogdan), the U.S. Geological Survey, of our undergraduate students as well as grade visited Fronczak Hall and had the Federal Aviation Administration and that of our graduate students and faculty opportunity to explore the fields of physics, the Department of Defense, among (see page 18 for more information), our aerospace and biomedical engineering. many other national and international Department continues to create exciting The physics team led demonstrations agencies and institutions. that centered around showcasing physics opportunities for young students to experience science. that is not normally seen in day-to-day With his vast experience in the private life, such as boiling water without heat, sector, Ashok was nominated by President silencing a bell with a vacuum, and various Alumni News G.W. Bush (and confirmed by the US examples of the conservation of angular Dr. Ashok Kaveeshwar, PhD 1969 Senate), as the first administrator of the momentum. Eric Borchert from the By Dr. Hong Luo Federal Research & Innovative Technology Aerospace Engineering Department led Administration (RITA), where he served a presentation on propulsion and space until the end of Bush’s presidency. Ashok travel, and had the students experiment has supported UB and our Department, with balloon rockets. The Biomedical for many years in various capacities. Engineering Society demonstrated that He served on the CAS Dean’s Advisory electrolytes carry charge, having the Council since 1992, chairing it for more students make a functioning battery from than a decade, and helped the college a potato. The various groups of high greatly in the area of philanthropy, among school students showed great interest others. He joined the UB Foundation in the physics displays in the hallways of Dr. Kaveeshwar at the bronze Fermi surface Board of Directors in 2004, becoming Fronczak Hall. They eagerly listened to the sculpture in our Department. Photo: Hong Luo a UBF Board Trustee in 2011. With his explanations and were excitedly asking continued support of UB, he received the Dr. Ashok Kaveeshwar was born in India questions. They were very interested in the Samuel P. Capen Award, the highest honor and received his undergraduate degree in Foucault pendulum and the experiments to an alumnus, in 2013. In addition, the physics from Ujjain University. He initially taking place at the Large Hadron Collider at gallery at the President’s office in Capen went to SUNY Fredonia with a scholarship, CERN. Overall the middle school students Hall is named after him. enjoyed themselves and went away with but there was no graduate program in a new perspective on a possible career in physics. Advised by one of his professors, Attention to details is important to the level the STEM fields that this outreach event he joined our Department and pursued his of success that Ashok has been able to was geared towards. doctorate in physics. After receiving his achieve. On a lighter note, I had a chance Ph.D. in 1969, he worked as a postdoc to see a not-so-serious version first-hand. In January 2015, undergraduate students with Prof. Gregory Breit in the Department On one of his many trips to UB to attend Sean Bearden, Dante Iozzo, Luke Lyle, and at the time. a board meeting at the UB Foundation, Nigel Michki hosted over one hundred 7th he reserved a small car at the airport, but graders from Westminster Charter School In 1975, he left academic research ended up with a van at the same price. during the annual Westminster Science and chose a different career path. He Sounds like a good deal, but he complained Week. A diverse group of departments joined ST Systems (STX), a private firm, to me that he was so embarrassed driving representing a spectrum of STEM work founded by another UB Alumnus, Sharad this big car, wasting a few dollars’ worth of prepared presentations and activities for Tak. Ashok started as a technical project extra gas. He made sure that he got his the students. The physics team presented manager for a NASA project, involving small car during the following visit to UB a two different themes of physics, electricity satellite remote sensing, and eventually few months later. and magnetism and low temperature became the chief operating officer of physics involving liquid nitrogen. They also the firm. After Hughes Aircraft acquired The day after, I received a picture of him ran a large egg drop challenge from the STX, Ashok became the president of from the Development Office that has a

4 Alumni News

resolution too low for this newsletter. Ashok many Departmental activities, especially Editor: texted me early in the morning saying that when softball was involved. Dr. John Cerne he would be arriving in a few hours for a meeting and would have time to drop by. Upon graduation, Huicheng joined Intel Editorial Assistant: Rather than looking around for a photo, I Corporation. From late 1999 to 2005, Tracy Gasinski took this one him here, in Fronczak! Huicheng was a Senior Process Engineer Design and Production: at Portland Technology Development of Renee Ruffino and Alex Monterville One of the things Ashok likes about Buffalo Intel. He worked on the pathfinding project Website: is the weather. Don’t be surprised to see of Si(Ge) epitaxy on 8” Si substrates, which www.physics.buffalo.edu/newsletter him wandering in the building in winter enabled the strained transistor realization time! onto 12” Si later for 90nm technology Contact: Comments about the newsletter, or node. He also pioneered the Spike anneal information about yourself for our Dr. Huicheng Chang, PhD 2000 technique and developed various silicide Alumni News section, may be sent By Dr. Hong Luo approaches from 0.13um to 65nm node. to Tracy Gasinski via email at Starting in 2006, he led the Rapid Thermal [email protected] Anneal A group to support the transistor process evolution in a new era of hi-k Or mailed to: dielectric/metal gate replacing traditional Department of Physics SiO2/poly system, and the introduction of University at Buffalo multi-gate FETs for continuous transistor 239 Fronczak Hall scaling. In 2011, he joined R&D of Taiwan Buffalo, NY 14260 Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, where he established the industry-leading R&D fabrication facility for 12” III-V MOCVD related research on new high mobility materials and transistor architectures. Now he is the Deputy Director of the Diffusion Department in the Advanced Technology Module Development division, co-leading Dr. Huicheng Chang was born in Taiwan the transistor development efforts to extend and received his B.S. in Physics from Moore’s law through 7nm technology node Chung Yuan Christian University in 1989. and beyond. Huicheng has published over After 2 years of military service, he joined 30 journal and conference articles to date the booming PC industry as a computer and holds 30 US and international patents system engineer for 18 months. In fall related to advanced process technologies 1993, he enrolled in our Department to and transistor architecture. pursue a Ph.D. in physics. Huicheng joined my group and studied Molecular Beam Huicheng, his wife Chingyi and two Epitaxy and Optical Properties of II-VI daughters Allison and Julia currently live and III-V compounds/heterostructures for in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Allison is coming lasing applications, and received his PhD back to the US for college in less than a degree in Physics in 2000. Whatever year, following her dad’s footsteps. We Huicheng did in the lab, he did it with great look forward to hearing exciting news from enthusiasm and attention. Several of us Huicheng and the family! still remember him running and screaming in the hallway and down the stairs when he and fellow students observed the lasing modes in Dr. Petrou’s lab from the triangular laser that he grew, fabricated and did simulations for. Huicheng was a popular TA, especially for the astronomy course, and was an active participant of

