Spring 2011, Number 1 Department of Physics Newsletter

elcome to the first edition of Oxford Physics creates new solar-cell the Department technology Wof Physics Newsletter. In this takes place to generate free electrons, which edition, we describe some of Henry Snaith contribute to a current in an external circuit. The the wide range of research original dye-sensitised solar cell used a liquid currently being carried out in The ability to cheaply and efficiently harness the power of electrolyte as the “p-type” material. the Oxford Physics Department, the Sun is crucial to trying to slow The work at Oxford has focused on effectively and also describe some of down climate change. Solar cells replacing the liquid electrolyte with p-type the other activities where we aim to produce electricity directly from sunlight, organic semiconductors. This solid-state system seek to engage the public in but are currently too expensive to have significant offers great advantages in ease of processing and impact. A new “spin-out” company, Oxford science and communicate with scalability. Photovoltaics Ltd, has recently been created to potential future physicists. I commercialise solid-state dye-sensitised solar Over the next two to three years, Oxford hope you enjoy reading it. If you cell technology developed at the Clarendon Photovoltaics will scale the technology from laboratory to production line, with the projected have passed through Oxford Laboratory. market being photovoltaic cells integrated into Physics as an undergraduate In conventional photovoltaics, light is absorbed windows and cladding for buildings. or postgraduate student, or in in the bulk of a slab of semiconducting material any other capacity, we would and the photogenerated charge is collected at metallic electrodes. The materials used in the welcome future contributions new dye-sensitised technology do not perform from you. Please contact well as solid films: however, by creating a multi- [email protected] component nanostructured composite, where each component has a specific functionality, very Lance Miller effective solar cells can be created. The basic technology operates by a principle INSIDE THIS EDITION: similar to the initial stages of photosynthesis in plants. Light is absorbed in a dye molecule located 1 Solar-cell technology at the junction between an n-type metal oxide and a p-type organic semiconductor. Following Solar cells created by Oxford Photovoltaics can be ATLAS at CERN light absorption, photoinduced charge transfer printed onto glass or other surfaces 2 First results from Planck

Climate change 3 LHCb at CERN ATLAS closes in on Supersymmetry Industrial news from Atomic heavy partner particles that would be produced & Laser Physics Alan Barr in the proton-proton collisions at the LHC. Such 4 Superconductivity The Large Hadron Collider at CERN particles will rapidly decay, leading to distinctive 5 Biological imaging operated extremely successfully final states involving “missing” momentum – the during 2010. The Oxford group result of unobserved, weakly interacting massive 6 40 Years of Oxford in Space – which has had an impressive particles (WIMPs). Quantum information record during the design, construction and Continued on page 2... technologies in Europe commissioning phases of the ATLAS experiment – is now leading many aspects of the ATLAS physics 7 DNA nanotechnology analysis programme. Our recent results include 8 Citizen science investigations into proton structure, the physics of electroweak bosons and strong interactions, Higgs 10 Outreach and education boson searches, and searches for new “exotic” 11 People at Oxford Physics particles. Some of the most interesting recent results include our first searches for Supersymmetric particles. Supersymmetric theories predict the existence of ATLAS Experiment

www.physics.ox.ac.uk 2011 CERN © SCIENCE NEWS www.physics.ox.ac.uk/research

First results from Planck

Charmaine Armitage-Caplan, are Joanna Dunkley involved in analysis for both of The start of Planck’s scientific instruments. this year saw Planck not only sees the relic the first results signal from the Big Bang in the released from distant background, but also ESA’s Planck satellite. Measuring a wealth of microwave signals tiny fluctuations in the Cosmic from our own Milky Way, and Microwave Background (CMB) from more distant galaxies. These radiation, Planck’s goals include first results focus on this set of investigating the very first “foreground” signals. Billions of moments in the universe, and light years away, Planck has found better understanding the origin a new set of massive clusters of of cosmic structure. Launched galaxies, the largest structures in May 2009 together with the in the universe. They are rare Herschel observatory, Planck and their number is a sensitive Planck has taken a closer look at to several tens of billions times a scans the microwave sky from a probe of the expansion rate of the almost 1000 clumps of the very second by collisions. stable point a million miles from universe, and how much matter it cold dust that represent the first Earth. It is the successor to NASA’s Planck now continues to survey contains. Planck has also seen the stages of star-birth in our own WMAP satellite, observing the the universe, with the next data gas and dust from distant galaxies galaxy. The new data also provides anisotropies in the CMB with release due early 2013, promising in which stars are born, telling us stronger evidence for the origins higher resolution and improved exciting cosmological results. about when and where the first of a diffuse glow in the Milky Way, sensitivity. Researchers at stars formed in the universe. Much coming from dust grains spun up Oxford, Jo Dunkley, Joe Silk and more locally, within the Milky Way,

