July 2018 • Vol. 27, No. 7

A PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Homer Neal 1942-2018 Page 3 APS.ORG/APSNEWS

Update on the APS Strategic Plan

Throughout 2018, APS mem- bers, leadership, and staff have been preparing a new Strategic Plan to guide the Society in coming years (see APS News, February 2018). Archiving Knowledge about Physics Teaching MISSION VALUES VISION The process began in early 2018 at By Charles Henderson and Paula Heron the APS Leadership Convocation Do laboratory experiments help at the founding and develop- when elected leaders of mem- students learn concepts? Why do ment of Physical Review Physics bership units (Divisions, Topical so few women choose to major in Education Research in 2005, now Groups, Forums, and Sections) pro- physics? What is the most impor- a central and open-access home for vided input. Town hall meetings tant skill for a high school physics this work. and invited focus groups convened teacher to develop? The close connection between at the APS March and April meet- and Increasing Organizational Physics education researchers PER and physics as a discipline ings to gather direct member com- Excellence. tackle these and many other ques- was acknowledged by the American ment. CEO Kate Kirby provided an At its June retreat, the Board tions about why students study Physical Society Council in its update at the annual APS Business spent considerable time discuss- physics, what they learn, and 1999 Statement on Research in common teaching strategies and Meeting on April 13 and a member ing progress on the Plan. In guid- how their experiences affect their Physics Education [1]. The Council tools were spurred by advances in feedback form was made available ing the ongoing effort, the Steering views about the discipline. Much of recognized that implementation of PER. These improvements could on the aps.org website. Committee will combine reports physics education research (PER) PER ideas was best accomplished not have been possible without a The APS Board of Directors is from each of the subcommittees into focuses on the concepts, principles, by having physicists within phys- strong research base that includes overseeing the work of preparing a draft Strategic Plan for consider- and habits of mind of physics, the ics departments who specialized systematic empirical investiga- the new Strategic Plan and has ation by the Board at its September traditional teaching methods and in PER. This statement came at a tion and theoretical speculation. delegated day-to-day efforts to a 2018 meeting and then by the APS the culture of physics. As a result, critical time for PER and helped Observations and insights, includ- Steering Committee and subcom- Council shortly thereafter. PER has for many years found a usher in an era of rapid growth ing accounts of both successful and mittees in four key areas: Ensuring The final Strategic Plan will be home in the professional associa- in the number of researchers, the unsuccessful interventions, must be a Meaningful Role in Scientific submitted to the APS Board and tions, conferences, and publication number of Ph.D. programs, and a widely disseminated and subject Research Dissemination; Serving Council for approval in November venues of physics. As the Physical broadening of the field of inquiry. to vigorous debate and replication. Communities (Membership, 2018. The approved Strategic Plan Review journal family marks its At the same time, the develop- Room must be made for investiga- Physics Community, and Society); will be rolled out at the 2019 APS 125th anniversary, we look back ment and adoption of many now- PER continued on page 6 Securing Financial Sustainability; Leadership Convocation.

LIGO Labs Chosen as APS Historic Sites

DON'T FORGET TO By James Riordon Check your email for information about the 2018 APS General The LIGO (Laser Interferometer Election. Voting is open from July 2 to August 10. For a full list Gravitational-Wave Observatory) of candidates, candidate biographies, and candidate statements laboratories in Livingston, please visit go.aps.org/aps-vote-2018 Louisiana and Hanford, Washington were declared APS Historic Sites in a ceremony on Diversifying the Dark Matter Portfolio June 20 at the Livingston LIGO Science Education Center. APS By Leah Poffenberger interacting massive particles President Roger Falcone and APS In 2012, CERN coaxed the long- (WIMPs), which are possibly Historic Sites Committee Chair sought Higgs boson into making an 100 times more massive than a Paul Halpern presented the labs proton. Over the past ten years, appearance, and in 2015, the Laser with identical plaques, each bear- The LIGO facilities in Washington and Louisiana have been designated APS Interferometer Gravitational-Wave direct dark matter detection experi- ing the citation shown in the figure. Historic Sites and will each receive a plaque honoring its contributions to Observatory directly observed an ments searching for WIMPs have LIGO Executive Director David direct detection of gravitational waves. elusive space-time wiggle. Both improved significantly, reaching Reitze noted that the LIGO historic phenomena were theorized about better and better sensitivities, but, site designation is unusual, consid- the observatories were upgraded the plaques, and Hanford is second, for decades before their eventual so far, the hypothesized particles ering that most other APS Historic to current sensitivities during the rather than conventional alphabeti- discovery. continue to evade even the best Sites recognize events that took Advanced LIGO (ALIGO) con- cal order. “I think that order is a So perhaps it is high time for detectors. place decades ago. “When I first struction phase that began in 2010. nod to the order in which the sig- dark matter, the mysterious stuff “I think this has been a little bit received word … that we had won The ALIGO upgrade was com- nals were received,” said Landry. “I that makes up around 27 percent of surprising—that no one has had this award,” said Reitze, “I was pleted in 2015, and, said Reitze, find it a little ironic that it took 1.3 the universe, to finally reveal itself. any indication of detecting dark initially quite surprised because, “Literally, almost the day we billion years for that signal to get But directly detecting particles that matter,” says Jodi Cooley, a phys- I thought to myself, well we made turned on our detectors we detected here, and yet when it was detected don’t reflect, absorb, or emit light ics professor at Southern Methodist these discoveries three years ago. the first gravitational waves from by the sites it was separated by 6.9 is no easy task, especially without University and collaborator on ... But then I thought about it a these colliding black holes.” milliseconds.” The difference in knowing what kind of particles SuperCDMS. “This is challenging little bit more. And I realized that, The LIGO labs are the 41st arrival time gives Livingston a one they are—or how they interact with theorists and experimentalists to no, this was exactly the right thing entry into the APS Historic Site part in 1019 priority as the first site regular matter. start looking in new directions.” to do because even though LIGO ledger, which was signed by Roger to detect gravitational waves. One of the prevailing hypoth- So does this absence of burst onto the scene … in 2015, Falcone on behalf of APS and In gratitude for the NSF’s eses for many years has been that WIMPs—and a subsequent uptick this is something that’s been going David Reitze on behalf of LIGO. It decades of support for gravita- dark matter consists of weakly MATTER continued on page 6 on for a long, long time.” is the first entry to be accompanied tional wave research, Rainer Weiss Reitze pointed out that the by dual plaques, in recognition of presented NSF Director France National Science Foundation the joint contribution of the LIGO Córdova with a photograph of (NSF) began providing funding labs, located over 3,000 kilome- Vannevar Bush at work cutting to Rainer Weiss to develop pro- ters apart. Each plaque includes aluminum on a milling machine. totypes for LIGO over forty years inscribed depictions of the gravi- Bush, explained Weiss, advised ago. Weiss shared the 2017 Nobel tational wave signals as detected at Franklin Roosevelt on scientific Prize in Physics with Kip Thorne the respective laboratories. matters, and was crucial to found- and Barry Barish. Construction of Michael Landry, Observatory ing the NSF. Weiss said that in the the LIGO sites began in 1995, and Head of the LIGO Hanford labo- book Science, the Endless Frontier, after running with the initial design ratory, noted with a laugh that the Bush noted reasons that govern- parameters from 2002 to 2005, Livingston facility is listed first on LIGO continued on page 3

Revised 07/16/18 2 • July 2018

Bend it like Bernoulli This Month in Physics History By Sophia Chen way. The International Football This summer, as World Cup Association Board specifies the fans cheer in front of TVs across circumference, weight, pressure, July 2, 1698: Thomas Savery Patents an Early Steam Engine the globe, take a look at the small and material. Before the design ever reaches the pitch, officials grey-and-white sphere rolling at s England hovered on the brink of the perform tests on a sample set the players’ feet. You may notice Industrial Revolution in the late 17th cen- of the balls to confirm they roll A that even though the rules of tury, a major challenge was how to remove excess straight. They even soak them the game haven’t changed—the water from the mines. This was typically done by in tanks of water to figure out ball has. mounting a series of buckets on a pulley system

