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December 2000 NEWS Volume 9, No. 11 A Publication of The American Physical Society http://www.aps.org/apsnews

Check It Out and Tell APS Launches New Web Site for the Public Your Friends This month APS is launching feature a “Picture of the Week,” il- APS members are urged to PhysicsCentral.com, a brand new lustrating natural phenomena and visit PhysicsCentral.com, and web site targeted at the general pub- the who investigate to offer their comments and lic. “The site is designed to bring the them. suggestions. This can be done importance and excitement of phys- There is a news section that pre- either by using the “Contact ics to everyone,” said Jessica Clark, sents breaking news as well as Us” button on the site, or by APS outreach specialist who is in features prepared by the Inside Sci- emailing Jessica Clark directly charge of its overall management. ence News Service of AIP. Those at [email protected]. “While the site highlights the re- who want to know how things They are also urged to search and activities of many APS work can consult a weekly “Dear spread the word by inviting members, PhysicsCentral is intended Lou” column contributed by Uni- relatives, friends, students to reach beyond the com- versity of Virginia Louis and anyone else with access munity. We need our members to A. Bloomfield, and they can ask to the web and curiosity encourage non-physicists to visit the Lou their own questions as well. A about the physical world to site as well,” Clark adds. “Writers’ Gallery” on the site con- visit the site. Appearing in a magazine-like tains short pieces by physicists who Kim Quigley/APS Jessica Clark and the homepage of PhysicsCentral.com. format, the site has several features are also award-winning writers. that will be updated regularly. An annotated list of the best Todaro, and associate executive of- Leon Lederman. Based on a detailed obtained her undergraduate de- Among them is “Physics in Action,” physics links is also available on the ficer Alan Chodos. The site was proposal presented by Michael gree, and is finishing her PhD in which presents a nugget of basic site, organized by audience with the designed by Kimberley Quigley of Barnett of the University of Califor- experimental nuclear physics, at physics at the high-school level, help of the exclusive PhysicsCentral the special publications department, nia, Berkeley, the task force urged the College of William and Mary. and then relates it to current re- Buckyball user guide. and constructed by Joanne Fincham the APS to implement a web site Before college, she enjoyed the peri- search. Another is “People in The content for the site is the re- of APS . for the public, pointing out that it patetic existence of a child of a US Physics,” that highlights individual sponsibility of Clark, Ed Lee of the The idea for PhysicsCentral.com could have a powerful impact on Parks Service employee, living in physicists, describing what they do APS education and outreach depart- grew out of a report last year by a how the public views physics. such varied locations as the Virgin both professionally and in their ev- ment, senior media coordinator special APS task force on communi- Clark was hired specifically to Islands, Alaska, and the American eryday lives. The site will also Randy Atkins, intern Richard M. cating with the public, chaired by develop and maintain the site. She Southwest. 2000 Nobel Prizes Announced in Three Budding Young Physicists are Physics, Chemistry and Medicine New Apker Recipients The 2000 Physics insulating materials, but in the recognizes the vital role of physics 1970s, Shirakawa, finding a new Three promising under- in the information technology way to make the polymer graduate physics majors have revolution. Half the prize will be polyacetylene, accidentally been awarded the 2000 Apker awarded this month to Zhores I. added 1,000 times too much Award. Jacob Krich of Alferov of the Ioffe Physico-Tech- catalyst. He produced a silvery Swarthmore College was hon- nical Institute in St. Petersburg, film, which he later presented in ored for his thesis entitled, Russia and of 1977 to Heeger and MacDiarmid, “Correlation Length and the University of California at who had been investigating the Chirality of Isotropic Short- Santa Barbara for their early work possibility of “synthetic metals.” range Order in Nematic and Photos by Ken Cole/APS in such areas as the design of The three studied the proper- Jacob Krich Heather Lynch Steven Oliver Chiral Nematic Liquid Crystals.” heterostructures, ties of the material. When they Heather Lynch of Princeton crystal. The purpose was to test Peter Collings. He presented his lasers, epitaxial growth tech- added iodine, the polymer’s elec- University was honored for her two theories that predict strong results at the International Liq- niques, and optoelectronics. The trical conductivity shot up by thesis entitled, “A Kondo Box: discontinuities in the pitch at this uid Crystal Conference in other half of the prize will be several million times. The result Coulomb Blockade and the transition. Despite the difficulty Sendai, Japan, this summer. awarded to of Texas In- was a whole new field—conduct- Kondo Effect in Iron-Doped of conducting such an experi- In addition to the Apker struments, one of the pioneers in ing polymers—which has led to Copper Nanoparticles.” And ment, Krich succeeded in Award and numerous graduate producing integrated circuits. plastic versions of many elec- Steven Oliver of the University obtaining results that demon- fellowships, Krich received Tiny transistors replaced tronic devices, such as light of California, Berkeley, was hon- strate unequivocally that the two awards from Swarthmore for the vacuum tubes as a means of per- emitting diodes. Compared to ored for his thesis entitled, theories do not describe the graduating senior with the forming the important tasks of inorganic materials, plastics are “Three-Dimensional Raman chirality at this transition well at strongest academic performance switching and amplifying in elec- more flexible and potentially Sideband Cooling at High Den- all, according to his thesis advisor, See APKER on page 7 tronic circuits, but it wasn’t until cheaper and easier to manufacture. sity.” many transistors and other ele- See NOBEL on page 6 The Apker Award is given an- ments could be wired up in a small nually by the APS for physics space that today’s information End of an Era research done by an under- revolution could begin. Integration HIGHLIGHTS graduate. The award was first After this year, the APS Apker and miniaturization not only led given in 1978, and in recent Award Selection Committee will be to more efficient packaging but also years has been divided into two minus a man who has become a to quicker processing since signals categories, depending on fixture of the committee for more travel shorter paths. whether the institution has a than a decade. Harry Lustig, former The PhD granting program or not. APS treasurer who retired from that goes to Alan J. Heeger (Univer- The winners will receive $5,000, position in 1996, will be retiring from sity of California, Santa Barbara), and are selected by a committee the selection committee after 16 Harry Lustig Alan G. MacDiarmid (University from among the six finalists. consecutive years of service. of Pennsylvania), and Hideki The experiment that forms Lustig first became involved with the Apker Award Shirakawa (University of the basis of Krich’s award-win- selection committee when he succeeded Joe Burton as Tsukuba, Japan) for discovering

ning thesis measured the pitch APS Treasurer in 1985. At that time, the Apker Award was that plastics polymers, modified in Städelsches Kunstinstitut Frankfurt. Reprinted with permission by owner, of the chiral fluctuations in See ERA on page 7 certain ways, can conduct electric- THE BACK PAGE the isotropic phase of a liquid ity very well. From Saran wrap to Vermeer’s Camera foam cups, polymers are normally 8 2 December 2000 NEWS

Members in the Media This Month in Physics History Editor’s Note: With this issue we “Yes, it has had problems, but it microchips using quantum theory, December 29, 1959: Feynman’s Classic CalTech Lecture begin a “Members in the Media” fea- is a difficult and challenging New York Times, October 26, 2000 ✶✶✶ ture in which we highlight project, which, because of its im- Nobel-Prize winning physicist creature such appearances by our members in the portance, we should not dodge.” “If you can go into a and is known for as ourselves popular press. We welcome submis- —Richard Petrasso, MIT, on the change something this basic, you’ve many things: an enthusiasm for can be stored,” sions by our readers of relevant National Ignition Facility, USA Today, just changed the rules about how playing the bongos; a penchant he said. Fur- quotations (email: [email protected]). September 14, 2000 it works.” for breaching security systems at thermore, ✶✶✶ “The , along —Robin Marjoribanks, U. of Los Alamos while working on the human cells with the transistor, has probably “It’s easy to say foolish things Toronto, on the breakdown of Debye Manhattan Project; his definitive are active, ca- www.scs-intl.com/online/ Image from Richard emerged as the greatest discovery about thermodynamics, and some shielding in the presence of intense Congressional testimony attribut- pable of the “ Feynman of the last century. The prize really very wise people have said foolish laser-generated fields,” Toronto Star, ing the 1986 Challenger disaster manufacture of recognizes the boom associated things.” October 27, 2000 for faulty “O”-rings; and a myriad various substances, movement, ✶✶✶ with communications spawned by —, Stanford University, of published works encompass- and storage of information. Based this work.” Science News, October 7, 2000 “It’s like having plastic explosive ing both physics research and on this, he envisioned the possi- ✶✶✶ —Marc Brodsky, American Insti- in space. You’re releasing that en- personal reminiscences. And just bility of small but movable tute of Physics, commenting on the “Some of the signals that we’ll ergy in an explosive manner.” before the series of classic CalTech machines (recognizable as 2000 Nobel Prizes, USA Today, Oc- get from the present run could turn —James Drake, University of lectures that formed the basis of today’s micro-electrical me- tober 11, 2000 out to be from the quark-gluon Maryland, on how magnetic fields The Feynman Lectures on Physics chanical systems), computing at ✶✶✶ plasma.” energize plasmas in space, New York (first published in 1963), the quantum scale, arranging “Einstein didn’t win the Nobel —John Harris, , on Times, October 24, 2000 Feynman gave a seminal talk on individual atoms, and perhaps ✶✶✶ Prize for the theory of relativity. He first results from the STAR detector at the problem of manipulating and one day even performing sur- won it for showing that you don’t RHIC, Long Island Newsday, Septem- “The significance of this finding? controlling things on a small scale, gery internally with miniature need to worry about radiation from ber 26, 2000 It’s just, Wow! After all these years, entitled, “There’s Plenty of Room movable devices. ✶✶✶ your cell phone.” we can still find something new in at the Bottom.” History has borne out —Robert Cahn, UC Berkeley, op- “We don’t have really good our solar system.” By the time Feynman gave his Feynman’s now-famous obser- ed article, San Francisco Chronicle, sources for bright, entangled pho- —Charles Baltay, Yale University, lecture in December 1959, scien- vations. The fields of August 30, 2000 tons.” on the discovery of a new ‘plutino’, tists had succeeded in nanotechnology, MEMS, quan- ✶✶✶ —Paul Kwiat, LANL, on improving Reuters News story, October 25, 2000 constructing electric motors the tum computing, and molecular size of a small fingernail, and cre- self-assembly, among others, ated a device capable of writing have exploded, with ground- New Scientific Coalition Targets Climate the Lord’s Prayer on the head of a breaking research paving the pin. Yet he dismissed such ad- way for the realization of Change on the Hill vances as “the most primitive, Feynman’s early vision. Even Whether or not human activity a series of focus groups and one-on- members of Congress. On a regular halting step” on the road to min- President Bill Clinton harkened is adversely affecting the Earth’s at- one interviews with congressional basis, climate-related information iaturization, concluding, “It is a back to Feynman’s comments mosphere and surface is a key staff, focusing on what role science from peer-reviewed sources will be staggeringly small world that is when he announced the new unanswered question in scientific plays in the debate, as well as what organized into a newsletter called below.” He envisioned writing the National Nanotechnology Ini- research. To help Congressional science is known, unknown or dis- Climate Focus, whose contents will entire 24 volumes of the Encyclo- tiative in January 2000 — an members and staffers sift through the torted. In addition, the firm be reviewed by a 10-member panel pedia Britannica onto the head of announcement made, appropri- often contradictory evidence, the identified several ways in which the of scientists with expertise in climate a pin, maintaining that the only ately enough, at CalTech. APS is weighing in on global warm- societies could enter into the debate change. The newsletter will be requirement to accomplishing Feynman’s prescience in antici- ing and climate change issues in a unified and meaningful fashion. emailed to each constituent scientist, this was reducing in size the text pating the likely developments through a coalition of scientific so- Based on the Fleishman-Hillard re- who will then contact the key staffer by 25,000 times. in miniaturization and cieties, at the instigation of its Panel port, the coalition agreed on a goal for their Member of Congress with Of course, he acknowledged nanotechnology is one of the on Public Affairs (POPA). and structure for a pilot program. the information. that writing and reading such tiny many reasons why former POPA first became interested in The program’s primary goal is to de- For example, the first issue of text would require improvements CalTech president Marvin organizing an effort focused on cli- velop a grassroots education effort Climate Focus, disseminated on in manufacturing techniques and Goldberger cited him as “a tow- mate change two years ago, that will provide a regular and ob- September 1, summarized the find- instrumentation, particularly a ering figure in 20th century according to Francis Slakey, APS as- jective source of climate-related ings of the draft National hundred-fold improvement in physics,” and MIT physicist sociate director of public affairs. To scientific information to the Hill, Assessment Report on global then-existing electron micros- Philip Morrison once called him broaden the scope and effectiveness with the intent of countering the warming, released this summer by copy, which needs to be capable “the most original theoretical of the effort, the APS joined with four plethora of misinformation. It is also the US Global Change Research of observing individual atoms but physicist of our time.” other societies to foster a plan of ac- intended to develop a reliable rela- Program. It is the first ever national at the time could only resolve Further Reading: Nano! By Ed tion: the American Chemical Society, tionship with a group of key assessment of the regional impact about 10 angstroms. Regis (1995: Little Brown). the American Geological Society, the Congressional staff and members. of climate change. It also presents Feynman believed so strongly American Geophysical Union, and To achieve its goal, the program scientific evidence that the earth is in the possibilities of miniaturiza- Birthdays for December: the American Institute of Physics. will specifically target approximately warming, and that the atmospheric tion because biology is teeming 5 Arnold Sommerfeld (1868) with examples of writing infor- 5 (1901) Since then, the coalition has grown 50 members of Congress considered concentration of CO2 is increasing, to 10 societies, including, the Ameri- key to climate change issues, either although accompanying commen- mation in a small scale. “The fact 14 N. G. Basov (1922) can Institute of Chemical Engineers, because they have not yet taken a tary in the newsletter cautions that that enormous amounts of infor- 15 (1852) the American Meteorological Soci- stand on climate change but are in a the evidence is insufficient to de- mation can be carried in an 18 J.J.Thomson (1856) ety, the American Society of position to influence the debate, or termine the degree to which natural exceedingly small space is well 19 Albert Michelson (1852) Agronomy, the Crop Science Soci- are simply concerned about the sci- climate variability and human in- known to the biologists... and re- 25 Isaac Newton (1642) ety of America, and the Soil Science ence behind the issue. A constituent fluence are causing global warming. solves the mystery of how, in the 27 Johannes Kepler (1571) Society of America. scientist will then be identified in The report also looked at the tiniest cell, all of the information 28 John von Neumann (1903) Last year, the coalition hired a each of the 50 districts or states to two most popular climate models for the organization of a complex 28 Arthur Eddington (1882) firm, Fleishman-Hillard, to carry out serve as a contact point with the See COALITION on page 6

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Circulation and Fulfillment Division, American Martin Blume*, Brookhaven National Laboratory (Polymer), Carl Lineberger (Laser Science), Howard Controller and Assistant Treasurer NEWS December 2000 3 Better Tabletop Accelerators, Fusion in a Beer Can Featured at DPP Leading researchers announced pressure of the Sun. Umstadter and Improvements in “Direct researchers split each beam into two magnetized fusion fuel into an some of the most exciting new re- colleagues have also demonstrated Drive” Fusion parts, each containing complemen- aluminum cylinder the size of a large sults in plasmas at the 42nd Annual a thousand-fold improvement in tary or “orthogonal” components of beer can. Then the “beer can” is Meeting of the APS Division of repetition rate, which is how often the beam’s electric field. Each of the rapidly compressed by driving a Plasma Physics (DPP) and the Inter- bursts of electrons can be acceler- polarized beams fluctuates indepen- giant electrical current along the wall national Congress on Plasma Physics ated with these devices. Tabletop dently of the other, so overlapping of the cylinder. The compressed (ICPP), held October 23-27, 2000, accelerators now have a repetition them averages or smooths out such high-density plasma fuel burns in a in Quebec City, Canada. rate of 10 Hz (corresponding to 10 intensity modulations. few millionths of a second. The fast- electron bursts per second), com- When such beams were used to moving solid metal wall, which Advances in Tabletop pared to previous tabletop induce fusion reactions, the pri- compresses the fuel, has been Laser Accelerators acceleration rates of one burst per Lasers converge on a fusion target at the mary neutron yield from developed for defense programs. The Donald Umstadter of the Uni- ten minutes. University of Rochester's OMEGA facility. or deuterium-tritium filled plastic fuel-compression region implodes at versity of Michigan’s Center for Researchers are now consider- Plasma researchers have made the shells increased by about 70% com- pressures millions of times greater Ultrafast Optical Science reported ing using such a tabletop device as first use of a technique for improv- pared to similar implosions than that of the Earth’s atmosphere. on advances at his lab and else- an injector for coherent x-ray ing a major form of laser-induced without polarization smoothing. The process is analogous to that of a where in tabletop laser accelerators, sources, such as the Linac Coher- known as “direct The emission of neutrons is gener- diesel engine, which compresses fuel devices that use light to accelerate ent Light Source facility proposed drive.” In direct-drive fusion, lasers ally proportional to the fusion to conditions where it more readily beams of electrons and protons to at the Stanford Linear Accelerator from many directions deposit energy reaction rate. At the same time, the burns. energies of a million volts in dis- Center. The natural shortness of the directly on a shell containing fusion smoother beams increased the The essential advantage of MTF tances of mere microns. Not only tabletop pulses makes it potentially fuel; the light causes the shell to im- compressed shell’s areal density by is its potential to be tested for scien- is this acceleration rate up to a possible to eliminate the usual re- plode and trigger fusion reactions. 