June 2003 NEWS Volume 12, No.6 A Publication of The American Physical Society http://www.aps.org/apsnews

Nobel Laureates, Industry Leaders Petition April Meeting Prizes & Awards President to Boost Science and Technology Prizes and Awards were presented to seven- Sixteen Nobel Laureates in that “unless remedied, will affect call for “a Presidential initiative for teen recipients at the Physics and sixteen industry lead- our scientific and technological FY 2005, following on from your April meeting in Philadel- ers have written to President leadership, thereby affecting our budget of FY 2004, and focusing phia. George W. Bush to urge increas- economy and national security.” on the long-term research portfo- After the ceremony, ing funding for physical sciences, The letter, which is dated April lios of DOE, NASA, and the recipients and their environmental sciences, math- 14th, also indicates that “the Department of Commerce, in ad- guests gathered at the ematics, computer science and growth in expert personnel dition to NSF and NIH,” that, Franklin Institute for a engineering. abroad, combined with the di- “would turn around a decade-long special reception. The letter, reinforcing a recent minishing numbers of Americans decline that endangers the future Photo Credit: Stacy Edmonds of Edmonds Photography Council of Advisors on Science and entering the physical sciences, of our nation.” The top photo shows four of the five women recipients in front of a space-suit Technology report, highlights se- mathematics and engineering— The lead signers of the letter exhibit. They are (l to r): Geralyn “Sam” Zeller (Tanaka Award); Chung-Pei rious funding problems in the an unhealthy trend—is leading were Burton Richter, director Michele Ma (Maria-Goeppert Mayer Award); Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat physical sciences and related fields corporations to locate more of emeritus of SLAC, and Craig (Heineman Prize); and Helen Edwards (Wilson Prize). The fifth woman, Melba their R&D activities outside the Barett, CEO of Intel Corporation. Phillips (Burton Award), was unable to be present. United States.” Co-signatories to the letter Nuclear Testing Not In the bottom photo, Dudley Necessary, Says New Noting that NSF funding is coordinated their statement Herschbach (left) converses with Council Statement only a small fraction of support through the APS and the National Ernest Bergmann and John for these fields, the co-signatories Association of Manufacturers. Archibald Wheeler. Herschbach In a strongly worded state- gave a public lecture on “Ben ment passed at its April meeting, Franklin’s Scientific Amuse- the APS Council reaffirmed its Consortia Provide Alternatives To ments” immediately following position that nuclear testing is the reception. Wheeler (right) not necessary to maintain the Standard Journal Subscriptions shared the Einstein Prize, given reliability of the American By Pamela Zerbinos for the first time this year, with nuclear stockpile, and cited pos- the late Peter G. Bergmann, fa- Photo Credit: Stacy Edmonds of Edmonds Photography sible negative international There is a saying in the world of den. Several trends are responsible ther of Ernest Bergmann. consesquences if nuclear test- scientific journals that is something for this phenomenon, including the ing were resumed. of a cliché: “The subscription model elimination of page charges Council also called on the is broken”. (traditionally paid by research in- Multimedia Plenary Lectures Administration to provide What broke it is rather up in the stitutions) brought about by the sufficient advance notice of air. The rise of the Information Age direct competition of commercial Posted on APS Site plans to resume testing, in and the accompanying public per- physics journals; and the cancella- With technical assistance from web lecture capture that will au- order “to allow adequate time ception that information should be tions of multiple subscriptions at the University of Michigan, the tomate the process still further and for informed and thorough readily—and cheaply—available large institutions due to the elec- APS has posted eight of the nine will allow even lectures with trans- analysis and public discussion”. may have had something to do with tronic availability of the APS plenary lectures from the April parencies to be automatically In passing the statement, it. The print journals keep getting journals. meeting on the web. They can be synchronized. Council referred to a 2002 larger and more numerous and The APS has taken several steps accessed at http://www.aps.org/ Chodos also noted that captur- study by a committee of the libraries are simply running out of in an effort to achieve a fair distri- meet/archives/multimedia.html. ing lectures at an APS meeting National Academy of Sciences, space in which to keep them. Mean- bution of costs between major The audio from each lecture is presents some special challenges. which concluded that “the while, publishing costs have been research-active subscribers, small synchronized with the slides that “We are working at a remote loca- United States has the technical rising and numbers of subscrip- undergraduate institutions, and the speaker used. A video image tion,” he said, “so it’s not possible capabilities to maintain confi- tions have been dropping. those in between, including multi- of the speaker completes the to set up much before the lectures dence in the safety and Subscriptions to the APS’s jour- tier pricing and the consortium presentation. begin. We can’t fine-tune the elec- reliability of its existing nuclear- nals have been declining at a steady model of journal subscriptions. “This is the current state of the tronics and the lighting ahead of weapon stockpile” without rate of 3.5% per year for about 30 The consortium model has been art in web lecture capture,” said time.” nuclear testing, “provided that years. The APS, which publishes growing quickly. It was pioneered Alan Chodos, APS associate execu- At the April meeting, a team of adequate resources are made eight journals, has been forced to by commercial publishers such as tive officer. three people, two from APS and available to the Department of raise subscription prices year after Academic Press and Elsevier, and He noted that the audio and one from Michigan, was on hand Energy’s nuclear-weapon com- year, and although there has been now offered by many of the major slides for most of the talks were to capture the lectures. The new plex and are properly focused an effort made to keep the academic publishers. APS along with captured automatically using soft- techniques that are currently on this task.” increases in the single digits, it the American Institute of Physics ware developed at the University being developed should help to The full text of the Council hasn’t always happened that way. have been making consortium of Michigan. Only when the reduce this number. statement follows: For 2004, subscriptions prices will arrangements with government, speaker used transparencies in- With the 2003 April meeting, The American Physical Society be up an average of 8.7%. corporate, and academic institu- stead of Powerpoint did the APS is ending its experimental reaffirms its April 1997 statement Physics journals are not the only tions, both domestically and synchronization have to be done phase of web lecture capture, that “fully informed technical stud- ones experiencing this phenom- internationally, for the past couple by hand. which began with a special session ies have concluded continued testing enon. A recent study by the of years. Plans are underway to develop See Multimedia on page 7 is not required to retain confidence University of Maryland Health and “The consortium model is really more sophisticated techniques for in the safety and reliability of the Human Services Library found that See CONSORTIA on page 6 remaining nuclear weapons in the the average price of biology, chem- United States’ stockpile.” istry, psychology, anthropology and Results from LIGO’S First Run HHighlights Resumption of nuclear testing other journals has increased nearly may have serious negative interna- threefold since 1992. A recent Reported at APS April Meeting tional consequences, particularly on Harper’s Index (March 2003) claims the nonproliferation regime. that the average price for a US sci- Radio, optical, x-ray, infrared and At the APS April meeting in 8 In addition the Society strongly entific, medical or technical journal gamma-ray telescopes look at the Philadelphia, PA, scientists from urges the Congress and the Adminis- has increased 250% since 1988. universe via electromagnetic waves. the collaboration reported on the tration to provide sufficient notification As prices have climbed, the For viewing the universe via gravity first official results from LIGO’s and justification for any proposed burden for paying the publishing waves, the most sensitive telescope initial science run, conducted over nuclear test to allow adequate time costs has shifted away from large to date is the Laser Interferometer 17 days in September 2002. The Back Page for informed and thorough analysis research institutions to smaller Gravitational-Wave Observatory Gravitational waves are intrigu- Roger Highfield explains The Science of Harry Potter and public discussion. schools, less able to carry that bur- (LIGO). See LIGO on page 7 2 June 2003 NEWS

