DOCSLIB.ORG

October 2010 Volume 19, No

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

October 2010 Volume 19, No. 9 www.aps.org/publications/apsnews Physicist in the Running APS NEWS for Congress A PublicAtion of the AmericAn PhysicAl society • www.APs.org/PublicAtions/APsnews Page 5 Michael Turner Elected Next APS Vice-President Plans Afoot for Topical Group APS members have elected Turner received his PhD from Stan- Laboratory. Currently, Turner is the On the Physics of Climate Michael Turner, current Director ford University. There, he began to Chairman of the Board of the As- During the summer, APS re- two petitions differs in detail, with of the Kavli Institute for Cosmo- explore the connections between pen Center for Physics, a member ceived two independent requests the Callan proposal defining the logical Physics at The University of particle physics and astrophysics of the NRC’s Board on Physics and for the formation of a topical group scope as the physics of “climate and Chicago, as the Society’s next vice- and cosmology. In 1983, he and Astronomy and of the Governing focusing on the physics of climate. the environment”, and the Cohen President. As the newest member Edward W. (Rocky) Kolb created Board of the NAS, and a Director One was presented by APS Fellow petition emphasizing that the topical of the presidential line, Turner will the Theoretical Astrophysics group of the Fermi Research Alliance, Roger Cohen, who had privately group should not be concerned with become APS President in 2013. at Fermilab. Turner also is the re- which manages Fermilab for the circulated a petition to that effect “matters of policy, legislation and By a decisive margin, the voters cipient of an honorary doctorate Department of Energy. and obtained the 200 member sig- regulation”, both expressed a com- also adopted an amendment to the from Michigan State University. “I am pleased, honored and natures needed to bring it to Coun- mon goal (quoting the Cohen peti- APS constitution establishing four humbled,” Turner said, “The APS cil. The other came as an initiative tion) of providing “a mechanism for permanent international councilors. is the premier physics organization of Council itself, which at its April physicists … to learn about and ex- In addition, Pierre Meystre of the in the world, and I am honored that meeting had authorized APS Presi- change views on the science, and to University of Arizona and Haiyan my colleagues think me worthy of dent Curtis Callan to poll the mem- generally advance the physical un- Gao of Duke were elected as gen- this important position. That being bership on their support for such derstanding, of terrestrial climate.”. eral councilors. Lars Bildsten from said, I suddenly have the realization a group; an email petition sent by Since Council would certainly not the Kavli Institute for Theoretical that I have my work cut out for me him to the members of DCP, DBP, approve two separate topical groups Physics at the University of Cali- for the next four years.” DCOMP, DAMOP and DFD in ear- on this topic, the leadership decided fornia Santa Barbara was elected Turner added that he plans on ly August quickly received almost that it would be best to attempt to Chair-elect of the Nominating focusing on a variety of issues dur- 800 signatures. form a “joint” topical group, focus- Committee. ing his tenure. He said that he es- “It’s clear that there is a great ing just on the physics issues inher- Turner assumes office in Janu- pecially wanted to emphasize the deal of enthusiasm among the APS ent in climate science. According to ary of next year, replacing Robert importance of making physics an membership for the formation of a Callan “We wanted to address what Byer of Stanford, who moves up exciting and rewarding career for topical group on the physics of cli- is obviously the core concern of our to become President-elect. At the young people, and to ensure that mate,” said Kate Kirby, APS Execu- members. I also have no problem same time, current President-elect the APS continues to be a strong tive Officer. “There are a number of with leaving the policy issues for Barry Barish of Caltech will suc- advocate for basic research not opportunities for the physics com- another venue: the science is chal- ceed Curtis Callan of Princeton as Michael Turner just in physics, but for science as munity to make substantial contri- lenging enough, and worthy of our APS President. Callan will remain a whole. He also wants to look at butions to science in this area.” undivided attention.” on the APS Council and Executive From 2003 to 2006 Turner led ways to improve workforce diver- Although the language of the PLANS continued on page 4 Board as past-President. the Directorate for Mathemati- sity in the field of physics and con- Turner