40-70%. The results bode well for tific feasibility and even developed thousand times larger than in con- quirement for magnetic beam Traditionally, direct drive has suffered direct-drive implosions of targets up to the prototype stage using ap- ventional accelerators, but compression, in which an elaborate from serious limitations, mainly be- on OMEGA and Livermore’s paratus that costs a fraction of Umstadter’s lab has just shown that series of magnets causes the cause non-uniformities in the laser planned National Ignition Facility. conventional approaches. Last fall, the brightness of the tabletop par- charged particles of a conventional light’s intensity cause the shells to im- several components of MTF technol- ticle beam is roughly ten times injector to travel different distances plode in a less than optimal fashion. Fusion in a Beer Can? ogy were demonstrated. Los Alamos, higher than that produced by con- so that they pile up in time. Pre- At the University of Rochester’s 60- Researchers are investigating an in collaboration with the Air Force ventional accelerator technology. liminary experiments from three beam OMEGA laser system, approach that offers the possibility Research Laboratory, now leads a This is because, in part, laser ac- different countries indicate that researchers have used “polarization of creating fusion energy in a small, project to develop the preheated celerators can produce extremely when ultrashort light pulses are smoothing” to significantly improve inexpensive device. Known as plasma needed for MTF. Researchers narrow particle beams. Another used, the electrons might be accel- the laser beam uniformity. In a large Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF), subsequently hope to conduct an ex- reason is that tabletop lasers can erated by a novel mechanism, in laser such as the ones at OMEGA, the approach can potentially be periment that will test this preheated now exert light pressures of which the laser light directly accel- each beam typically has unavoidable developed on a short time scale plasma along with components of gigabars, the highest ever achieved, erates the electron oscillations of spatial fluctuations in intensity. To because of its low cost. The MTF the implosion system. approaching that of the thermal the plasma. reduce these intensity fluctuations, technique preheats and injects See DPP MEETING on page 5 First RHIC Results Highlight 2000 DNP Meeting The first results from RHIC, ultra-relativistic heavy ion physics recent major developments in par- form a quark-gluon plasma (QGP), QCD over the next decade.” In fact, and reports of a natural endpoint for the past two decades, accord- ticular are expected to herald a new a new state of strongly interacting he reports that the first published to the RP process took center ing to Axel Drees of the State era in the field: the completion of matter. The key question now is data from the PHOBOS collabora- stage at the annual fall meeting of University of New York at Stony the experimental programs at whether the system spends some tion at RHIC indicate that the the APS Division of Nuclear Phys- Brook, who kicked off a Wednes- CERN’s SPS and Brookhaven Na- time in a QGP-like phase, and sev- initial energy density is increased ics (DNP), held October 4-7 in day morning session on the topic. tional Laboratory’s AGS, and the eral characteristic features of such by at least a factor of 1.5, which Williamsburg, VA. “The hope is to establish the exist- successful first run of BNL’s new a state are believed to have been would correspond to an initial ence of the transition and by Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider observed at both CERN and BNL. temperature above 250 MeV. Searching for QGPs at studying it in detail, to unveil fun- (RHIC). “Clearly the evidence remains RHIC damental puzzles of QCD, in Drees opened the session with circumstantial,” says Drees. “But Rapid Proton Capture The search for the QCD phase particular confinement and chiral a summary of results obtained even assuming a QGP-like state is Process in Accreting transition has been the quest of symmetry breaking,” he says. Two from previous experiments at formed, we know little about its Neuton Stars CERN and BNL, which he main- properties.” He adds that only lim- The rapid proton capture (rp) tains support researchers’ hopes ited progress can be expected from process is the dominant reaction that the higher energies possible further experiments at the SPS be- sequence in both X-ray bursters MEETING BRIEFS with RHIC (about 25 TeV) will be cause the energies aren’t high and X-ray pulsars, types of neutron sufficient to create in the labora- enough to give a clear signature for stars found in X-ray binary systems APS Southeastern Section Meeting tory the conditions which must the QGP-like state, which is just that accrete matter from the enve- The APS Southeastern Section (SESAPS) held its annual fall meeting have existed about 2 microseconds above the critical temperature and lope of their companion star. The November 2-4 at Mississippi State University in Starkville, MS. The after the Big Bang. Specifically, cools down rapidly. These limita- process was first identified in 1981, conference covered subjects such as physics education research, ap- measurements of the energy emit- tions can be overcome at RHIC, and since then its natural endpoint plied physics, materials science, computational physics, optics and ted from Au-Au and Pb-Pb where the Au ions collide at much has been an open question, with quantum optics, astrophysics, and free electron laser physics. The meet- collisions over the last two decades larger energies: “The initial tempera- the latest calculations finding re- ing also featured a program of physics teaching demonstrations. The indicate that if the ions collide ture should be higher and the system action networks ending at Yttrium evening’s banquet speaker was Walter E. Massey, President of Morehouse head-on, energies are reached should spend a longer time in the and Tin. More recently, Hendrick College and a former APS vice president, who spoke on responsibilities which should be sufficient to free deconfined phase,” says Drees. “I Schatz of Michigan State Univer- of scientists to 21st century society. During the banquet, three awards the quarks and gluons normally have no doubt that RHIC will revo- sity, and his colleagues performed were presented: the Jesse W. Beams Award for Outstanding Research; confined in nuclear matter and lutionize our understanding of the first calculations of the rp pro- the George B. Pegram Award for Excellence in Teaching; and the Francis cess beyond tin, and discovered Slack Award for Excellence in Service. In addition, several other organi- that a natural endpoint of the pro- zations held meetings in conjunction with SESAPS: the Mississippi cess does, in fact exist: namely, the Association of Physicists (this is the Mississippi Chapter of the AAPT), Conference Experience for Undergraduates at DNP2000 low binding energy of the proton- the Chairs of Southeastern Physics Departments, and the Society of rich Tellurium isotopes leads to the Physics Student. A WebTop Workshop was held before the formal formation of an Sn-Sb-Te cycle. Ac- SESAPS Meeting, it was organized by John Foley of Mississippi State cording to Schatz, this cycle is a University. WebTop is a graphics system whose purpose is to very effective barrier for the rp pro- help instructors teach optics and students to learn optics. cess because it prevents the APS New England Section Meeting synthesis of heavier nuclei in ex- plosive and steady state burning on The APS New England Section held its annual fall meeting the surface of accreting neutron November 10-11 at Central Connecticut State University in New stars for all model parameters. Britain, CT. Friday afternoon’s session focused on photonics, and The result is significant, says featured invited lectures on such topics as microlithography for elec- Schatz, because in X-ray bursts tronics and photonics; excitons in quantum dots; and a summary of with large amounts of hydrogen recent advances in optical communications. The keynote speaker for Photo courtesy of Tom Clark of Tom Photo courtesy available at ignition, the Sn-Sb-Te Friday evening’s banquet was Robert Adair of Yale University, who gave Peter Rosen, DOE’s Associate Director for High Energy and Nuclear Physics, cycle can operate at the end of the his popular lecture on the physics of baseball. On Saturday, contrib- gathers around student poster presentations with participants of this year’s third burst, leading to late time helium uted papers and a poster session were followed by an invited talk on annual CEU held at the Fall 2000 DNP meeting in Williamsburg, Virginia. The production, which in turn results the status of low and high temperature superconductor wire fabrica- goal of the CEU program is to provide a “capstone” conference experience for in additional seed nuclei for the rp tion. The meeting closed with an industrial round table, organized by undergraduate students by giving them the opportunity to present their research process and an increase in energy the APS Committee on Careers and Professional Development. to the larger professional community and to one another. See DNP MEETING on page 6 4 December 2000 NEWS LETTERS VIEWPOINT… Squeeze on Science Olympiad Coaches Play Key Role By Harold Varmus In the latter weeks of this year’s presi- office connected to our house— new possibili- It is a pleasure to see the Octo- responsibilities were carried out by dential race, both candidates voiced showed me an X-ray. I marveled at ties fully, we ber issue of the APS News give Jennifer Catelli and Ryan McAllister their support of efforts to double the a technology that could reveal the need strength visibility and recognition to the of the University of Maryland. budget of the National Institutes of bones of his patients or the guts of in many disci- successes of the US Physics Team Again, thanks to APS News for Health. This is an encouraging sign our pets. And I learned that it was plines, not which represented our country in the encouragement and recognition that the current bipartisan enthusi- something that doctors, no matter just pharma- the International Physics Olym- offered to physics education at all asm for medical research will how expert with a stethoscope or cology. piad. All of the physics community levels. If physics is to be widely rec- continue in the next administration. suture, wouldn’t have been likely Medical is well served by our continuing to ognized as the basis for much of But it also offers an opportunity to to develop on their own. advances may emphasize the importance of phys- our understanding of the universe make an important point about the Of course, the X-ray is routine now. seem like wiz- ics education at all levels. In your as well as the stimulus for