5 Faculty News

SUNY Distinguished larger) successor, the College of Arts and area of phase transitions started with the Professor John Ho Sciences, as well as for the Graduate seminal work on the magnetic ordering

by Drs. Bruce McCombe and Francis Gasparini School and other offices in the upper transition of CrBr3 and continued with reaches of Capen Hall and the University studies of phase transitions in liquid at large. Here are the administrative crystals. These display a variety of positions outside the department that different phases that can be explored John has held in addition to Vice Provost: by light scattering utilizing birefringence, Associate Dean of Natural Sciences Faraday rotation and Raman scattering. and Mathematics (1983-98 with one One of his outstanding achievements was year off in 84-85 for good behavior ☺, the ability to study via electron diffraction during which he was Dean!); Director, few-layers of freely-suspended liquid Interdisciplinary Natural Science crystals films. Properties could be Program (1984-2000); Chairman, determined on a layer by layer basis, and Department of Statistics (1987-89); and in particular, allowed for the study of a new Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences hexatic phase in these films. Also, one of (1998-2000). John has also served on his early research efforts when he joined an astounding number of Decanal-and UB, was in the use of light scattering to university-level committees, more than study the fusion of phospholipid vesicles, 130 significant committees over the past and the role played by calcium atoms. 40 years. John has trained 14 Masters and 11 PhD students. His research work has Last spring John received significant been recognized by a Guggenheim recognition for his continuing service Fellowship and election to Fellow of the at UB. He won the CISP (Council on American Physical Society. As much as International Studies and Programs) John has contributed to UB in his many award for internationalization for his work administrative roles in what one might Dr. Ho at the chalkboard. Photo: Patty Wallace in mentoring international students and call a ‘second phase’ of his academic his close engagement with all the major career, the Department has missed him policy issues affecting international After serving UB as Interim Vice-Provost, as one of its outstanding researchers students and programs that have and then Vice Provost, for Graduate and teachers. arisen at UB in recent decades. Soon Education (and Dean of the Graduate thereafter, he was presented with the School) for a total of over nine years, Not everyone is aware of another aspect President’s Medal at commencement, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor of John’s personality, that is, his breadth of the highest honor the University gives John Ho stepped down last summer to interests and ability to interact personally for extraordinary service. Evidencing his return to the Department of Physics. We with a diverse group of individuals. For characteristic wry sense of humor, when are very pleased to have him back. many years John has been a member John found out about his nomination and of the “Stammtisch” group of faculty (if the decision by President Tripathy, he John has been a member of the you’re not German or Austrian, you may sent an email to one of (what he termed) department since 1975, when he arrived have to look this up), who met at lunch the “co-conspirators”, commenting on at UB as an Associate Professor in the regularly to discuss politics, philosophy the nomination: “…..that led to Satish’s fall of that year. He was promoted to Full and almost any topic but physics. This ill-advised decision to want to give me the Professor “with continuing appointment” group represented many departmental President’s Medal, thus forever lowering (translation: “with tenure”) in 1983, and in affiliations, from Chemical Engineering the standards for that award. In any case, 1995 he was promoted into the highest to Classics. Such gatherings are an your kindness is much appreciated.” academic ranks in the SUNY system, example of the tremendous possibilities John’s intelligence and humor is a Distinguished Service Professor. John for enrichment that exist at a large hallmark of his persona and was always didn’t rest on his laurels. He took this university like UB, but not all of us take on display in the Department, and in the honor to heart and has continued to advantage of the opportunity; John does. hallowed halls of the upper administration. perform outstanding service to the In spite of these remarkable positives, department, the former Faculty of Natural John is also an outstanding scientist John has, in the opinion of one of the Sciences and Mathematics and its (much and teacher/mentor. His research in the writers, an annoying habit: legendary

6 Faculty News

for the past 40 years. His dedication to as a fellow of the LHC-Theory Initiative. excellence in the department and at UB Both Dr. Williams and Dr. Marzani are has been exemplary, and his presence in recipients of this prestigious fellowship, the department is greatly valued by all of which is funded by the National Science us. Foundation and awarded to promising young theorists working on LHC-related Two New Faculty Members physics. Make UB a Powerhouse in LHC Phenomenology The UB high-energy theory group has By Dr. Doreen Wackeroth a long tradition of providing precise predictions for high-energy colliders, Since the start of the CERN Large Hadron which involves complex calculations in Collider (LHC) in Geneva, Switzerland, in Quantum Field Theory and Monte Carlo 2010 the particle physics community has generator development. Drs. Marzani’s already experienced the excitement of and Williams’ research expertise is an the discovery of a new particle. In 2012, excellent fit to these efforts, and provides Drs. Martha Leung and John Ho the Higgs boson was discovered after much needed complementary expertise decades of searches and we are currently in this research area. Dr. Marzani is an efficiency and NEVER being late for looking forward to an era of exploration expert in applying QCD resummation deadlines. And to top it off, his written at a new energy frontier. Recognizing techniques to Higgs, Electroweak and jet documents are always models of clarity the unique opportunity of this new era for physics, and in performing analytic QCD and good writing, making the rest of us seminal discoveries in the field of particle calculations for fundamental validation look like slackers. physics, the UB Physics Department of new techniques in jet physics. Dr. considerably strengthened its existing Williams is an expert in performing fixed During the past year John and his wife, Dr. high energy physics and cosmology higher-order multi-loop calculations in Martha Leung, have created a $154,000 (HEPCOS) group by the addition of two QCD and Electroweak theory and their endowed scholarship fund to be used faculty members in the field of LHC implementation in the publicly available for supporting graduate students. John phenomenology, Dr. Simone Marzani Monte Carlo program MCFM. Together and Martha are motivated by their and Dr. Ciaran Williams. Both already with the already existing expertise in appreciation of their long association with have an outstanding research record and LHC phenomenology (Dr. Gonsalves in UB that has enhanced their professional together with the existing theory effort QCD and Dr. Wackeroth in Electroweak and personal lives and their desire to and the excellent experimental effort at theory), we are now one of the most promote further advancement of the UB (UB is a member of the LHC CMS comprehensive university groups in the graduate programs in Physics at UB. The collaboration), the Department is now U.S. in this research area. This wide scholarship with be given out yearly and well positioned to play a leading role in breath of calculational and Monte Carlo will recognize outstanding unsupported this new era of discovery. tools as well as fundamental studies students and other early-career students in QCD are necessary for precision who have demonstrated academic Dr. Williams received his PhD degree measurements of Higgs properties, excellence since joining UB Physics. in 2010 from Durham University in the testing the Standard Model (SM), and U.K., was a postdoctoral researcher at the search of physics beyond the SM at Stephen Dunnett, Vice Provost for Fermilab from 2010 until 2013, and held the LHC. So far the SM has withstood all International Education, has written, an Assistant Professorship at the Niels experimental tests but we know that it is “John’s quiet wisdom, innate modesty Bohr Institute in Denmark prior to coming not complete. For instance it does not and essential decency have impressed to UB in January 2015. Dr. Marzani joined include an explanation for dark matter me from the day I first got to know him the UB Physics Department in August or for neutrino masses, to name just a nearly forty years ago.” As is clear from 2015. He received his PhD degree in 2008 few open questions. The LHC enables a the preceding, the Department of Physics from the University of Edinburgh in the detailed study of the Higgs boson and the has benefitted greatly by having a person U.K. He was a postdoctoral researcher search for new particles and interactions of John’s character, intelligence, breadth, at the University of Manchester and in a new high-energy regime, and the quality, achievements, and unassuming Durham University before coming to the research performed here at UB will play an demeanor as a member of the faculty U.S. in 2014 to spend one year at MIT integral part in this endeavor.