ATLAS closes in on Climate change and extreme weather probed by Supersymmetry citizen science Continued from page 1... In collaboration with our As was said in the press release, “whether or not a Myles Allen ATLAS colleagues, we flood occurs in any given year is still an ‘Act of God’, have produced the world’s but we are beginning to see how human influence Greenhouse gas emissions due most sensitive searches for on climate may be starting to load God’s dice”. to human activity substantially Supersymmetry. The new increased the odds of damaging Members of the public can still participate in follow- results represent a significant floods occurring in England and up studies looking at other weather events: more squeeze on the allowed model Wales in autumn 2000 according to new research by details are at http://weatherathome.org. A report space – indeed they start to Oxford Physics graduate student Pardeep Pall and of the research, “Anthropogenic greenhouse gas eat away at the region for co-authors. contribution to flood risk in England and Wales in which the Supersymmetric The floods of autumn 2000 damaged nearly 10,000 autumn 2000”, was published in the journal Nature WIMP could explain the properties, with insured losses estimated at £1.3 on 17 February 2011. cosmological dark matter. The theory is still far from billion. Using a detailed computer climate model, the www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2011/110216.html team simulated the weather in autumn 2000, both as excluded, but it is rewarding it was, and as it might have been had there been no to see that even with our first greenhouse gas emissions since the beginning of the data-set, and with (so far) half 20th century. This was then repeated thousands of of the design beam energy, times, using a global volunteer network of personal we can meaningfully constrain computers participating in the climateprediction. the space of interesting net project, to pin down the impact of emissions models. At the time of writing on extreme weather. The team fed the output from we have just started the 2011 these weather simulations into a flood model, and run, during which we expect found that 20th century greenhouse gas emissions to increase the number of roughly doubled the odds of floods occurring in proton-proton collisions by a autumn 2000. factor of about 100. Floods in south Oxford in 2003

2 | Department of Physics Newsletter | Spring 2011 SCIENCE NEWS www.physics.ox.ac.uk/research

Industrial news LHCb comes of age from Atomic &

Every prestigious career starts to K–π+; see figure below. This Laser Physics Malcolm John with a promising debut and LHCb has been measured by two older Paul Ewart Over 18 years has displayed exactly that during experiments running for most the winter conference season. of the last decade. LHCb has has passed since An initiative launched in With the data accumulated achieved this result with just two the concept of a June 2010 to establish closer during just a couple of months months of running! B-meson detector collaboration between Oxford of concentrated running last at the Large Hadron Collider One of the strongest statements University and BP has led to autumn, a slew of results are now (LHC) was first presented at CERN. from B-physics will come from the a contract between BP and available for public digestion. “LHCb”, as it became known, has observed enhancement (or not) researchers in ALP and Oxford grown from hand-drawn sketches The first result was measurements of the rate that B-mesons decay to Engineering Science (Prof to a fully functioning, state-of- of heavy-quark production in just two muons. In the Standard Richard Stone). the-art experiment that is rapidly the new TeV energy regime. The Model this is predicted to occur The project will exploit a demonstrating its scientific merit. b-quark cross section turned three times in a billion, whereas novel method for measuring out similar to prediction but the Supersymmetry might increase In the 7 TeV proton-proton gas temperatures developed corresponding result for charm this by a factor of 10. In 2010, collisions, B-mesons are produced in the Ewart group that uses quarks was surprisingly high. Its LHCb has reached sensitivities at an unprecedented rate. LHCb Laser Induced Gratings. The abundance strongly motivates comparable with the best limits must identify their decay amongst technique works by creating searches for rare charm processes from long-established rivals; up to 300 tracks that emanate a holographic interference in parallel to the B-physics again, with just a few months of from each collision. It had been pattern with a laser pulse programme. data-taking. uncertain if B-physics at a hadron lasting a few nanoseconds. machine was even possible, but An example of LHCb’s ability The LHCb dataset will increase Sound waves generated in this after the first year of running – to examine B mesons comes 30-fold in the next 20 months, brief excitation travel across the when the detector has regularly from their decay to a pair of heralding a new era in heavy- induced grating and modulate operated beyond its design lighter mesons like a kaon/pion quark science. Oxford physicists its reflectivity at a frequency – it is clear that this pioneering pair. This decay exhibits a “CP- are at the forefront of this field that is measured by scattering experiment has a prosperous violation” asymmetry that can and will fully participate in the a second laser off the grating. future. be seen from simply counting exploitation of this blossoming The speed of sound and hence the number of K+π– compared experiment for many years to come. the temperature can then be derived from the measured frequency. The method is an order of magnitude more precise than other remote measuring techniques and has achieved 0.1% precision. The aim of the work is to study small evaporative cooling effects when gasoline is injected into engines that can increase their efficiency leading to lower emissions and reduced impact on climate. The work will assist designers of both future gasoline products containing bio-fuels and the next generation of auto-engines, which will be smaller but will deliver the same power with less fuel.