much of kinds of science required to achieve Medical science can visualize the inner ardry. But pull article, however, you failed to men- our technology, we need to assure breakthroughs against disease. workings of the body at far higher reso- back the curtain, and sitting at the le- tion those teachers who prepare that all students study and under- The NIH does a magnificent job, lution with techniques that sound ver is a high-energy physicist, a and coach the team during this in- stand our discipline. Recognizing but it does not hold all the keys to suc- dazzlingly sophisticated: ultrasound, combinational chemist or an engineer. tensive competition. Mary Mogge our teachers is a crucial part of such cess. The work of several science positron-emission tomography and Magnetic resonance imaging is an ex- of Cal State Pomona was the aca- encouragement. agencies is required for advances in computer-assisted tomography. cellent example. Perhaps the last demic leader of the 2000 Team. Bernard V. Khoury medical sciences, and the health of These techniques are the workhorses century’s greatest advance in diagno- Leaf Turner of the Los Alamos Na- Executive Officer, AAPT some of those agencies is suffering. of medical diagnostics. And not a sis, MRI is the product of atomic, tional Lab was senior coach; We thank the writer for pointing For the coming fiscal year, Congress single one of them could have been nuclear and high-energy physics, Warren Turner of the Brunswick out this omission. Both the coaches and has again—magnanimously and ap- developed without the contributions quantum chemistry, computer sci- School, Greenwich, CT was a the dedicated AAPT staff were crucial propriately—slated the NIH for a major of scientists, such as mathematicians, ence, cryogenics, solid state physics coach; Boris Zbarsky, a former Gold to the success of the American team increase, its third consecutive 15 per- physicists and chemists supported and applied medicine. Medalist, now an MIT undergradu- in this year’s Physics Olympiad. cent increase. By these actions, by the agencies currently at risk. In other words, the various sciences ate, was the junior coach. Lab —Ed. Congress has shown that it is deter- Effective medicines are among the together constitute the vanguard of Readers Respond to Astronomical Top Ten mined to combat the scourges of our most prominent products of medical medical research. And it’s time for Con- time, including heart disease, cancer, research, and drug development also gress to treat them that way. Sens. Among the list of the “Top Ten As- did not know that the existence of other diabetes, AIDS and Alzheimer’s disease. relies heavily on contributions from a Christopher Bond (R-Mo.) and Barbara tronomical Triumphs of the Last universes was established. Perhaps ei- But Congress is not addressing with variety of sciences. The traditional Mikulski (D-Md.) have just proposed Millennium” appearing in the October ther the compiler of the list or the sufficient vigor the compelling needs method of random prospecting for a to double the budget of the National issue of APS News is “There exist...other editors of APS News can enlighten me. of the other science agencies, especially few promising chemicals has been Science Foundation over five years. universes (Steinhardt, Linde, Guth, Don Lichtenberg the National Science Foundation and supplemented and even superseded by This admirable effort should be vigor- Hawking, Hartle, Rees, etc., 1990s).” I Indiana University the Office of Science at the Department more rational methods based on mo- ously supported and extended to ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ of Energy. This disparity in treatment lecular structures, computer-based include the Department of Energy’s undermines the balance of the sciences images and chemical theory. Synthesis Office of Science, which funds half of In Virginia Trimble’s article on article on scientific discoveries? that is essential to progress in all of promising compounds is guided by all research in the physical sciences and Astronomy’s Greatest Hits, she lists as As an assignment in my introduc- spheres, including medicine. new chemical methods that can gen- maintains the national laboratories that a scientific discovery, “There exist tory physics class I have students look I first observed the interdependence erate either pure preparations of a single are central to biomedicine. other universes.” I had to check twice for examples of poor scientific report- of the sciences as a boy when my fa- molecule or collections of literally mil- Scientists can wage an effective war to make sure I was reading APS News ing in the popular press. Now I have ther—a general practitioner with an lions of subtle variants. To exploit these on disease only if we—as a nation and and not Bob Park’s “What’s New.” found my own example in APS News. as a scientific community—harness the How could such scientific specu- Michael G. Strauss energies of many disciplines, not just lation ever find its way into an University of Oklahoma ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ Security Tightened at National Labs biology and medicine. The allies must include mathematicians, physicists, en- In your October 2000 issue, Vir- doctoral dissertation at MIT on —News Item gineers and computer and behavioral ginia Trimble lists the top ten the “Primitive Atom,” showing scientists. I made this case repeatedly astronomical triumphs of the last that Einstein’s “Cosmological during my tenure as director of NIH, millennium. Fine; but under # 5, Constant” was not required. In fact, and the NIH has made significant ef- “the Universe is expanding”, she in 1931, Lema tre, Hubble and forts to boost its support of these mentions the most significant con- Einstein met at Mount Wilson to areas. But in the long run, it is es- tributors thus: Hubble, Gamov, discuss the problem, with the first sential to provide adequate budgets Alpher, Herman, Ryle & Scheurer, two named having a hard time for the agencies that traditionally Penzias & Wilson, while missing, convincing Einstein that the fund such work and train its practi- it seems to me, the top players, i.e., Universe was in fact expanding. tioners. Moreover, this will Friedman, de Sitter and particularly Only then did Einstein abandon his encourage the interagency collabo- Georges Lema tre who invented the cosmological constant (“My most ration that fuels interdisciplinary notion of “Primitive Atom”, precur- serious blunder”), which is now science. Only in this way will medi- sor of the Big Bang. being resurrected by cosmologists. cal research be optimally poised to Incidentally, Lema tre was a Didier de Fontaine continue its dazzling progress. Catholic priest who wrote his University of California, Berkeley Harold Varmus is president of Me- morial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Virginia Trimble Comments and a former director of the National The “top ten” list printed in a re- the Elements” Rev. Mod. Phys 47, Institutes of Health. He received the cent APS news was never intended for 877 (1975) Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1989. The this venue. It started as a press release, “Cosmic Abundances: Past, Present, above article originally appeared in The prepared for the 100th anniversary of and Future” in S.S. Holt & G. ©2000 Paul Dlugokencky (aDailyCartoon.com) for APS News Washington Post, October 4, 2000. Re- the American Astronomical Society in Sonneborn, eds. Cosmic Abundances printed with permission. 1999 (and so very strongly emphasized (ASP Conf. Ser. 99, 3, 1996) observations over theory). It was then “The 1920 Shapley-Curtis Discus- Referencing the Buttered Toast Problem recycled as a press release at the April sion: Background, Issues, and I thoroughly enjoyed the “Zero buttered toast. But your readers also provides a historical account APS meeting (at the request of those Aftermath” PASP 107, 1133 (1995) Gravity” column in the October is- may enjoy tracking down the semi- of the origin of Murphy’s Law. organizing the press briefings there). “Ho: the Incredible Shrinking sue of the APS News, which among nal paper on toast by Held and Tevian Dray And, finally, an APS News editor asked Constant” PASP 108, 1073 (1996) other things points out that Yodzis1. This paper not only pur- Oregon State University permission to excerpt the material. The “Extragalactic Distance Scales: chicken tikka masala has a stron- ports to give a relativistic analysis 1 editor did, of course, edit. And perhaps Ho from Hubble (Edwin) to A. Held and P. Yodzis, On the Einstein-Murphy ger affinity for carpets than of the buttered toast problem, but Interaction, Gen. Rel. Grav. 13, 873-882 (1981). I should have said “no.” But it is good Hubble (Space Telescope)” Space to know that I have at least three read- Sci. Rev. 79, 793 (1997) ers — this exceeds the average “Beyond the Bright Searchlight of Help for Displaced Scientists readership of a technical paper in most Science: the Quest for the Edge of For those of you who have been This web site has been devel- of the US House and Senate about physics and astronomy journals by a the Universe” in S.S. Holt & E.M. struggling to keep your job, won- oped by a displaced engineer and how these elected officials feel factor of roughly four (according to the Smith, eds. APS Conf. Ser. 470, 3 dering why you haven’t had that contains hiring information of US about American technical talent. late Sam Goudsmit). And if any of them And the series of pieces in hoped for physics career, or have companies who have used im- Read the stories of other displaced should be interested in what I have said BeamLine that have been appear- been repeatedly downsized and are ported labor in the past five years. US and foreign workers’ stories of about some of the topics in contexts ing in most issues since 1992 with now being told that your PhD in Sources include direct data from being laid off and downsized in this other than press briefings, please take titles like “The Solar Neutrino Prob- physics makes you “over-qualified” the US Department of Labor. The “great, robust US economy.” a look at the following: lem and How We Know the Stars for programming jobs — check site is very user friendly. Check out Dwight Walsh “The Origin and Abundances of Run on Nuclear Energy” out: http://www.zazona.com the comments made by members Alumni, Brigham Young University NEWS December 2000 5 Assessment Tests Can Marginalize Science Education Editor’s note: This story was researched to prepare students for the tests in math the fourth largest in California. any formal, concrete statements to say