7 Research News

Faculty news continued ... of all LHC calculations (for more state with the mP20 structure to a information see www.physics.buffalo.edu/ magnetic metallic state with the oP10 It is exciting to see how the group is QCDfactorization). structure. Such a novel phase transition growing and attracting young talent to UB has never been reported in TMBs. to work with Dr. Marzani and Dr. Williams. The LHC Run II is currently well under way We demonstrate that such a phase They were able to hire two outstanding and data are collected at the new energy transition is a manifestation of a strong young postdoctoral researchers, Dr. Tobias frontier of 13 TeV. The HEPCOS group at competition between Peierls and Stoner Neumann from the University of Wuppertal UB (see www.physics.buffalo.edu/hepcos) mechanisms that governs a crossover (Germany) and Dr. Vincent Theeuwes from is now well positioned to significantly from an electron-pairing to an electron- the University of Muenster (Germany), who impact the interpretation of these data. localization scenario in this system. This started at UB in fall 2015. Also Dr. Williams phase transition is different from a purely is currently advising a PhD student Roberto Stay tuned! Peierls or Stoner picture. The phonon Mondini, who received a Masters degree free energy plays an important role that in particle physics from the University of Research News ultimately drives the system toward the Milan (Italy). All these new developments phase transition. Therefore, the phase

Phonon-Assisted Crossover from a Nonmagnetic Insulator to a Magnetic Metal By Dr. Peihong Zhang

Transition-metal borides (TMB) continue to be a focus of intense research owing Calculated relative free energy versus to their diverse and novel properties temperature for the oP10 (FM) and mP20 ranging from topological Kondo insulator (NM) phases, suggesting a phonon-assisted crossover from a nonmagnetic Peierls insulator Dr. Ciaran Williams, Assistant Professor of (e.g., SmB6) to the coexistence of to a magnetic stoner metal. metallicity and superhardness (e.g., Physics, joined the UB Physics Department in transition in this system is a result of a January 2015. Photo: Hong Luo ReB2, CrB4). In the rich family of TMB, delicate and unique interplay among MnB4 has a distinct position not only three factors, i.e., structural (Peierls) because of its superhardness, but it also instability, magnetic (Stoner) instability, exhibits intriguing magnetostructural and temperature (phonon) effects. behaviors that have puzzled researchers Our finding not only resolves the long- for several decades. In this paper, standing magnetostructural puzzle of a “Phonon-Assisted Crossover from class of TMB but also provides a realistic a Nonmagnetic Peierls Insulator to system for the Peierls-Hubbard model. a Magnetic Stoner Metal” [PRL 113, 176401 (2014)], Y. Liang, X. Yuan, Y. Spontaneously spin polarized Gao, W. Zhang, and P. Zhang show Dr. Simone Marzani, Assistant Professor of electrons in WS2 that MnB4 undergoes a simultaneous Physics, joined the UB Physics Department in By Dr. Athos Petrou and Thomas Scrace August 2015. magnetostructural and insulator-metal transition from a nonmagnetic insulating in the high-energy theory group at UB WS2 belongs to a class of materials known have attracted attention from the U.S. as “transition metal dichalcogenides.” particle physics community. This was very As bulk crystals they consist of atomic apparent at the recent QCD factorization layers that are strongly bonded, while workshop at UB, initiated by Dr. Marzani the layers are held together by much and generously funded by Dr. Eckhard weaker van der Waals forces. Thus it is Krotscheck, the founder of UB’s Physics possible to exfoliate flakes composed of a at the Falls series. This workshop gave small number of atomic layers. The exact eleven invited world-leading QCD experts Crystal structures of othorhombic (left) and number is determined by recording the a forum to discuss the consequences of monoclinic (right) phases of MnB4. The blue vibration frequencies of the flakes using and green spheres represent Mn and B atoms, violating a principle that is the foundation respectively. Raman spectroscopy. For our work we