has been a faculty mem- cal and Physical Sciences at the tinue to emphasize the importance Member Input Needed for Historic Sites ber at the University of Chicago National Science Foundation, and of science to the public. The committee in charge of across the country, with two more since 1980. With training in gen- from 2006 to 2008 he was Chief “The scientific opportunities to- the APS Historic Sites initiative scheduled to be installed by the eral relativity and particle physics, Scientist of the Argonne National ELECTION continued on page 7 is reaching out to the member- end of this year. ship and asking for future site rec- “The basic idea is that phys- ommendations. In doing so, the ics is probably as important as Two Women Chosen as Blewett Scholarship Recipients members of the committee hope anything that has ever happened APS recently announced this von Humboldt Foundation Fellow- there was a clear path for her to to broaden their pool of potential in American history, and people year’s recipients of the M. Hil- ship for her postdoctoral research. follow with her career, but the sites to include places they may really don’t understand it,” said dred Blewett scholarship. Chosen While at a conference in Eu- move proved to be a serious inter- not have otherwise considered. committee chair Ben Bederson, by the Committee on the Status rope, Drichko met Peter Armit- ruption. The initiative, started in 2005, adding the aim was also, “to ed- of Women in Physics, the two age, an assistant professor at Johns “You are changing your life aims to raise public awareness ucate the public of what physics are Natalia Drichko at The Johns Hopkins University. The two start- completely in every possible kind of the importance of physics by has accomplished in America and Hopkins University and Marija ed traveling together and soon fell of way,” Drichko said, “The big commemorating important peo- to give physicists pride in what Nikolic-Jaric at the University of in love. thing was kind of just to find a way ple and landmarks. Already they they have accomplished.” Manitoba. to adjust to everything.” have dedicated plaques at 19 sites SITES continued on page 3 The scholarship is dedicated to A year and a half ago, Drichko helping women who are returning gave birth to her daughter. Even Apker Finalists Meet in Washington to research careers that had been after moving and while caring for interrupted for family or other rea- her child, she continued working sons. The scholarship is a one-year to finish up the projects she had grant, which can be renewed, of up started in Germany. However, tak- to $45,000 for use towards a wide ing care of her new family mem- range of necessities, including ber meant Drichko would have equipment procurement, stipend, to take time away from research. travel, tuition, and dependent care. The whole time she knew that she This is the sixth year the scholar- would return to research; it was al- ship has been awarded. ways just a question of when, not After taking time off to move Natalia Drichko if. half-way around the world and She was fortunate that The start a family, Natalia Drichko has “It’s kind of a romantic story in Johns Hopkins University had a returned to condensed matter re- a way. I was still living in Europe large condensed matter depart- search. and he was living here,” Drichko ment and she would be able to She is originally from Rus- said. carry on research similar to what sia and earned her MSc from St. The two decided to get married she had been doing in Europe. She Photo by Shelly Johnston Petersburg State University in and move to the United States. found the faculty at the University Each year, APS selects two recipients of the Apker Award for outstanding re- 1996 and her PhD from the Ioffe It was a hard decision at first for friendly and helpful, but starting search by an undergraduate. to determine the recipients, a number of finalists are chosen, and then interviewed by the selection committee. this year, the Physico-Technical Institute, also Drichko to leave her research and up from scratch was a huge ef- seven finalists met with the committee in washington on september 3. they in St. Petersburg, in 2002. She move to the other side of the At- fort, and she needed funding to are, left to right: chia wei hsu (wesleyan university); martin blood-forsythe was studying organic conductors lantic. She had only been to the begin. She found information for (haverford college); erik Petigura (uc, berkeley); benjamin good (swarth- and superconductors and traveling United States twice before, once the Blewett scholarship online and more college); Patrick gallagher (stanford university); william throwe (mit); and christopher chudzicki (williams college).
Recommended publications
  • 2007-2008 Physics at Brown Newsletter