This Month in Physics History June 1931: Lawrence and the First Cyclotron “Higher bat speed generally means ‘‘I did not like blood and gore.’’ the ball comes off the bat faster.” —Vina A. Punjabi, Norfolk State —Alan M. Nathan, University of University, on why she chose physics The 1920s marked the tran- impractical for light atomic par- The 27-inch accelerating cham- Illinois, on why baseballs travel over biology, The Virginian-Pilot, April sition of the U.S. to a modern ticles, since it would require a ber of the Rad Lab’s first cyclotron farther when hit with aluminum bats, 6, 2003 technology-based society, and vacuum tube several meters long. was soon replaced with a 37-inch Baltimore Sun, April 21, 2003 ✶✶✶ was also a period of momentous But it inspired him to think about chamber with an acceleration ✶✶✶ “It turns out the effect depends individual achievement. In the how one could capacity of 8 MeV for “Runners tend to lean somewhat only on the velocity of the moving world of science, a 27-year-old use the same deuterons and 16 MeV forward, and to go from a somewhat object — in this case Jupiter.” physics professor in Berkeley, potential multiple for alpha particles. By forward lean in the run to a headfirst —Clifford Will, Washington University, California, began the work that times instead of 1936 the machine had dive has a certain efficiency.” on whether the speed of gravity has been would launch a modern era of just once. He con- been used to create —Robert K. Adair, Yale University, on measured, UPI Science News, April 7, multidisciplinary national labo- ceived of using a radioisotopes and the why a headfirst slide might be more 2003 ratories. magnetic field to first artificial element, efficient, Newsday, April 22, 2003 ✶✶✶ Ernest Orlando Lawrence bend charged technetium. Around ✶✶✶ “The motion of dark matter can was born in August 1901 in a particles into cir- this time, Lawrence “Pulsed power electrical systems also be described statistically by a small town on the South Dakota invited his brother, have always been energy rich but similar equation used for the Brown- prairie to parents of Norwegian John, a physician, to power poor. That is, we can deliver a ian motion. This equation is very ancestry. As a teenager he tink- join the lab and explore lot of energy, but it wasn’t clear we different from Newton’s law [of grav- ered with radios, entering St. the use of radioisotopes could concentrate it on a small- ity] used in the computer model. This Olaf College in Minnesota at 16. in biology and medical enough area to create fusion. Now it doesn’t mean Newton’s law is not After a year, he transferred to research, culminating in the con- seems clear we can do that.” applicable —it means the new equa- the University of South Dakota, struction of the Crocker Lab, with —Ramon J. Leeper, Sandia National tion that we found provides a new where a professor of electrical an accelerating chamber measur- Laboratories, on recent results from language for describing how dark engineering convinced him that ing 60 inches in diameter. It began Sandia’s Z-machine, Albuquerque matter clumps.” his interest in radio would be operation in 1939. That same Tribune, April 7, 2003 —Chung-Pei Ma, University of Califor- well-directed towards a career year, Lawrence was awarded the ✶✶✶ nia, Berkeley, on how dark matter clumps in physics rather than medicine. Above photo is Lawrence and Livingston Nobel Prize in Physics in recogni- “We are eager to see what [LIGO’s] in galaxy formation, SPACE.com, April After graduating with honors in around 1933, along with a photo of the tion of his revolutionary device. future detections will reveal, as the 15, 2003 1922, he pursued advanced Table-top cyclotron. Lawrence’s next cyclotron fea- instrument attains its full design sensi- ✶✶✶ studies at the University of Min- tured a magnet weighing 4,000 tivity over the next couple of years.” ‘’We use a 14-inch and a 24-inch nesota with W.F.G. Swann, whom cular trajectories and thus pass tons and an accelerating chamber —Lee Samuel Finn, Pennsylvania State telescope. We plan to beta test an- Lawrence followed to the Uni- them through the same accelerat- 184 inches in diameter, capable University, SPACE.com, April 7, 2003 other 14-inch telescope in Chile, versity of Chicago and then to ing region over and over again. of accelerating atomic particles to ✶✶✶ which may come online in fall 2003. Yale, where he completed his The idea required a combina- energies in excess of 100 MeV. To “What we’re trying to do is find This will open to us the Southern PhD in 1924 with a dissertation tion of sophisticated techniques: house the machine and experi- where charge symmetry comes from.” Hemisphere sky.’’ on the photoelectric effect. a high-vacuum chamber with elec- mental facilities needed to go with —Edward Stephenson, Indiana Univer- —Ron Armale, Cypress College, on Lawrence stayed on at Yale as a tric fields varying at radio it, a permanent site for the Rad sity, on the observation of a pi-zero how students use campus computers to postdoctoral fellow, continuing frequencies and with some means Lab was constructed on nearby produced in deuterium fusion, Indiana operate telescopes remotely, Orange his research on photoelectric- to keep the particles in a single Charter Hill, completed in 1946. Daily Student, April 4, 2003 County Register, March 31, 2003 ity, and started work on how horizontal plane. The first such The development of Lawrence’s atoms of a gas struck by elec- device was a pie-shaped concoc- cyclotron helped change our trons are ionized. tion of gas, sealing wax and bronze understanding of nature, from the Blume is Co-Recipient of In 1928, Lawrence joined the that also incorporated a kitchen microscopic structure of matter to faculty of the University of chair and a wire clothes tree for human metabolism, from the pro- California, Berkeley, with a operation. This prototype proved cess of photosynthesis to the Compton Award position that included connec- the concept worked. creation of new chemical elements, tions to UCB’s Chemistry Completed in the summer of including number 103 (lawren- APS Editor-in-Chief Martin Department. This access to 1931, the accelerating chamber of cium). Lawrence also created the Blume has been awarded the 2003 scientists and students from the first cyclotron measured five model of the big-science labora- Arthur H. Compton Award by other disciplines was critical to inches in diameter and boosted hy- tory, two of which bear his name: Argonne National Laboratory’s Lawrence’s success as a drogen ions to an energy of 80,000 the Lawrence Berkeley National Advanced Photon Source facility, researcher and established the electron volts. His assistants sub- Laboratory and Lawrence along with L. Doon Gibbs, pattern for the unique labora- sequently constructed the 11-inch Livermore National Laboratory. Kazumichi Namikawa, and Denis tory he subsequently created. cyclotron, which broke the one Lawrence’s labs have pushed the B. McWhan. Inspired by a paper from million electron volt (MeV) barrier, interdisciplinary approach into Intended to recognize an im- Norwegian engineer Rolf but Lawrence was already dream- such fruitful new fields as environ- portant technical or scientific Wideroe, Lawrence invented a ing of constructing a cyclotron mental research, alternative energy accomplishment at, or beneficial unique circular particle accel- with an accelerating chamber 27 sources, astrophysics, and molecu- to, the photon source, the award erator which became known as inches in diameter and capable of lar biology. Lawrence died on honors these men for “pioneer- the cyclotron. Wideroe’s con- reaching energies of nearly 5 MeV. August 27, 1958, of chronic ing theoretical and experimental cept was based on using the In need of more laboratory space, colitis at the age of 57. work in resonant magnetic x-ray same electrical potential twice, Lawrence procured from the uni- Adapted in part from an online scattering, which has led to im- doubling the energy by switch- versity an empty building adjacent exhibit by the American Institute of Photo Credit: Bob Kelly portant applications in ing from positive to negative to the physics department in Physics History Center, “The Legacy condensed matter physics.” Martin Blume potential in order to push ions August 1931, which he renamed of E.O. Lawrence.” See http:// Magnetic resonance scattering magnetic scattering cross section and then to pull them. Lawrence the Radiation Laboratory, or the www.aip.org/history/lawrence/ for was first predicted in 1985 by in a quantum mechanical formal- judged Wideroe’s linear scheme “Rad Lab.” the full exhibit. Blume in a seminal theoretical ism readily understandable by paper in the Journal of Applied experimentalists. The effect was Physics, in which he derived the See COMPTON AWARD on page 3

Series II, Vol. 12, No. 6 Membership Department, American Physical Society, Thomas McIlrath*, University of Maryland (emeritus) Physics), Ed Gerjuoy (Forum on Physics and Society), June 2003 One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844, Editor-in-Chief Timothy P. Lodge, (Polymer Physics), J. H. Eberly ©2003 The American Physical Society [email protected]. Martin Blume*, Brookhaven National Laboratory (Laser Science), G. Slade Cargill*, III (Materials), NEWS For Nonmembers—Circulation and Fulfillment Past-President Bunny C. Clark (Nuclear), Sally Dawson, Peter Meyers Division, American Institute of Physics, Suite 1NO1, 2 William F. Brinkman*, Bell Labs-Lucent Technologies (retired) (Particles & Fields), Stephen Holmes (Physics of Coden: ANWSEN ISSN: 1058-8132 Huntington Quadrangle, Melville, NY 11747-4502. General Councillors Beams), James Drake (Plasma), Gian Vidali, (New Allow at least 6 weeks advance notice. For address Jonathan A. Bagger*, Janet Conrad, Stuart Freedman*, Frances York Section), Joe Hamilton (Southeast Section) Editor ...... Alan Chodos changes, please send both the old and new addresses, Houle, Gerald Mahan, Margaret Murnane*, Cherry Ann Associate Editor ...... Jennifer Ouellette and, if possible, include a mailing label from a recent Murray*, Philip Phillips*, Laura Smoliar, Jin-Joo Song ADVISORS Special Publications Manager ...... Elizabeth Buchan-Higgins issue. Requests from subscribers for missing issues will Representatives from Other Societies Design and Production ...... Stephanie Jankowski be honored without charge only if received within 6 International Councillor Charles H. Holbrow, AAPT; Marc Brodsky, AIP Forefronts Editor ...... Neville Connell months of the issue’s actual date of publication. Periodical T. Maurice Rice Postage Paid at College Park, MD and at additional mailing International Advisors Proofreader ...... Edward Lee offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to APS News, Chair, Nominating Committee Héctor O. Murrieta Sánchez, Mexican Physical Society, APS News (ISSN: 1058-8132) is published 11X The APS reserves the right to select and to edit for length Membership Department, American Physical Society, Susan Seestrom W. J. McDonald, Canadian Association of Physicists yearly, monthly, except the August/September issue, or clarity. All correspondence regarding APS News should One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844. by the American Physical Society, One Physics be directed to: Editor, APS News, One Physics Ellipse, Chair, Panel on Public Affairs Staff Representatives Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844, (301) 209- College Park, MD 20749-3844, E-mail: [email protected]. APS COUNCIL 2003 John Ahearne Alan Chodos, Associate Executive Officer; Irving Lerch, 3200. It contains news of the Society and of its President Director of International Affairs; Fredrick Stein, Director Divisions, Topical Groups, Sections and Forums; Subscriptions: APS News is an on-membership Myriam P. Sarachik*, City College of New York - CUNY Division, Forum and Section Councillors of Education and Outreach; Robert L. Park, Director, advance information on meetings of the Society; publication delivered by Periodical Mail. Members President-Elect Kate Kirby (Atomic, Molecular & Optical Physics), Robert Public Information; Michael Lubell, Director, Public and reports to the Society by its committees and residing abroad may receive airfreight delivery for a fee Helen R. Quinn*, Stanford University (SLAC) Eisenberg (Biological), Sylvia Ceyer (Chemical), Allen Affairs; Stanley Brown, Editorial Director; Charles task forces, as well as opinions. of $15. Nonmembers: Subscription rates are available Vice-President Goldman* (Condensed Matter Physics), Steven White Muller, Director, Journal Operations; Michael Stephens, at http://librarians.aps.org/institutional.html. Marvin L. Cohen*, University of California, Berkeley (Computational), Harry Swinney (Fluid Dynamics), Peter Controller and Assistant Treasurer Letters to the editor are welcomed from the Executive Officer Zimmerman (Forum on Education), Stuart Wolf (Forum on membership. Letters must be signed and should Subscription orders, renewals and address changes Judy R. Franz*, University of Alabama, Huntsville (on leave) Industrial and Applied Physics),Gloria Lubkin (Forum on Administrator for Governing Committees include an address and daytime telephone number. should be addressed as follows: For APS Members— Treasurer History of Physics), James Vary (Forum on International Ken Cole * Members of the APS Executive Board NEWS June 2003 3