how much moisture the material wikimedia commons Adidas calls its latest ball re- driven by horses—a very slow and costly process. absorbs so that the ball’s weight design the Telstar 18. Unlike the It fell to an English inventor and engineer named doesn’t increase too much during classic black-and-white leather Thomas Savery to build the first working proto- a rainy match. ball with 12 pentagons and 20 type of “an engine to raise water by fire.” But in spite of the standards, hexagons stitched together, the Born to relative privilege in 1650, Savery distinct designs still kick differ- Telstar 18 consists of 6 synthetic received an excellent education and grew up to ently. Even when discrepancies panels, glued together thermally, be a military engineer. He was especially inter- seem subtle, the players feel it, no thread required. Its surface is ested in math and mechanics, with a penchant and they don’t appreciate having dotted with tiny raised stipples, for invention, including building a clock for the to adjust to a new ball. “If I kick pleasant to grip in your bare hands. Savery family. Another of his early inventions a ball, I’m not good enough to be It even contains a chip that your was an array of paddlewheels to propel sea ves- able to tell the difference,” says phone can read to unlock online sels. Despite a successful demonstration with a Goff, who is unaffiliated with the soccer-related content. small paddleboat on the Thames River, the British World Cup and Adidas. “But at But when it comes to playing Navy declined to adopt the invention for its own their level of ability, those play- the game, John Eric Goff knows vessels. It was a haughty Navy surveyor named ers will notice if they kick a ball Thomas Savery that the ball’s most important Edmund Dummer who sank the young inventor’s the same way year after year, and property isn’t its matte finish or hopes, asking why it is that “interloping people, all of a sudden it doesn’t fly the its phone-compatible features. It’s that have no concern with us, pretend to contrive same way.” aerodynamics. or invent things for us?” Famously, teams loathed the The University of Lynchburg Savery was also interested in steam engines. 2010 World Cup ball, the Jabulani, physicist and author of Gold Earlier thinkers had speculated about such a

also made by Adidas—play- wikimedia commons Medal Physics: The Science of contraption, most notably Edward Somerset, ers complained the ball was too Sports has studied how different 2nd Marquess of Worcester, a nobleman with a floaty. In a New York Times story balls soar for over a decade. To keen interest in invention. His 1655 treatise, The that year, Spanish goalkeeper Iker measure aerodynamics, his team Century of Inventions, included a description of a Casillas compared it to a beach jam rods into the backs of soccer “water-commanding engine” constructed from the ball. “A disaster,” France’s Hugo balls and blast them with 80 mile- barrel of a cannon, intended for use in irrigation. Lloris added. The ball would wob- per-hour winds in a wind tunnel. Young Savery may have read Somerset’s book ble unpredictably like a beach ball They used to use special launchers on the subject. Legend has it that he bought up as during airborne kicks such as free and high-speed cameras to analyze many copies as he could find and burned them to kicks, penalties, and corner kicks. ball motion, too. solidify his own patent claims, but most historians In a 2014 paper, Goff and his The irony is that they need to do not find the story credible. Still, the designs collaborators at the University perform these tests at all: In pro- were strikingly similar. He certainly believed such of Tsukuba in Japan pinpointed fessional soccer, game balls are a contraption could be useful in keeping mines the physics of why players hated standardized, so you might think and pits from flooding, especially those in the that all balls will behave the same BALL continued on page 4 Cornwall region. Savery's steam engine Savery filed a patent for his first design for a “fire engine” on July 2, 1698, and soon after pre- rate container. Steam pressure would then force sented a working model to the Royal Society of the water upwards with the help of a few simple London. After exhibiting his engine at Hampton valves to control the pumping. However, it was Court for King William III, he was granted his not the most efficient engine for lifting water, in patent for “a new invention for raising of water, part because the technology did not yet exist to and occasional motion to all sorts of mill works, machine tightly sealed joints. All the parts were by the important force of fire, which will be of made from brass, copper, and bronze, pieced great use for draining of mines … ” That original together from casts or molded parts and then sol- 14-year patent received a 21-year extension by dered or riveted together. The imperfect sealing British Parliament in 1699 as part of the “”Fire meant the engines were prone to exploding. It also Engine Act.” consumed too much fuel to make it economically An elated Savery printed up a prospectus in viable for mining applications. 1702, entitled The Miner’s Friend, and sent it Still, Savery’s design inspired later engineers to to managers of mines across England, expecting develop improved versions. One such person was an influx of new customers, but while his steam a blacksmith named Thomas Newcomen, whom pump was useful for supplying water to estates and Savery had hired to forge his own engine. He let country houses, it was not immediately embraced the blacksmith forge a copy of the machine for by the mining industry. his own backyard research. Newcomen invented The device required no heavy moving parts, an atmospheric steam engine that used (as the Physicist John Eric Goff studies the aerodynamics of soccer balls. relying on a vacuum to pull water into a sepa- STEAM ENGINE continued on page 3

Series II, Vol. 27, No. 7 July 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;Margaret Ban- APS News (ISSN: 1058-8132) is published monthly, Subscriptions: APS News is an on-membership publica- Past President dera, Chief Financial Officer; Kate P. Kirby, Chief Ex- 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 ecutive Officer; Matthew M. Salter, Publisher; Francis per year, by the American Physical Society, One Physics lege Park, MD and at additional mailing offices. Laboratory Michael Thoennessen, Michigan State University (on 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- July 2018 • 3

STEAM ENGINE continued from page 2 name implies) atmospheric pres- steam, since the pumps had to be Homer Neal 1942-2018 sure to pump steam into a cylinder. cooled after every stroke, then able man,” said APS CEO Kate Exposure to cold water then caused reheated. The full potential of the By David Voss Kirby. “His influence was felt the steam to condense and created a steam engine would not be real- Homer A. Neal, the Samuel A. well beyond the physics commu- vacuum inside the cylinder, and the ized for another 50 years. James Goudsmit Professor of Physics at nity, which was his home. APS is resulting pressure drove a piston. Watt, an instrument maker for the the University of Michigan, died extremely fortunate to have ben-

He and John Calley built a work- University of Glasgow in Scotland, on May 23 at age 75. He was a University of Michigan efited from his wise and steadfast ing prototype in 1712 and used it was tasked with solving the issues Fellow of the APS and in 2016 leadership, and I feel privileged to to pump out a mineshaft flooded with the Newcomen steam engine. became the Society’s first African have had the opportunity to work with water. Watt realized during a Sunday American president. In 2003, with him.” Savery held such a broad patent walk in 1765 that he could con- he was the recipient of the APS In addition to his scientific on the steam engine—namely the dense the steam without cooling Edward A. Bouchet Award "for his research, Neal was widely involved use of surface condensation—that the cylinder by using a separate significant contributions to experi- in science policy and served he was listed as co-inventor on the condenser. He tested the concept mental high energy physics, for on numerous advisory boards. atmospheric steam engine patent, the very next day in his laboratory, his important role in formulating He was a member of the board even though Newcomen’s engine building a makeshift piston and governmental science policy, for of directors of the Ford Motor Homer Neal showed vastly improved perfor- condenser out of a brass syringe. his service as a university admin- Company and was a Director of and Astronomy at the U.S. National mance, significant mechanical dif- It worked, although it would be istrator at several universities, the Lounsbery Foundation. Neal Academies,” said APS Past ferences, had no need for steam another 11 years before Watt had and for his advocacy of diversity was a member of both the Council President Laura Greene. “More pressure, and used a vacuum dif- a working prototype. His appara- and educational opportunity at all for the Smithsonian Museum of recently we worked quite closely ferently. So Newcomen had little tus soon became the most popular levels." African American History and the in the APS presidential line—he choice but to go into business with design for steam engines in the “Homer was a very kind man U.S. National Research Council preceded me as Past President. him, marketing his own superior th 18 century—just in time to help who was passionate about phys- Board on Physics and Astronomy. Homer was continually brilliant design under Savery’s patent. The usher in the Industrial Revolution. ics,” said 2018 APS President Before becoming APS President and compassionate—always giving patent expired in 1733, four years The watt unit of power is named Roger Falcone. “He was tireless in 2016, he served as a member of a great deal of consideration for after Newcomen’s death (Savery in his honor. in expanding participation and the APS Panel on Public Affairs. every issue; he never failed to pro- died in 1717). Today the Savery connecting scientists globally, Neal authored a textbook on sci- vide an astounding jewel of insight Company in the United Kingdom Further Reading Hulse, D.K. 1999. The early develop- and extremely thoughtful about ence policy (Beyond Sputnik), and understanding. His tireless and continues to manufacture an array ment of the steam engine. Leamington any activity he undertook, includ- which is used in courses at several effective work to provide research of electro-hydraulic systems. Spa UK: TEE Publishing. ing his leadership of the American institutions. experiences to undergraduates was The design was good enough Marsden, B. 2002. Watt's Perfect Engine. Physical Society. It was an honor While on the U.S. National always impressive. Homer was to dominate the mining indus- New York: Columbia University Press. and pleasure to work with him.” Science Board, he chaired the always an inspiration to me, and tries for decades, as well as being Savery, T. 1827. The Miner’s Friend: Neal received his Ph.D. at the committee that produced the I will sorely miss him.” used to drain wetlands, but it was Or, an Engine To Raise Water. Lon- University of Michigan in 1966. board's first comprehensive Homer Neal spoke from per- still plagued by excessive use of don: S. Crouch. From 1976 to 1981 he was dean report on undergraduate science sonal experience about diversity for research and graduate devel- education. A result of that study and inclusion. In an interview with opment at Indiana University, and was the Research Experience for APS News (February 2016) he provost at Stony Brook University Undergraduates Program (REU), recalled growing up in segregated Corrections & Clarifications from 1981 to 1986. From 1987 to and the Research Experience for Franklin, Kentucky in the 1950s. 1993 he was chair of the physics Teachers Program (RET), both He and a friend who was white had In the June 2018 issue of APS News, an article on p. 3 about department at the University of of which are flourishing today. developed an interest in amateur machine learning in physics misstated the use of AI in detecting Michigan. He also served as Chair of the radio, but because Neal was black, gravitational lenses. Brian Nord’s group did not use AI techniques He was part of the D0 Physics Advisory Committee of they were pressured by the town’s to discover the eight gravitational lenses discussed; these were Collaboration at Fermilab that the National Science Foundation. residents to break off the friend- found conventionally, but the group is using AI for new searches. discovered the top quark in 1995. Neal offered testimony on numer- ship. “We were both astounded, From 2000 to 2015 he was director ous occasions to Congress, on mat- and agreed to stop our communica- In the same issue, the article “Spotlight on Development” (p. 2) of the University of Michigan team ters ranging from the funding of tions,” Neal said. “But it did teach showed a photo of muon detectors used in public outreach proj- that collaborated at CERN on the national laboratories to the state me that basically when individuals ects. The detectors were developed by the Cosmic Watch group ATLAS experiment and partici- of science education. are working on a scientific project at MIT (cosmicwatch.lns.mit.edu). A different group, which was pated in the discovery of the Higgs “I knew Homer for many years together, the color of one’s skin funded by the APS mini-grants, used the detectors in an outreach boson in 2012. during his service to the commu- doesn’t matter. It mattered to oth- program at Letchworth State Park in New York. “Homer Neal was a remark- nity—first on the Board on Physics ers, but it didn’t matter to us.”