Above left: Observing CP violation by comparing neutral B-meson decays to K+π– (left) with K–π+ (right). A clear difference in the relative size of the red histograms is a direct manifestation of a Looking through the mouth of the LHCb dipole magnet matter-antimatter asymmetry. © 2011 2011 CERN ©

Department of Physics Newsletter | Spring 2011 | 3 SCIENCE NEWS www.physics.ox.ac.uk/research

Hot plasma for industrial sputter coating, contained Looking for using a Clarendon superconductivity Laboratory HTS magnet, cooled to 20K and in an hour-glass surrounded by the hot plasma about 2cm away. Andrew Boothroyd Sputtering is used to increase the hardness Oxford researchers Peter and lifetime of industrial Babkevich, D Prabhakaran components such as and Andrew Boothroyd have machine tool cutters. uncovered new evidence that dynamic stripe fluctuations play an important role in the copper oxide high temperature superconductors. In work reported in Nature, neutron scattering was used to probe the correlated motions of the atomic magnetic moments in a cobalt oxide compound having a stripe-like magnetic pattern, similar to that found in some copper oxide superconductors. The experiment revealed a magnetic spectrum which has the same appearance – in the shape of an hour-glass – as One hundred years found universally in the copper oxide superconductors. The results suggest that magnetic of superconductivity stripes are a key ingredient in the function of the copper-oxide superconductors. from the Clarendon Laboratory, proposing Harry Jones Below: The momentum-resolved superconducting magnets wound from magnetic excitation spectrum of Superconductivity describes alloys such as PbBi, for fields of 2 tesla or so hole-doped lanthanum cobalt the phenomenon where an for use in adiabatic magnetisation to achieve oxide measured by inelastic electric current is able to travel temperatures as low as 0.1 K. neutron scattering. With increasing through a material without any As ultra-low temperature work grew, ever energy, the four spots of highest resistance – the material is a perfect electrical bigger magnetic fields were needed and the intensity first move together and conductor without any energy loss. The effect legendary ex-Manchester Tramways generator then move apart again, forming the famous hour-glass spectrum. was discovered in April 1911 by H. Kammerlingh was obtained for high power magnets and this Onnes at the University of Leiden. Three years led to much research on the critical parameters earlier, Onnes had managed to liquefy helium, of superconductors, such as critical currents. which enabled him to study the electrical properties of mercury, including the total loss of In order to supplement these fields, resistivity at 4.15 K. superconducting magnets began to be developed, in the Clarendon, by Martin Wood, In 1913, Onnes was given the Nobel Prize for who, in 1959 formed the University’s first spin Physics “for his investigations on the properties out company, Oxford Instruments. In-house of matter at low temperatures which led, magnet development continued and the inter alia, to the production of liquid helium” – Clarendon was the first to break the 15 tesla no specific mention of superconductivity, superconducting barrier and had the first notice. In the subsequent 100 years, the Nobel operating “hybrid” magnet in the world. Prize has gone to superconductivity three After the discovery of High Temperature more times. Superconductors (HTS) in 1986, the Clarendon Oxford has had a strong effort in built the first serious HTS magnets in the UK superconductivity over many years, particularly and, in the centenary year, is poised to build its for application in magnets. As long ago as 1933, first second generation (coated conductor) HTS Mendelssohn was writing to Nature, magnets for applications in surgery.

4 | Department of Physics Newsletter | Spring 2011 SCIENCE NEWS www.physics.ox.ac.uk/research

Light touch makes non- superconductor a superconductor

We have shown that the non- Andrea Cavalleri superconducting and the A non- superconducting states are superconducting not that different in these material has been materials, in that it takes only transformed a millionth of a millionth of a into a superconductor using second to make the electrons light: our team from Oxford, “synch up” and superconduct. Germany and Japan has observed This implies that they were conclusive signatures of essentially already synched in superconductivity after hitting a the non-superconductor, but Biological imaging and astronomy non-superconductor with a strong something was preventing them team up burst of laser light. from sliding around with zero resistance. The precisely-tuned image, a process that takes a The material used is closely Seamus Holden laser light removes the frustration, few minutes. Super-resolution related to high-temperature unlocking the superconductivity. imaging of all but the slowest copper oxide superconductors, Ever since Robert Hooke The advance offers a new way processes in living cells would but the arrangement of electrons discovered the cell some four to probe how superconductivity require much higher time and atoms normally acts to hundred years ago, the light arises in these materials, a puzzle resolution. One step towards frustrate any electronic current. In microscope has been central to ever since high-temperature this goal is to improve the image the journal Science, we describe biological endeavour. However, superconductors were discovered analysis algorithms used to how a strong infrared laser pulse the spatial resolution of in 1986. localise the probes. This would was used to perturb the positions conventional light microscopy is increase the number of probes of some of the atoms. The We are hopeful this could also limited by diffraction to around recorded per frame, reducing the compound, held at a temperature offer a new route to obtaining 200 nanometres. A great deal of total number of frames required just 20 degrees above absolute superconductivity at room interesting biology occurs below per image, and increasing the zero, almost instantaneously temperature. If this could be this scale: for example, individual imaging speed. The challenge became a superconductor for achieved, it would open up many proteins are a few nanometres is to produce an algorithm that a fraction of a second, before more technological applications. in size, and DNA, which contains can analyse “crowded” images relaxing back to its normal state. There is a school of thought that it the cell’s genetic information, is should be possible, but that some an elongated filament only two containing many closely spaced One question now is, can we competing order in the material nanometres thick. bright probes. take a material to a much gets in the way. We should be able We found a solution to this higher temperature and make One solution to the diffraction- to explore this idea and see if we problem from an unlikely source: it a superconductor? High- limit problem, sometimes called can disrupt that competing order. astronomy. It turned out that temperature superconductors pointillism microscopy, is to label It’s certainly worth trying! astronomers had already dealt can be found among a class of a sample with probes which can with an analogous problem materials made up of layers of www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_ be “photoswitched” between to ours, which was to measure copper oxide, and superconduct stories/2011/111401.html a bright and a dark state. By the brightness of individual up to about –170°C. They are switching most of the probes stars in crowded stellar fields. In complex materials where the into the dark state, leaving only recent work (reported in Nature right interplay of the atoms and a few well-separated bright Methods), we adapted “crowded electrons is thought to “line up” probes, the position of individual Below: Light illumination of a field” astronomy algorithms the electrons in a state where they non-superconducting insulating bright probes can be localised for pointillism microscopy, collectively move through the ceramic induces superconductive with a 20 nm precision. By significantly improving the material with no resistance. coupling sequentially imaging different probes in the sample and performance of the technique. combining their positions, a This successful fusion of “super-resolved” image of the astronomy and biology is not sample is obtained. an isolated occurrence; other A major limitation of pointillism astronomy techniques, such microscopy is that it is slow; as adaptive optics and lucky since only a few probes can be imaging, are also finding imaged at a time, an extended application in microscopy, movie containing thousands showing that even between of diffraction-limited frames apparently disparate fields, inter- is required to localise enough disciplinary research can be very probes for one super-resolved fruitful.