from 1982-1992. They have been and written for APS News by Richard M. and language arts. Valadez is also a major critic of science is being neglected,” Kestner relatively stable since, and are about Todaro. Ted Schultz is the director of the California’s current standardized test- says. where they were in 1973. The release in October of a contro- Teacher-Scientist Alliance Institute, an ing with the Stanford Achievement Test Although Kestner was referring to “It may be tempting to look at re- versial report by the RAND Corp. think educational outreach program run by -Version 9, known by its acronym SAT- North Carolina, there is a great deal of cent trends in NAEP science scores to tank questioning the significant rise in the APS. He is a strong advocate of a 9, because the state omits the science US test score data that compare US stu- see any effect of the increased empha- test scores on the Texas state-wide as- “hands-on, inquiry-centered science” component of the test. dents in different states. It is collected sis on language arts and math testing,” sessment tests is the tip of a larger approach that he says allows students “’What matters is what is mea- by the US Department of Education’s Schultz notes, “but the most recent controversy over whether such assess- to “do” science rather than just memo- sured,’” Valadez says, quoting the old statistical office, the National Center for national NAEP science assessment was ment tests are inadvertently rizing and reciting. Schultz is also wary cliché. “Because science is not assessed Education Statistics, known by its ab- done in early 1996, and the smaller undermining the education of of some of the increased emphasis on in California, science is being somewhat breviation, NCES. long-term trend assessment was done America’s school children. While there state standardized tests. marginalized as one of the core sub- NCES has run a highly-regarded in 1999, while the emphasis on lan- is no shortage of strongly held opin- “We work with about 60 school jects.” assessment program known as the guage arts and math has been gathering ions, available data indicates that US districts nationwide, and we are find- Brenda Evans is also highly critical National Assessment of Educational strength only in the last two or three students today are doing about as well ing that a recent emphasis on math and of her state’s assessment test. Evans Progress (NAEP) since 1969. years. Thus, even for 9-year olds, the as they were in 1990, significantly bet- language arts is driving teachers, coordinates K-8 science education The NAEP program conducts a effects won’t be visible until the reports ter than around 1980 and, with a few schools and whole districts to increase throughout North Carolina. yearly assessment of 9, 13, and 17 year on the national test in 2000 or the long- exceptions, about the same as in 1970. the amount of time and professional In 1994, North Carolina adopted olds in a series of subject areas, includ- term test in 2003. For the two older The RAND study was addressing development money allocated to an assessment program called ABC, an ing reading, math, and science. A given age groups, it will take four or eight the question of whether excessive test these,” Schultz says. “This collides abbreviation of the buzz words “ac- subject area is assessed every two to years longer and there will be other preparations are actually degrading head-on with our efforts to build new countability,” “the basics,” and “local four years. Dating back to 1969-1970, important variables that could obscure classroom instruction by failing to im- standards-based science programs.” control.” The ABC program only mea- NAEP’s long-term trend assessment has the effects.” prove genuine understanding in Jerry Valadez is the K-12 science sures reading, writing and math skills. used the same methodology since its Peggy Carr, the associate com- reading, writing, and math. Another, coordinator of the Fresno, Calif., Uni- Evans believes that the high stakes na- inception, and so measures progress in missioner for assessment at NCES, less well-known aspect of the contro- fied Public School District. He ture of the test causes teachers to neglect various subject areas over time. NAEP says that while this trend assess- versy is the charge that science coordinates all science programs in the science education even as the overall also conducts periodic, comprehensive ment will be maintained, newer education is being neglected in order 80,000 student-strong school district, quality of education is degraded. assessments of all 50 states, providing ones are being used. “Teachers are spending too much a “cross-section” of how students are “The newer assessment is a more time teaching to the test that doesn’t doing a particular time. contemporary one looking at what zero encourage real-world problem solv- So what do the data show regard- experts thinks kids should know and gravity ing,” Evans says. “Math teaching is ing science performance? be able to do in today’s society,” Carr shallow and by rote while science and The 1999 NAEP trends report in- says. She adds that the 2000 science social studies are suffering greatly. We dicates that over the past 30 years, test report will be released in September or The 2000 Ig Nobel Prizes have teachers who love teaching sci- scores among 9-year olds fell from October of 2001. It will provide more ence but are told not to do so.” 1970-1973, remained stable from data to address the question of what The 2000 Ig Nobel Prizes, pre- UK, for using mag- Michael Kestner also works for the about 1973-1982, and rose “signifi- effect state assessment tests are having sented for achievements that “cannot nets to levitate a North Carolina Department of Public cantly” thereafter until 1990. Scores on science education in the classroom. or should not be reproduced,” were frog and a sumo Instruction, where he serves as the sec- have been stable ever since. Schultz cautions, though, that awarded at Harvard’s Sanders The- wrestler. tion chief for mathematics and science. Among 13-year olds, scores fell this will be possible for the elemen- atre on October 5 before 1,200 http://www.sci.kun.nl/hfml/ He says there is simply not enough hard from 1970-1977 and then rose “sig- tary grades only in the small fraction spectators, in a ceremony filled with frog-ejp.pdf data to support the conclusions of crit- nificantly” until 1992. Scores have fallen of states that have standardized test- hijinks, paper airplanes, and bubble Chemistry ics like Evans. slightly since 1992, but are about where ing of science in those grades, and wrap. The event was produced by Donatella Marazziti, Alessandra “We are getting a lot of anecdotal were in 1970. even then it will be difficult to dis- the science humor magazine “Annals Rossi, and Giovanni B. Cassano of evidence saying that there is less atten- Finally, among 17-year olds, test entangle the effect of such tests from of Improbable Research” (AIR), and the University of Pisa, and Hagop S. tion [being paid] to science [but] I don’t scores fell “significantly” from 1969- other changes that will also be oc- co-sponsored by the Harvard Com- Akiskal of the University of Califor- think we have enough data to make 1982 and then rose “significantly” curring. puter Society, the Harvard-Radcliffe nia (San Diego), for their discovery Science Fiction Association and the that, biochemically, romantic love Harvard-Radcliffe Society of Physics may be indistinguishable from hav- Palestinian Visits: Irresponsible or Just Ill-timed? Students. The evening also featured ing severe obsessive-compulsive numerous tributes to the theme of On the front page of the Octo- IL: The APS Executive Board and confident that disorder. “Intelligence,” including a debate to ber issue of APS News, we ran a story Council have among their constitu- your advice in determine which of the participants Economics implying that it might be beneficial tional responsibilities the these matters is the Smartest Person in the World, The Reverend Sun Myung Moon, for members traveling in the Middle dissemination of physics informa- will not get and the world premiere of “The Brain for bringing efficiency and steady East to schedule visits to Palestinian tion for the health of the them into any Food Opera, which starred Margot growth to the mass-marriage indus- universities on the West Bank, and international physics enterprise. In- dangerous Button, Brian Nash, and the Nobel try, with, according to his reports, a we suggested our Director of Inter- sofar as this can be accomplished by situations? Laureates. William Lipscomb 36-couple wedding in 1960, a 430- national Affairs, Irving Lerch, as a promoting exchanges, we do. IL: In this (Chemistry, 1976) was the prize in couple wedding in 1968, an useful point of contact for anyone our record is Irving Lerch the annual Win-a-Date-With-a- 1,800-couple wedding in 1975, a interested in doing so. AN: Wasn’t it risky to advocate pretty good. In my term as director Nobel-Laureate Contest. (To see a 6,000-couple wedding in 1982, a The appearance of this article co- visits to the West Bank? of international programs, we have video recording of the entire cer- 30,000-couple wedding in 1992, a incided with the recent renewed IL: We do not send colleagues conducted more than 40 interna- emony, go to http://ignobel.org) Here 360,000-couple wedding in 1995, and outbreak of hostilities between the Is- into harms way. When a State De- tional meetings/workshops all over are the new winners: a 36,000,000-couple wedding in 1997. raelis and the Palestinians. We have had partment advisory is issued we abide the world without the loss or injury by it—as in the case of a canceled Psychology Medicine some private correspondence claiming of a single APS participant. that we acted irresponsibly in enticing meeting in Colombia 2 years ago. I David Dunning of Cornell Uni- Willibrord Weijmar Schultz, Pek our members into a dangerous situa- can assure you that no one will be AN: How do you feel about the versity and Justin Kreuger of the van Andel, and Eduard Mooyaart of tion. To clarify our position, APS News encouraged to go to Ramallah in the recent violence in the Middle East? University of Illinois, for their mod- Groningen, The Netherlands, and has interviewed Lerch, and we present near future nor will we ask APS IL: On a personal note, the tragic est report, “Unskilled and Unaware Ida Sabelis of Amsterdam, for their some of his comments, based on his members to risk their safety by trav- events in and around Israel and the of It: How Difficulties in Recogniz- illuminating report, “Magnetic