Foundation Helps Advance New Ideas in Physics

By Leah Poffenberger awards, and Convening awards. program officer at the Foundation. $2,000 serve to support research- The discovery of the Higgs “These awards are for coming “New tools such as atomic sensors ers who wish to take short trips boson in 2012 completed the up with ways to do fundamental will allow bright, creative scien- to hold seminars on their work to Standard Model, but this monu- research with limited funding,” tists to innovate and find solutions broaden awareness of proposed or mental step in physics research led says Theodore Hodapp, Director to the important mysteries facing existing approaches for probing to a new question: What’s beyond of Project Development at APS. fundamental physics.” new physics. the Standard Model? “We’re not building the next huge The deadline for the first review Visitor Awards serve a similar To help stimulate new ideas and particle detector but working on cycle for the Fundamental Physics purpose, but support longer, 1- the future of physics. create innovative technologies to developing theory and cost-effec- Innovation Awards is July 15. to 6-week-long trips with funds “This is a very exciting oppor- explore problems in fundamental tive small-scale experiments.” An However, applications can be sub- between $5,000 and $10,000. tunity for APS to help provide physics, the Gordon and Betty example of such an experiment, mitted at any time throughout the These longer visits promote col- financial support, in partnership Moore Foundation has initiated a Hodapp says, would be using year for review; the next deadline laboration and exchange of ideas with the Moore Foundation, to set of awards in partnership with pulsar data to study dark matter: is October 15. Both experimental- among researchers who may not advance fundamental science,” APS designed to bring people Already-collected data doesn’t ists and theorists with novel ideas otherwise have the opportunity to says Hodapp. “Our connections together who can move basic require the construction of an for detecting dark matter, unlock- work closely together. with the majority of academic research forward. The Gordon expensive new detector. ing secrets of dark energy, explor- The Convening Awards—the researchers make this an obvious and Betty Moore Foundation “The foundation supports basic ing physics beyond the standard largest award amounts of $75,000 good fit, and well in line with our Fundamental Physics Innovation science and we seem to be on the model, or addressing other prob- or $25,000—enable small scientific mission to advance the knowledge Awards will provide varying lev- verge of big changes in how we lems in fundamental physics are meetings to bring experts together of physics.” els of funding in three catego- understand fundamental aspects of encouraged to apply. for discussions and presentations For more information visit aps. ries: Lectureship awards, Visitor nature,” says Ernie Glover, science Lectureship Awards of up to in hopes of sparking new ideas for org/programs/innovation/moore

Read

APS NEWS LIGO continued from page 1 online ment should support science. The APS Historic Site plaques entrances to the observatories’ As he handed the photograph to will be mounted on rock native visitor buildings. Córdova, Weiss said, “You’ve done to the respective LIGO observa- The author is APS Head of aps.org/apsnews very well.” tory locations outside the front Public Relations. 4 • July 2018