    2007-2008 Physics at Brown Newsletter

    Physics at Brown NEWS FOR ALUM N I an D FRIE N DS 2007 ISSUE GREETINGS FROM THE CHAIR - SP RING 2008 elcome to another issue of the Brown Physics newsletter. the rank of Associate Professor with tenure. We also report on WI wrote three years ago, during my first term as the some notable faculty achievements for the past year. department chair--with a committed faculty, dedicated staff, enthusiastic students, supportive administration, and engaged e continue the tradition of highlighting the research of alumni and friends--that the future of physics at Brown looked Wour 2007 Galkin Foundation Fellow on page 2. Also bright. Many things have taken place since then. Here we the effort in enriching our physics instruction continues. Three highlight some of the activities of the past year. new courses are offered this year and proposals for three new physics concentrations are under way. Other noteworthy 007 marked the 50th anniversary of the BCS Theory activities include WiSE, Poster Session, UTRA Awards, 2of Superconductivity. We honored Prof. Leon Resource Center, etc. In addition, community outreach Cooper with a two-day symposium on April remains a priority for the Department with a weekly 12-13. A brief description of this event is open house at Ladd and a greatly expanded five- provided on page 3. year NSF supported GK-12 program. e also report on the establishment hanks to a generous gift from his family, an Wof the Institute for Molecular and TAnthony Houghton Prize will be awarded Nanoscale Innovation, which represents an annually for the best theoretical thesis.
  • J. Robert Schrieffer Strange Quantum Numbers in Condensed Matter

    J. Robert Schrieffer Strange Quantum Numbers in Condensed Matter

    Wednesday, May 1, 2002 3:00 pm APS Auditorium, Building 402, Argonne National Laboratory APS Colloquium home J. Robert Schrieffer Nobel Laureate National High Magnetic Field Laboratory Florida State University, Tallahassee [email protected] http://www.physics.fsu.edu/research/NHMFL.htm Strange Quantum Numbers in Condensed Matter Physics The origin of peculiar quantum numbers in condensed matter physics will be reviewed. The source of spin-charge separation and fractional charge in conducting polymers has to do with solitons in broken symmetry states. For superconductors with an energy gap, which is odd under time reversal, reverse spin-orbital angular momentum pairing occurs. In the fractional quantum Hall effect, quasi particles of fractional charge occur. In superfluid helium 3, a one-way branch of excitations exists if a domain wall occurs in the system. Many of these phenomena occur due to vacuum flow of particles without crossing the excitation of the energy gap. John Robert Schrieffer received his bachelor's degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1953 and his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 1957. In addition, he holds honorary Doctor of Science degrees from universities in Germany, Switzerland, and Israel, and from the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Cincinnati, and the University of Alabama. Since 1992, Dr. Schrieffer has been a professor of Physics at Florida State University and the University of Florida and the Chief Scientist of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. He also holds the FSU Eminent Scholar Chair in Physics. Before moving to Florida in 1991, he served as director for the Institute for Theoretical Physics from 1984-1989 and was the Chancellor's Professor at the University of California in Santa Barbara from 1984-1991.
  • July 2007 (Volume 16, Number 7) Entire Issue

    July 2007 (Volume 16, Number 7) Entire Issue

    July 2007 Volume 16, No. 7 www.aps.org/publications/apsnews APS NEWS Election Preview A PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY • WWW.apS.ORG/PUBLICATIONS/apSNEWS Pages 6-7 Executive Board Resolution Thanks US physics team trains for competition in Iran By Katherine McAlpine Legislators for Support of Science Twenty-four high school stu- The APS Executive Board bill authorizes nearly $60 billion dents comprising the US Phys- has passed a resolution thanking for various programs for FY 2008 ics Olympiad team vied for five House and Senate policy makers through FY 2011. The bill would places on the traveling team at for recently-passed legislation double the NSF budget over five the University of Maryland from that strengthens the science, math years and double the DOE Office May 22nd to June 1st. Those and engineering activities of our of Science budget over 10 years. chosen to travel will compete nation. The House of Representatives this month against teams from “Sustaining and improving the passed five separate authorization all over the world at Isfahan standard of living of American bills, which were then combined University of Technology in Is- citizens, achieving energy security into one bill, H.R. 2272, the 21st fahan, Iran. and environmental sustainability, Century Competitiveness Act of Over 3,100 US Physics Team providing the jobs of tomorrow 2007. The bill would put the NSF hopefuls took the preliminary and defending our nation against budget and the NIST Scientific examination in January, and 200 aggressors all require federal in- and Technical Research and Ser- were given a second exam in vestments in science education vices budget on track to double in March to determine the top 24 and research… The Board con- 10 years.
  • The Struggle for Quantum Theory 47 5.1Aliensignals