Department of Physics Newsletter | Spring 2011 | 5 SCIENCE NEWS www.physics.ox.ac.uk/research

40 Years of Oxford in space

operating at Venus, Mars, Saturn, Fred Taylor and the Moon, with involvements In April 2010, in others flying to intercept past and present a comet in 2014 and on the members of forthcoming European mission to Atmospheric, study Mercury. That makes a full Oceanic and Planetary Physics and house – Oxford experiments at their collaborators gathered in every major body in the classical the Martin Wood lecture theatre Solar System. for a symposium to celebrate the Among other significant 40th anniversary of the launch achievements that were of Nimbus IV, an early American celebrated were the first British weather satellite. On board hardware to go to another planet this was the Selective Chopper (on Pioneer Venus in 1979), and Radiometer, the first of many the first British hardware on Mars space instruments developed at in 1999 (albeit as the result of Oxford. Since 1970, more than a a crash, Mars Climate Orbiter dozen of our instruments have was not supposed to land!). All flown in Earth orbit on a variety of the instruments use infrared A Nimbus spacecraft in orbit (courtesy of NASA). The “sensory ring” of spacecraft, and the techniques radiometry and spectroscopy to carrying the Earth-observing instruments at the base of the structure is spun off to the Meteorological study the temperature structure, 5 feet in diameter. The last Nimbus flew in 1979, and was replaced by a Office and other agencies composition, cloud physics and series of larger and more sophisticated spacecraft. Aura, which is about studying weather and climate. We dynamics of atmospheres for 7 metres long and weighs about 3 tons, is the latest to carry an Oxford- also have experiments currently climate studies. led instrument, the High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder (HIRDLS). Quantum information technologies in Europe a demonstration of six encrypted links at Kamna Quantum memory Siemens in the Netherlands. Pruvost and Oxford is developing a quantum memory Joshua Nunn which can store photons and then release them, a crucial technology for quantum Quantum random number computing with light. Our memory is very generators simple, consisting of a room-temperature These devices exploit the fundamental Oxford leads the European glass cell filled with cesium vapour, and randomness of quantum physics to output Coordination Action QUIE2T, a laser. You’ll be able to see the cell at the random numbers for cryptography, gaming exhibit, and we’ll explain how we stored short and research. A “Quantum Roulette” will allow supporting research into Quantum pulses of light just a fraction of a nanosecond visitors to play to win prizes! Information Foundations and long. Technologies. We’ll be at the fet11 event in Budapest (www.fet11.eu) Diamond qubits showcasing our medium and long- We all know diamond is an amazing material; term research in superfast quantum it’s even perfect for quantum computing! computing and ultra-secure quantum Qubits embedded in diamond are protected communications, including: from noise, allowing operation in ambient conditions. These qubits are also the world’s Ion Trap Quantum Processors smallest magnetic sensors. Along with the University of Stuttgart we will showcase a The traps store individual ionised and laser- millimetre-sized device with millions of these cooled quantum atoms, which are used tiny sensors. as quantum bits. We’ll present three traps developed at Oxford using semiconductor micro-fabrication technology. There will QKD also be a rotating model of a single ion trap We’ll showcase the latest developments in from Ulm University, and people will be able quantum key distribution – which allows to play and experiment with this hands-on guaranteed-secure quantum communication Quantum networks could span the globe device. – from Swiss firm IDQUANTIQ, including providing ultrasecure telecoms

6 | Department of Physics Newsletter | Spring 2011 SCIENCE NEWS www.physics.ox.ac.uk/research

