Volume XV College of Arts & Sciences Alumni Association Fall 2003 Letter from the chair Department proud of recent research, new faculty hanks for taking the time to learn James Glazier, a senior biophysicist who Institute of Health; and Robert de Ruyter more about some of the exciting joins us from Notre Dame; Mark Messier, van Steven, who joins us from Princeton. Tevents that have taken place in the an experimental high energy physicist from We will be highlighting the research IU Department of Physics over the last Harvard; and Rex Tayloe, who joined our activities of these four most recent additions year. What a fantastic time to be chair of nuclear group two years ago from Los to the faculty in our next newsletter. the IU physics department! I am blessed Alamos National Laboratory. We will also It is a privilege and honor to serve the IU with an energetic, enthusiastic faculty that be joined this fall by Sima Setayeshgar, a Department of Physics, and I am grateful is constantly developing new ways of biophysicist from Princeton; Jon Urheim, for your support. I look forward to the improving the learning environment for our an experimental high-energy physicist from opportunities ahead and wish each of you students and providing the thriving research the University of Minnesota; John Beggs, a every success in the year ahead. environment that is at the heart of our biophysicist joining us from the National — James Musser academic program. In this newsletter you’ll find articles about a number of important new elements of our research program, such Biocomplexity research experiences growth as our new low energy neutron scattering facility (LENS), which was approved for Since the beginning of a nascient variety of spatial and temporal struc- construction by the NSF this summer. We biophysics program at Indiana Univer- tures, the complexity of even the expect this $10 million facility to be a sity Bloomington when Jay Tang joined simplest biological phenomena is center for interdisciplinary research on the the physics department in 1999, there infinitely richer. Until recently, scientific IUB campus, drawing users from biology have been plans to increase research and approaches to biological organisms have and chemistry as well as physics. A second add additional faculty in this field. A centered on genes, their protein center for interdisciplinary research activity step in this direction was taken in the products, discrete signaling pathways, is provided by a major new program in fall of 2002 with James Glazier moving and gene regulatory circuits. The biocomplexity, directed by new faculty to Bloomington from Notre Dame to success of these endeavours has brought member James Glazier. become the first four-year director of a new era in biological research that is One of our traditional areas of strength is the newly formed Institute for poised to take advantage of recent our nationally ranked nuclear physics Biocomplexity in the Department of advances in molecular and computer- program. This group continues to do great Physics and the director of the Indiana science-based technologies. Experimen- work, as you’ll see in articles describing an Biocomplexity Consortium, which, in tal and theoretical work in condensed- exciting new result on charge symmetry addition to the institute, will link matter physics, mathematical, and breaking and on progress in the construc- together the Indiana University Medical computational approaches to the tion of the STAR endcap calorimeter, which School, departments of science at analysis and modeling of abstract promises to provide groundbreaking Indiana University–Purdue University networks representing metabolic and measurements of a fundamental nature for Indianapolis and the Interdisciplinary gene regulatory networks permit a the proton spin. The work of our theorists Center for the Study of Biocomplexity reframing of problems in sub-cellular, is also attracting national attention, as you’ll at the University of Notre Dame. The cellular and developmental biology, e.g. learn in the article describing Alan physics department is considering structural networks, applied to the Kostelecky’s work on CPT and Lorentz several further new hires in biophysics. cytoskeleton, which determines cell violation. Biocomplexity is the study of the shape and functional capacity, attempt The heart of any physics department is unique complex structures and behavior to model the thousands of cytoskeletal the faculty, and we are most fortunate to that arise from interactions between fibers in any cell that simultaneously have added a number of young, energetic, biological entities such as molecules, assemble and disassemble and interact and talented new faculty to the department cells, or organisms. While physical and with other proteins to generate forces over the last year. In this newsletter you will chemical processes produce a great (continued on page 3) learn a little about the research activities of 1 $10 million research facility in developmental stages everal researchers at IU are in the United States. Major obstacles in expanding