8 Department of Physics Programs

used single-layer flakes because they monolayers”, T. Scrace, Y. Tsai, B. Frank B. Silvestro Endowment Fund: emit light very efficiently when excited Barman, L. Schweidenback, A. Petrou, This endowment, established in 2000, and with a laser beam. In general when a G. Kioseoglou, I. Ozfidan, M. Korkusinski, funded by donations of Mr. Frank Silvestro, material is excited with linearly polarized and P. Hawrylak, Nature Nanotechnology BA 1962, MA 1968 is used to support light at zero magnetic field the emitted light 10, 603 (2015). Work at SUNY Buffalo physics students who show academic (photoluminescence or PL) is not circularly has been supported by Office of Naval promise and demonstrate financial need. polarized. To our surprise, we found that Research. Currently, the available endowment funds the PL from our WS2 samples was strongly are used for the support of graduate left circularly polarized (degree of circular students. polarization between 20% and 30%). Department of Furthermore, the circular polarization Physics Programs Dr. Stanley T. Sekula Memorial strongly depends on the magnitude and Scholarship Fund: This endowment, direction of the magnetic field which is Support the Department of established in 1990 by Mrs. Anne H. applied normal to the WS2 layers. This is Physics Programs Sekula, honors the memory of Dr. Stanley shown in the figure. The experimental work T. Sekula, BA 1951. The endowment was carried out at UB in collaboration with The Physics department is grateful income is used to recognize outstanding Professor George Kioseoglou (University to all our alumni and friends for their undergraduates who show academic of Crete, Greece). The interpretation was contributions. These contributions provide promise and demonstrate financial need. given by Professor Pawel Hawrylak’s the margin which makes UB Physics theory group at the University of Ottawa an excellent Department. In today’s Moti Lal Rustgi Professorship in (Canada). The theory compares the total environment of decreasing government Physics: Endowed by the Rustgi family energy of the electrons in WS2 for the case support, the contributions to any of these in 2006 to honor the late Professor Moti in which the electrons are not polarized funds are instrumental in the quality of Lal Rustgi. Provides support for the Rustgi (equal numbers of spin-up and spin-down our academic endeavors every year. Professor, currently held by Professor electrons) and spin-polarized (all electrons To contribute electronically, please visit Francis Gasparini. in their spin-down state). The results is that www.physics.buffalo.edu and click the for a range of electron densities the ground Support Physics button on the top right or Ta-You Wu Lectureship Fund: state of the system is spin-polarized. When email [email protected]. You may Established in 2008 by Professor Yung- the spin-polarized electrons participate in also contact the Development Office at Chang Lee in remembrance of the late the recombination process, they emit left 716-645-0839, with any questions. Professor Ta-You Wu, who was a key circularly polarized light. These results member of the Department from 1966 to were presented at the 2015 March Meeting Physics Department Funds: 1978. of the American Physical Society. A paper on this work has appeared in Nature Physics Excellence Endowment: Moti Lal Rustgi Memorial Lectureship Nanotechnology : “Magnetoluminescence The Physics Excellence Endowment is Fund: Established in 1993 by the Rustgi and valley polarized state of a two- of paramount importance in achieving family, the fund supports an annual lecture dimensional electron gas in WS2 overall excellence in the broad mission by distinguished researchers. of the Physics Department. These expendable, undesignated funds support Physics & Arts Exhibition Fund: recruitment of outstanding graduate This interactive permanent exhibition and undergraduate students, out-reach in Fronczak Hall opened in 2006, and was funded by alumni. It is one of the efforts to the community, upper level Department’s most effective outreach experimental laboratories, undergraduate initiatives. Support will allow continued research projects, and activities of The evolution and development. Society for Physics Students. In addition, the Physics Excellence Endowment Physics Department Resource Fund: funds provide partial support for the The Resource fund is not an endowment Department’s colloquium and seminars fund. Contributions to this fund are Circular polarization of the emitted series, and for the tangible recognition available immediately to the Department photoluminescence as function of magnetic field at a temperature of 5K. of our outstanding faculty and students. less a minimum of five percent deduction

9 Events

physics programs continued ... Events low-dimensional materials. His work on quantum transport measurement on by the UB Foundation. These funds from 2015 Rustgi Memorial Lecture the two-dimensional graphene lattice our donors are used to give partial support by Dr. Jong Han demonstrated novel phenomena arising to activities such as graduation receptions from the peculiar two-dimensional electron for our physics majors, welcoming picnics The Twenty First Annual Moti Lal Rustgi dynamics. With his pioneering works, for new graduate students, activities of Memorial Lecture entitled “Relativity, Kim has been recognized as one of the the undergraduate Society of Physics Students, awards for our outstanding TA’s, and other needs.

Fellowship for Outstanding Graduate Students is established with departmental funds to reward students who have shown significant academic progress since coming to UB. All graduate students who enter the department without a Presidential Fellowship or Dean’s Scholarship are eligible for this fellowship. We offer one or two fellowships per year.

Physics Graduate Student Memorial Fellowship is established with a generous endowment from our colleague Bruce D. McCombe, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Emeritus. This Fellowship is in memory Dr. M.L. Rustgi’s brother, Dr. Om Rustgi and his wife Meena with Prof. Kim and physics faculty after of three former UB graduate students, the lecture. From left to right, Dr. Luo, Mrs. Meena Rustgi, Dr. Om Rustgi,, Dr. Kim, Dr. Han, Dr. Zutic and Dr. Hu. Photo: John Cerne Christian Meining, Yong-Jie Wang and Taeman Yeo, and is used to provide Quantum Physics and Graphene” was “Scientific American 50” in 2006, and assistance to international graduate presented by Professor Philip Kim from garnered numerous prestigious awards students, with preference given to Asian Harvard University on May 8th 2015. such as IBM Faculty Award in 2009, the students and first year PhD students, who Professor Kim, physics Ph D from Harvard Dresden Barkhausen Award in 2011, have demonstrated financial need and University in 1999, is one of the leading and most notably the Oliver E. Buckley academic promise. researchers in the field of nano-scale Condensed Matter Prize in 2014, given to

This year the Department of Physics established one new scholarship with the generous support of Dr. John Ho and Dr. Martha Leung for our graduate students:

John Ho and Martha Leung Scholarship is established with a generous endowment from our colleague John Ho, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor and his wife, Dr. Martha Leung. This annual scholarship will promote further advancement of the graduate programs in Physics at UB and will recognized outstanding unsupported students and other early-career students who have Professor Kim meeting informally with UB undergraduate and graduate students. Photo: John Cerne demonstrated academic excellence.