Number Three Ground State of the Electron Gas by a Stochastic Method (D. M. Ceperley and B. J. Alder, Phys. Rev. Lett. 45 (1980) 566), 3548 citations

was harder than I thought to tron densities. But other than crude you also must have the tools to fol- mion sign instability is one of the This is the eighth in a improve on it.” For Alder, on the estimates by the likes of Eugene low through that smell, that’s the outstanding problems in computa- series of articles by James Riordon. other hand, choosing not to fol- Wigner and others dating back to the key. In the early days, one of the tional physics. The first article appeared in the low up on the paper with a longer 1930s, the problem of intermediate tools was big computers, and in this Nonetheless, DMC is one of a November 2002 issue. The articles Physical Review submission was in densities had lingered for more than case certainly big computers handful of quantum many-body are archived under “Special keeping with his lifelong approach half a century. helped. It was also important to methods that Alder and Ceperley Features” on the APS News online to physics. “I like to find the new “The basic bosonic algorithm think about physics in a numerical say can apply in principle to any web site. problems and skim the cream off was developed by Malvin Kalos, my way, differently than people who equilibrium quantum problem. the top,” laughs Alder, “and I think thesis advisor, and we partially did not have big computers.” “Whenever you want to calculate Although the paper “Ground we really creamed that one. After I extended it to fermions as part of To solve the electron gas prob- things ab initio,” says Ceperley, State of the Electron Gas by a Sto- finish a problem, I like to move on.” my thesis in 1976” says Ceperley. lem, the researchers began with a “starting with the positions and chastic Method” is third in our list The cream, in this particular “What I’d done as a postdoc was restricted, fixed-node problem. charges of the nuclei, and with of the ten most highly cited Physi- case, was the first important appli- make it into a much more conve- “The node,” explains Alder, “is many electrons, then the state of cal Review Letters, David Ceperley cation of a type of quantum nient and accurate form. Then the where the wave function goes the art is density functional theory. has one regret regarding the work many-body algorithm now known ground work paid off when I came from positive to negative. And if Density functional theorists use the he co-authored with computa- as the Quantum Diffusion Monte to Berkeley and collaborated with you knew the nodes exactly you electron gas result because they are tional physics legend Berni Alder, Carlo method, or quantum DMC. Berni Alder. We had access to could solve the quantum Monte perturbing their system about the “Well, the letter was so successful Ceperley and Alder applied DMC orders-of-magnitude more com- Carlo problem exactly.” Generally, uniform electron system.” that I never wrote the long paper,” to determine the properties of elec- puting time than I had ever had however, the exact nodes are Ceperley is now a faculty mem- says Ceperley. “That was a mistake tron gases at intermediate densities. before . . . except it was all behind unknown and the researchers ber in the physics department and actually. I thought I should have Previous work had led to solutions the fence at Livermore.” must guess where they might lie a researcher with the National been able to do a better job, but it to the problem at high and low elec- Although Ceperley did not have from some approximate theory. Center for Supercomputing Appli- a clearance he managed to run To determine their true posi- cations at the University of Illinois, simulations, which required thou- tion, the researchers release the where he spends some of his time April Teachers’ Day sands of hours of computer time, nodes so that they can shift about searching for solutions to DMC through an intermediary. “I had to and lower the energy of the sys- instabilities. communicate my instructions to tem. In an electron gas, the energy Alder is retired from Alder’s assistant, Mary Ann converges nicely and the equilib- Livermore, but is keeping his hand Mansigh, over the telephone. We’d rium solution can be precisely in as well, working on the prob- spend half an hour talking every determined. For more complex lem part-time with Ceperley’s day and she would set up five or systems, DMC is plagued by an former thesis advisor, Malvin ten different runs for the evening. instability known as the fermion Kalos. Alder, however, is prima- The next morning she would tell sign problem. “The fermion wave rily interested these days in me what the results were, or mail function has, of course, a positive extending molecular dynamics to me back the output.” Surprisingly, and a negative part,” says Alder. help explain the origin of hydro- Ceperley notes, “It was actually “When you release the nodes you dynamic turbulence on molecular rather efficient after the algorithm allow both the negative and posi- scales. was working.” tive part to exponentially grow.” Strangely enough, unlike other By the time Ceperley arrived in Despite the instability, DMC is still powerful methods that made our California, Alder was already a useful provided that a system’s bo- top ten PRL list, quantum DMC is renowned pioneer in computa- son energy and fermion energy are not named after the researchers Photo Credit: Edward Lee tional physics and the author of at comparable. In such cases says Al- who were so instrumental in its Participant Boris Dirnbach least two other highly cited papers. der, the answer appears as the development. “There have been a and presenter Dave Smith His previous work primarily cen- difference between the positive and fairly large number of contribu- try out a pinhole viewer tered on the classical dynamics of negative populations in the calcu- tions to the problem,” says Alder, at the APS High School hard spheres, but in the late 1970s lation, if the two portions of the “which distributes the credit.” Physics Teachers’ Day in he was eager to tackle quantum solution don’t grow too quickly. “But Nevertheless, Ceperley chuck- Philadelphia on April 7, many-body problems. “I have a if you go to other systems,” says les when he admits that he was 2003. Seventy-eight knack for being at the right place Alder, “like chemical systems where able to leave one personal and in- teachers attended re- at the right time,” says Alder, “You the difference between the fermi delible mark on the method, “I did search talks, took part in workshops, and also enjoyed lunch with physicists from the April meeting. have to sort of smell what are the energy and the boson energy is very manage to embed my initials in the right problems in physics. And I large, you can no longer accurately acronym.” DMC, it happens, also think I may have that smell. And project out the difference.” The fer- stands for David M. Ceperley.

Council: There is No Free Lunch COMPTON AWARD from page 2

“The American Physical Park, APS Director of Public In- first observed experimentally by found influence and impact on Source’s 12th User’s Meeting on Society deplores attempts to formation. “Unfortunately, Namikawa and colleagues at the the x-ray and magnetism com- April 30. While expressing his mislead and defraud the public there are still people out there Photon Factory in Tsukuba, munities, clearly establishing delight at being honored with the based on claims of perpetual who raise scads of money by Japan. x-rays as a viable alternative to award, Blume acknowledged the motion machines or sources of claiming to violate the laws of Their work was carried out neutrons for the study of mag- contributions of other deserving unlimited useful energy, unsubstan- thermodynamics.” with synchrotron radiation tuned netic structure. scientists who were omitted, tiated by experimentally tested Park anticipated that the to energies close to the K absorp- The technique has since blos- most notably James Hannon and established physical principles.” Council statement will prove use- tion edge of nickel, and clearly somed to such an extent that George Trammel. With this brief statement, ful to prosecutors in cases demonstrated a resonantly every major synchrotron source “They are outstanding physi- passed by Council at its April involving claims of perpetual enhanced magnetic cross section in the world, including the Ad- cists who were very much meeting, the APS reaffirmed the motion. at that edge. vanced Photon Souce, now has responsible for a number of key applicability of the established He cited the case of Dennis Large resonance enhance- one or more beamlines dedicated ideas in the theory of resonance laws of physics, and issued a Lee (see What’s New, October 4, ments, which put resonance to resonant magnetic scattering, scattering, many of which were warning to the public to beware 2002, accessible from the APS scattering into the consciousness an explosion driven in large part originated by them in papers on of unscrupulous and misguided web site). The judge, in ruling of the synchrotron community, by the work of Blume, Gibbs, Mossbauer scattering by nuclei attempts to sell schemes that can- against Lee, quoted verbatim were observed in 1988 at the Namikawa, and McWhan. dating back to the 1960s,” he not work. from an earlier resolution on per- Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Blume delivered the Compton said. “I do hope they will be rec- “Unlike those passed by legis- petual motion that had been Source by a team led by Gibbs invited lecture on behalf of all the ognized in the future for their lative bodies, the laws of physics passed by the APS Executive and McWhan, and their ensuing award recipients at the opening many important contributions to cannot be violated,” said Bob Board. paper on the subject had a pro- session of the Advanced Photon these and other fields.” 4 June 2003 NEWS