BALL continued from page 2 News from the APS Office of Government Affairs the ball so much—because they in May, they reported that the ball responded to air resistance differ- experiences the drag crisis at a rea- ently than most soccer ball designs. sonable 30 miles per hour, similar Two APS Student Members Lead National Petition Balls experience air resistance dif- to its predecessor, the Brazuca. Drive to Oppose Congressional Legislation ferently depending on their sur- The Telstar 18’s seams are longer face, which changes on different than the Brazuca’s, but they’re also ball designs due to the length of narrower and shorter, amounting By Tawanda W. Johnson protested the bill in an op-ed in the their seams or the texture of the to an overall similar roughness. Two APS student members, Knoxville News Sentinel. material. You can quantify a ball’s However, the ball won’t behave working with the APS Office of In his piece, Powell included the response to air resistance with identically to the Brazuca: Goff Government Affairs (APS OGA), following: three numbers—a drag coefficient modeled trajectories for the ball wrote op-eds highlighting harm- “The legislation, which caps the amount of federal money for each spatial dimension. These and also found that for long-range ful loan provisions in legisla- graduate students could borrow at coefficients change depending on kicks, the new ball will travel tion pending in the U.S. House $28,500 and drastically alters cur- the speed of the ball. about 10 percent less distance. of Representatives. Those op- rent repayment plans, would mean As a ball reaches a critical Overall, though, the Telstar eds became the tip of the spear that I could not afford to attend speed—which differs based on 18 is pretty similar to the previ- in a national petition campaign graduate school, keep a roof over ball design—its drag coefficients ous model, says Goff. Argentine that drew more than 1,300 sig- my family’s heads—including my decrease drastically until suddenly star player Lionel Messi is quoted natures from fellow students and wife and daughter—and put food leveling off (see figure). This speed as liking the ball, according to a other members of the scientific on the table. As a student working Shua Sanchez signifies a transition in the ball’s FIFA press release, but still, not community. on a master’s degree in life sci- behavior known as the drag crisis, everyone is happy with the latest Introduced last year in the Ph.D. student at the University of ence research at Lincoln Memorial and it occurs when air flow over House, the PROSPER Act Washington, who wrote an op-ed redesign. “I bet you as much as University, my loans cover costs the ball changes from smooth to (Promoting Real Opportunity, in The Spokesman-Review protest- you like that we’ll see at least 35 for tuition, books, housing, food turbulent. This transition occurs goals from long range [in Russia], Success, and Prosperity Through ing the PROSPER Act, said, “As Education Reform) Act would and other miscellaneous items— at slower speeds for balls with because it’s impossible to work a Ph.D. student with student debt, eliminate Grad PLUS loans and far more than what the loan cap rougher surfaces. A beach ball, out,” Spanish goalkeeper Pepe I know that decreasing the acces- for example, experiences smooth include federal loan caps that may would pay for on an annual basis. Reina told Spanish sports site AS. sibility and quality of student loans air flow at higher speeds than a make the loans insufficient to cover In order for my family to actually “And it’s covered in a plastic film would be detrimental to the abil- dimpled golf ball—or a typical the cost of attendance at many prosper, I suggest that our U.S. that makes it difficult to hold on ity of many young and promising 32-panel soccer ball. colleges and universities. The stu- senator, Lamar Alexander, work to.” And for all its similarities to scientists to succeed in academia Air flowing over the Jabulani dents’ op-eds are highlighted within with his colleagues to prevent the the Brazuca, some players griped today. I wrote my op-ed to help ball, they found, switches from the petition that will be delivered loan restrictions from becoming about that one too—because they explain that issue and motivate smooth to turbulent when it to U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander, law. Alexander serves as chair- people to get involved in protecting don’t like change. “There will reaches about 50 miles per hour. of Tennessee, and Patty Murray, man of the Committee on Health, the opportunities of STEM students always be somebody complaining This is roughly the speed of free of Washington, by the end of the Education, Labor, and Pensions and with lesser financial security.” about the new ball,” says Goff. kicks and corner kicks—which month. Alexander and Murray will play the key role in the bill’s Sanchez explained in his So why keep re-designing meant that during these common serve on the Committee on Health, fate in the Senate.” op-ed how crucial the loans are the soccer ball when players kicks, airflow over the Jabulani Education, Labor, and Pensions. During a recent interview, that would be eliminated by the hate change? would switch from smooth to tur- The House version of PROSPER Powell added, “I could not have PROSPER Act: bulent suddenly, causing its erratic Money, says Goff. Your local is awaiting a full floor vote while afforded a portion of my education “I am a first-generation Ph.D. wobble. In contrast, other soccer sports store likely carries FIFA- the Senate is crafting its version if this bill had been enacted when student studying physics at the balls they studied experience the approved replicas of the Telstar of the bill. I started school. I believe that we University of Washington, where drag crisis at much lower speeds. 18 for $164.99—and “people want “I’m overjoyed to see so many need to expand education, not limit 14,000 other graduate students For example, they found that the to buy them,” he says. In 2013, people uniting against a bill that it. Therefore I wanted nothing more pursue advanced degrees. As a onset of turbulent airflow occurs Adidas signed a deal to exclusively could be so harmful to students than to help get the word out, and freshman undergraduate, I took out at about 30 miles an hour for the supply the World Cup ball until pursuing a better future,” said APS graciously helped me accom- several thousand dollars in subsi- Brazuca, the subsequent ball rede- 2030, which they have done since Justin Powell, a graduate student at plish my goal.” sign in 2014, which meant that the 1970. According to Reuters, the Lincoln Memorial University who Shua Sanchez, a physics OPPOSE continued on page 7 Brazuca didn’t suffer the same fate company made $2.4 billion dol- during free kicks. lars in soccer sales during the last Jabulani’s problem was that World Cup year in 2014. If Adidas is going to keep Signal Boost is a monthly email video newsletter alerting it was too smooth. It needed to Office of redesigning the ball, Goff has Public Affairs APS members to policy issues and identifying opportuni- transition to turbulent flow at a ties to get involved. Past issues are available at go.aps. slower speed. Goff points out that some advice. If it were up to him, org/2nr298D. To receive Signal Boost and learn more about the Spanish team, the 2010 World FIFA should make sure the ball’s grassroots activities, contact Greg Mack at [email protected]. Cup champion, heavily relied on a drag crisis occurs at a consistent Join Our Mailing List: visit the sign-up page at go.aps.org/2nqGtJP. strategy of short-range passes that speed from year to year, regard- could avoid the Jabulani’s aerody- less of whatever bells and whis- namic problems altogether. tles the new designs might have. As for the Telstar 18, Goff “That would be a good standard,” and his collaborators tested it he says. FYI: Science Policy News From AIP soon after Adidas released it last The author is a freelance sci- November. In a paper published ence writer in Tucson, Arizona. U.S. Policymakers Grapple with China’s Emergence as R&D Power By Will Thomas Meanwhile, the Department of The emergence of China as an Defense (DOD) warns that strate- international leader in science and gic investment by China and other technology has been a long time “near-peer” adversaries in fields John Eric Goff coming, but only more recently such as hypersonic propulsion, has it become a flashpoint for U.S. directed energy, and artificial intel- policymakers. ligence could enable them to match According to the National U.S. military forces in combat. To a National Quantum Initiative Science Board’s Science and counter this threat, DOD has been partly modeled on the National Engineering Indicators, Chinese working to increase the pace at Nanotechnology Initiative launched public and private spending on which it transitions cutting-edge in the early 2000s. R&D has been growing on average technologies into the field, and the Policymakers have also become by 18 percent annually since 2000, Trump administration has tapped anxious about China’s aggressive compared to 4 percent annually for former NASA head Michael Griffin pursuit of American intellectual the U.S. The board predicted this to oversee these efforts. property (IP) and other technical spring that China could overtake Similarly, Chinese accomplish- knowledge. While cyberespionage the U.S. this year. ments in quantum information sci- and patent infringement have long China also aims to take an early ence, such as its demonstration of been sore spots in U.S.–China rela- lead in emerging industries such entanglement between photons on tions, the government is now also as advanced manufacturing and a satellite and on Earth, have raised focusing on preventing research- materials and biotechnology by the specter that China could gain ers from bringing IP and expertise intensively coordinating research, an advantage in quantum encryp- from U.S. labs to China. technology development, and tion and computing. Congress Notably, last month the Trump industrial production through gov- is responding with legislative Drag coefficients (CD) for three different balls: the 2010 Jabulani, 2014 Bra- administration allowed U.S. con- zuca, and 2018 Telstar 18, as a function of speed. The "drag crisis" occurs ernment programs such as “Made measures to spur quantum R&D, where the coefficient is a minimum. in China 2025.” including a proposal to establish R&D POWER continued on page 7 July 2018 • 5