moderators, neutron optical devices, and process of developing a pulsed cold the neutron community are the current neutron detector technology. Almost all of S (low energy) neutron facility at the unfamiliarity of U.S. researchers with the required instrumentation and expertise Indiana University Cyclotron Facility. neutron scattering techniques, a diminish- to efficiently launch this first serious Those involved include David Baxter, John ing number of facilities where novice users attempt to develop an intense pulsed cold Cameron, Herman Nann, and Mike Snow can be introduced to techniques, and a lack neutron source at a research university of the physics department; Vladimir of flexible facilities for the pursual of new currently exists at IUCF. We intend to Derenchuk, Dennis Friesel, Mark Leuscher, ideas. exploit this resource to take a significant and Thomas Rinckel of IUCF; and Josef The facility at IU of a Low Energy role in the future development of neutron Zwanziger of the chemistry department. Neutron Source will help provide solutions science in this country. IU researchers The project has received a $6.4 million to such problems. A combination of propose to design, construct, and operate award from the National Science Founda- developments in proton accelerator this source and an associated SANS tion, with the first phase of building technology, neutron optics, cold neutron spectrometer as a regional user facility for expected to be completed late next year and moderators, computer technology, and research and training of faculty and the second in 2006. small-angle neutron scattering instrumenta- students. The facility will also be used to Neutrons are a unique probe of the tion have made it possible and cost-effective develop new neutron instrumentation for structure and dynamics for a great variety of to construct a pulsed cold neutron source both scattering and radiography, and to systems studied today in many scientific suitable for use in a university setting. develop new neutron moderators and disciplines, including physics, chemistry, LENS will be the first attempt to demon- detectors. This source is intended as a biology, and engineering. Although the strate this. In addition to the source itself, model to be duplicated at other research technique was initially developed in North the facility will have a number of instru- universities and used to develop a network America (1994 Nobel Prize in Physics), the ments designed for the study of of local pulsed cold neutron sources across premier facilities have resided in Europe nanostructures in the fields of materials the United States at reasonable cost. Such a during the last two decades. This is science, polymers, micro emulsions, and network would provide invaluable support expected to change in four years with the biology. The source will use (p,n) reactions to major national facilities (such as the completion of the Spallation Neutron in light nuclei induced by a pulsed proton SNS) in much the same way a network of Source at the Oak Ridge National Labora- beam of roughly 10MeV in energy. This small reactors supports the community of tory, which will be the world’s most intense primary source will be tightly coupled to a users for Europe’s major sources. pulsed neutron source. However, the cold neutron moderator. This configuration existence of the SNS may not, in itself, be will be ideal for the study of a number of sufficient to ensure the expansion of technical issues that are essential for the neutron use into new areas of science nor to development of neutron science, such as Forum establish a large community of users in the cold and perhaps ultracold neutron This newsletter is published by the Indiana University Alumni Association, in coopera- tion with the Department of Physics and Rare symmetry violating reaction seen at IU the College of Arts and Sciences Alumni IU physicists have detected a rare reaction that demonstrates subtle differences Association, to encourage alumni interest between subatomic particles called quarks. In the IU cooler storage ring accelerator, in and support for Indiana University. For an intense beam of heavy hydrogen collided with a heavy hydrogen target, occasion- activities and membership information, call (800) 824-3044 or send e-mail to ally producing pi zero meson particles. The symmetry of these different kinds of [email protected]. particles shows small differences between up- and down-type quarks. Neutrons and protons, the building blocks of atomic nuclei, are made of quarks, Department of Physics with a neutron having an extra down quark and a proton having an extra up quark. Chair ............................... James Musser The neutron is just 0.1 percent heavier than the proton. This tiny difference was Editor .............................. Jordan Tillett enormously significant for reactions just after the Big Bang that determined the composition of the universe. The IU experiment may indicate how much of this College of Arts & Sciences crucial difference comes from mass differences between up and down quarks, and Dean .............