The Citizen-Scientist’s Obligation to Stand Up for Standards By Lawrence M. Krauss

On April 2, I appeared at a sym- of the great pleasures of scientific Nevertheless, scientists must basic elements of a ban on cloning posium for students and teachers progress. not allow nonsense to remain strategic research designed to stop sponsored by the Illinois Math and Scientific ethics have been unconfronted, regardless of whose plan. efforts to produce Science Academy, a remarkably mightily tested of late. In my own sensibilities we offend. Once we In particular, the the former would successful high school founded by field of physics in the past several allow empirical truth to be blurred panel said it lacked “a have dire conse- Dr. Leon M. Lederman, a Nobel years, two important examples of with impunity in one important guiding vision, ex- quences for im- laureate in physics, to foster young scientific fraud were uncovered in area of human activity, we jeopar- ecutable goals, clear portant biological people’s interest in science. subfields as diverse as molecular dize the very basis of a healthy timetables and crite- research on the The symposium, called electronics and nuclear physics. In democracy. ria for measuring latter. “Science, Technology and Society: each case the fraudulent results So I found myself in Chicago in progress, an assess- Yet the White Ethical Awareness for Tomorrow’s were brought to light relatively early April proposing a possibly ment of whether House has suported Leaders,” was convened to discuss quickly, but not before they were unpopular thesis: scientists have a existing programs are a wholesale ban on the way ethical issues might be ex- published in articles involving nu- special ethical responsibility at this par- capable of meeting cloning, driven it plicitly raised for young scientists. merous co-authors who should ticular time to question our these goals, explicit Lawrence M. Krauss seems by inappropri- I was somewhat hesitant to have been more skeptical. government’s actions. prioritization and a ate fears of science. appear on a panel on ethics be- This lack of internal critical It appears that this administration management plan.” In short, it Equally worrisome is what cause, like almost all scientists I review has prompted much hand- is marginalizing the recommenda- lacks the characteristics on which apparently is the distortion of the know, I have no formal training in wringing. It has also raised an issue tions of major scientific empirical science is based. results of medical studies in gov- this subject. Indeed, like many of of ethical responsibility: do scien- organizations on the one hand, while A year ago, the American Physi- ernment web sites, like the my colleagues, I have been reluc- tists who take credit as co-authors defending artificial “research” to cal Society passed a resolution National Cancer Institute’s. tant to include formal courses on of papers need to verify all of the support political goals, or, worse still, calling on the government to delay It used to state that the best stud- ethics in the physics curriculum, results cited in those papers? manufacturing it. Empirical con- deployment of a missile defense ies showed “no association and I have tended to suppose that The problem is that by nature straints that may otherwise guide system until it was demonstrated between abortion and breast can- students should learn the ethos of science does not deal well with sensible policy making seem to be to be workable against realistic cer,” but was altered to say that the science “by example.” fraud. Scientists assume some ba- evaporating. threats. Yet the administration evidence was inconclusive until a Presumably, in laboratory sic level of honesty in the scientific When a Bell Labs scientist was scrapped a longstanding interna- scientific review panel insisted the courses and in research projects enterprise, and while we expect shown to have based some of his tional treaty, committing billions of original language, which correctly with faculty, students can learn the mistakes to occur, we do not an- results on fraudulent data, his other dollars to the deployment of a mis- reflects current research, be rein- values of honesty, creativity and ticipate deliberate obfuscation of scientific results, no matter how sile defense system that even under stated. full disclosure that are the hall- the facts. exciting, lost credence. We should the most liberal interpretation of Or consider the web page of the marks of good science. Also, in Moreover, scientists tend to be prepared to apply the same the data has a success rate of 40%. Centers for Disease Control and spite of the implicit hierarchy expect that ultimately the truth will skepticism to the political arena. We would not accept such Prevention, which used to point to associated with education, stu- win out without explicit and imme- In march, the National Acad- innumerate policies in the private studies showing that education on dents should get a sense of the diate action on their part. Future emy of Sciences presented the sector. What if Detroit put on the condom use did not lead to earlier “anti-authoritarianism” of science: experiments that do not repro- reports of an expert panel that assembly line a new breed of SUV’s or increased sexual activity; now, it that there are, or should be, no duce earlier results will expose assessed current plans for exam- that toppled over when executing omits this discussion. scientific authorities whose views fraudulent experimentalists, while ining the effects of global warming. curves at greater than 30 miles an A democracy, like science, func- are not subject to question. theoretical nonsense will be ex- The scientists concluded that the hour 60% of the time, or if the tions best only when all actions are Indeed, proving one’s col- posed when it leads to nonsensical research program proposed by the makers of nuclear power reactors open to question, and when we leagues (and oneself) wrong is one predictions. administration lacked the most demonstrated that prototypes require the highest levels of catastrophically failed 40% of the accountability. If there is a risk that time? politics is being placed above Scientists Observe Charge Symmetry Dr. Shirley Tilghman and Dr. empirical truth on issues of vital David Baltimore, internationally national importance, inaction by Breaking in Separate Experiments known biologists, and the presi- scientists may be unethical. dents respectively of Princeton and In separate experiments at the metry violation is that the neutron “Sometimes large consequences Caltech, wrote recently in The Wall Lawrence Krauss is at Case Indiana University Cyclotron is slightly heavier than its charged hang on delicate balances in Street Journal that human repro- Western Reserve University, and the Facility (IUCF) and the TRIUMF partner, the proton. Thus, isolated nature,” he said. ductive cloning and therapeutic author of several popular science cyclotron in Canada, researchers neutrons decay into protons in Representing a collaboration at cloning to produce stem cells that books, including The Physics of Star have made groundbreaking new about 10 minutes. TRIUMF, Allena Opper of Ohio might be used for research were Trek and Atom. The above originally measurements of charge symme- At the APS meeting, Ed University discussed the detection completely different biological appeared in The New York Times try breaking (CSB), according to Stephenson of Indiana University of CSB in another nuclear reac- investigations. on April 22, 2003. Reprinted with results presented at the APS April announced the first unambiguous tion: the fusion of a proton and Further, they said a wholesale permission. meeting in Philadelphia. identification of a rare process: the neutron, which produces a Such measurements can provide fusion of two nuclei of heavy charged pion as one of its prod- deep insights into why nature gave hydrogen to form a nucleus of ucts. Viewed from a perspective the neutron and proton slightly dif- helium and an uncharged pion, (or reference frame) in which the Congressional Fellows Reminisce ferent masses. At an even more one of the subatomic particles re- proton and neutron meet at the fundamental level, the CSB measure- sponsible for the strong force that center, the reaction—repeated ments can potentially yield more binds nuclei together. many times—produces a small precise values of the mass differences Over a two-month period, excess of pions (about 0.17%) in between the up and down quarks researchers observed this rare a preferred direction. Such an that make up protons and neutrons. reaction several dozen times, asymmetry is a hallmark of CSB. Nuclear theorists are busily ana- giving physicists enough data to test Taken together, these new CSB lyzing these new experimental theories of CSB. results promise a wealth of infor- results to put tighter constraints on “Scientists have searched for mation on such things as the the up-down mass difference. this rare fusion process since the slightly different electromagnetic In the 1930s, Werner Heisenberg 1950s,” said Stephenson. “And fields inside each nucleon. As it proposed that the neutron and pro- the process would not happen at turns out, such fields may con- ton are simply slightly different all if nature did not allow a small tribute to the proton-neutron manifestations of the same particle, violation of charge symmetry.” In mass difference, as they carry called the “nucleon.” Modern fact, if the symmetry violation energy which converts into a Photo Credit: Jessica Clark nuclear physics endorses this view: had occurred in other direc- small amount of mass. “The rate The APS Congressional Fellows program, which supports physi- plenty of nuclear reactions proceed tion—that is, if the proton had of the process will tell scientists cists who want to spend a year working in the office of a member of exactly the same way if a proton been slightly heavier than the how much of the violation comes Congress, is 30 years old this year, and several past APS Fellows takes the place of a neutron, or vice neutron—hydrogen would not from the fact that quarks carry gathered at the April meeting to relive their year on the Hill and versa. However, this close similarity have survived after the Big Bang, small electrical charges, and how report on how it had affected their careers. Shown here participating breaks down in some cases, leading and the universe would not have much comes from the difference in a panel discussion are (l to r): Ben Cooper (Fellow 1973-74); Rush to the phenomenon known as the hydrogen fuel that keeps in mass between the two types of Holt (1982-83); and Jane Alexander (1986-87). Holt (D-NJ) is one of charge symmetry breaking. stars shining, including the sun, quarks found inside neutrons two physics PhDs currently serving in Congress. One effect of this charge sym- which makes human life possible. and protons,” said Stephenson. NEWS June 2003 5 Five Takes on the Future of Particle Physics By Pamela Zerbinos Didja hear the One About.... Celebrating For the first time, this year the everything from building machine annual meeting of the APS Division components to acting as computing of Particles and Fields (DPF) was centers in the data grid that will do the Art of Bad Physics Jokes held in conjunction with the APS the processing of the petabytes of April meeting. To mark the data expected to be produced once The Odd Primes joke unique!’ the girls and boys occasion a special session on “The the LHC is up and running. There was a mad social scien- ✶✶✶ meet?” Future of Particle Physics” took He also discussed some of the tist who kidnapped three A physicist, an The mathemati- place in the auditorium of the physics expected to come out of colleagues, an engineer, a physicist, engineer and a math- cian said: “Never.” University of Pennsylvania’s the LHC, including the search for and a mathematician, and locked ematician were all The physicist said: Museum of Archaeology and the Higgs boson and for each of them in separate cells with in a hotel sleeping “In an infinite Anthropology. The five speakers supersymmetric particles. Neal also plenty of canned food and water when a fire broke amount of time.” gave differing but complementary touched on his own work in elastic but no can opener. out in their respec- The engineer said: views of what lies ahead in particle scattering at high energies, which A month later, returning, the tive rooms. “Well...in about two physics. he hopes will be illuminated by the mad scientist went to the engineer’s The physicist minutes, they’ll be One of the talks at the session LHC, expected to reach a center cell and found it long empty. The woke up, saw the fire, ran over to close enough for all practical pur- was the Primakoff Lecture, named of mass energy of 14 TeV. engineer had constructed a can her desk, pulled out her CRC, and poses.” in memory of Henry Primakoff, who Princeton’s Peter Meyers spoke opener from pocket trash, used began working out all sorts of fluid ✶✶✶ coincidentally spent many years at about the future of neutrino aluminum shavings and dried sugar dynamics equations. After a couple An engineer, a physicist, and a the University of Pennsylvania. The oscillation physics. The hottest to make an explosive, and escaped. minutes, she threw down her pen- mathematician are shown a pasture Primakoff Lecture is an annual experiment right now is The physicist had worked out the cil, got a graduated cylinder out of with a herd of sheep, and told to feature at the April meeting, and this MiniBooNE at Fermilab, set to angle necessary to knock the lids his suitcase, and measured out a put them inside the smallest pos- year it was given by Michael Turner confirm or refute the controversial off the tin cans by throwing them precise amount of water. She threw sible amount of fence. of the University of Chicago and results of the LSND collaboration against the wall. She was develop- it on the fire, extinguishing it, with The engineer herds the sheep Fermilab, on “Connecting Quarks to at Los Alamos. A confirmation of ing a good pitching arm and a new not a drop wasted, and went back into a circle and then puts the fence the Cosmos.” Turner focused on the the results could mean there is a quantum theory. to sleep. around them, declaring, “A circle connections between particle fourth, sterile neutrino, whose The mathematician had stacked The engineer woke up, saw the will use the least fence for a given physics and cosmology that promise existence would definitely require the unopened cans into a surpris- fire, ran into the bathroom, turned area, so this is the best solution.” to deepen in the coming years. more than Standard Model physics. ing solution to the kissing problem; on the faucets full-blast, flooding The physicist creates a circular Particulate dark matter, which As results from the current round his desicated corpse was propped out the entire room, which put out fence of infinite radius around the constitutes one-third of the universe, of neutrino experiments start to calmly against a wall, and this was the fire, and went back to sleep. sheep, and then draws the fence is of concern to scientists of both come in, a clear and consistent inscribed on the floor in blood: The mathematician woke up, tight around the herd, declaring, disciplines, and tests will need to be picture should start to emerge and Theorem: If I can’t open these saw the fire, ran over to his desk, “This will give the smallest circular performed in both terrestrial and point the way to the next cans, I’ll die. began working through theorems, fence around the herd.” heavenly laboratories. generation of experiments. Meyers Proof: Assume the opposite... lemmas, hypotheses , you-name-it, The mathematician puts a small Other opportunities for the fields said he expects this will require ✶✶✶ and after a few minutes, put down fence around himself and then de- to collaborate include the study of larger, more capable detectors and A physicist, an engineer and a his pencil triumphantly and clares, “I define myself to be on the strong field gravity, ultra-high-energy more intense beams (His rallying mathematician were asked how exclaimed, “I have “proven” that I outside!” cosmic rays, baryogenesis, and cry of, “Bigger! Slower! More much three times three is. “can” put the fire out!” He then ✶✶✶ “extreme physics,” which includes expensive!” drew laughs from the The engineer grabbed his pocket went back to sleep. An astronomer, a physicist and a the study of black holes, plasmas and audience). calculator, eagerly pressed a couple of ✶✶✶ mathematician were holidaying in neutron stars. Natalie Roe, from the Lawrence buttons and announced: “9.0000”. In the high school gym, all the Scotland. Glancing from a train The University of Michigan’s Berkeley National Laboratory, fo- The physicist made an approxi- girls in the class were lined up window, they observed a black Homer Neal discussed the Large cused her talk on CP violation. mation (with an error estimate) and against one wall, and all the boys sheep in the middle of a field. Hadron Collider currently under Although the latest results from the said: “9.00 ± 0.02”. against the opposite wall. Then, “How interesting,” observed the construction at CERN. Over 3,500 B physics experiments at SLAC and The mathematician took a piece every ten seconds, they walked astronomer, “all Scottish sheep are physicists worldwide are involved at KEK in Japan have found CP vio- of paper and a pencil and sat toward each other until they were black!” in the LHC project, which is lation at the expected levels, thereby quietly for half an hour. He then half the previous distance apart. To which the physicist scheduled for completion in 2007. confirming the Standard Model one proudly declared: ‘There is a solu- A mathematician, a physicist, and responded, “No, no! Some Scottish Neal described the two big more time, increasingly precise mea- tion and I have proved that it is an engineer were asked, “When will See ZERO GRAVITY on page 6 detectors, ATLAS and CMS, and surements will be available soon. She highlighted the work of U.S. stressed that the baryon asymmetry institutions in the project; currently of the universe remains a mystery the US has the highest percentage of that is not explained in the context Physicist Disputes Speed of Gravity Claim contributing scientists and of CP violation in the Standard institutions. They are helping with See PARTICLES on page 6 A experiment showing gravi- Fomalont’s measurement suring the speed of gravity, the tational lensing by the planet showed that the gravitational in- effect is too small to measure, Jupiter early this year was origi- fluence of the moving planet and that the value presented by nally interpreted as providing a delayed the radio waves by about Kopeikin and Fomalont as the LETTERS measurement of the speed of 5 trillionths of a second, or bent speed of gravity is actually the gravity, although the conclusion the waves by less than 15 bil- speed of light. That Old School of Mine… was controversial from the out- lionths of a degree. “When I did a detailed calcu- set. According to the general lation that put gravity’s speed at I was surprised to see (APS records and he was not on our At the APS April meeting, theory of relativity, gravity must be any value, the result for the de- News, April 2003, Vol. 12, No. 3) graduation list. We then checked Clifford Will of Washington propagated at the same speed as lay of light was independent of that the Nobel Prize winner, Irving an old Who’s Who and found that University in St. Louis, Missouri, light: 186,000 miles per second. gravity’s speed,” said Will. “It de- Langmuir, graduated from the he graduated from Columbia a leading theorist in the interpre- Therefore, measuring the speed of pended only on the speed of light. “Colarado” School of Mines in School of Mines in that year. tation of general relativity, gravity would test Einstein’s theory. So it’s not possible to determine 1903 with BS in Metallurgical Don L. Williamson presented his own analysis, dis- Using Fomalont’s data, Sergei the speed of gravity from these Engineering. We checked our Colorado School of Mines puting the earlier claims. Kopeikin (University of light-delay observations.” That On September 8, 2002, Jupi- Missouri, Columbia) inferred that measurement will have to wait Traitorous Translations ter passed within 3.7 arcminutes the speed of gravity is indeed the for the LIGO observatories to of quasar J0842+1835, the cen- same as that of light, although the begin regularly detecting gravi- The discussion of the pitfalls of would be unbearably tedious, and ter of a distant galaxy and a margin of error was 20% tational waves (see story, page 1). translation in “New Spanish Lab the resolution of dissonances into strong source of radio waves. “They obtained a very beauti- Will also criticized the press Manual Available for Physics Teach- consonances is a very important Ed Fomalont, a researcher at ful experimental result, and I have for prematurely reporting the re- ers” [APS NEWS, April 2003] struck aspect of Western music.” the National Radio Astronomy no quarrel with that,” said Will. sult and, to some extent, a chord for me. In the Spanish translation, this Observatory in Charlottesville, “The issue is the interpretation of magnifying a simple scientific de- Some years ago, I co-authored a reads, “...es un aspecto muy VA, used atomic clocks and the the measurement. I don’t think this bate into a controversy. university physics text. The Span- interessante de la musica del Oeste “Very Long Baseline Array” of ra- result says anything about the “The press jumped on this in ish and Portuguese translations norteamericano.” Translated back dio telescopes to measure the speed of gravity.” a rather uncritical way,” he said. contained the usual number of into English, this reads, “...is a very brief length of time by which ra- In a paper recently accepted for “Experimentally, it’s really a tour translation errors, but I found one interesting aspect of cowboy music.” diation from a quasar was publication by the Astrophysical de force measurement, which will particularly amusing. As the Italians say, traduttore delayed as it passed by the planet Journal, Will claims that although be diminished somewhat by the In the section on the physics of tradittore: the translator is a traitor. Jupiter. the experiment is capable of mea- controversy.” music, I had written, “A piece con- Lawrence S. Lerner sisting entirely of consonances CSU, Long Beach 6 June 2003 NEWS

