The Wisconsin Physicist A Newsletter for University of Wisconsin Physics Alumni Inside this Issue Plasma Dynamo Facility The Large Hadron Collider The Precision Frontier & the New Standard Model Vol. 15 No.1 Fall 2009 Inside this Issue Vol. 15 No.1 Fall 2009 Greetings from the Chair ........................................................ 2 Plasma Dynamo Facility .......................................................... 4 Undergraduate Student Degrees & Awards ........................... 6 Graduate Student Degrees & Awards .................................... 7 The Large Hadron Collider ...................................................... 8 Graduate Recruiting ............................................................... 9 The Precision Frontier & The New Standard Model ............. 10 Outreach ............................................................................... 11 Faculty Updates & Awards ................................................... 12 Alumni Updates & Awards ................................................... 16 Staff Updates ........................................................................ 17 In memoriam ........................................................................ 18 Foundation Accounts ............................................................ 23 Giving ................................................................................... 24 University of Wisconsin Department of Physics 1150 University Avenue Madison, WI 53706 Tel: 608.262.4526 Fax: 608.262.3077 Email: [email protected] Web: www.physics.wisc.edu Facebook: UW-Madison Department of Physics 2 The Wisconsin Physicist View from the Chair Greetings here has been a great number • Prof. Pupa Gilbert received an of exciting developments in the NSF American Competitiveness TPhysics Department over the and Innovation Fellowship in past 18 months: 2008 “for her application of novel methodology to the determination • Our previous Chair, Prof. Susan of the structures and synthetic Coppersmith, has been elected pathways of mineralized biological to the prestigious National tissues and for exceptional skill in Academy of Sciences in 2009 in bringing the fascination of science A. Baha Balantekin “recognition of her distinguished to a wide audience involving non- and continuing achievements in science students and the general Eugene P. Wigner Professor and original research.” public.” Chair, Department of Physics • Prof. Karsten Heeger received a • Prof. Gary Shiu received one of 2009 Sloan Research Fellowship. the 2008 Guggenheim Fellowship Awards, which recognize artists, scholars and scientists based on Academic Ranking of World Universities distinguished past achievement and exceptional future promise. Ranking for UW Departments in the College of Letters & Science • In 2008 Prof. Heeger also received not one, but two Outstanding Mathematics Junior Investigator awards form 1 No. 13 in the world Department of Energy, one in High-Energy Physics and one in Nuclear Physics. Physics 2 Our faculty also successfully No. 22 in the world competed for the campus-wide awards: Economics/Business 3 • Professor Ellen Zweibel was No. 30 in the world awarded a William Kraushaar Professorship in 2009. 4 Chemistry • Prof. Michael Ramsey-Musolf No. 40 in the world received a 2009 Vilas Associate Award. Computer Science • Thomas Wise, Researcher in the 5 No. 44 in the world Department of Physics, received 2009 Chancellor’s Award for University of Wisconsin is ranked No. 17 overall in Natural Sciences and Excellence in Research for Critical Mathematics. Research Support. Methodology and more information is available at www.arwu.org. The Wisconsin Physicist 3 The Department congratulates these years at Wisconsin and his recollections Professor at SLAC, and Wai-Yim colleagues for their outstanding of the Dillinger laboratory. Ching, Curator’s Professor of Physics accomplishments. at University of Missouri-Kansas The eighth and ninth Annual Awards City, in 2009. Distinguished service Plasma physicist and the director Banquets were held in the springs award went to Wayne Niemuth in of Madison Symmetric Torus (MST) 2008 and 2009 respectively. In 2008 for his loyalty and exceptional experiment, Stewart Prager retired addition to awards to outstanding philanthropy to our department and from the University of Wisconsin in students, several Distinguished to Peter L. and Cheryle L. Jolivette in 2009 to lead U.S. Department of Alumni Fellow and Service Awards 2009 for their interest in, caring for, Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics were presented. Distinguished and philanthropy to students of the Laboratory. John Sarff was appointed Alumni Fellows were William Jury, Physics Department. as a professor of physics and the new Paul