10 Events

the most outstanding work in the field. industry. Prof. Kim wowed the audience by showing a US-letter sized sheet of The lecture, given to a full audience of UB graphene manufactured by Samsung students, faculty and the general public in Electronics. 225 Natural Science Complex on the UB North Campus, entertained with the theme The Rustgi lecture series has allowed that penetrates modern physics, the theory some of the world’s premier scientists, like of relativity and tquantum mechanics. Prof. Dr. Kim, (including 8 Nobel laureates) to tell Kim has taken the audience through the our community about their research. The historic path that led Paul Dirac in 1928 to discover anti-particles by combining relativity and quantum theory. Discovered nearly 80 years later, graphene, a two- dimensional honeycomb network of carbon atoms, has since inspired physicists as a concrete physical realization of abstract theoretical concepts. The kinetic energy of electrons in the lattice mimics that Dr. Kim meeting with the audience after the of relativistic particles inside particle- Rustgi Lecture-Gio Kharchilava and Professor lecture. Photo: John Cerne like and anti-particle-like bands, leading Kim. Photo : John Cerne to an unusually high electron velocity. Department is grateful to the family of Dr. honeycomb-shaped carbon lattice mainly Furthermore, the lab-made system Moti Lal Rustgi, Professor of Physics at UB determine the quantum mechanical can be continuously altered to achieve 1966- 1992, for funding this public lecture properties of graphene. Electrons desired materials properties, such as series in his memory. strongly interacting with one another gap-engineering, with the controllability sometimes form collective states such as which has made semiconductors one of Two International Conferences superconductivity, where electrons behave the cornerstones in modern technology. hosted by the Physics Department in unison, aided by quantum mechanical by Drs. Eckhard Krotscheck and Francis coherence. In three-dimensional systems Graphene adds another element of Gasparini with a large number of neighboring lattice fancy in its low-dimensionality. Quantum sites, the quantum coherence gains stability mechanical properties of many-electron Two international conferences were which averages out the fluctuations due systems stand out due to the heightened organized and hosted by the Department of to quantum transitions. It is often in two- fluctuations unmitigated in low dimensions. Physics in August, 2015. The International dimensions that such quantum phases are Electrons swimming through the regular Symposium on Quantum Fluids and Solids borderline stable with exotic properties in (QFS), which was organized by Profs. quantum matter. The graphene system Francis Gasparini and Eckhard Krotscheck has been a candy store for physicists in as co-chairs; and, Recent Progress in over the last decade, in which people can Many-Body Physics Theory (RPMBT), ask deep questions and can verify ideas which was organized by Profs. Eckhard through experimental facts. Krotscheck and Jong Han. This is the first Prof. Kim stressed that the extraordinary time that the Department has hosted these properties of graphene can lead to meetings. The conferences took place at new electronic devices in real life. As a the Niagara Falls Convention Center during pure, flawless, single-atom-thick crystal, the second and third weeks in August. graphene conducts electricity better Between the end of one conference at room temperature than any other and the start of the other, eight tutorial substance. Engineers envision a range lectures were given targeting graduate of products made of graphene, such students and young researchers. These as ultrahigh-speed transistors and flat conferences were attended by a total of panel displays. Graphene is viewed as a over 270 scientists from all over the world. Prof. Kim during his talk. Photo: John Cerne promising next-generation electronics in continued on page 14 ...

11 Events of 2015

Undergraduate Commencement, May 2015

Accepted Students Day, March 2015

Left to right: Geoffrey Fatin, Dante Iozzo and Sean Bearden Supervisor of Instructional Labs - Scott Whitmire

Dr. Rappoccio (left), talking about our undergraduate program

12 Events of 2015

Dr. Gozpinar giving a tour of the teaching labs L to R: Anshul Saini, Dr. Rappoccio, Nargess Arabchigavkani, Dr. Wackeroth

Dr. Wackeroth (left) answering questions about physics at UB

Left to right: Dr. Gozpinar, Geoffrey Fatin, Jeremy Baron, John Truong, Nelson Gross

13 Events

continued from page 11 ... The conferences are part of an ongoing The conference on Recent Progress in Events Calendar 2015 local series of meetings and workshops Many-Body Theory (RPMBT) started in called “Physics at the Falls” initiated by 1978 and has been held every two years, Oct 10 Open House Eckhard Krotscheck and supported by most recently in Bariloche, Argentina the State University of New York through and Rostock, Germany. The series of Nov 2-3 Physics at the the College of Arts and Sciences of the many-body conferences is the forum for Falls: Workshop University at Buffalo, http://www.physics. dissemination of new developments in on QCD

buffalo.edu/physics_at_the_falls.html . frontier interdisciplinary problems. The Factorization conference covers many-body problems in 2016 The QFS conference started over 30 quantum fluids, nuclear physics, correlated April 15 Rusti Lecture: years ago and in the present format it electron physics, relativistic many-body Joseph Incandela is held every year except in years when theory as well as methodological sessions the Low Temperature conference is on new computational techniques. Theory May 13 Graduate Commencement held. Recent venues for the QFS were of cold gases has been added more In Matsue, Japan; Lancaster, UK; and recently and is covered to the extent that May 15 Undergraduate Commencement Grenoble, France. The conference covers interesting many-body physics is involved. topics of liquid and solid 4He, 3He, 3He- These topics and others were covered Aug 15-17 Loopfest XV 4He mixtures, hydrogen, trapped atomic in a series of 50 invited talks chosen by gases, magnetism and superconductivity, an international Program Committee. and Gordon Baym, University of Illinois, strongly correlated condensed matter In addition to the scientific program, the Champagne-Urbana, for their contributions systems, quantum fluids as model systems outstanding contributions to the field were to many-body theory and on occasion for cosmology, hydrodynamics and high recognized with two awards. Christopher of their 80th birthdays. External funding energy physics, and novel experimental J. Pethick was awarded The Eugene for this conference was also obtained techniques developed at low temperatures. Feenberg Memorial Medal “for pioneering from the National Science Foundation. These topics were presented in a series of contributions and profound insights The proceedings of the MBT conference 60 invited talks chosen by an international into many-body physics across diverse will be published by the IOP conference advisory committee, and a total of 200 physical systems, ranging from ultra- proceedings, with Gerardo Ortis (U. of posters, which were displayed over a cold atoms and quantum liquids to dense Indiana) and Eckhard Krotscheck as guest period of four days. External funding for nuclear matter in neutron stars and stellar editors. the QFS conference was obtained from collapse”. the U.S. National Science Foundation, The local organizing committee for the and from the International Union of Pure Another medal, The Kümmel Early QFS conference was comprised of UB’s and Applied Physics. Proceedings of the Achievement Award, was given to Dr. Francis Gasparini, Eckhard Krotscheck, conference in the form of refereed papers Lianyi He “for pioneering work in the many- John Cerne, Sambandamurthy will be published in a special issue of the body theory of QCD at high isospin density Ganapathy, Bruce McCombe, and from Journal of Low Temperature Physics with and in the simulations of gauge fields Cornell, Jeevak Parpia. For the RPMBT Eckhard Krotscheck, Francis Gasparini, in cold atoms”. At the conference there Conference the local committee consisted Sambandmurthy Ganapathy and John were also special sessions to honor John of Eckhard Krotscheck, Jong Han, Shigeji Cerne as guest editors. Clark, Washington University, St Louis; Fujita, Xuedong Hu, Peihong Zhang and Igor Zutic.