CONSORTIA from page 1 Sandia’s Z Facility Achieves First Fusion a response to an attempt to bring subscriptions to the electronic The first achievement of center of the Z machine, together people with a common version and receive the appropri- fusion at Sandia National itself a circular device interest in information to try and ate discount (approximately 15% Laboratory’s Z facility in about 120 feet in diam- use resources more efficiently,” discount) any time during the New Mexico was an- eter. said Tom McIlrath, APS treasurer. agreement. nounced at the APS April Sandia researchers The consortium model is based For consortia members, the meeting in Philadelphia. measured a yield of on historical subscription data, model works best if they have out- The Z machine created approximately 10 billion with an access fee added to the side funding. The APS’ first a hot dense plasma that neutrons, around the price of the sum of the original consortium, OhioLink, comprises produces neutrons associ- expected energy of 2.45 subscriptions. Participating mem- all the universities in Ohio and is ated with nuclear fusion. MeV, corresponding to a bers of the consortium gain online subsidized by the state legislature. Compressing hot dense very modest level of access to the specific titles or in By contrast, a different state plasmas that produce neu- nuclear fusion (about 4 most cases to expanded amount of without that outside source of Photo Credit: Randy Montoya trons is an important step millijoules of energy). content for relatively a small addi- funds would have a very difficult towards realizing ignition, RAW POWER: electrical discharges illuminate the surface of The deuterium capsule tional cost. Each consortium is time getting all the universities to the Z machine, the world’s most powerful X-ray source, the level at which the fu- reached a temperature of different, and so is each deal. sign a consortium deal. The large during a recent accelerator shot. sion reaction becomes about 11.6 million Kelvin “The consortium model, if it universities likely already sub- self-sustaining. sophisticated timing. and was compressed from a diam- becomes pervasive, will have scribe to all the APS journals and According to Sandia’s Ray The pulse creates an intense eter of 2 mm to 160 microns. The three effects,” said Barbara would therefore just be paying an Leeper, the neutrons emanate from magnetic field which crushes an ar- whole compression took about 7 Hicks, APS associate publisher additional fee to allow the smaller fusion reactions within a BB-sized ray of tungsten wires into an nanoseconds. “Pulsed power elec- and director of marketing. “It will institutions access, which not all deuterium capsule placed within ultra-light foam cylinder to produce trical systems have always been hopefully allow APS to sustain its are willing to do. the central target in the Z facility, x-rays. Striking the surface of a fuel energy-rich but power-poor,” said current revenue, provide a new Libraries of all sizes world- itself about a third of a football field capsule embedded in the cylinder, Leeper. “That is, we can deliver a revenue stream and make the wide gain benefits from joining in diameter. While tokamaks cause the x-ray energy produces a shock lot of energy, but it wasn’t clear we APS journals more widely avail- consortia by providing budget- fusion reactions to occur by con- wave that compresses deuterium gas could concentrate it on a small able. In many cases, the ary stability via multi-year fining plasmas in large magnetic within the capsule, fusing enough enough area to create fusion. Now consortium model grants elec- contracts, price caps, and elec- fields, and laser facilities focus in- deuterium to produce neutrons. it seems clear we can do that.” tronic journal access to smaller tronic access to expanded tense beams on or around a target, All this action takes place within Providing outside commen- institutions that have not tradi- content for a small additional fee. Z applies a huge pulse of electricity a container the size of a pencil tary, Cornell University’s David tionally been able to afford For APS, advantages have (about 12 million joules) with very eraser, called a hohlraum, at the Hammer said that the Sandia subscriptions on their own.” been realized from additional group performed a full set of Corporations can—and have— revenue streams, stable revenues tests to verify that they had formed consortia to allow employ- over long license terms (usually ZERO GRAVITY from page 5 achieved nuclear fusion. A par- ees in various offices around the three years), and stability of tial confirmation of the result world to access the journals. Single existing subscriptions because of sheep are black!” “You’re incompetent! Let me try” came about when theoretical universities wishing students on the non-cancellation policies. The mathematician intoned, “In insisted the physicist, who then pro- predictions and lab outcomes satellite campuses to have access Consortia have another Scotland there exists at least one ceeded to miss by three meters to were determined to be of the can also form consortia. advantage, in support of the field, containing at least one sheep, the right. same order of magnitude, on the After the deal is negotiated, Society’s mission, “to promote the at least one side of which is black.” “Ooh, we got him!!” said the stat- order of 10 billion neutrons. The each institution in the consor- advancement and diffusion of the ✶✶✶ istician. predicted neutron yield depends tium is given online access to the knowledge of physics,” as greater What is the difference between ✶✶✶ on the ion density temperature APS journal titles as subscribed amounts of APS journal content and engineer, a physicist, and a math- How they knew it was a deer: and volume. Those quantities to. They have the option of con- are made available to a vastly ematician? The physicist observed that it were independently confirmed verting from print plus online expanded community. An engineer believes equations behaved in a deer-like manner, so by X-ray spectroscopy measure- approximate the world. it must be a deer. ments. Helen Quinn Elected to Membership In A physicist believes the world The mathematician asked the While deuterium-filled cap- approximates equations. physicist what it was, thereby sules driven by lasers have long National Academy of Sciences A mathematician sees no connec- reducing it to a previously solved ago produced neutrons, this tion between the two. problem. experiment represents the first APS President- permanent staff of ✶✶✶ The engineer was in the woods to time that the straightforward, elect Helen Quinn the Stanford Linear A farmer, an engineer, and a hunt deer, therefore it was a deer. relatively inexpensive and poten- has been elected Accelerator Center physicist were all asked to build a ✶✶✶ tially robust technology of to the National since 1979, has chicken coop. And finally, we offer our read- pulsed power has been able to Academy of Sci- made many impor- The farmer says, “Well, last time ers “The Metajoke”: achieve the conditions of high ences. She joins tant contributions to I had so many chickens and my An engineer, a physicist and a temperature and density needed seventy-one other elementary particle coop was so and so big and this mathematician find themselves in an to produce measurable thermo- newly elected theoretical re- time I have this many chickens so anecdote, indeed an anecdote nuclear neutrons. members this year, search, and has I’ll make it this much bigger.” quite similar to many that you have The ZR (Z-Refurbished) facil- including APS been the recipient of The engineer tackles the prob- no doubt already heard. ity, an upgrade slated to go online members Praveen numerous honors, lem by surveying, costing materials, After some observations and in 2006, is expected to scale up Chaudhary, Wendy including the presti- reading up on chickens and their rough calculations the engineer fusion experiments. The amount L. Freedman, gious Dirac Medal needs, writing down a bunch of realizes the situation and starts of energy this larger successor Sidney R. Nagel, in 2000. In addition equations to maximize chicken-to- laughing. could bring to bear offers the Robert J. Silbey, Saul Helen Quinn to her research, she cost ratio, taking into account the A few minutes later the physicist eventual possibility of high-yield A.Teukolsky, Dale also devotes much of lay of the land and writing a com- understands too and chuckles to fusion—the state in which much J.Van Harlingen, and Eli her time to physics education. puter program. himself happily, as he now has more energy is released than is Yablonovitch. She was the founding President The physicist looks at the prob- enough experimental evidence to needed to provoke the reaction Election to membership in of the non-profit Contemporary lem and says, “Let’s start by publish a paper. initially to occur. The excess en- the Academy is considered one Physics Education Project, and assuming spherical chickens....”. This leaves the mathematician ergy could be used for of the highest honors that can she also manages SLAC’s educa- ✶✶✶ somewhat perplexed, as he had applications such as the genera- be accorded a U.S. scientist, tion and outreach programs. A physicist, an engineer, and a stat- observed right away that he was the tion of electricity. However, while and is bestowed in recognition The three others currently in istician were out game hunting. subject of an anecdote, and the Z approach to fusion is a of distinguished and continu- the APS Presidential line, William The engineer spied a bear in the deduced quite rapidly the presence promising method, researchers ing achievements in original F. Brinkman, Myriam P. Sarachik, distance, so they got a little closer. of humor from similar anecdotes, caution that they are at the start research. and Marvin L. Cohen, are also “Let me take the first shot!” said but considers this anecdote to be of a very long road in terms of Quinn, who has been on the members of the National Academy. the engineer, who missed the bear too trivial a corollary to be signifi- investigating its feasibility as a by three meters to the left. cant, let alone funny. fusion power source.