DNA nanotechnology

Andrew Turberfield and Ard Louis

Oxford researchers are harnessing the specific pairing of DNA bases to create dynamic structures at the nanoscale. Short strands of DNA can be bought (online!) and by carefully designing their sequences, coaxed into a wide A schematic of a programmable molecular robot made of DNA variety of well-defined shapes by exploiting the physics of hybridisation. DNA can also act steps. Atomic force microscopy Their goal was to develop a There is now a very active as an addressable glue to join allowed collaborators in Kyoto coarse-grained model that is collaboration between theorists components, it can provide University to make the first simple enough to be tractable, in the Rudolf Peierls Centre, in scaffolding support for other real-time observations of these but complex enough to capture Theoretical Chemistry and the nano-structures and it can even steps. Richard Muscat designed structural, thermodynamic experimental DNA group in the act as fuel for molecular engines. a “programmable molecular and mechanical properties of Clarendon Laboratory. By using Potential applications of this robot” that can carry a molecular DNA that are crucial to DNA computer simulations, many technology include chemical cargo along a pre-programmed nanotechnology. By focusing processes that are inaccessible assembly lines, electronic circuits trajectory through a branching on the basic physics of single to experimental measurement and responsive drug delivery system of tracks. One of the long- strands, double strands, and the can be carefully examined. At the systems. term goals of this work is to create transitions between them, they same time, detailed analysis of the Andrew Turberfield is one of cell-scale modular architectures were able to describe a number experiments helps constrain and the pioneers of this emerging that could be programmed into of the underlying physical improve the theoretical models. field of DNA nanotechnology a molecular assembly line to processes that are exploited when DNA is a wonderful material with and with Jon Bath and students create an autonomous molecular experimentalists make things which to build, and DNA self- in his group in the Clarendon manufacturing system. from DNA. Their first success was assembly is a meeting point for a computer simulation of the soft matter physics, nanometre- Laboratory has recently When Ard Louis joined the Rudolf complete cycle of DNA tweezers, scale engineering published two papers, in Nature Peierls Centre for Theoretical one of the first molecular and molecular Nanotechnology and Nano Letters, Physics in 2006, he began, machines constructed by self- biology. describing DNA-fuelled molecular inspired by work in the Turberfield assembly by Andrew Turberfield motors. Shelley Wickham, who group, a project to model DNA and collaborators. A detailed has just defended her DPhil, nanostructures, with his long- description of the method was reported a DNA walker that can standing collaborator Jonathan A picture of the selected for the cover of the walk autonomously along a 100 Doye from Physical Chemistry and DNA model Journal of Chemical Physics. nm long prefabricated track in 16 DPhil student Tom Ouldridge. created by Tom consecutive, precisely controlled Ouldridge et al.

Self-assembly of DNA tetrahedra

Department of Physics Newsletter | Spring 2011 | 7 CITIZEN SCIENCE

Welcome to the Zooniverse! Large surveys of the sky have transformed the way that astronomers work. Whereas in the past you’d be lucky to get enough telescope time to study a handful of galaxies, everyone now has access to hundreds of thousands of systems. With the next generation of instruments likely to generate terabytes of data each and every night, we’re at risk of drowning under a flood of data.

Chris Lintott “Hanny’s Voorwerp”: a cloud of green-glowing oxygen atoms on a vast galactic scale, possibly Part of the solution lies in more efficient, cleverer excited by radiation from a now-dead quasar computer packages, but sometimes there’s no in the nearby galaxy, discovered by Hanny van substitute for the human brain. Oxford has led the Arkel in Galaxy Zoo in 2007. development of online “citizen science” programmes, which use the web to recruit hundreds of thousands of volunteers to assist researchers in sorting through their images. The first project, Galaxy Zoo www.galaxyzoo.org( ), launched in 2007 and has proved wildly successful, producing more than 20 papers and generating follow-up efforts with major facilities including the Hubble Space Telescope. Galaxy Zoo is now only one of eight projects which make up the “Zooniverse”, sending volunteers to explore the Moon, search for solar storms and even hunt for planets. This last project, which uses data from the 100,000 stars monitored by NASA’s Kepler space telescope, has successfully unearthed 47 new planet candidates missed by the machines. The future, though, is in humans and machines working together, as with our supernova project. Data from the Palomar Transient Factory telescope in California is sorted by computer, and likely supernovae automatically uploaded to the website. By sorting through the candidates by eye, astronomers following up with larger telescopes can make the most of their time. This kind of live intervention in the process of observing will only become more necessary with time, and the success of these pioneering projects might be the sign of things to come. www.zooniverse.org

Oxford has led the development of online “citizen science” programmes, which use the web to recruit hundreds of thousands of volunteers to assist researchers in sorting through their images.