The University at Buffalo Invades Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory for the summer By Drs. Ia Iashvili, Avto Kharchilava, Salvatore Rappoccio

The second run of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) began in the summer of 2015, producing the highest energy proton collisions ever made by humankind, at 13 MBT conference participants Tera-electronvolts (TeV) in the center-of-

14 Events

Grant “USCMS Phase 1 Upgrades”. Ms. Undergrad field trip to Parker was also awarded a grant from the Fermiliab Fermilab “Guests and Visitors” program by Joseph Pusztay for this work. The students assisted in the design, construction, and testing of the One of the best parts of going into physics new pixel detector. Their responsibilities is the fact that you’re surrounded by people as motivated and passionate as you are, included designing the CO2-based cooling system, testing the custom-made printed people who are willing to spend long The UB Invasion of Fermilab: (from left) Prof. nights scratching away on a blackboard, Rappoccio, Joshua Kaisen, Maral Alyari, circuit boards to read out the data from Andrew Godshalk, Matthew Gordon, Joseph the sensors, testing high-bandwidth flex diligently working to understand a Pusztay, Ashley Parker, Anne Fortman, Lisong cables to extract the signals from the inner concept. Last spring, this same passion Chen, Dr. James Dolen. device to the readout electronics several led a group of students to spend 36 hours mass frame. Following the discovery of the meters away, and even taking data-quality awake, driving through the night, to tour a Higgs boson in 2012, the LHC experiments monitoring shifts from the current 13 TeV national laboratory. In spring 2015, nine will now continue investigating nature collisions at the LHC. They spent much of undergraduate UB students, accompanied at ever-smaller spatial scales to better their time in the clean room at the Silicon by Dr. Salvatore Rappoccio, visited the understand the properties of the only Detector Facility at FNAL using cutting- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory to known fundamental scalar particle. Profs. edge equipment that translate directly to learn something new about high energy Kharchilava, Iashvili, and Rappoccio are physics. The trip was organized by UB’s members of the Compact Muon Solenoid Society of Physics Students Chapter. (CMS) experiment at the LHC. The CMS Fueled by an excessive amount of detector can measure the trajectories caffeine, we all gathered in the Fronczak of charged particles within a few dozen parking lot around 1 AM to discuss the micrometers over a distance of 3 meters, final seating arrangements in the two and is read out billions of times per second. rental vans as Jayson Barker, a former The innermost detector is a radiation-hard U.S. Army Ranger, jokingly discussed silicon-based pixel tracker, consisting of how the “convoy” should react in the case 66 million channels. This detector must UB postdoctoral fellow Dr. James Dolen (center) of a vehicle rollover, making all involved be replaced in spring 2016 to sustain explains a testing procedure to undergraduate throw their hands up and scream “rollover increased radiation and occupancy from students Joseph Puzstay, Matthew Gordon, rollover rollover.” Fast forward eleven hours Anne Fortman and Lisong Chen in the clean higher numbers of LHC interactions in and we arrived safely at the Fermi National room at FNAL’s Silicon Detector Facility. late 2016 and beyond. This provided Accelerator Laboratory. technology job skills. They also engaged in the larger educational opportunities Already being awake for 24 hours, we at FNAL, including lecture series, were driven by pure enthusiasm and conferences, and colloquia. In future excitement to finally see the site of a large summers, the construction will move from collider experiment. All the arguments and FNAL to CERN, so this team of students frustration that had built up on our way will continue to work on the detector at down went to the back of our minds as we CMS in 2016 and beyond. entered Wilson Hall to meet up with Dr. Rappoccio. It was here we saw the heart of The students are also learning about US Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS). With Upon arrival, the students were able to attend the LHC restart party at FNAL (until 4 AM). the analysis of the data from the CMS the Remote Operations Control Center for From left, undergraduate student Joseph detector. The undergraduate students, in CMS on the left, and the Control Center Pusztay, graduate student Maral Alyari, particular, are continuing their involvement for the neutrino experiments on the right, graduate student Ashley Parker, postdoctoral fellow Dr. James Dolen, and Prof. Rappoccio. in CMS over the academic year to make one could easily get lost staring at event several cutting-edge measurements of the displays all day, but our tour guide and a unique opportunity for graduate and properties of quantum chromodynamics Professor Rappoccio ensured this did not undergraduate students from UB to spend (QCD) in the new 13 TeV collisions at the happen as we went on to learn about the a summer at the Fermi National Accelerator LHC. These studies will be submitted for history of the laboratory.

Laboratory (FNAL), funded by the NSF publication in 2016. continued on page 16 ...