    The Struggle for Quantum Theory 47 5.1Aliensignals

    Fundamental Forces of Nature The Story of Gauge Fields This page intentionally left blank Fundamental Forces of Nature The Story of Gauge Fields Kerson Huang Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA World Scientific N E W J E R S E Y • L O N D O N • S I N G A P O R E • B E I J I N G • S H A N G H A I • H O N G K O N G • TA I P E I • C H E N N A I Published by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224 USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601 UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. FUNDAMENTAL FORCES OF NATURE The Story of Gauge Fields Copyright © 2007 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the Publisher. For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher. ISBN-13 978-981-270-644-7 ISBN-10 981-270-644-5 ISBN-13 978-981-270-645-4 (pbk) ISBN-10 981-270-645-3 (pbk) Printed in Singapore.
  • Advanced Information on the Nobel Prize in Physics, 5 October 2004

    Advanced Information on the Nobel Prize in Physics, 5 October 2004

    Advanced information on the Nobel Prize in Physics, 5 October 2004 Information Department, P.O. Box 50005, SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden Phone: +46 8 673 95 00, Fax: +46 8 15 56 70, E-mail: [email protected], Website: www.kva.se Asymptotic Freedom and Quantum ChromoDynamics: the Key to the Understanding of the Strong Nuclear Forces The Basic Forces in Nature We know of two fundamental forces on the macroscopic scale that we experience in daily life: the gravitational force that binds our solar system together and keeps us on earth, and the electromagnetic force between electrically charged objects. Both are mediated over a distance and the force is proportional to the inverse square of the distance between the objects. Isaac Newton described the gravitational force in his Principia in 1687, and in 1915 Albert Einstein (Nobel Prize, 1921 for the photoelectric effect) presented his General Theory of Relativity for the gravitational force, which generalized Newton’s theory. Einstein’s theory is perhaps the greatest achievement in the history of science and the most celebrated one. The laws for the electromagnetic force were formulated by James Clark Maxwell in 1873, also a great leap forward in human endeavour. With the advent of quantum mechanics in the first decades of the 20th century it was realized that the electromagnetic field, including light, is quantized and can be seen as a stream of particles, photons. In this picture, the electromagnetic force can be thought of as a bombardment of photons, as when one object is thrown to another to transmit a force.
  • James Rainwater 1 9 1 7 — 1 9 8 6

    James Rainwater 1 9 1 7 — 1 9 8 6

    NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES JAMES RAINWATER 1 9 1 7 — 1 9 8 6 A Biographical Memoir by VAL L. FITCH Any opinions expressed in this memoir are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Academy of Sciences. Biographical Memoir COPYRIGHT 2009 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES WASHINGTON, D.C. Photograph Courtesy AIP Emilio Segré Archives. JAMES RAINWATER December 9, 1917–May 31, 1986 BY VAL L . FITCH . I. RABI, THE COLUMBIA University physics department’s lead- Iing researcher, chairman, and then after his retirement, wise old man, disliked the notion that physicists had divided themselves into two groups: experimental and theoretical. “There is only Physics,” he said, “with a capital P.” His strong feeling always manifested itself in his insistence that those who did experimental theses have a rigorous grounding in theoretical subjects and that theorists know something about experiment. He had two outstanding examples of such people in the department. One was Willis Lamb, who had done his thesis with Robert Oppenheimer and after a series of notable theoretical papers had won the Nobel Prize for an experiment. Rabi never forgave Lamb for leaving Columbia and going back to his native California. And then there was Jim Rainwater, the subject of this memoir, who had done his thesis with John Dunning, a consummate experimental- ist, and had gone on to win the Nobel Prize for theoretical work. Rainwater spent his entire career at Columbia, first as a graduate student and then as a member of the faculty. He enjoyed Rabi’s highest accolades.
  • November 2011 Volume 20, No.10 TM