PARTICLES from page 5 Model, and speculated that further for Advanced Study, spoke about the although he said that wasn’t sur- as the natural conservation of it would be quite dramatic to see precision measurements of CP pros and cons of supersymmetry, prising. But SUSY favors a light baryon and lepton numbers. how all these problems managed violation might shed light on this and although he said he gets out of Higgs and as the bounds on the Witten remarked, “To me, the to get solved. question. In addition, she said it bed most mornings believing in the Higgs mass are pushed up it begins central drawback of Super- symme- After the session, attendees might be possible to observe CP SUSY model, he focused primarily to get uncomfortable. In addition, try is that we don’t have a were treated to refreshments violation in neutrinos, which could on the cons during his talk. the supersymmetric extension of convincing workable picture of while they socialized and gazed also help explain the baryon asym- The biggest problem with the the Standard Model reopens some what the TeV superworld would at the antiquities comprising the metry of the universe. SUSY model is that supersymmetric problems that the ordinary Stan- really look like,” and said that if museum’s internationally Edward Witten, from the Institute particles haven’t been found yet, dard Model had solved nicely, such nature really were supersymmet-ric renowned collections. NEWS June 2003 7

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Call for Nominations for 2004 TIME IS ALMOST UP! Now Appearing in RMP APS Prizes and Awards APS’ half-price promotion Recently Posted Reviews and Colloquia Members are invited to nominate candidates to the re- for physicists in industry ends You will find the following in the online edition of Reviews of Modern spective committees charged with recommending the on June 30, 2003. Physics at http://rmp.aps.org. recipients. A brief description of each prize and award is given in the March 2003 APS News Prizes and Awards Encourage friends and The fundamental constants and their variation: Observational and insert, along with the addresses of the selection commit- colleagues to take advantage of theoretical status tee chairs to whom nominations should be sent. Please NOW visit the Prizes and Awards page on the APS web site at this opportunity NOWNOW! —Jean-Philippe Uzan There have been a number of theoretical speculations that the fundamental http://www.aps.org under the Prizes and Awards but- constants of nature might be changing in time, but there are strong ton for complete information regarding rules and eligibility Contact the APS Membership constraints on the possible variation from laboratory experiments aw well as requirements for individual prizes and awards. Department at 301.209.3280, from geophysical and astrophysical observations. This review describes the PRIZES [email protected], various observations and evaluates the extracted bounds on the variation. Will Allis Prize for the Sudy of Ionized Gases or visit Theoretical motivations for the serarch are also discussed; a clear signal Hans A. Bethe Prize www.aps.org/memb/indoffer.html might be evidence for new physics. Biological Physics Prize for details. Tom W. Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics Also Recently Posted: Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Physics Prize Neutrino masses and mixing: Evidence and implications Davisson-Germer Prize in Atomic or Surface Physics George E. Valley Jr Prize —M. C. Gonzalez-Garcia and Yosef Nir Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics Purpose: To recognize one individual, under Polymer Physics Prize Colloquium: Trapping and manipulating photon states in atomic ensembles Frank Isakson Prize for Optical Effects in Solids age 30, for his or her outstanding scientific contri- —M. D. Lukin James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials bution to the knowledge of physics. The prize Lars Onsager Prize will be presented biennially. Quantum dynamics of single trapped ions W.K.H. Panofsky Prize in Experimental Particle Physics Nature: To recognize one individual, under —D. Leibfried, R. Blatt, C. Monroe, and D. Wineland Earle K. Plyler Prize for Molecular Spectroscopy age 30, for an outstanding scientific contribution Aneesur Rahman Prize for Computational Physics to physics that is deemed to have significant po- J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics 2003 APS Election Opens on June 16 tential for a dramatic impact on the field. The Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Science Prize to a Faculty Member for Research in an prize will be presented bienniallybiennially. Undergraduate Institution Establishment & Support: Full information about this year’s election, including the list George E. Valley Jr. Prize The prize was established by the APS of candidates and their biographies, can be found online at Robert R. Wilson Prize Council in 2000 under the terms of a be- http://www.aps.org/exec/election2003. AWARDS quest by George E. Valley, Jr. LeRoy Apker Award (June 13, 2003 Deadline) Rules & Eligibility: The prize shall be awarded Information about the candidates will also appear in next month’s Joseph A. Burton Forum Award to one individual who has reached his/her 30th issue of APS News. The election closes on September 1. Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award birthday no earlier than April 1 of the year in Joseph F. Keithley Award for Advances in Measurement Science which the award decision is made. Nomination Leo Szilard Lectureship Award documents must include a statement from the nominator or from the candidate’s department MEDALS AND LECTURESHIPS David Adler Lectureship Award certifying the birth date of the candidate. Unsuc- Edward A. Bouchet Award cessful nominations can be carried over to the http://focus.aps.org John H. Dillon Medal next time that the prize is awarded provided that: DISSERTATION AWARDS a) the age requirement specified above is still Down-to-earth accounts of hot research from the Mitsuyoshi Tanaka met; b) the nominators update the dossiers of the Physical Review journals—ideal for college physics majors and re- Dissertation Award (June 30) candidates to include the elapsed two years. searchers interested in work outside their specialty. Write to Nicholas Metropolis Award (Sept. 15) Nomination Deadline: The deadline for [email protected] to get weekly e-mail updates. Dissertation Award in Nuclear Physics submission of nominations for the 2004 prize is: July 1, 20032003. Five (5) copies of nomina- tions and supporting documentation should Some Recent Focus Stories: NOMINATION DEADLINE be sent to: Laleña Lancaster, Attn: George E. Fermium Wins Heavyweight Title Valley Prize, American Physical Society, One IS JULY 1, 2003, UNLESS New measurements make fermium the heaviest and Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844, CALL NOMINATIONS FOR most elusive element to reveal its spectrum. OTHERWISE INDICATED. [email protected]

LIGO from page 1 ing to astronomers as a tool for toward each other, from sources like spherically that range to about 15 million peering through clouds of gas and a phenomenon asymmetric pulsars; and a sto- light years, a realm that include dust to see directly into the core of which would typi- chastic background source the nearby Andromeda galaxy. collapsing stars, deep into the heart cally produce a arising from gravity waves orig- Scientists anticipate that the of colliding galaxies, and back to strain in the LIGO inating from the Big Bang itself. new, improved instrument may the earliest moments of the apparatus as large LIGO Deputy Director Gary detect gravitational waves on a universe. as one part in 1021. Sanders of Caltech said that in daily basis, with signal strengths They were first predicted by That is, a passing three of these four categories, the capable of revealing details of the Albert Einstein in 1916 as a conse- gravity wave is LIGO experiments had set new waveforms to be read off and com- quence of the general theory of expected to change upper limits on the rate at which pared with theories of neutron relativity, but have yet to be Above is a diagram of LIGO Detector. A the distance gravitational waves were being stars, black holes, and other highly LIGO staff installing a mode-matching detected directly. In Einstein’s mirror and suspension into a vacuum between mirrors produced. relativistic objects. chamber during the construction of theory, alterations in the shape of LIGO. some 4 km apart by In the coalescing binary For more information on the concentrations of mass (or energy) about 10-18 meters, category, for example, LIGO has LIGO collaboration, see http:// have the effect of warping rating with other inter- a displacement established an upper limit of 164 www.ligo.caltech.edu. spacetime, thereby causing distor- ferometer devices 1000 times smaller per year from the Milky Way, a tions that propagate through the such as Germany’s than the size of a factor of 26 better than the pre- MULTIMEDIA universe at the speed of light. GEO and TAMA in proton. Such a vious limit. from page 1 Predictions about when the Japan. measurement rep- Erik Katsavounidis of MIT said at the 2001 March meeting, and first-ever direct detection of gravi- LIGO is essentially resents a physics that LIGO could establish an included, as well, lectures from the tational waves will take place a giant strain gauge. and engineering feat of great deli- upper limit on periodic signals 2001 April meeting and the “Op- depend on how frequently strong In the LIGO setup, laser light re- cacy. from bright pulsars with a sensitiv- portunities for Physicists in bursts of waves bathe the Earth — flects repeatedly in each of two In the first run, no gravitational ity of about one part in 10-22. Biology” meeting that took place something scientists do not yet perpendicularly oriented 4-km- wave events were observed, but Realistically, scientists did no in Boston last September. know. LIGO leads a new genera- long pipes. A passing gravity wave palpable knowledge was gained expect to detect gravitational But this does not mean APS is tion of detectors coming into will distort the local spacetime, as to what the sky should look like waves at LIGO’s present sensitivi- abandoning the idea. On the con- operation, promising sensitivities stretching very slightly one of the when viewed in the form of grav- ties. But Sheila Rowan (Stanford trary, Chodos says, “we hope to capable of detecting a variety of paths while shrinking the other, ity waves. So great is LIGO’s University and the University of enter a new phase in which we can catastrophic events that produce causing the interference pattern of sensitivity that it has been able to Glasgow) reported that the provide web lectures, either from gravitational waves. the two merging laser light beams set the best upper limit on the out- instrument’s second run is cur- our general meetings or from divi- With about 440 scientists, LIGO to shift in a characteristic way. put of gravitational waves from rently underway and expected to sional meetings, to our various is as large as the many particle phys- LIGO does not measure static three of the four prime source be ten times more sensitive than units. We hope they will look at the ics experiments underway at gravitational fields, such as those categories: bursts from sources the first run. While LIGO’s first lectures that are up and that they accelerators. LIGO has two control- from the sun or Earth itself. Rather, such as supernovas or gamma run was sensitive to gravity waves will like what they see. We’ll be ling partners—MIT and Caltech it strives to see ripples in spacetime bursters; chirps from inspiraling from the Milky Way, the second, happy to offer our services if they —and is located in Washington state radiated by such events as the objects such as coalescing binary with its tenfold improvement in want to have some of their lectures and Louisiana, and is also collabo- inspiral of two neutron stars stars; periodic signals, perhaps sensitivity, is expected to expand posted on the web.” 8 June 2003 NEWS The Back Page The Science of Harry Potter By Roger Highfield