15 Faculty Awards

events continued ... http://www.buffalo.edu/ubreporter/ campus/campus-host-page.host.html/ content/shared/university/news/ubreporter-articles/stories/2015/05/ho_ cisp_award.detail.html

http://www.buffalo.edu/ubreporter/ featured-stories.host.html/content/ shared/university/news/ub-reporter- articles/stories/2015/04/wilmers_ norton_medal.detail.html

Although the competition for federal funding has become very intense, we From Left to Right: Giovanni Chiappone, Jayson Barker, Ben Cammett, Yuichi Okugawa, Michael are happy to report that several of our Morse, Justin Mason, Joseph Pusztay, Lisong Chen, Ben Jeff, Professor Salvatore Rappoccio faculty have been awarded new grants Beginning on the fifteenth floor of Wilson sitting on the lawn next to the building. this year. Dr. Peihong Zhang received Hall, we could all look out over the ring of As we learned about the pictures that the an NSF grant titled “Speeding up GW the Tevatron and get a true sense of the machine took we all gathered around it, Quasiparticle Calculations to Meet the size of this accelerator. A video containing inspecting the components and thinking Challenge of Fast and Accurate Materials music from a Soviet training film then about how particles used to be analyzed Prediction”. Awarded in May, 2015 told us about the neutrino experiments at by hand. Here we took a group photo to Fermilab. Prior to this trip, none of us really commemorate our trip, and feel a little cool knew anything about the efforts of neutrino about the fact we were standing next to a physics. Towards the end of the trip, we massive particle detector.

got to see the Control Room with the event Although exhausting, the trip was a huge displays for the neutrino detectors, as well success. We learned more about a field as get an explanation for how the detectors that isn’t strictly taught in the general at Fermilab work with PVC piping and curriculum and caught a glimpse of new scintillating fluid. Although we saw many physics research. We spent the night of the latest research efforts in physics, at the lab, and by the time we got home one of the most interesting aspects of everyone had one thing on their mind: our trip was getting to see some of the motivation. Seeing such a massive effort history as well. all for physics bolstered the already

immense passion we all have, and left us After we ventured from Wilson Hall, we thinking “what are going to look into next?” meandered through the lab, seeing much of the interesting architecture as well as the roaming bison, which were a strange Faculty Awards and unexpected sight at Fermilab. This By Dr. John Cerne SUNY Distinguished Professor John Ho venture into the other areas of the lab was most interesting when we reached the Our own Professor John Ho received two building for the Silicon Detector Group. UB awards. The first is for “Outstanding with duration of 36 months, this grant This building, oddly enough, has a strange Contributions to International supports the development of several dome shaped room where the roof is Education,” which recognizes Dr. Ho’s new computational techniques that will made out of pop cans. This room housed great contributions over many years greatly improve the accuracy and speed a bubble chamber, one of the early particle to international education. Dr. Ho also of predicting materials’ excited states detectors, stationed at the end of one of the received the President’s Medal for his properties from first-principles. Dr. Zhang accelerator’s beam lines. The interesting extraordinary service to UB. For more and his collaborators at Binghamton and Stony Brook received a second round thing, and probably most exciting, was that information on these awards, please of funding from the SUNY Networks of this fifteen foot bubble chamber is now check the following websites: Excellence – Materials and Advanced

16 Student Awards

faculty awards continued ... physics in their classroom curriculum. Ph.D. students Ashley Parker Manufacturing for their study of complex Dr. Hong Luo Here received a grant (advisor: Dr. Salvatore Rappocio) and oxides for electrochemical applications. from the Office of Naval Research. Bahareh Roozbahani (advisor: Dr. Ia Drs. Ia Iashvili and Avto Kharchilava The grant is entitled “Synthesis and Iashvili) received Fermilab LPC (LHC received a 3-year NSF grant entitled Characterization of Macromolecules Physics Center) Guest and Visitors High Energy Physics Research at LHC for Mono-Molecular Electronics: A awards in spring 2015. The awards with the CMS Experiment, awarded Preliminary Investigation” and covers the support research visits to the LPC for in June 2015. The goal of this research period from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016, collaboration with other CMS members project is to perform precision residing at Fermilab. To receive the measurements of the Standard Model Dr. Igor Zutic was the principal award, the students had to write observables and to search for particles investigator on “Using Spin-Polarized proposals of their research. Ms. Parker’s predicted by theories beyond the Carriers in Semiconductor Lasers for proposal concentrates on searches for Standard Model at the Compact Muon Optical Interconnects.” The grant was new particles in boosted topologies. Ms. Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the from the National Science Foundation Roozbahani’s research is centered at jet Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The LHC and will go from July 2015 to June 2018. energy calibrations with new methods. is a premier energy frontier particle accelerator, operating at the CERN Student Awards Our undergraduate students had laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland. By Dr. John Cerne another banner year in terms of Drs. Ia Iashvili and Avto Kharchilava also external recognition. For more Our undergraduate and graduate students received NSF outreach grants entitled information on undergraduate awards had another successful year in obtaining “QuarkNet”, awarded October 2015. and accomplishments, please see Dr. awards. In addition to the internal awards QuarkNet is a program, which provides Wackeroth’s feature article on page two. hands-on research experience to high listed in the table below, our students school physics teachers and helps them received numerous external awards. implement basic concepts of high energy

Undergraduate Awards Graduate Awards

CAS College Ambassadors Outstanding Graduate Student Silvestro Scholarship Geoffrey Fatin Jo-Tzu Hung Ali Alsaqqa Dante Iozzo Thomas Scrace Maral Alyari Nargess Arabchigavkani Nigel Michki Outstanding TA Elizabeth Hunter Yanting Deng Colin Kilcoyne Luke Lyle Hsuan Hao Fan John Truong Outstanding Seniors Weiwei Gao Weixiang Jin Sean R. B. Bearden Physics Graduate Student Jiajun Li Graham P. Lyon Memorial Fellowship Tenzin Norden Physics Academic Achievement Chenghao Shen Rahul Kashyap (undergraduate) Gaofeng Xu Bahareh Roozbahani Nigel Michki Presidential Fellowship Anshul Saini Sekula Scholarship Awards Mehedi Hasan Syed John Truong Anne Fortman Bilal Tariq Ruifeng Dong Sergio Garcia Weiyi Xia Rahul Munshi Eric Bigenwald Gaofeng Xu Luke Pendo Syed Zain Xuechen Zhu Roberto Mondini Dante Iozzo Ken Budzinski John Ho & Martha Matt Gordon Leung Scholarship Ashley Parker Chenghao Shen Peiyang Zhang