8 | Department of Physics Newsletter | Spring 2011 CITIZEN SCIENCE Bubbles in the Milky Way Rob Simpson IMAGE © NASA/JPL-CALTECH/M. POVICH

The Milky Way Project is an online citizen were made famous by Hubble, and are In 2006, four researchers, using GLIMPSE data, science project from the Zooniverse (the stunning when viewed in the infrared. found 600 bubbles by eye. The Milky Way creators of Galaxy Zoo). Using data from the Project has already had 18,000 people take There are some amazing astronomical Spitzer Space Telescope, the project asks part, drawing almost a million objects onto gems hidden throughout these images, volunteers to locate beautiful bubbles, and the infrared images of our galaxy. You can see waiting to be found – indeed our volunteers a variety of other interesting phenomena, in a running count of these drawings on the site’s have started to highlight them on our the dust and gas that lies between stars (the homepage. community discussion site Milky Way Talk interstellar medium). The Milky Way Project is (http://talk.milkywayproject.org). These With this greater data set, and the combined asking the public to help map star formation include never-before-seen galaxies, star effort of the Zooniverse community, we hope in our galaxy, as many of these objects have clusters, supernova remnants and planetary to discover and learn more about the origin not been catalogued before. nebulae. The project aims to map out such and life of stars. The images from Spitzer literally shed a finds and use the public’s discoveries to make www.milkywayproject.org new light on some well-known regions of follow-up observations. The site might even the galaxy, such as the Eagle Nebula (M16), discover something totally unexpected. pictured here. These iconic “pillars of creation”

Climateprediction.net launches the weatherathome project

support from Microsoft Research The challenge is working weatherathome design, reported Myles Allen and the launch was supported out which is which, so that under “Science News”. by the Guardian newspaper people can work out what http://climateprediction.net and website. It is a collaboration they should expect more of in between the Department of the future versus those events Physics, the School of Geography that are just plain bad luck. Climateprediction.net is a and the Environment, the The climateprediction.net long-standing citizen science Oxford e-Research Centre, the team published the first results Below: A screenshot from the project launched in 2003 using Met Office, the University of from a pilot study testing the climateprediction.net web site. public volunteered computing Cape Town and Oregon State to perform Monte Carlo climate University, and is initially focusing model simulations. on three regions of the globe: Europe, Western US and Southern In November 2010, the Africa. project launched its latest series of experiments, called There is a tendency in the weatherathome, in which popular press to blame any members of the public run instance of extreme weather a regional climate model on climate change, whereas developed at the UK Met Office the reality is of course more on their home PCs to simulate complicated: climate change will the impact, if any, of climate increase the risk of some weather change on the risk of extreme events, reduce the risk of others, weather. The weatherathome and have no discernible impact experiment was developed with at all on many.

Department of Physics Newsletter | Spring 2011 | 9 OUTREACH AND EDUCATION

Telescope evenings game based on the popular 10 and 11 students. The show was Public lecture series “Top Trumps”. School students originally developed with a grant also helped with Departmental from the Science and Technology A monthly public lecture series research by identifying galaxies in Facilities Council. The show has has been set up following the Galaxy Zoo workshops. also been delivered as part of success of four lectures that took the ever-popular Particle Physics place during the Oxfordshire Master Classes during March and Science Festival. Each event Oxfordshire Science on Saturday 30 April 2011 for attracted around 60 visitors and Festival Oxford May Music. we now have a mailing list of more than 150 people who want Thank you to all who were to be kept informed about future involved in the Oxfordshire The British Physics events at the Department. Dr Neil Science Festival. The Department Olympiad Bowles will begin the series with was represented at local schools, his talk “Oxford Physics – Exploring the “Wow How” science fair and The British Physics Olympiad is the Moon” on Monday 4 April, “We had the most amazing time”, in a series of public lectures. At in its third year at Oxford and is followed by Dr Mason Alexander “The talk was excellent” and the launch event in Bonn Square continuing to see an increase in Porter’s talk on “The Physics of “Awesome” were just some of the it is estimated that more than participants, particularly from Social Networks” on Monday 9 comments about a recent public 250 people came to the Physics state schools. The competitions May 2011. Future lectures will be telescope evening. The event at Oxford stall to explore the involve students competing in presented on the first Monday of included a visit to the observatory, standard model through “particle challenging physics papers to the month at 6pm in the Martin where the Moon and Jupiter were zoo” toys and the scale of the test their problem solving skills. Wood Lecture Theatre. visible through the Philip Wetton universe on a floor display across Teachers feel that the papers www.physics.ox.ac.uk/about-us/ Telescope, a presentation about the length of the square. help to “stretch and challenge” their students, who could win outreach supernovae and an opportunity A new team also presented the certificates and book prizes to discuss astronomy and Accelerate! show about particle and a chance to compete in the Siân Owen astrophysics with members of the physics and accelerator science International Physics Olympiad Department. at Fitzharry’s School in Abingdon Competition with participants to enthusiastic audiences of Year There were a total of 14 school from 82 other countries. This year nights for 310 young people over 7000 students took part in and eight public nights with the GCSE, AS, A2 and experimental more than 300 visitors between papers. Fifteen of the top students November and April. from the A2 paper will also A number of new activities were participate in a Physics Training designed to encourage discussion Camp, which is being held at the including a “Scale of the Universe” Department for the first time this display and an astrophysics card year.