Reso- long experience in international scien- eling to Yemen or to any other part gulf are cause for reflection and ing One’s Own Incompetence Lead nance Imaging of Male and Female tific affairs. of the world where bullets and mourning—not for the attempt to to Inflated Self-Assessments.” Genitals During Coitus and Female bombs have replaced civil discourse. make debating points. Sexual Arousal.” AN: What was your intention in Literature promoting these visits? AN: Can APS members be AN: Thank you, Dr. Lerch. Jasmuheen (formerly known as Computer Science Ellen Greve) of Brisbane, Australia, Chris Niswander of Tucson, Ari- zona, for inventing PawSense, first lady of Breatharianism, for her technique involves injecting an electric energy state through a process known software that detects when a cat is DPP Meeting, from page 3 book “Living on Light,” which explains current directly from coaxial circular as magnetic reconnection. In the case walking across your computer key- that although some people do eat food, The National Spherical electrodes inside the plasma chamber, of the ST, this lower energy state is one board. they don’t ever really need to. Torus Experiment in the presence of an applied magnetic in which some of the current flows on Biology Peace Researchers presented some of the field. The causes the in- field lines which close on themselves Richard Wassersug of Dalhousie The British Royal Navy, for order- first physics results from the National jected current to wrap many times inside the vessel to form a confined University, for his first-hand report, ing its sailors to stop using live Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX), around central column in its passage plasma core. Whereas the traditional “On the Comparative Palatability of cannon shells, and to instead just the new magnetic fusion device at the between the electrodes, so the current technique can only produce brief Some Dry-Season Tadpoles from shout “Bang!” Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. can be many times that injected. bursts of plasma current in an ST, the Costa Rica.” Public Health In addition to the traditional way of The current loops formed during CHI technique holds promise for help- CHI have similarities to the coronal ing them to operate continuously, as Physics Jonathan Wyatt, Gordon driving the plasma current, the re- loops seen on the sun’s outer surface needed for a future fusion reactor. of the University of McNaughton, and William Tullet of searchers are developing a new method during solar flares. These loops can —Compiled by AIP Public Nijmegen (the Netherlands) and Sir Glasgow, for their alarming report, for producing this current. Known as become unstable and relax to a lower Information Division Michael Berry of Bristol University, “The Collapse of Toilets in Glasgow.” coaxial helicity injection (CHI), this 6 December 2000 NEWS Physicists Honored at Annual DPP, DFD Meetings Six physicists were honored for University until he joined Bell group working on trapped atomic support of a fellowship from the 2000 FLUID DYNAMICS their work in plasma physics and Laboratories in Murray Hill, NJ in ions. Bollinger’s research interests Fannie and John Hertz Founda- PRIZE fluid dynamics in November. The 1968. He returned to Osaka Uni- are focused on the use of stored- tion. His thesis work, which was Friedrich Hermann Busse 2000 James Clerk Maxwell Prize versity in 1991 as a professor of ion techniques for high resolution done under the direction of pro- University of Bayreuth for Plasma Physics, Excellence in communications engineering. spectroscopy, time frequency stan- fessor Nathaniel Fisch, was Citation: “For his seminal and Plasma Physics Research Award Upon retirement from Osaka Uni- dards, and the study of non-neutral completed in 1998. He is cur- extensive contributions to the un- and Outstanding Doctoral Thesis versity in 1998, Dr. Hasegawa was plasmas. rently employed at Lawrence derstanding of instabilities in in Plasma Physics Award were pre- appointed research professor at Dubin received his PhD in 1984 Livermore National Laboratory convective and rotating flows, for sented during the annual fall Kochi University of Technology under the supervision of John (X-division) where he is research- his development of upper-bound meeting of the APS Division of and as a consultant at NTT Science Krommes and Carl Oberman. In his ing inertial confinement fusion. theories and their application to Plasma Physics in Quebec, Canada and Core Technology Laboratory thesis he derived a set of self-consis- complex fluid flows, and for his (see story, page 3). The 2000 Otto Group. Hasegawa chaired the APS tent Hamiltonian gyrokinetic 2000 OTTO LAPORTE use of fluid mechanics to elucidate LaPorte Award and Fluid Dynam- Division of Plasma Physics in 1990. equations for charged particle mo- AWARD geophysical and astrophysical ics Prize and were presented tion in a fusion plasma, and he Hassan Aref problems.” 2000 AWARD FOR University of Illinois during the annual fall meeting of EXCELLENCE IN PLASMA examined statistical closure schemes Busse is a native of Germany. Citation: “For his pioneering con- the APS Division of Fluid Dynam- PHYSICS RESEARCH applied to low-dimensional chaotic He received his PhD in theoreti- ics, held November 19-21 in systems. Immediately afterwards, tributions to the study of chaotic cal physics in 1962 from the John J. Bollinger Washington, DC (highlights to ap- Dubin joined the nonneutral plasma motion in fluids, scientific computa- University of Munich. He was a National Institute of Standards & pear in January 2001 APS News). group at the University of Califor- tion, and vortex dynamics, and most scientific assistant at the Institute Technology nia, San Diego as a postdoctoral notably for the development of the for Theoretical Physics at the 2000 JAMES CLERK Daniel H. E. Dubin researcher. concept of chaotic advection.” University of Munich until 1965 MAXWELL PRIZE FOR University of California – San Aref holds a cand. scient. degree when he moved to the United PLASMA PHYSICS Diego 2000 OUTSTANDING from University of Copenhagen, States where he was a research as- Akira Hasegawa Citation: “For successful theoreti- DOCTORAL THESIS IN and a PhD from Cornell Univer- sociate in the Department of Kobe Womens University & Himeji cal and experimental studies of PLASMA PHYSICS AWARD sity, both in physics. He was a Mathmatics at MIT. A year later Dokkyo University trapped cryogenic plasmas, including Mark Christopher Herrmann faculty member at Brown Univer- he moved to UCLA where he was Citation: “For innovative discov- precise characterization of plasma sity 1980-1985 and at University an associate research geophysicist eries and seminal contributions to the modes and crystal equilibria, and di- Citation: “With elegant use of of California, San Diego 1985- before moving back to Germany theories of nonlinear drift wave tur- rect observation of structural phase analytical theory and computation, 1992. From 1989-1992 he was as a scientist at the Max-Planck- bulence, Alfen wave propagation in transitions.” and insightful comparisons to experi- chief scientist at the San Diego Institute for Physics and laboratory and space plasmas, and Bollinger received his PhD in ment, this thesis lays the foundation Supercomputer Center. He as- Astrophysics in Munich. In 1970 optical and their application atomic physics from Harvard Uni- for how radio frequency waves might sumed his current position of he returned to UCLA where he to high speed communication.” versity in 1981. He joined the Time cool fusion byproducts in a .” professor and head, Department became a full professor in 1973 Hasegawa is a native of Japan. and Frequency Division of the Na- Herrmann graduated cum of Theoretical and Applied Me- and worked as a member of the As a Fulbright scholar, he received tional Institute of Standards and laude from Washington Univer- chanics, University of Illinois at Department of Earth and Space his PhD from the University of Technology (NIST) on a National sity with a BS in physics, a BS in Urbana-Champaign, in 1992. Aref’s Sciences and the Institute of Geo- California, Berkeley in 1964 on his Research Council Postdoctoral Fel- Applied Science, and a MS in Sys- main field of research is fluid me- physics and Planetary Physics. In work on plasma physics. In 1967, lowship. In 1984 he became a tems Science and Mathematics in chanics. He is particularly well 1984, Dr. Busse assumed the po- he received a Doctor of Science permanent staff member the divi- 1991. He enrolled in the gradu- known for introducing and nam- sition of Professor for Theoretical degree from . He sion and has been employed there ate program in Plasma Physics at ing the mechanism of “chaotic Physics at the University of was an associate professor at Osaka ever since as part of a research Princeton University with the advection.” Bayreuth where he remains today.

DNP Meeting, from page 3 production and fuel consumption. a deformed, rotating neutron star; future directions in nuclear phys- well as answering some vital ques- Laboratory’s Donald Geesaman re- In addition, this cycle provides an or the possibility of distinguishing ics. Walter Henning of the tions in nuclear astrophysics. Wick ported that several new important constraint for the crust neutron stars and black holes by University of Frankfurt in Ger- Haxton of the University of experimental tools have been de- composition of accreting neutron observing thermal radiation from many summarized the status of Washington’s Institute for Nuclear veloped over the last decade that stars, limiting it to light p nuclei. the star crust during the off-state rare isotope physics, in which in- Theory discussed numerous re- hold considerable promise for re- According to Schatz, knowledge of in transient systems. tense beams of unstable maining opportunities for testing solving some of the outstanding the neutron star crust composition short-lived nuclei are providing the predictions of the standard issues in spin-flavor physics, in- is crucial to resolve such open The Future of Nuclear scientists with new opportunities model using electroweak interac- cluding the quantitative questions as the evolution of mag- Physics for studying the nuclear many- tions, and for seeking signs of new contribution of the glue to the netic fields; the possibility of The DNP meeting also fea- body system and fundamental physics beyond the standard nucleon’s spin, which is still un- gravitational wave emission from tured a special plenary session on symmetries and interactions, as model. Finally, Argonne National der debate.