    November 2011 Volume 20, No.10 TM

    November 2011 Volume 20, No.10 TM www.aps.org/publications/apsnews APS NEWS Focus on Northwest Section A PublicAtion of the AmericAn PhysicAl society • www.APs.org/PublicAtions/APsnews/index.cfm see page 6 Physical Review X Out of the Gate APS Helps Deconstruct the iPad on Capitol Hill The premier issue of Physical and exploring a physical model that By Mary Catherine Adams Review X, the new APS open ac- incorporates natural human-mobil- Congressional staffers gath- cess journal, hit the virtual news- ity patterns, challenges established ered at the Rayburn House Office stands on September 30th. PRX’s models for the spread of epidemics, Building in Washington on Sept. first twelve papers, in what will be and has, since its publication, re- 21 to learn about how basic sci- a quarterly journal, span a broad ceived attention in several national ence research was integral to the spectrum of fields and are all of media. Another paper comes from development of the iPad–a tool high scientific quality. Unlike other the area of electronic-devices re- many on Capitol Hill use daily. APS journals, which are mainly search, reporting the fabrication of In an effort to persuade Con- supported by subscription revenue, new nanowire-based electronic di- gress to invest in scientific re- PRX is supported by an article-pro- odes and demonstrating their ultra- search, the APS, participating cessing charge of $1500 for papers fast operating speeds and control- with the Task Force on American of less than 20 standard Physical lability. A third paper, also covered Innovation (TFAI) and several Review pages, with small incre- with a Synopsis in Physics, brings other organizations, hosted an mental charges for longer papers.
  • INFORMATION– CONSCIOUSNESS– REALITY How a New Understanding of the Universe Can Help Answer Age-Old Questions of Existence the FRONTIERS COLLECTION

    INFORMATION– CONSCIOUSNESS– REALITY How a New Understanding of the Universe Can Help Answer Age-Old Questions of Existence the FRONTIERS COLLECTION

    THE FRONTIERS COLLECTION James B. Glattfelder INFORMATION– CONSCIOUSNESS– REALITY How a New Understanding of the Universe Can Help Answer Age-Old Questions of Existence THE FRONTIERS COLLECTION Series editors Avshalom C. Elitzur, Iyar, Israel Institute of Advanced Research, Rehovot, Israel Zeeya Merali, Foundational Questions Institute, Decatur, GA, USA Thanu Padmanabhan, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune, India Maximilian Schlosshauer, Department of Physics, University of Portland, Portland, OR, USA Mark P. Silverman, Department of Physics, Trinity College, Hartford, CT, USA Jack A. Tuszynski, Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada Rüdiger Vaas, Redaktion Astronomie, Physik, bild der wissenschaft, Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Germany THE FRONTIERS COLLECTION The books in this collection are devoted to challenging and open problems at the forefront of modern science and scholarship, including related philosophical debates. In contrast to typical research monographs, however, they strive to present their topics in a manner accessible also to scientifically literate non-specialists wishing to gain insight into the deeper implications and fascinating questions involved. Taken as a whole, the series reflects the need for a fundamental and interdisciplinary approach to modern science and research. Furthermore, it is intended to encourage active academics in all fields to ponder over important and perhaps controversial issues beyond their own speciality. Extending from quantum physics and relativity to entropy, conscious- ness, language and complex systems—the Frontiers Collection will inspire readers to push back the frontiers of their own knowledge. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/5342 For a full list of published titles, please see back of book or springer.com/series/5342 James B.
  • Physics Illinois News

    Physics Illinois News

    PHYSICS ILLINOIS NEWS THE DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN • 2003 NUMBER 2 Tony Leggett Named 2003 Nobel Laureate in Physics directions for research in the quantum transmitted this information to several When Leggett came to Illinois physics of macroscopic systems and theorists, including Leggett. According as the John D. and Catherine T. the use of condensed matter systems to Richardson, Leggett came up with MacArthur Chair in 1983, he was to test the foundations of quantum the explanation in less than three already widely recognized as a world mechanics. He is a master at under- weeks, working out the complete leader in the theory of low-tempera- standing how the most fundamental theory from their data. ture physics. According to Ralph laws of nature—the weird world of That discovery was indeed worthy Simmons, professor emeritus and head quantum mechanics that tells us how of a Nobel Prize, and in 1996, the of the Department of Physics at that atoms work—apply to the everyday award was given to the original three time, the MacArthur Foundation had world we live in. He has added experimenters. In the announcement settled on 10 universities that were to immeasurably to the rich intellectual of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physics, be given endowments for professor- development of condensed matter Leggett was cited for assisting the prize ships. The University of Illinois was physics at the University of Illinois, winners in their interpretation of the one of only two public universities and he has unlocked the door to experiments that led to a breakthrough on the list.
  • Twenty Five Years of Asymptotic Freedom