Kaesberg, and Wes Traub in director of MST. 2008 and the honorable Bill Foster, Whether you are an alumnus, friend, John Wiley and Phyllis Fleming in employee, or student, we appreciate During the academic year 2007-2008 2009. William Jury is a Distinguished your interest in and loyalty to the particle astrophysicist Asst. Prof. Professor of Soil Physics at the University of Wisconsin Physics Stefan Westerhoff was promoted University of California-Riverside. Paul Department. You can donate to the to associate professor with tenure. Kaesberg was a pioneer in physical Physics Department online by going During the academic year 2008-2009 studies of viruses. Wes Traub is the to www.physics.wisc.edu/giving/ an exceptionally large number of our Chief Scientist for NASA’s Navigator index.html. assistant professors were promoted Program, Bill Foster, a high-energy to associate professor with tenure: physicist, is currently the U.S. If you wish to consult with a UW cosmologist Daniel Chung, string Congressman Representing the 14th Foundation development officer on theorist Aki Hashimoto, neutrino District of Illinois. John Wiley has future gifts or other options, including experimentalist Karsten Heeger, high- just stepped down from his post as estates, trusts, gifts-in-kind, or planned energy experimentalist Matt Herndon, the Chancellor of the University of giving please contact Chris Glueck, and particle theorist Frank Petriello. Wisconsin-Madison to become the UW Foundation at 608/265-9952 or Interim Director of our brand-new [email protected]. We were delighted to hear that Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery. University of Wisconsin-Madison Phyllis was unfortunately too ill to On behalf of the Department, I Physics alumna, Fay Ajzenberg- attend the ceremony herself, but her sincerely thank you, our alumni and Selove, who received a Ph.D. in partner, Linda B. Miller joined us to friends, who have provided generous experimental nuclear physics with present the inaugural Phyllis Jane support to the Department. In these Hugh Richards, received the National Fleming Graduate Student Support tough economic times you help us Medal of Science in 2008 for her Award she established in honor of enormously to carry out our research, scientific achievements. You may Phyllis. Dr. Fleming passed away not education, and outreach efforts. recall that some years ago Fay had much after the award ceremony. She generously established a scholarship will live in our thoughts and successful fund for undergraduate women careers of the women who receive majoring in Physics, Astrophysics, or Phyllis Jane Fleming Award. Sam Astronomy. I recently noticed that Aronson, Director of the Brookhaven alumnus Theodore Cohen wrote a National Laboratory, and Marjorie very interesting book named Full Cocoran, Professor at Rice University, Circle (Authorhouse, Indiana, 2009), in received the Distinguished Scientist which he detailed his graduate school Award in 2008 and JoAnne Hewett, 4 The Wisconsin Physicist Laboratory Plasma Astrophysics Experiment Plasma Dynamo Facility ll astronomical systems– carry out experiments in a previously experiments. It will also allow the planets, stars, galaxies, and uninvestigated plasma regime—a viscosity to be varied independently Aclusters of galaxies–contain regime asymptotically similar to of the conductivity, an important magnetic fields, but the origin of many astrophysical plasmas. The knob that governs the nature magnetic fields in the Universe is an device will be located in Sterling governs the onset and nature of the unsolved problem in cosmology. It is Hall, and will be operated as a turbulence; the new experiment will generally thought that the Universe multi-investigator, multi-institutional be in the parameter regime of many was magnetized in two stages: first a facility. In addition to the large astrophysical objects. Finally, advanced “spark” that created tiny fields, and impact on the UW physics program, plasma diagnostics will be applied, for then plasma physics processes that experimental investigations in this the first time, to dynamo studies. amplified and shaped them. The facility are likely to have strong latter stage is called the dynamo. national impact through connections Such laboratory plasmas have never Dynamos operate continuously in to new astrophysics initiatives such before been studied (most hot, the Universe, including in the Earth, as the Square Kilometer Array, where fast flowing plasma experiments where a dynamo is responsible for cosmic magnetism is one of four key have been magnetized), but geomagnetic reversals, and on the science issues, the IceCube project, recent advances in permanent Sun, where a dynamo is manifest which will detect neutrinos generated magnet technology,