The APS Topical Group on Plasma Astrophysics

By Michael Brown process by which large-scale struc- International News The APS Topical Group on tures bifurcate in plasmas is due Plasma Astrophysics (GPAP) was to the interaction of two counter- Supporting Physics Education in Ethiopia propagating Alfvén waves [1] formed in 1999 to provide an intel- By Abebe Kebede lectual home for plasma physicists An Alfvén wave is one of the who have an interest in astrophysi- three normal modes of oscillation cal phenomena. At present, GPAP in MHD, along with fast and slow How can we expand the reach of has 400 members from broad back- magnetosonic waves. MHD turbu- physics in Africa? I was motivated grounds and includes scientists lence theory predicts that the colli- to share my opinion on this and the at both universities and national sion of two Alfvén waves transfers thoughts that came to me during labs. The topical group serves as a energy nonlinearly to a third wave the sessions organized by the APS bridge between the APS Division that has both higher spatial and Forum on International Physics at of Astrophysics (DAP) and the temporal frequencies. Howes and the 2018 APS March Meeting. Let Division of Plasma Physics (DPP), his team refer to this interaction as me begin by asking you, the reader, which organizes the annual meet- the fundamental building block of to look again at any of the photos ing for GPAP. astrophysical plasma turbulence. that you took at this meeting during GPAP members are engaged in In experiments carried out at an invited talk or a coffee break. many exciting research areas, par- UCLA, Howes and coworkers In your photos, and your mem- ticularly laboratory astrophysics. launched counter-propagating ories from the meeting, you will Laboratory astrophysicists try to Alfvén waves in the magnetized see that there will be lots of inter- uncover fundamental plasma phys- plasma column at the Large Plasma national attendees, but almost no ics processes that might be at play Device (LAPD). After mapping out Africans. International participants in astrophysical settings. They ask the resultant fields, the research- were mostly Chinese, Indians, scientific questions such as: “What ers discovered the signature of a and Europeans. This is because nonlinear daughter Alfvén wave of a concerted effort by graduate happens when plasma waves col- NCA&T students showing off their completed RadioJove circuit boards, lide?” “What happens when you with the correct properties, just as school recruiters to attract and to predicted. enroll students from China, India, used to monitor ionospheric disturbances. A similar project was carried stir plasma?” and “What happens out at the Gondar School of Science and Technology in Ethiopia. when you compress plasma?” Stirring plasma in the lab and Europe. Think about it: a con- To answer these questions, Astrophysical plasmas at galac- tinent of over a billion people that of the APS and its partners around that they become active participants three laboratory astrophysics tic scales (e.g., accretion disks has little representation in major the world, as well as the African in supporting the education pro- experiments have been designed formed as black holes draw matter physics meetings. School recruiters physics community, it will be pos- grams in Ethiopia. At this time the by GPAP members and provide from companion stars) are stirred probably share a common miscon- sible to learn the full extent and online networks provide services to good examples of current work. and sheared by differential rota- ception that there is not much phys- reach of physics in the continent. thousands of students, staff mem- First is an experiment performed tion. These objects are typically ics going on in Africa. In general Despite the dynamic physics activi- bers, and university administra- at UCLA by Greg Howes from flow-dominated in the sense that the wider mass media has done a ties and the potential growth of the tors. Out of this came the general the University of Iowa on what the kinetic energy density far good job in marketing Africa as a field in the continent, there are huge thinking that “Ethiopia is Where gives rise to plasma turbulence. exceeds the magnetic field energy continent of war, poverty and suf- problems at the departmental and Ethiopians Are.” Ethiopians began Next is an experiment by Cami density. By contrast, most labo- fering. A graduate recruiter will school level that limit the growth supporting the education enterprise Collins in the lab of Cary Forest at ratory plasma experiments are have a “better” chance getting the of the field. in Ethiopia in all subject areas. the University of Wisconsin that magnetically dominated, since a best and most prepared students I have traveled to many coun- Within ESAN is the Physics in gives insight into what happens to strong magnetic field is necessary elsewhere. In my view this attitude tries, including Benin (2001), Ethiopia community, with a specific plasma on galactic scales. Last is a to confine hot plasma, and typically and misconception may deny U.S. South Africa (2000, 2005), goal to provide support to physics recent experiment by Manjit Kaur lab plasmas are nearly at rest. In institutions access to the best and Nigeria (2008), Zambia (2009), students, academics, and physics in my lab at Swarthmore in which order to study fundamental pro- brightest. and Ethiopia (2002-2018). In departments. In addition to provid- we probe the equation of state in a cesses of flow-dominated plas- Contrary to general belief, these countries, with the excep- ing educational resources, members magnetized plasma. mas, Collins and the Forest group African physics is a thriving enter- tion of South Africa, the univer- of the ESAN community partici- prise, maintaining strong collabo- Building blocks of turbulence at the University of Wisconsin sities and the schools I visited pated directly in organizing high- rations with European institutions end workshops in space weather, A hallmark of turbulence in have developed a technique to have a lot in common, including such as the International Center high-performance computing, electrically conducting or magne- stir unmagnetized plasma in the lack of resources and isolation. for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in astronomy, and material physics. tohydrodynamic (MHD) fluids is lab. For her work on this project, International organizations are con- Trieste, Italy, and the International The Ethiopian Physical Society in the spectral transfer of energy in Collins won the 2015 Marshall N. necting with African-based interest Programme in Physical Sciences North America provides scholar- both spatial and temporal frequen- Rosenbluth Outstanding Doctoral groups to achieve some organiza- (IPPS) in Sweden. There are also ships and awards to students and cies, from large and slow scales to Thesis Award. tional goals. Unfortunately these smaller but pointed collabora- faculty for their outstanding work. small and fast ones. The typical This technique is based on using groups are not necessarily working tions and initiatives, mostly led Some of our notable activities picture of turbulent dynamics is J×B torques at the edge of the to address the central problems that by individuals and interest groups include the establishment of a that energy is introduced into the device to stir unmagnetized plasma limit the participation of aspiring that trace their origin back to the temporal school called the Gondar system at large spatial scales (i.e. [2]. A magnetic field is supplied young African physicists and stu- continent. These activities include School of Science and Technology low spatial frequency k) by either by azimuthal rings of permanent dents. These are hard problems that QuarkNet in Physics Education, that ran from 2010-2014. The stirring or interaction with bound- magnets of alternating polarity, require organizations and promi- the African School of Fundamental school has focused on advances in aries. The fundamental nonlinear nent individuals to make a case GPAP continued on page 7 Physics and its Applications, the space exploration and astrophysics. with decision makers. African School of Physics, and It became a platform for interna- This brings me back to Ethiopia, many more. Within the conti- tional collaboration in these fields. where I am attempting to change nent strong research and educa- Most of the cost of the school the situation of physics in very tion groups are emerging; the list was covered by the University of small ways. Perhaps the greater includes the African Institute of Gondar. The conveners were sup- APS community can use activi- Mathematical Sciences, the next ported by their own institutions. ties like mine as a resource (see Einstein Initiative, the Africa The program was extended to local the website sirius-b.ncat.edu). Laser Center, and strong advo- universities. It had empowerment Educational resources such as cates for a Synchrotron Light and women-in-physics programs books and computers can easily be Source for Africa. In terms of and information sessions on gradu- made available to schools and uni- organizations there are growing ate and career opportunities. The national physical societies and versities in Ethiopia by marshalling school provided advanced courses the African Mathematical Union, concerned communities and using and hands-on training in the use the African Union of Pure and already established memoranda of of Radiojove, which are sudden S Applied Chemistry, and the African understanding between U.S. and ionospheric disturbance monitors, Materials Research Society. In Ethiopian universities. It should be and remotely controlled telescopes APS Government Affairs terms of publications I am aware noted that merely providing educa- around the world. It also had a huge of the African Review of Physics tional resources is not enough. We outreach component where local Thanks to your generous support, (ICTP), the South African Journal have to be involved in shaping the high schools and colleges partici- the physics community became a of Physics, and similar national physics programs at all levels. We pate in unique hands-on projects. journals. also must add value to develop the stronger, more effective voice on What is unique about Ethiopia is My observation here is a bird’s- work space for U.S. students and that in some of the universities the Capitol Hill in 2017. However, we eye view of physics in Africa. An academics by providing seamless majority of undergraduate students cannot rest on our laurels. APS is introductory geography lesson logistics to conduct research and in physics are women. For example, asking for your help once again to teaches us that Africa is not a coun- educational activities in Ethiopia. at the University of Gondar at this try, but rather a huge continent with Starting in about 2001 we began advance science advocacy. time there are 200 physics majors over 50 countries, and each coun- online campaigns to organize the and 185 of them are women. Many try has its own physics program. Ethiopian Scientific and Academic In the near future, with the help Network (ESAN) with the intention ETHIOPIA continued on page 7 6 • July 2018