17 Outreach

Impacting our community By Dr. John Cerne

Our students and faculty continued their extensive outreach activities. UB has been a member of the nationwide QuarkNet outreach program since early 2006. Mentors of the group are Profs. Iashvili and Kharchilava. The UB QuarkNet center sponsors Summer Workshops and Spring Masterclasses every year. The objective of the program is to bring local high school physics teachers and their students in close contact with the high energy physics (HEP) research. It helps teachers to develop high energy experiment related units for the high school physics curriculum. Two lead teachers, David McClary and Larry Hiller, have been with the UB QuarkNet center since its inception. Summer 2015 QuarkNet Workshop participants at the UB Physics Department. During the last 9 years, the center has the Higgs boson and low mass resonances, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dejan- attracted 12 teachers from 11 different J/Ψ and ϒ. Finally, the students shared their stojkovic/why-pluto-will-remain-a-dwarf- schools, including both public and private, findings and participated in discussions planet_b_7832384.html as well as girls-only Nardin Academy. over a videoconference with other participating Masterclass groups from In November, Dr. Will Kinney organized the The annual UB QuarkNet workshops are Boston and Detroit. Students found the Science & Art Cabaret 16.0: Improvisation. held at the Physics Department. The Masterclass experience very informative This cabaret brought scientists, educators, workshops include: presentations by about HEP and about the collaborative artists, musicians and poets (among the mentors; Compact Muon Solenoid nature of the HEP experimental research. (CMS) data analyses by the teachers others) together to explore improvisation with the help from mentors; Data taking in freewheeling discussions and sessions using cosmic muon detector performances. This is the 21st at the Physics Department Cosmic lab Science & Art Cabaret to have been and e-lab data uploads; and discussion held to packed crowds at Hallwall’s sessions to exchange ideas about high Contemporary Arts Center and other school physics curriculum developments. venues around downtown Buffalo since Dr. Kinney started this series in 2009 in The annual Masterclass sessions take collaboration with UB’s College of Arts place at the Nichols High School. UB and Sciences, Hallwall’s Contemporary mentors introduce participating high Arts Center, UB’s Techne Institute, and school students to HEP and CMS. After the the Buffalo Museum of Science. Two introduction sessions, students are divided The magnetization experiment with high school more events are planned for spring into several groups to analyze different sets students Mychaela Navel and Sonia Chung 2016. For more information, visit: of CMS data and compare their findings. during Dr. Petrou’s “Introduction to magnetism” workshop This year, students had an opportunity to http://www.hallwalls.org/science-art.php study Z→ee, Z→µµ, W→eν and W→µν Dr. Dejan Stojkovic, who is able to take Dr. Athos Petrou continued his outreach events using the CMS event display. At the the most abstract theoretical concepts efforts to promote knowledge of end of the data analysis session, students and make them understandable magnetism by organizing an “Introduction combined their results to measure the to non-experts, was asked by the to Magnetism” workshop supported by relative cross-section of Z/W production, Huffington post to write an article about + - his NSF grant. The workshop was offered the ratio of W /W , and to check lepton Pluto. His article can be found at: universality. Students, also “discovered” between July 6-10, 2015 to high school

18 Outreach

students of the Buffalo area. The workshop was supervised by Ms. Sandra George, who is a science teacher at the Frontier Central High School. The workshop offered an introduction to magnetic effects with a series of demos, a tutorial on the use of EXCEL for data analysis and the following experiments: a) Measurement of the horizontal and vertical components of the earth’s magnetic field; b) The hysteresis on the magnetization of iron; c) The magnetic force on electrons; d) Measurement of the magnetization of a permanent Workshop participants analyze data taken to simulate a mechanical analog of the Rutherford scattering magnet. In the photo we show two experiment students measuring the magnetization of a permanent magnet. The teaching materials for the workshop are available to the high school teachers of the Buffalo area. More information can be found at: www.physics.buffalo.edu/faculty/ APetrou_outreach_2015.html

On their own initiative, our undergraduate students helped run two major outreach events, the annual Science Exploration Day and Westminster Science Week. For more information on undergraduate outreach activities, please see Dr. Wackeroth’s feature article on p.2.

UB QuarkNet teachers diagnose a CMRD counter that registers low muon flux.

19 Events

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge research and care. It was done for the at the 2015 Kickoff first time this year in honor of one of our Barbeque physics Alumni who recently contracted by Dr. Bernard Weinstein this debilitating disease. Under different circumstances, this person would have Each August the Department of Physics been the first to stand in our ice bucket hosts a kick-off barbecue picnic to line. In that spirit we wish comfort in the welcome our new graduate students, and days ahead to all who suffer from ALS, and welcome back from summer activities our we continue to hope for a breakthrough current students, faculty and staff. It is in the research for a cure. Perhaps next a festive event held on the Friday before year the challenge can be extended Before... the first week of classes. There is plenty by involving other UB departments. of good food and beverage to enjoy, and lively conversation among the students and faculty on our expectations and hopes for what the year might bring in learning and research. The winners of several student merit awards are also announced. The 2015 picnic took place on August 28, but this year the customary activities had a new addition. The new event might loosely be described as an experiment in thermal physics and fluid dynamics, but this would be a very loose description, indeed, and …and after. Photos: Murat Mumtaz Arik would hide its true purpose. Prior to the awards announcements, about 15 physics faculty and graduate students stood facing the gathering in the bright sunlight of the day. After a short explanation of what was to happen, they then proceeded in unison to dump buckets of ice water over their heads, completing the ALS Challenge to great fanfare of all present. This self- inflicted drenching can be seen on YouTube at: www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Y35sEFOeL5U&feature=em- share_video_user . ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a progressive degenerative disease Dr. Rappoccio threatening the crowd affecting the brain and spinal cord cells with ice water. Photo Murat Mumtaz Arik that control voluntary muscle movement. There is no known cure for this ultimately paralyzing and usually fatal disease, unfortunately shared by so many including the famous physicist Stephen Hawking. The UB Physics Department, like so many other groups and individuals over the last two years, decided to take up the Drs. Ganapathy (left) and Weinstein after their ice bucket refreshment. “Ice Bucket Challenge” in support of ALS Photo: Doreen Wackeroth

20 Events

March Meeting reunion – We thank Renee Bush for all the great photos!

21 Events

March Meeting Reunion continued

Rust Belt Cosmology and High Energy Physics Workshop

Dr. Eric Greenwood (UB graduate, Ph.D. 2010) UB graduate student Jia Zhou

22 www.physics.buffalo.edu

23 The University at Buffalo Department of Physics Newsletter

International Symposium on Quantum Fluids and Solids in Niagara Falls, August 2015.

The Newsletter of the UB Department of Physics

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