    Twenty Five Years of Asymptotic Freedom

    TWENTY FIVE YEARS OF ASYMPTOTIC FREEDOM1 David J. Gross Institute For Theoretical Physics, UCSB Santa Barbara, California, USA e-mail: [email protected] Abstract On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Asymptotic Freedom, celebrated at the QCD Euorconference 98 on Quantum Chrodynamics, Montpellier, July 1998, I described the discovery of Asymptotic Freedom and the emergence of QCD. 1 INTRODUCTION Science progresses in a much more muddled fashion than is often pictured in history books. This is especially true of theoretical physics, partly because history is written by the victorious. Con- sequently, historians of science often ignore the many alternate paths that people wandered down, the many false clues they followed, the many misconceptions they had. These alternate points of view are less clearly developed than the final theories, harder to understand and easier to forget, especially as these are viewed years later, when it all really does make sense. Thus reading history one rarely gets the feeling of the true nature of scientific development, in which the element of farce is as great as the element of triumph. arXiv:hep-th/9809060v1 10 Sep 1998 The emergence of QCD is a wonderful example of the evolution from farce to triumph. During a very short period, a transition occurred from experimental discovery and theoretical confusion to theoretical triumph and experimental confirmation. In trying to relate this story, one must be wary of the danger of the personal bias that occurs as one looks back in time. It is not totally possible to avoid this. Inevitably, one is fairer to oneself than to others, but one can try.
  • John Robert Schrieffer Daniel Arovas, Greg Boebinger, and Nick Bonesteel

    John Robert Schrieffer Daniel Arovas, Greg Boebinger, and Nick Bonesteel

    John Robert Schrieffer Daniel Arovas, Greg Boebinger, and Nick Bonesteel Citation: Physics Today 73, 1, 63 (2020); doi: 10.1063/PT.3.4395 View online: https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.4395 View Table of Contents: https://physicstoday.scitation.org/toc/pto/73/1 Published by the American Institute of Physics ARTICLES YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN Gaurang Bhaskar Yodh Physics Today 73, 64 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.4396 Johannes Kepler’s pursuit of harmony Physics Today 73, 36 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.4388 Rare earths in a nutshell Physics Today 73, 66 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.4397 The sounds around us Physics Today 73, 28 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.4387 Charles Kittel Physics Today 72, 73 (2019); https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.4326 The usefulness of GRE scores Physics Today 73, 10 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.4376 OBITUARIES made when Cooper solved the problem John Robert Schrieffer of two electrons above a quiescent Fermi towering figure in theoretical con- sea. He took into account the effective at- densed-matter physics, John Robert tractive interaction mediated by phonons, ASchrieffer died on 27 July 2019 in Tal- which resulted in a bound state of elec- lahassee, Florida. He is best known for trons. Schrieffer’s focus crystallized on his crucial contributions to the theory of finding a many-electron theory that superconductivity, a problem that since could incorporate Cooper’s bound pairs, its discovery in 1911 had vexed physi- which, though not quite bosons, some- cists searching for a microscopic expla- how needed to be condensed.
  • Sam Treiman Was Born in Chicago to a First-Generation Immigrant Family

    Sam Treiman Was Born in Chicago to a First-Generation Immigrant Family

    NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES SAM BARD TREIMAN 1925–1999 A Biographical Memoir by STEPHEN L. ADLER Any opinions expressed in this memoir are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Academy of Sciences. Biographical Memoirs, VOLUME 80 PUBLISHED 2001 BY THE NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS WASHINGTON, D.C. Courtesy of Robert P. Matthews SAM BARD TREIMAN May 27, 1925–November 30, 1999 BY STEPHEN L. ADLER AM BARD TREIMAN WAS a major force in particle physics S during the formative period of the current Standard Model, both through his own research and through the training of graduate students. Starting initially in cosmic ray physics, Treiman soon shifted his interests to the new particles being discovered in cosmic ray experiments. He evolved a research style of working closely with experimen- talists, and many of his papers are exemplars of particle phenomenology. By the mid-1950s Treiman had acquired a lifelong interest in the weak interactions. He would preach to his students that “the place to learn about the strong interactions is through the weak and electromagnetic inter- actions; the problem is half as complicated.’’ The history of the subsequent development of the Standard Model showed this philosophy to be prophetic. After the discovery of parity violation in weak interactions, Treiman in collaboration with J. David Jackson and Henry Wyld (1957) worked out the definitive formula for allowed beta decays, taking into account the possible violation of time reversal symmetry, as well as parity. Shortly afterwards Treiman embarked with Marvin Goldberger on a dispersion relations analysis (1958) of pion and nucleon beta decay, a 3 4 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS major outcome of which was the famed Goldberger-Treiman relation for the charged pion decay amplitude.