MATTER continued from page 1 PER continued from page 1 in experiments exploring alterna- [So] if there were a particle that tions that have no obvious short- nal from the very beginning since tion research as it relates to astron- tives—mean the WIMP hypothesis had an interaction kind of like the term implications for the classroom. the founders felt that knowledge omy education research. has fallen by the wayside? weak nuclear force and had a cer- As with any other subfield about the learning and teaching of Editors’ suggestions are another Not exactly: “What’s really tain mass, then you could do these of physics, cumulative progress physics should be freely available journal feature. These are designed going on is a diversification calculations and you would find depends on a knowledge base of to a worldwide audience. Once a to help readers identify high-quality of ideas,” says Dan Hooper, a about the right amount of dark mat- trustworthy results—tradition- paper is accepted after thorough innovative articles. Suggestions are senior scientist at Fermi National ter emerging from the universe.” ally provided by an archival jour- peer review, authors with financial based on referee recommendations, Accelerator Laboratory. “WIMPs But the axion, despite having a nal. Around the time of the 1999 need may request a full or partial with the final decision made by the aren’t going away as an idea; peo- much different mass than WIMPs, Statement, PER was in a situation waiver of the article-processing editors. For example, a recently ple are still very interested in them. also fits into other physics puz- in which rapid growth was outstrip- charges. There is a complete sepa- selected article that focused on But I think we’re much more open zles. “The reason that people are ping the ability of other journals, ration between funding and edito- graduate admissions procedures minded now to a greater diversity so interested in axions is that they such as the American Journal of rial functions; at no time do the argues that emphasizing innate of theories.” solve more problems than just Physics, to support the field. editors know which authors have talent over other factors may be The secret could be that dark dark matter … they solve curiosi- It was within this context that requested or been granted waivers. limiting the diversity of admitted matter particles are much less mas- ties of the Standard Model,” says founding editor Bob Beichner, Although published by PER students [3]. sive than the hypothesized WIMP Bowring. “In fact, the axion was working with the APS Forum researchers for PER researchers, The field of PER has grown dra- range, making it difficult for many named after a cleaning detergent on Education and the American most articles are not overly techni- matically in the 13 years since the detectors to catch their more subtle because it ‘cleans up the Standard Association of Physics Teachers, cal, and thus the journal can be a first issue of PRPER was published. interactions. “Light” dark matter Model.’” Axions fit into a model conceived of Physical Review useful resource for non-PER phys- There has been a huge expansion could help explain why traditional of spontaneous symmetry breaking Physics Education Research ics instructors who want guidance in the number of PER research- WIMP experiments have failed that helps explain CP violation—a (PRPER). The journal began publi- about a teaching/learning issue. ers, as well as the topics studied to capture their prey, but it has phenomenon that may be behind cation in 2005. The initial Editorial There have been many important within PER. Strong physics educa- also opened up the field of dark our universe being more matter Board was chaired by Nobel laure- findings published in the journal. tion is essential for a strong phys- matter research to a host of novel than anti-matter. ate Carl Wieman and included five For someone new to the jour- ics community. We are delighted experiments. It’s also entirely possible that other well-respected researchers. nal, a useful way to learn about a that PRPER is the central home for One dark matter alternative it’s not just WIMPs or axions or Board members continue to be particular area of PER is to look at research-based knowledge related that’s been generating excitement some other dark matter candidate, among the leading international our focused collections. These are to physics education. recently is the axion—theoreti- but a whole host of particles swirl- figures in PER. collections of new research articles References cally much lighter than a WIMP, ing around the universe. “We’re PRPER has and continues to on a particular theme. There are and something that wouldn’t be writing more papers about what we 1. aps.org/policy/statements/99_2. accept articles that cover the full currently four published collections cfm detected in the particle-scattering call hidden sectors where there’s range of research related to the and two more underway. type experiments typical for direct not just one kind of dark matter 2. journals.aps.org/prper/collec- teaching and/or learning of phys- After focusing primarily on tions/upper-division-physics- dark matter detection. “In contrast particle but a whole bunch of dif- ics. The journal has grown sub- introductory level physics for courses to WIMPs, axions are very light,” ferent kinds of particles,” says stantially along with the field of decades, PER now has much to say 3. Scherr, R. E., Plisch, M., Gray, says Daniel Bowring, a scientist on Hooper. “They may be related or PER. In 2006, its first full year, the about upper-level physics as well. K. E., Potvin, G., & Hodapp, T. the Axion Dark Matter Experiment interact with each other, but they journal published 14 articles, com- For example, the 2015 focused col- (2017). Fixed and growth mindsets (ADMX). “People talk about don’t really interact much with pared with 75 articles published in lection on PER in Upper-Division in physics graduate admissions. WIMPs having masses between other forms of matter. They’re 2017. The journal has also grown Physics Courses [2] contains 19 Physical Review Physics Educa- 10 and 1000 GeV—for the axion, interesting and in the reasonable from a largely U.S.-centric jour- research articles related to spe- tion Research, 13(2), 020133. we’re looking for masses all the range of possibilities.” nal to a truly international journal; cific upper-division courses, such Charles Henderson is the Lead way down to μeV.” Complementing rather than currently, about 45% of articles as quantum mechanics, as well as Editor of Physical Review Physics While axions aren’t a new con- competing received are from non-U.S. authors. to topics that cut across multiple Education Research and Professor cept, they’ve gained some traction, Finally seeing one of these In addition to supporting knowl- upper-division courses, such as stu- of Physics, Western Michigan partially thanks to recent ADMX particles will answer questions edge development within the field dents’ abilities to apply mathemat- University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, improvements that might finally about what dark matter is made of PER, PRPER seeks to be a ics in physics. USA. Paula Heron is Associate make it possible to spot the tiny of. “These dark matter particles resource for physics teachers, and Most recently, PRPER featured Editor of Physical Review Physics particles. are streaming through Earth at all so PRPER is distributed online a focused collection published in Education Research and Professor of Is it a particle or not a times; they’re all around us,” says with free open access. This was June 2018 highlighting the current Physics, University of Washington, particle? Cooley. “We’re trying to capture an important feature of the jour- state of the field of physics educa- Seattle, WA 98195, USA. Despite dark matter’s uncer- one of them interacting in one of tain character, many experts agree our detectors here on earth.” it’s definitely out there. “The According to Cooley, the United overwhelming majority of cos- States has put its biggest invest- mologists, particle physicists, and ments in dark matter research in,” says Cooley. These in turn ing we’ve done it—there’s usually cause vibrations in the crystals. a period where people are skeptical astrophysicists agree that dark mat- into three different—but comple- ADMX ter almost certainly exists,” says mentary—technologies: liquid This technology results in high and have many different interpreta- Hooper. “We see evidence for it xenon time projection chambers sensitivity and good resolution, tions and opinions,” says Hooper. virtually everywhere we look in and Super CDMS technology for which means it can look for more “Only as different measurements the universe.” WIMPs, and ADMX for axions. than just WIMPs: “This is giving come together will a real answer Since dark matter makes itself “Between these three technologies us the ability in future generation begin to emerge from the data … known through its gravitational we really cover a broad spectrum experiments to look at very light more of a trickle than a bang.” effects, some theorists propose that of ideas,” says Cooley. “The U.S. dark matter particles,” says Cooley. To really say whether dark what we call dark matter isn’t a also puts in a modest amount of Since ADMX focuses on tiny matter has finally been unmasked new form of matter at all, but grav- money into smaller projects… axions rather than WIMPs, it relies will take signals from multiple ity behaving in a modified way. “I novel technologies that are push- on a different method of looking detectors to confirm it’s not a think the evidence is quite strong ing the boundaries that will perhaps for dark matter particles. “The fluke. The discovery of the Higgs for the particle hypothesis [rather be used to explore dark matter in axion should couple very weakly boson was quickly confirmed, than] some kind of modified theory the future.” to electromagnetism, which means since both ATLAS and CMS—the of gravity,” says Cooley. “But [we Liquid xenon detectors, like the in the presence of very strong mag- two large detectors at the Large shouldn’t] shut down research into Xenon1T experiment at the Italian netic fields the axion converts to Hadron Collider at CERN—saw alternate ideas—it could be that Gran Sasso National Laboratories, photons—and the frequency of the same thing. One experiment at we’re not right. But I would place are cylinders full of ultracold those photons is set by the axion Gran Sasso called DAMA/LIBRA most of my money on it being a xenon, positioned to catch a way- mass,” says Bowring. “Since we claimed a detection, but it hasn’t particle.” ward dark matter particle interact- don’t know the axion mass, we been reproduced elsewhere. The argument for dark matter ing inside the detector. In theory, don’t know the frequency of the So far, most people agree we being a particle and not the result should a WIMP—or another suf- photons beforehand—it’s like we haven’t found dark matter yet, but of modified gravity is that this ficiently massive dark matter par- have a radio that we’re tuning to it’s a good time to look. “Right now unknown particle could answer ticle—pass through the detector, it pick up a very faint radio station.” is an exciting time, because every- other questions about physics: Both will produce tiny but measurable Recently, ADMX announced it had body is thinking about where we the traditional WIMP model and bursts of light. reached the sensitivity necessary should go next with new frontiers axion models help explain other The technology behind Super to discover these faint frequen- opening up,” says Cooley. mysteries of the universe. CDMS (cryogenic dark matter cies—it’s just a matter of find- She says that keeping up the For instance, there is the so- search), has been around for a few ing them. rate of progress in dark matter called “WIMP miracle.” Says decades, but a new and improved More of a trickle than a bang detection requires investment, Hooper, “We have this idea that version is currently being deployed When one of these detectors—or both in established detector tech- whatever dark matter is, it was at Snolab in Canada. “The technol- one of many other approaches to nologies and bright new ideas. made in the Big Bang and it was ogy is built upon these germanium direct dark matter detection—finally “It’s like an investment portfolio: maybe in equilibrium with all the and silicon crystals at very cold catches a glimpse of dark matter, there’s a main amount of money to normal kinds of matter that existed. temperatures—the crystal lattice it won’t be met with immediate put into what you’re doing now,” Eventually, it froze out and stopped is very, very still and we wait for fanfare. “Just one observation isn’t she says, “but you can’t neglect The ADMX detector looks for light interacting with normal matter. dark matter interactions to come going to send everyone home think- what comes next.” dark matter particles called axions. July 2018 • 7