The UNIQ/Sutton Trust summer school

Since 2010 the course has been investigations and visits to will encourage potential students Wade Allison and Carrie Leonard- rebranded UNIQ, a University of research laboratories. to realise that Physics could be McIntyre Oxford programme, although accessible and interesting for them. Wade Allison has now handed the content remains the same: a For the past 10 years, the over coordination to Steve Biller free course with accommodation www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/ Department of Physics has and Alexander Schekochihin, to in Colleges in July for 36 Year 12 undergraduate_courses organised a residential week-long organise future programmes that summer school, financed by the students currently studying at UK Sutton Trust, aimed at improving state schools. access to physics undergraduate The course is designed and courses. delivered by lecturers and Selection of students was based post-doctoral researchers, on the Trust’s criteria: parents with the help of current without higher education; students who act as mentors. parents in non-professional The theme is encouragement occupations; school in the lowest through personal contact, 40% acorn addresses; and school with a full range of academic in the lowest 40% progression to and social activities, including higher education; as well as an lectures, laboratory studies, agreed minimum GCSE record. tutorial discussions, internet

10 | Department of Physics Newsletter | Spring 2011 PEOPLE

Energy Science and Climate Comings... Change competition PROF RAMIN DR THORSTEN Nick Jelley GOLESTANIAN is HESJEDAL a theoretical started in For the last few years a series condensed October 2010, of lectures on Energy Science matter physicist, working on and Climate Change have and has research Molecular Beam been organised by the Physics interests ranging from Epitaxy growth of novel systems. Department. These have been macroscopic manifestations of aimed at raising awareness among the quantum fluctuations of PROF MINARU undergraduates of all disciplines vacuum (the so-called Casimir KAWAMURA is of the challenges accompanying Effect) to collective properties Professor of Gabriel on location in Brazil global warming and the need and phase behaviour of soft and Electrical and for low carbon sources of energy. The energy company npower has biological matter. Electronic sponsored an essay competition associated with this series of lectures Engineering at for the last couple of years. PROF LESLEY Okayama University of Science, GRAY joined the Japan, where he studies NMR The winner of the Energy Science and Climate Change essay Atmospheric, quantum computing, and is competition last year, Gabriel Davies (Balliol), spent nine weeks last Oceanic and visiting Atomic and Laser Physics summer researching alternative energy sources in South America. He Planetary Physics for six months. looked into the feasibility of growing elephant grass on the plateaus sub-department in the northeast of Brazil as a feedstock for lignocellulosic production. as Professor of Climate Physics in Funding for this project came from his essay prize and also from Balliol PROF PARTHA MAJUMDAR October 2010. She was and BP Biofuels. will be a Senior Visiting Fellow at previously at the Reading Jesus College in 2011. Gabriel concluded that the climate, topography and soil of the area University Meteorology are ideally suited for the growing of elephant grass and that this crop Department and the Rutherford PROF TIM has the potential to be commercially very competitive with existing Appleton Laboratory. Lesley is PALMER joined fuels. Such a crop would also have the advantage of not being in part of the National Centre for the Department competition with food production, which is proving the bane of Atmospheric Sciences (NCAS), as Royal Society biofuels based on grain and palm oil. Research in this area is clearly funded by the Natural 2010 Anniversary going to be of growing importance. Environment Research Council Research (NERC). Her research expertise is Professor working on climate in the climate and variability of physics. Until 2012 he will be the ozone layer, ~10-50 km working jointly at the European above the Earth’s surface, and Public Lectures in 2010‐2012 Centre for Medium Range impacts on present and future Weather Forecasts in Reading. 28 May 2010: The Cherwell‐ 20 May 2011: The Cherwell‐ surface weather and climate. Simon Lecture, Prof Sir Michael Simon Lecture, Prof David Gross: Pepper: “Semiconductor “The frontiers of fundamental PROF ANDREI DR LUCA GUIDONI, a CNRS nanophysics – the engineering physics”. SERYI took over researcher from the University of physics”. the Directorship 27 May 2011: The Sciama of Paris-Diderot, is visiting the of the John 19 November 2010: The Lecture, Prof Kip S Thorne: Clarendon for a year, working Adams Institute Sciama Lecture, Prof Marek “Black-hole research: a new with the Ion Trap Quantum for Accelerator Abramowicz: “Astrophysical golden age”. Computing group. His visit is Science (JAI) in August 2010, black holes and E=mc2”. funded by an EPSRC Visiting 21 June 2011: The Hintze Lecture succeeding Professor Ken Peach. Researcher Grant and he will be a 22 November 2010: The Series, Prof Michael Green: The JAI is jointly hosted by the Visiting Fellow at Balliol College. Hintze Lecture, Prof Marek “String Theory – a unifying Departments of Physics in the Abramowicz: “Spinning up the principle in theoretical physics”. University of Oxford and Royal black hole”. DR ULRICH Holloway, University of London. 11 November 2011: The Sciama HAISCH joined The institute is a Centre of 21 January 2011: The Hintze Lecture, Prof Martin Rees. the Particle Excellence in the UK for Lecture, Prof Alex Szalay: 6 June 2012: The 1st Philip Theory group in advanced and novel accelerator “Extreme dataintensive Wetton Lecture, Prof Roger 2011. technology. It provides expertise, computing in astrophysics”. Davies: “Telescopes of the research, development and 1 March 2011: The Halley future”. training in accelerator Lecture, Prof Michel Mayor: techniques, promotes advanced www.physics.ox.ac.uk/events “Other worlds in the universe? accelerator applications in The quest for Earth twins”. science and society, including a linear electron-positron collider,