Coalition, from page 2 unclear whether the recent melting Hill has been encouraging, he says, Nobel, from page 1 The three researchers made dis- is indicative of a long-term trend, and the newsletter will become a coveries in one type of used to evaluate the potential im- or whether it is the result of global two-story monthly publication. In addition, the discovery of con- communication, known as slow pact of climate change. A third warming. The entire pilot program will be ducting polymers provides a synaptic transmission, involving newsletter item reported on the The second issue of Climate Fo- evaluated after one year to deter- foundation for the development chemical signals that alter nerve first precise measurements of the cus was mailed on November 1, and mine its effectiveness, and whether of molecular , in cell function for periods ranging Greenland Ice Sheet, which indi- Slakey reports that the program is to discontinue it, continue in its which electrically conducting from seconds to hours. Carlsson, cate that its edges are melting at a currently reaching 39 of the tar- present format, expand the target molecules act as the building for one, identified dopamine as a rate of one million cubic feet per geted 50 offices, in addition to key list, or broaden the goal to include blocks of computing devices. transmitter in the brain and real- year, although the study only com- committee staff. He expects to be legislative advocacy in addition to The 2000 Nobel Prize in Medi- ized its importance for controlling pares measurements carried out in reaching all 50 targeted offices by the present goal of providing ac- cine shares a theme similar to the movements; this research has led 1994 and 1999, and hence it is February 2001. Feedback from the curate information to Congress. two Nobels awarded today— to drugs for Parkinson’s disease. whereas the physics prize Understanding signal transmis- celebrates circuits, and the sion in the body has become a chemistry prize recognizes plastic major area of physics research. For New Fellowship in the Washington Office circuits, the medicine/physiology example, chaos researchers have prize cites neural circuits, a topic been striving to elucidate and con- This fall, the APS Office of seem illogical — but make more which is of great importance to trol the electrical patterns that lead Public Affairs launched a new sense when you look for under- physicists alongside many other to disorders such as epilepsy. In an- fellowship that gives a physi- lying connections.” Though types of scientists. The prize went other example, new research cist the opportunity to spend unlike quantum mechanics, to (University of shows that the tree-like structures a year in the APS Washington “politics is driven by hidden vari- Gothenberg, Sweden), Paul called dendrites, which feed a Office gaining hands-on expe- ables,” she added. Greengard (Rockefeller Univer- nerve cell with information, send rience in science policy work. During her tenure as Public sity), and (Columbia out stronger signals the farther The first fellow is Christina Affairs Fellow, Hood will focus on University) for their discoveries their distance from the nerve cell’s Hood, a recent PhD graduate increasing the grassroots involve- concerning the transmission of main body, or soma; that’s because from CalTech. She says her ment of APS members in science chemical signals in the nervous dendrites lack insulating material training in quantum optics policy through congressional vis- system. and act like leaky wires which must provided some background its and action networks, and on The brain has about 100 bil- compensate for lost electrical for politics, “From the outside, lobbying for K-12 science educa- lion nerve cells; messages from charge. political events sometimes tion funding. Christina Hood one cell to another get relayed at —Philip P. Schewe, AIP Public in-between points called synapses. Information NEWS December 2000 7 ANNOUNCEMENTS

APS Council and Committee Position Nominations Correction New APS Prize in Gravitational Physics VICE-PRESIDENT; GENERAL COUNCILLOR (2); NOMINATING In our story on the new PhysTEC The APS has established a new Prize in Gravitational Phys- COMMITTEE; Vice-Chairperson-Elect • Members; PANEL ON PUBLIC education program in the Octo- ics, and the Topical Group on Gravitation has begun a campaign AFFAIRS; Vice-Chairperson-Elect • Members ber issue, we incorrectly referred to raise $200,000 to endow the prize. Through the generosity to the University of Western of Dr. , a 1974 CalTech PhD in gravitational physics, a Please send your nominations to: American Physical Society; One Physics Ellipse; College Park, MD 20740-3844; Attn: Ken Cole; Michigan. The correct name of challenge gift of up to $100,000 has been promised, to match ev- (301) 209-3288; fax: (301) 209-0865; email: [email protected]. A this institution is Western Michi- ery dollar raised from other sources. nomination form is available at www.aps.org/exec/nomform.html. gan University. APS News The prize was established to recognize outstanding achievements DEADLINE IS JANUARY 31, 2001. regrets the error. in gravitational physics, both theoretical and experimental. The APS is planning to name it the Einstein Prize in Gravitational Physics. Please give generously to support this new APS Prize! APS/AIP 2001-2002 Contributions are tax deductible as a charitable donation, and CONGRESSIONAL SCIENCE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM can be sent to the attention of Darlene Logan, American Physical Society, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844. Checks THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY AND THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS are accepting should be made payable to the American Physical Society. applications for their 2001-2002 Congressional Science Fellowship Programs. Fellows serve one year on the staff of a Member of Congress or congressional committee, learning the legislative process while they lend scientific expertise to public policy issues.

QUALIFICATIONS include a PhD or equivalent research experience in physics or a closely related APS Mass Media Fellowship Program field. Fellows are required to be US citizens and, for the AIP Fellowship, members of 1 or more of the AIP Member Societies. A stipend of up to $49,000 is offered, in addition to allowances Applications are now being accepted for the 2001 summer APS for relocation, in-service travel, and health insurance premiums. Applications should Mass Media Fellowships. In affiliation with the popular AAAS pro- consist of a letter of intent, a 2-page resume, and 3 letters of recommendation. gram, the APS is sponsoring two ten-week fellowships for physics PLEASE SEE students to work full-time over the summer as reporters, research- our websites (http://www.aip.org/pubinfo or http://www.aps.org/ public_affairs/fellow.html) for detailed information on applying. If qualified, ers, and production assistants in mass media organizations applicants will be considered for both programs. All application materials nationwide. Information on application requirements can be found must be postmarked by January 15, 2001, and sent to: APS/AIP at http://www.aps.org/public_affairs/Media.html. Congressional Science Fellowship Programs, c/o Erika Ridgeway/APS DEADLINE: JANUARY 12, 2001 Executive Office One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844.

2000 Year-End Gift Ideas: Help Physics Programs Apker, from page 1 Support science education, bution in conjunction with renew- the full fair market value of the and graduating physics or astronomy major who has performed at the shape national science policy and ing their APS membership each year stock at the time of the gift. The highest level in both course work and research. Krich is currently attend- promote international collabora- and gifts can be designated to spe- gift is fully deductible — up to a ing Oxford University in England as a Rhodes Scholar studying tion by making a contribution to cific program areas, if you so desire. maximum of 30 percent of your mathematics, and plans to pursue graduate study in experimental con- the American Physical Society. If you haven’t yet made a gift this adjusted gross income. Any ex- densed matter physics at Harvard University when he returns to the US. APS membership dues cover year, or if you would like to provide cess can generally be carried Lynch came up with the idea for her award-winning thesis indepen- the cost of member benefits, ser- further support, here are some 2000 forward and deducted over as dently after reading an article in Physical Review Letters on superconducting vices and publications. APS year-end gift ideas: many as five subsequent years. nanoparticles. According to department chair Curtis Callan, she “had an research publications and meetings • Gifts of cash (by check or credit Please call the APS Development overwhelming curiosity” to understand the complex interplay between are budgeted to pay for themselves card). If you itemize, you can lower Office at (301) 209-3224 to ob- spin-polarized tunneling and finite-size effects in a metallic nanoparticle through subscriptions and regis- your 2000 income taxes simply by tain transfer of stock instructions. doped with a magnetic impurity. She learned the required experimental tration fees. However, important writing a check or charging a gift to As you consider your year-end techniques, including nanofabrication and low temperature low noise APS education and outreach pro- your credit card by December 31. tax planning, we hope you will measurements, and did so with minimal supervision. grams rely in part on Please use the response form below consider making good use of the Lynch’s research results gave her the opportunity to present a talk at tax-deductible member contribu- and be sure your envelope is post- income tax charitable deduction. the 2000 APS March Meeting in Minneapolis, and at the meeting of the tions to maintain and broaden marked by December 31 to qualify Your 2000 year-end gift can signifi- Materials Research Society in April in San Francisco. She also received their impact. These vital outreach as a 2000 gift. Some employers will cantly reduce your income taxes, the Undergraduate Materials Research Society Initiative Award for her programs were instituted by the match your charitable gifts. If your while providing meaningful sup- work, as well as Princeton’s “Shenstone” prize honoring the most out- APS Council in direct response to organization has a matching gift pro- port for the APS. standing senior experimental thesis in the Physics Department. Lynch is member requests and committee gram, simply enclose the form along For further information on currently pursuing graduate studies at Harvard University under a fel- recommendations. with your check. these and other ways to give, con- lowship from Lucent Technologies. Additional resources are needed • Gifts of stock. Gifts of appreci- tact Darlene Logan, director of Oliver’s award-winning thesis research on 3D Raman sideband cool- to continue to strengthen our edu- ated stock allow you to avoid development, APS, One Physics ing at high density was one of several laboratory experiments he performed cation, public affairs and paying capital gains tax on the in- Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740- as an undergraduate. He achieved the highest laser-cooled phase space international programs. Many crease in stock value and receive an 3844; (301) 209-3224; fax: (301) density to date, according to his thesis advisor, David Weiss, and his re- members make a voluntary contri- income tax charitable deduction for 209-0867; email: [email protected]. sults should enable a host of future experiments, including quantum entanglement in an optical lattice, and studies of cold gases in reduced dimensions. As one of six team members, Oliver carried out some critical RESPONSE CARD FOR CASH GIFTS (BY CHECK OR CREDIT CARD) calculations that helped the team redesign their technique during the course of the experiment, and also took the lead in implementing several Yes, I would like to lend my support to important modifications to the experiment’s complex beam timing and control. Oliver outreach programs of the American Physical Society. received UCB’s Departmental Citation for his work, the highest honor for an undergraduate, and is pursuing his graduate studies there. ENCLOSED IS A GIFT OF: $______METHOD OF PAYMENT: ___ Personal Check If you want to designate your Or End of an Era, from page 1 contribution, please indicate below: ___ Credit Card administered by the Treasurer’s Office, and Lustig assumed that Education/Outreach $______Visa/Mastercard Public Affairs $______Amex responsibility as part of his APS duties. He continued his association International Affairs $______Discover upon his retirement from the APS at the suggestion of then-APS ___ Diner’s associate executive officer (and former APS News editor) Barrett Ripin. Name: ______Card # ______Lustig admits he will miss the opportunity to read such excellent Address: ______Exp. Date: ______physics research work, and to meet so many brilliant young ______physicists, but says he believes the committee should consist Member # ______Signature: ______primarily of those who are active in physics research. “It’s a wonderful experience and really shows that physics is in good Please return to: Development Department, American Physical Society, hands,” he says of his committee service. As his next projects, he One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844. will be reviewing the 4,500 new physics entries in the latest edition For questions, call Darlene Logan, Director of Development, at (301) 209-3224. of the Oxford English Dictionary, and will be teaching a course on solar energy at the University of New Mexico. 