GPAP continued from page 5 ETHIOPIA continued from page 5 forming a cusp magnetic geometry. as magnetothermodynamics [3]. universities in Ethiopia are com- Asela Arsi, Adama University 6. Ethiopian Physical Society (ethi- Interspersed between the magnet The paper reports experiments in ing online and beginning to reveal and University of Gondar. The opianphysicalsociety.org/) poles are alternating anodes and which a parcel of magnetized, fully their programs to the world. For collaborators include Books for The author is Associate hot cathodes to draw current. The relaxed, non-axisymmetric plasma the sake of the inquiring reader, I Africa, Wake Forest University Professor of Physics at North resulting localized J×B force gen- is generated in the lab and com- visited websites of three physics School of Public Health, Society of Carolina Agricultural and erates a torque on the plasma near pressed against a conducting cyl- departments (Addis Ababa, Bahir Physics Students at North Carolina Technical State University, USA. the wall. inder that is closed at one end. The Dar, and Haramaya) where one can Agricultural and Technical State He completed his Ph.D. work at These ideas have been applied plasma parameters such as tem- see the type of research and the University, former Peace Corps Temple University. His academic to a device called the Big Red perature, density, magnetic field, people in the research. One can Volunteers to Ethiopia, the Asela work includes electronic and mag- Ball (BRB) at the University and volume are measured during also see the absence of women in Arsi School Development Network netic properties of transition metal of Wisconsin-Madison, which compression, and a PV diagram is the faculty in relation to the high (AASDO) and ESAN. oxides, heavy fermion systems, is newly funded by the U.S. constructed to identify instances of number of female physics majors The need for books, computers, and Kondo insulators. Recently Department of Energy as a national associated ion heating during these in some of the campuses. educational supplies, and libraries he has made significant contribu- user facility. The BRB is a flex- compression events. The MHD Through our ESAN online com- is huge. This collaboration, par- tion to space-science education ible, 3 meters in diameter spheri- ideal-gas-like EOS is inconsistent munity we plan to facilitate col- ticularly with AASDO and ESAN and research at his school and cal plasma machine capable of with their observations, but an EOS laboration between the U.S. and its groups, will have great results. The throughout Africa. He is the edi- generating arbitrary flow patterns. related to the adiabatic invariants Ethiopian counterparts in several books are managed and shipped tor in chief of a new journal, the Some experiments proposed on is consistent. areas, including graduate recruit- by a U.S.-based NGO, Books for African Journal of Physics. He is BRB include driving a large-scale New things are in store for ment, faculty development, and Africa. Further information can be also the founder and coordinator dynamo and studying collisionless GPAP: leadership has recently creation of the working space for obtained from Dr. Abebe Kebede. of several scientific and academic magnetic reconnection. turned over, and in the coming short-term visits by U.S. physics Email: [email protected]. groups including, the Ethiopian months, we will resurrect the Physical Society, the Ethiopian Magnetothermodynamics students and academics. In addi- Additional Reading group’s newsletter. Stay tuned for tion we are conducting an interna- Space Science Network, The Little is known about what 1. Ethiopian Scientific and Academ- happens in astrophysics when hot, announcements regarding student tional campaign seeking support to ic Network (sirius-b.ncat.edu/ African Scientific and Academic magnetized plasma is compressed travel grants—we offer five $500 ship thousands of books and com- esan/) Network, the Ethiopian Scientific grants. We encourage any APS and expanded. The equation of puters to schools and universities 2. African Scientific and Academ- and Academic Network. Abebe is state (EOS) of an ideal gas relates member interested in plasma astro- in Ethiopia. The APS community ic Network (sirius-b.ncat.edu/ a life member of APS, a Fulbright pressure, volume, and temperature physics to join GPAP by visiting may take this opportunity to par- esan/) Specialist, APS Journal Reviewer, of the gas, but charged particles aps.org/membership/units/join- ticipate in donating high-quality 3. APS Physics in Africa Session APS Minority Speaker, and orga- in plasma need not obey an ideal unit.cfm. For more on GPAP go to books, computers, and funding to 2003 (sirius-c.ncat.edu/asn/aps- nizer of Physics in Africa sessions gas EOS, particularly if there is aps.org/units/gpap/ cover the shipping cost. Thanks africa/index.html) at the 2003 and 2009 APS March a strong magnetic field. Motion References to efforts of volunteers, collabo- 4. Physics in Africa Survey (saip. meetings and at the 2002 National of charged particles parallel and 1. Howes, G. G. Drake, D. J. rators, and donors, we were able org.za/index.php/physics-in-afri- Society of Black Physicists perpendicular to the background Nielson,K.D. Carter, T. A. Kletzing, to ship so far sixty-four thousand ca-survey) Conference. He can be contacted C. A. and F. Skiff. 2012. “Toward books, some used computers, and 5. Physics Departments in Africa (de. at [email protected], or visit magnetic field need not be coupled. Astrophysical Turbulence in the physnet.net/PhysNet/africa.html) Indeed, magnetized plasmas are Laboratory”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 25, soccer balls to several schools in his website at sirius-b.ncat.edu often described with two different 255001.C. Collins, N. Katz, J. Wal- temperatures, Tl/ and T﬩. To com- lace, J. Jara-Almonte, I. Reese, E. plicate matters, there are adiabatic 2. Zweibel, and C. B. Forest, “Stir- OPPOSE continued from page 4 invariants, one associated with Tl/ ring unmagnetized plasma”, Phys. dized Stafford loans to help fund degrees. These changes will drasti- Mack. “We hope that members of and the other with T (the mag- Rev. Lett. 108, 115001 (2012)3. ﬩ my education. Under the current cally decrease access to higher edu- Congress listen to their voices, and netic moment), that are separately M. Kaur, L. J. Barbano, E. M. Suen-Lewis, J. E. Shrock, A. D. Higher Education Act, my loan has cation for millions of students, and act accordingly, by working with conserved. For astrophysical events not accrued any interest, and as a especially to advanced-degree pro- their colleagues on legislation that such as the solar wind, the EOS is 3. Light, M. R. Brown, and D. A. Schaffner, “Measuring equa- graduate student I am not required grams like my own. To remedy this does not increase the financial bur- unknown, if one exists at all. tions of state in a relaxed MHD to make any payments until I finish problem, I urge our U.S. senator, dens of graduate education.” My plasma physics group plasma”, Physical Review E 97, my degree. These provisions make Patty Murray, to work with her col- If the PROSPER Act were to recently published a paper detail- 011202 (2018). a graduate education possible, as it leagues to prevent this legislation become law, it would eliminate loans ing the study of thermodynamics The author is professor of phys- allows thousands of students each from becoming law. As the ranking that make graduate school accessible of compressed magnetized plas- ics at Swarthmore College and vice year to begin an advanced degree member of the Health, Education, for many students, according to the mas, referred to by the authors chair of GPAP. program without having to simul- Labor and Pensions Committee in petition against the bill. taneously pay off large loans from the Senate, she will play an integral “It would be a step toward their undergraduate degree.” role in the bill’s fate.” restricting graduate school to only He added, “However, if the “APS OGA is delighted about those students who are wealthy PROSPER Act were to become the number signatures on the peti- enough to afford it on their own,” law, graduate students would face tion,” said Greg Mack, manager of said Francis Slakey, APS chief new stringent income-based repay- grassroots advocacy. government affairs officer. ment plans and loan interest would “The fact that so many peo- “That’s unacceptable— begin accruing immediately. Yearly ple signed the petition speaks to Congress should never tell stu- and lifetime borrowing caps would the understanding of the nega- dents that they are too poor to S also be put in place, which would tive impact of this bill and what achieve their dreams,” he said. leave many students unable to find it would mean for future STEM The author is APS Press all o oinaion adequate funding to continue their students and their careers,” added Secretary.

Selecting excellent leadership is the single

most important activity any organization can R&D POWER continued from page 4 undertake to ensure its continued good health. sular officials to shorten the dura- allow DOD to deny funding to espionage, Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), tion of visas granted to Chinese research groups that include indi- who chairs the Congressional Both nominees and nominators must be students who study certain “sen- viduals who have participated in a Asian Pacific American Caucus, members of the American Physical Society. sitive” subjects, which reportedly recruitment program operated by recently warned that “It is danger- All nominations will be reviewed by the mem- include aviation, robotics, and China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia. ous to categorize an entire country advanced manufacturing. The measure has bipartisan support, of people as a threat to our national bers of the APS Committee on Committees as Congress, meanwhile, is focus- but there is pressure to modify it to security,” and urged ending “overly they draw up a slate of candidates for the ing on Chinese talent recruitment avoid unintended consequences for broad and xenophobic attempts to programs that offer high salaries researchers and universities. president-elect to appoint to serve on 2019 build a case that Chinese students and research funding to entice Some lawmakers and scien- and employees should be viewed Committees. Chinese expatriates and non-Chi- tific community leaders are more with more suspicion than others.” nese researchers to work in China. broadly worried that efforts to stem The author is a science policy The largest of these programs, the the flow of knowledge and talent analyst with FYI at the American Thousand Talents Program, has to China could curb productive Institute of Physics. S supported more than 7,000 scien- scientific relations and discourage tists from around the world over Chinese students from studying FYI has been a trusted source its ten-year history. However, the in the U.S. There are also fears it of science policy and funding News and commentary FBI has warned such programs could lead to discrimination and news since 1989, and is read by about research from the also serve as conduits for economic false accusations against Chinese members of Congress and their APS journals espionage. and Chinese American students and staff, federal agency heads, jour- nalists, and U.S. scientific lead- Sign up for Alerts: A provision in the House of researchers. physics.aps.org TM Representatives version of an Responding to Congress and the ers Sign up for free FYI emails annual defense policy bill would administration’s focus on Chinese at aip.org/fyi 8 • July 2018