Department of Physics Newsletter | Spring 2011 | 11 PEOPLE

a neutrino factory and upgrades PROF MYLES PROF BRIAN DR JÖRN DUNKEL was awarded to the LHC, novel light sources ALLEN took up a FOSTER is taking the Gustav Hertz Award of the and medical applications, and has Statutory up an 80% German Physical Society (DPG) for a strong education and training Professorship in appointment as 2011. programme. The JAI has more Geosystem Alexander von than 30 academic, research and Science in the Humboldt technical members and about 20 PROF SIMON HOOKER was School of Geography and the Professor at the University of research students. awarded the 2010 John Dawson Environment, aiming to develop Hamburg and Deutsches Award for Excellence in Plasma the University’s already strong Elektronen-Synchrotron, retaining Physics Research by the American DR BRIAN J range of activity on the impacts of his chair in Oxford as a 20% Physical Society. SMITH joined anthropogenic and natural appointment. Atomic & Laser climate change. For the first five DR LEIGH FLETCHER and Physics in April years he will continue to work PROF MIKE DR SUGATA KAVIRAJ were 2010 as part of a 35% in Atmospheric, Oceanic and GLAZER retired in awarded Royal Astronomical major strategic Planetary Physics. 2010. Society Winton Capital Awards, investment by the Department in Quantum Information Science, as for their work in planetary physics . PROF DONALD part of the EPSRC science and and astrophysics respectively. BLACKWELL, innovation programme. The Savilian Professor Oxford Centre focuses on PROF PETER DR ACHILLEFS KAPANIDIS, of Astronomy Quantum Coherence and is the RENTON retired in DR JOANNA DUNKLEY and 1960-1988, passed hub of a three-centre consortium 2010. DR GIANLUCA GREGORI were away in December involving Cambridge and Imperial awarded European Research 2010, aged 89. In his early career, College. Brian’s work in Council Starting Independent Prof Blackwell studied the Sun, experimental, optical and Researcher Grants. using aircraft, balloon and quantum physics aims to harness mountain-top observations. This the peculiar quantum nature of led to the development of a PROF DAVID MARSHALL has photon interactions for and awards... substantial programme in been invited to deliver the Victor information processing and “laboratory astrophysics”, Starr Lecture at MIT. metrology. PROF MYLES ALLEN was accurately measuring atomic awarded the Appleton Medal and transitions needed for under- Prize of the Institute of Physics. PROF TIM PALMER has DR LAURE standing the astrophysics of the become President of the Royal ZANNA is a new Meteorological Society and was Sun and other stars. Prof Blackwell PROF KATHERINE BLUNDELL University Lecturer awarded the Carl-Gustav Rossby was president of the Royal was awarded the Royal Society in climate physics, Research Medal of the American Astronomical Society, 1973-1975. Rosalind Franklin Award in 2010. interested in Meteorological Society for 2010. understanding the PROF FRANK dynamics of climate change using PROF JOCELYN BELL BURNELL CLOSE retired in DR MIHA RAVNIK was awarded a combination of theory, a was awarded the 2011 Grote 2010 but remains the 2010 Glenn H. Brown Prize by hierarchy of models, and Reber Gold Medal. an emeritus the International Liquid Crystal observational analysis. Society. member of the PROF TONY BELL was awarded an Department. Advanced Investigator European Research Council Grant. PROF DAVID SHERRINGTON and goings... PROF ROBIN was awarded the Blaise Pascal DEVENISH retired PROF JAMES BINNEY was Medal in Physics by the European Academy of Physics. PROF DOUGLAS in 2010. awarded the Dirac Medal of the ABRAHAM retired Institute of Physics. in 2010, but PROF IAN WALMSLEY was remains an PROF JOHN CARDY was awarded awarded the 2011 Joseph F. emeritus member the Boltzmann Medal by the Keithley Award for Advances in of the Department. International Union for Pure and Measurement Science by the Applied Physics. American Physical Society.

For the latest news on development of the Oxford Physics Department, see www.physics.ox.ac.uk/about-us

PRINTED BY PARK LANE PRESS ON FSC CERTIFIED & 100% RECYCLED East side West side PAPER, USING FULLY SUSTAINABLE, VEGETABLE OIL-BASED INKS, Department of Physics Department of Physics POWER FROM 100% RENEWABLE RESOURCES AND WATERLESS PRINTING TECHNOLOGY. PRINT PRODUCTION SYSTEMS REGISTERED Clarendon Laboratory Denys Wilkinson Building TO ISO 14001: 2004, ISO 9001: 2008 AND EMAS STANDARDS AND Parks Road Keble Road A CARBON FREE STATUS BY OFFSETTING ALL SITE EMISSIONS Oxford OX1 3PU Oxford OX1 3RH THROUGH THE DEFRA AND DECC RECOGNISED CHARITY PURE. DESIGN: WWW.CATHERINECHARNOCK.CO.UK Tel: +44 (0)1865 272200 www.physics.ox.ac.uk

12 | Department of Physics Newsletter | Spring 2011