8 December 2000 NEWS THE BACK PAGE Vermeer’s Camera By Philip Steadman For more than a hundred years uses blobs of light-colored pigment it has been suggested that the great to represent these as perfect circles. Dutch master Johannes Vermeer It has been suggested that he is (1632-75) made use of the camera copying here from slightly unfo- obscura as an aid to painting. The cused images, in which small camera obscura (‘dark room’) was bright patches of light are spread the predecessor of the photo- by the lens into ‘discs of confusion’. graphic camera. It is a simple In other places Vermeer renders optical device incorporating a pin- certain details — the skeins of hole or — from the 16th century thread in The Lacemaker, sculp- onwards — a lens, with which an tured brass lions’ heads on the image of a scene can be projected backs of chairs — in a particularly onto a screen. The image can then loose and schematic style, which Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Portrait of Anthony van Leeuwenhoek by be traced and copied. Some early is ‘photographically’ true to tone Johannes Verkolje (1686). camera obscuras took the form of and hue, but nevertheless lacks blacked-out booths, tents or rooms sharpness or precise outline. the design of microscopes. (hence the term) in which the ob- Scholars have discussed who Huygens and Monconys were server was enclosed. Later versions might have been the source of sufficiently prominent in this took the form of small boxes like Vermeer’s knowledge of optics field to be received together at a photographic plate cameras or re- and lenses — although it has to meeting of the Royal Society in flex cameras. Medieval and early be said that there are absolutely London in 1663. Both knew modern astronomers used the no documents to support any of about the camera obscura, in- camera for observing the sun with- these speculations. The names of deed Huygens himself possessed out damaging their eyes. Leonardo the painters Carel Fabritius and a portable instrument that he da Vinci was the first person to Samuel van Hoogstraten have bought in London in the 1620s suggest possible uses in art, and by been mentioned. Both men were and took back to show to his art- the early 17th century the camera fascinated by perspective illusion ist friends in Holland. (Whether Städelsches Kunstinstitut Frankfurt. Reprinted with permission by the owner, was being described in perspective and trompe l’oeil, and van Vermeer was among them we do Johannes Vermeer van Delft’s “The Geographer” manuals intended for architects Hoogstraten wrote of seeing cam- not know.) and painters. eras on several occasions. He had I have approached this old wall behind him, not otherwise that he used mirrors or other It was the American etcher and met with Jesuit scholars and tried subject from a new direction: via visible in any picture. This evi- mechanical aids to painting. lithographer Joseph Pennell, writ- out their optical instruments at the perspective geometry of the dence provides a measurement But it is difficult to see how ing in the Journal of the Camera the Imperial Court in Vienna in pictures. Vermeer produced more for the overall length of the room. these could account for the Club in 1891, who first speculated the 1650s. Vermeer possessed than two dozen paintings of do- The dimension is nicely compat- very curious results shown by that Vermeer might have used canvases by both men, a fact that mestic interiors with one, two or ible with the width in plan of the geometrical analysis, that some optical aid. Since then the suggests he knew them person- three figures. A few of them de- both of the houses in which it is are so readily accounted for by idea has been taken up again and ally. Otherwise the main pict distinctive and unique believed Vermeer may have had the camera hypothesis. again, notably by the painter candidate for the role of spaces. But the majority seem to studios: the inn called Mechelen I have had a one-sixth scale Lawrence Gowing in his beautiful Vermeer’s ‘optical consultant’ is show just a few rooms repeatedly, on the Market Place owned by his physical model made of the monograph Vermeer (1952), and Anthony van Leeuwenhoek, the with sitters and furniture rear- family, and a house nearby owned room, with a photographic plate the art historian Svetlana Alpers in pioneer of microscopy and the ranged. It is possible to draw by his mother-in-law Maria camera in the place of Vermeer’s The Art of Describing (1983), first man ever to observe proto- some tentative conclusions about Thins. It is my belief that the camera obscura. Using this it has among many others. This belief zoa and bacteria. Vermeer and how many rooms might be in- room in the pictures in question been possible to create photo- does not however rest on any Leeuwenhoek were exact con- volved, by making an inventory was in fact in Maria Thins’s graphic simulations of the documentary evidence. Very little temporaries and lived a few of their architectural features: house. paintings, and test phenomena is known about Vermeer’s life other streets apart in Delft, not a big floor surfaces, wooden ceilings, How does all this relate to the such as the patterns of light and than what can be gleaned from of- town. What is more, when some very characteristic decora- camera obscura? The perspective shadow, all of which Vermeer re- ficial records, and we do not know Vermeer died in debt, tive patterns of leading in the reconstructions make it possible produces — in general — with whom he studied under or who his Leeuwenhoek was appointed by window panes. As many as ten to plot the positions in space of great fidelity. Recently a team in pupils were, if indeed he had any. the town’s Aldermen as the cura- pictures appear — with a few the theoretical viewpoints of the California led by Jonathan Erland No drawing by his hand has sur- tor of his estate, a fact that some anomalies — to represent the ten relevant paintings. Every- has been building a 3D computer vived. The belief is based rather on historians have interpreted as very same room. I have tested this thing that can be seen in each model, that should provide a certain properties of the paintings evidence of a friendship. It has possibility more rigorously, by re- picture is contained in a ‘visual more flexible tool for experiment. themselves. even been suggested that constructing the geometry of the pyramid’ (a pyramid on its side), The BBC built a full-size recon- Pennell drew attention to the Leeuwenhoek was the sitter for spaces of the paintings through whose apex is at the viewpoint. struction for a television film, ‘photographic perspective’ of cer- Vermeer’s two ‘scientific’ paint- a process that, in effect, reverses Suppose that the sloping edge- with a booth-type camera incor- tain pictures such as Officer and ings of scholars in their studies, the conventional method for set- lines of this pyramid are porating a simple bi-convex lens Laughing Girl, in which the figure The Astronomer and The Geogra- ting up perspective views. It is extended back, through the of 10 cm diameter. This cast an of the soldier is very close to the pher (see illustration). Both bear possible to do this for paintings, viewpoint, to meet the room’s image of The Music Lesson, at full painting’s viewpoint and appears curious resemblances to known like Vermeer’s, that show rooms back wall. They define a rectangle size, onto a translucent screen, disproportionately large. Other portraits of Leeuwenhoek — al- whose floors are tiled. The actual on that wall. In six out of the ten that was quite bright enough to writers have pointed to the way in though the identification remains dimensions of the spaces, and the cases this rectangle is the exact film. These experiments have which Vermeer seems to reproduce controversial. shapes and sizes of pieces of fur- size of Vermeer’s painting. The served to test the basic geometri- in paint some idiosyncrasies of op- It is worth mentioning a niture, can all be calculated with geometry is that of a booth-type cal findings of the perspective tical images and ‘out-of-focus’ couple of further scraps of bio- some precision. This is because camera, with its lens at the reconstructions, and have shown effects, that would be visible on the graphical information about Vermeer depicts a number of rec- painting’s viewpoint and the the feasibility of casting images camera’s screen but not to the na- Vermeer. He is known to have ognizable objects — chairs, screen on the wall. The image is at the sizes of Vermeer’s canvases ked eye. One example is in his received two distinguished visi- Delftware tiles, musical instru- the same size as Vermeer’s can- using very modest optical tech- treatment of highlights: reflections tors in Delft, who are usually ments, wall-maps and paintings vas because he has traced it. The nology. What has long been of sources of light off shiny surfaces described in the context as con- by other artists — which all sur- image would have been upside suspected — that Vermeer was a such as metal, ceramics or polished noisseurs of painting, but who vive in museums today and down, and might have been re- camera user — is now confirmed. wood. When Vermeer was paint- also had extensive connections in whose sizes are therefore known. versed left-to-right. But there are Philip Steadman is a professor of ing indoors, by north light, the the world of European optical It turns out that the ten paint- several ways — including opti- architecture and town planning at illumination would have come science. One was Constantijn ings do indeed depict a single cal ways — in which Vermeer University College London. His book from the windows, whose reflec- Huygens, secretary to the Prince room whose dimensions are could have reversed the image, all Vermeer’s Camera, the product of tions as highlights would have of Orange and father of the as- broadly consistent throughout. of them reasonably practicable twenty years’ fascination with the been rectangular in shape — per- tronomer Christiaan. The second In one painting, The Music Les- and straightforward. Some painter, will be published by Oxford haps distorted when seen on was the French diplomat son, Vermeer includes a mirror writers have argued that University Press in February 2001. curved surfaces like those of Balthasar de Monconys, who that reflects his own vantage Vermeer constructed his per- More details will be available at glasses or jugs. However Vermeer made significant developments in point and a small part of the back spectives mathematically, or http://www.vermeerscamera.co.uk

APS News welcomes and encourages letters and submissions from its members responding to these and other issues. Responses may be sent to: [email protected].