Quantum Mechanics as a Stimulus for American Theoretical Physics By Shaun Datta

ote: This article is adapted from an essay selected as a that the U.S. did not entirely welcome Jews and other minori- Nrunner-up in the APS Forum on the History of Physics ties either, enacting immigration quotas targeted especially Essay Contest. The full essay is available at aps.org/units/ at Jews and East Asians in the Immigration Act of 1924 [8]. fhp/essay/ Nonetheless, physics department leaders and administrators “In 1920-1925, there were very few people [in the United persistently recruited top foreign talent to their departments. States] who understood the theoretical quantum physics of The influx of stalwart theorists to the U.S. from abroad the time … and then things changed very suddenly. [During transformed American universities into venerable power- the late 1920s] America came of age in physics, for although houses of quantum theory within the span of a few years. we did not start the orgy of quantum mechanics, our young Among the emigrants that improved the standing of American theorists joined in promptly.” – John van Vleck [1] theoretical physics were Samuel Goudsmit and George The heroes of seminal quantum theory were almost exclu- Uhlenbeck, who came to the University of Michigan. The sively European. Munich, Göttingen, and Copenhagen domi- Dutchmen had famously discovered electron spin, a prop- nated the early developments of quantum mechanics, most erty that had at first been misunderstood by even Wolfgang notably the Bohr model of hydrogen, matrix mechanics, and Pauli [1]. Princeton also welcomed two Hungarians, Eugene the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Quite simply, “The Wigner and John von Neumann. Wigner later won the Nobel principal language of quantum mechanics was German” Prize in Physics for, inter alia, his study of the strong nuclear [2]. While Europe dominated quantum theory, pragmatic force and quantum mechanical symmetries, which he carried American universities like Caltech excelled in experimen- out shortly after coming to the U.S. [4]. While at Princeton, tal physics [3]. In the late 1920s, however, the growing von Neumann crafted his magnum opus, Mathematical American appetite and capacity for theory heralded a shift Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, widely considered “the in the quantum center of gravity. most comprehensive mathematical explanation of quantum Before the 1920s, U.S. institutions were not structured theory” [1]. to appreciate or accommodate basic theoretical physics Shaun Datta Scholar-administrators also created original coursework research. The national ethos was to focus on matters of in quantum mechanics so that their students could graduate practical utility, placing “a relatively low value on work that by traveling between the U.S. and the centers of quantum with a working knowledge of modern developments, and was not immediately useful or profitable” [1]. This perhaps theory in Europe. Wickliffe Rose of Rockefeller’s General thus paved the way for comprehensive American theoretical explains why pragmatically minded American experimental- Education Board established a research exchange between physics training. For physicists such as Slater at MIT, this ists were “world-renowned,” their “experimental competence American and European scientists, typically experimental- was “a matter of both personal and national independence” and achievements rank[ing] high by any standards” [1]. Top ists, so that each could learn from the other’s comparative [3]. Slater created MIT Course 8, developing lecture notes American universities such as Caltech and the University advantage: theory in Europe, and “superior American equip- on atomic spectra and spin physics. Similar curricular devel- of Chicago boasted adept laboratory physicists, having col- ment” in the U.S. [1]. Funded exchanges facilitated academic opment began as early as 1919, when Harvard’s Edward lectively housed three Nobel prizewinners in a span of just cross-pollination that alleviated some of the chronic “isola- Kemble first taught a course on quantum theory [1]. A decade over two decades [4]. In contrast, nurturing theorists of a tion felt by almost every quantum theorist in America until later, the prominent physicists of the day started to gener- similar caliber faced logistical obstacles, among them a the late 1920s” [1]. ate new pedagogy in earnest, creating extensive graduate lack of funding, geographic isolation from European hubs For those who did not leave the U.S., the free flow of courses on quantum mechanics and shortly thereafter on the of quantum theory, and professors who garnered respect as researchers also helped maintain excitement about the devel- early results in quantum field theory. With this curriculum, teachers but not research scientists. [1] John Slater at Harvard opment of quantum theory. Some Americans did not even American-trained physicists were equipped to make original and Frank Hoyt at the University of Chicago bemoaned that need to travel abroad to discuss the day’s physics headlines, contributions to quantum theory. their academic seclusion from Europe was a handicap; unlike as Robert Millikan “soon arranged to have at least one lead- Once these American physicists had effectively promul- Germans and Danes, Americans “normally had to wait at ing European theorist visit Caltech every year to lecture and gated quantum mechanics to a generation of young scientists least one additional month until they could read the articles to participate in research” [1]. Pioneers of quantum theory such as William Shockley of Bell Labs and Robert Bacher in German physics journals” [1]. While this would not typi- visited the Pasadena campus so that Caltech physicists could of the Manhattan Project, they in turn developed new tech- cally be a prohibitive delay, nascent quantum mechanics stay apprised of key developments in atomic theory and niques and applications of quantum theory, as in the case of developed at a breakneck pace, and European theorists’ radiation. Even Einstein, who by the 1930s was already a Slater’s influential work in quantum chemistry [3]. Unlike month-long head start was difficult to overcome. celebrity, lectured at Caltech during the winter terms from some European counterparts, Americans largely retained Despite these shortcomings, the promise of developing 1931-1933 [6]. Similarly, on the other coast, Max Born their “pragmatic-positivist philosophy,” perhaps because it the new quantum mechanics motivated a wave of young lectured at MIT from 1925-1926 and kept its physicists aligned with American sensibilities derived from a tradition American physicists to pursue theory, perhaps because “So abreast of the ongoing developments [2]. Werner Heisenberg of observable, experimental physics [7]. These American many of the main contributors” whose work Americans himself even came to America in 1929 as a missionary for theorists thus not only sowed the seeds of theoretical phys- emulated “were still in their twenties” [2]. Additionally, the gospel of the Copenhagen geist, though he did not sway ics institutions in the U.S., but also contributed volumes to reputation was at stake: The advent of new quantum theory many Americans from their focus on phenomenology [7]. the later development of quantum theory, as in the case of made it apparent to some Americans that “Their university Underpinning the modernization of American theoreti- quantum electrodynamics by Richard Feynman and Julian departments would have to develop strong theoretical com- cal physics research were scholar-politicians, reputable Schwinger. American theoretical physics was born out of ponents, especially in quantum theory, if the experimental intellectuals who brought foreign research talent to the the quantum revolution that began in Europe, but has now sections were to retain their vitality” [1]. American academic job market and created a comprehensive lived and thrived in the United States for almost a century. The surge of interest in quantum theory among American quantum mechanics curriculum. In doing so, they restruc- The author is a senior studying physics, mathematics, physicists prompted new research funding that enabled insti- tured American universities to foster discoveries in quan- and computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of tutional changes, such as postdoctoral fellowships and the tum theory. The famed European physicists who lectured Technology. creation of research centers like the Institute for Advanced at Caltech “were drawn to Pasadena by Millikan’s fame, References Study that could attract a critical mass of theorists together charm, and persistence,” and were further incentivized by 1. Coben, S. 1971. The Scientific Establishment and the Trans-

to collaborate. Importantly, the camaraderie World War I substantial compensation from external donors [1]. Each mission of Quantum Mechanics to the United States, 1919- had built between moneyed “philanthropic, industrial, and leading American institution had its champion for the devel- 1932. American Historical Review 76: 442-466. government officials” and academics who had been con- opment of competitive theory departments: John Tate at the 2. Kragh, H. 1999. Quantum Generations: A History of Physics in sultants on wartime technologies harnessed a sense of trust University of Minnesota, Arthur Compton at the University the Twentieth Century. Princeton: Princeton University Press. that “projects without immediate practical applications” of Chicago, Harrison Randall at the University of Michigan, 3. Schweber, S. 1990. The Young John Clarke Slater and the

could nonetheless be worthwhile [1]. The Rockefeller and and so on [1]. Development of Quantum Chemistry. Historical Studies in the Guggenheim Foundations gave funds for prestigious fel- Thanks to the new outpouring of American research Physical and Biological Sciences 20: 339-406. lowships that gave newly minted, competitively selected funds, scholar-administrators could afford to reel in “big 4. nobelprize.org American physicists the opportunity to tackle open research fish” from Europe. These administrators, adept scientists 5. Institute for Advanced Study. 2017. Mission and History. problems immediately upon earning their degrees [1]. At in their own right, “obtained permanent positions at their Available at ias.edu/about/mission-history. Accessed 19 April Princeton, philanthropists Louis and Caroline Bamberger universities for over a dozen of the most accomplished 2017.

endowed the Institute for Advanced Study with a $5 million European theorists” [1]. Some academic leaders exploited 6. The Caltech Archives. 2015. Fast Facts About Caltech History. gift, creating an institution whose pursuit of knowledge had the free flow of physicists between Europe and the U.S. by Available at archives.caltech.edu/about/fastfacts.html “no view to its immediate utility” [5]. attracting and facilitating emigration to the U.S. by Jewish 7. Heilbron, J. 1985. The Earliest Missionaries of the Copenha- On account of these funds and the departure from the physicists and others marginalized in Europe by “static gen Spirit. Revue d’Histoire des Sciences 38: 194-230. strictly practical culture of pre-1920s experimental physics, academic hierarchies” and Jewish faculty quotas [1]. These 8. Office of the Historian. 2013. The Immigration Act of 1924 American theoretical physics became a viable career for the foreign physicists were often compelled to leave their home (The Johnson-Reed Act). Available at history.state.gov/mile- first time. Physicists made effective use of this new funding countries to avoid persecution, although it should be noted stones/1921-1936/immigration-act.

The Back Page is a forum for member commentary and opinion. The views expressed are not necessarily those of APS. APS News welcomes and encourages letters and submissions from APS members responding to these and other issues. Responses may be sent to: [email protected]