I love the Harry Potter books. nature were more accessible. shows everyone’s location in makes. There are even mathemati- One of the characteristic fea- For me every enchantment, spell, Today scientific research has be- Hogwarts, seem so extraordinary cal and scientific reasons to believe tures of magical thought and curse and other act of sorcery in come deeply mathematical, and now that GPS technology is so that magic and mystery will prevail. religious faith that makes them so J.K. Rowling’s wonderful creation experiments often depend on spe- commonplace. Omnioculars seem Those who are leery of science different from science is that, once seems to throw down a challenge cialized equipment ranging from a bit ordinary when sports fans can should take heart from the grow- the initial premises are accepted, to modern science. Surely biolo- billion-dollar atom smashers to overdose on action replays. Why ing realization in the past century no subsequent discovery will nec- gists would be baffled by the gene reading machines. Merely amplify a voice with a cry of that, in one sense, science rests on essarily break the believer’s faith, phut-like blast of a Skrewt? Surely analyzing the results requires “Sonorus” when a public-address an article of faith, as does a belief in for he can often find a way to brain scientists would reject the thousands more dollars of com- system will suffice? And why wear the supernatural. The work of explain it away. When a magical idea of a hat that can read puter equipment. Most of us have specs, Harry, when you can use a Guedel, Turing and Chaitin shows spell does not work, it may say thoughts? The bizarre creations to take the scientists’ word for it laser beam to carry out corrective there is something profoundly magi- more about the person muttering that populate Harry’s world seem that these calculations are correct. surgery? cal lurking in the logical heart of it than the spell itself. Perhaps, like at odds with what we know about While scientists, like wizards While such an approach may mathematics, the language of sci- Ron Weasley’s attempts at making nature. Surely magic of this sort and witches, claim to have special appear to be the scientific equiva- ence. There are very real limits to a feather float, the magical words can’t be reconciled with the ratio- knowledge that others don’t have, lent of the Disillusionment Charm, scientific prediction. There are some were not pronounced properly. nal laws of science. they would be the first to admit which strips away magic, many fea- decidedly odd things lurking in the Some sociologists and philoso- After seeking out the truth as that much magic remains in the tures of Harry Potter’s world remain mathematical foundations of sci- phers argue that knowledge is diligently as the long pink tongue world. The scientific effort is rela- magical when one takes a scientific ence. And at the ever-expanding socially conditioned and culturally of a Puffskein searches for the wiz- tively young, and is still struggling view. Invisibility cloaks may use horizon of scientific knowledge, determined; there is no one single ard bogeys, I think it can. Harry’s to explain even many everyday clever stealth technology that is only new questions, puzzles and myster- truth about the external world. All magical world can help illuminate phenomena, whether turbulent now being developed by Muggles. ies will continue to emerge as surely beliefs are equally valid, and scien- rather than undermine science, patterns in a fast-flowing stream, Broomsticks could function by as existing mysteries are solved. tific truth, being one of them, is an casting a fascinating light on some or the language of the brain. switching off the tug of gravity, a feat Like magic, science is just illusion. Science does indeed have of the most interesting issues that Give this imperfect understand- that still seems incredible. Giants, another human endeavor. While its own beliefs, such as that the researchers struggle with today. ing of the way the world works, Lobalugs, Hinkypinks and the rest the final results of scientific investi- laws of physics are universal and Similarly, what we have learned imagine what would happen if a of the magical cast of characters gation may be cold, logical and that symmetry plays a profound from our scientific investigations Muggle scientist entered Harry’s could be the result of genetic modi- impersonal, the process is not. role in shaping elegant mathemati- in many fields can help explain world. Wearing a biohazard suit to fication, a science in its infancy. Being human, scientists themselves cal theories of the universe by many extraordinary and seemingly protect against Wizard wheezes, But science can actually make can be competitive, boastful, sly helping to simplify calculations. magical phenomena. bristling with monitoring equip- the magical world of Harry Potter and deceitful. Science is performed And scientists also believe that the There are some interesting con- ment, and no doubt armed with seem even more extraordinary by by people who, like any witch or behavior of the universe can be nections between science and one of those Muggle metal wands, laying bare the complexity of cre- wizard, can be prejudiced, make mapped onto mathematics. magic. They share a belief that what she takes a good look around ating a double-ended newt, the mistakes, and jump on passing Scientists also come up with is visible is merely a superficial real- Hogwarts. She would probably be quantum jumps that color the flash bandwagons. False theories, com- elaborations to explain away the ity, not the underlying “real reality.” struck by how some of what seems shortcomings of a dud theory, just They both have origins in a basic magical from Harry’s childlike view- as sorcerers conjure up excuses urge to make sense of a hostile point seems quite achievable by for the shortcomings of a dud world so that we may predict or ma- current Muggle technology. Think spell. But unlike other belief nipulate it to our own ends. Magic, of the Chocolate Frog card where systems, those of science are uni- like science, also gives many insights Dumbledore suddenly disappears, versal and culture-free because into the workings of the human the mugshot of Gilderoy Lockhart they are endlessly sifted by experi- brain. Both share some decidedly that winked cheerily, or the char- ment. Science will eventually oddball ideas, whether jumping acters that inhabit Hogwarts abandon any belief or “truth” if the toadstools or quantum jumps. paintings. evidence requires it. The technology created by Now conjure up the map used Science really is special. It today’s wizards and witches makes by Quidditch captain Oliver really is the best way of under- airplanes fly, computers under- Wood, marked with arrows that standing how the world works. stand speech, and sends a faltering wriggle like caterpillars to show Unlike technology or religion, it voice from one side of the planet game tactics. A researcher study- only originated once in history, in to another, and is sufficiently ing electronic displays would ancient Greece. Even if history inscrutable to most people that recognize that the card, photo- were rerun and it took a different these gizmos might as well be the graph, painting and map could course, the conclusions of science product of sorcery. The biochem- well have been printed on elec- would be the same: DNA would still istry in a home pregnancy test, the tronic paper, although he might be be the genetic material of inherit- movements of electrons around a puzzled by the interface used to ance, hydrogen would still be the silicon chip in a home computer update the moving images. How most common element in the uni- and even the instructions to oper- about spoken passwords? A rou- verse and star would still be ate a VCR can count as magic. tine task for voice recognition powered by nuclear fusion. A number of episodes in the technology. If Newton had not, as Harry Potter books suggest that There are many other phenom- Wordsworth put it, voyaged even the magically gifted characters ena in Harry’s world that seem a of a wand, or the mind-reading abili- placent conservatism and fraudu- through strange seas of thought acknowledge that Muggle scientists little less magical to those with a ties of the Sorting Hat. One can even lent claims can thrive within science, alone, someone else would have. and technologists do perform a kind scientific bent. Water-repellant find the inspiration for basilisks, as they do in any other human pur- If Marie Curie had not lived, we of magic. Mr. Arthur Weasley coatings for glass have done away giants and dragons in the bones of suit. still would have discovered the remarks how Muggles use consid- with the need for an Impervius long-extinct creatures. Science, does, however, at least radioactive elements polonium erable ingenuity to overcome their spell. The Howler, a red envelope There are also magical elements attempt to account for and do and radium. But if J.K Rowling had lack of magic —praise indeed from that contains a screaming missive, in J.K. Rowling’s books that are not away with subjectivity through not been born, we would never someone who works for the Minis- doesn’t seem too strange in the in themselves scientific, but that experiment, and not just one, but have known about Harry Potter. try of Magic. He is an avid collector wake of voice mail or audio files chime with scientific understanding. many. Confirmation is crucial. Al- That is why Master Potter means of plugs, batteries and anything else that can be sent over the Internet. Think of those freshly caught Cor- though many complain that so much to me. Science may be to do with “eckeltricity.” For Mr. Muggles can now walk through nish pixies that ran amok in science is too closed to novel ideas, special, but Harry, as a work of art, Weasley, even matches offer fun- walls, like ghosts, thanks to a tech- a Defense Against the Dark Arts there are countless examples of is more so. Harry Potter is unique. filled pyrotechnics that rival any nique that creates screens class. A thermodynamicist could how, when a stack of evidence wizard display. consisting of a smooth sheet of fog well see these mischievous electric mounts against established think- Roger Highfield is science editor of For most people, modern sci- onto which the image of bricks and blue creatures as a manifestation of ing, those views are abandoned or The Daily Telegraph in London, ence, like magic, requires a leap of mortar can be projected. The Finn- the second law of themodynamics modified. These examples range England and the author of The faith. In the days of Newton, when ish inventor Ismo Rakkolainen has (loosely interpreted, the law says from quantum theory, which made Physics of Christmas. The above is almost anyone could conduct prac- proposed many potential applica- that chaos rules). Einstein uncomfortable, to the idea adapted from his latest book, The Sci- tical experiments with prisms and tions of his fog walls, some of Superstition thrives on uncer- of infectious proteins (prions), ence of Harry Potter which appears cannonballs, science was more which are indeed magical. Nor tainty, and that is bound to remain which were once derided as bio- in paperback in June 2003. Used with open to amateurs and the laws of does the Marauder’s Map, which however many advances science logical heresy. permission.

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