April 2010 Volume 19, No. 4 TM www.aps.org/publications/apsnews Task Force Blasts Teacher APS NEWS Preparation Efforts A PublicAtion of the AmericAn PhysicAl society • www.aps.org/PublicAtions/apsnews Page 6 Report Presents Strategies for Panel Prepares to Weigh APS Members’ Nuclear Arsenal Downsizing Input on Climate Change Commentary Preventing the spread of nuclear report’s conclusions. Late in February, APS mem- once the March 19 deadline has ity and tone.” In response to this weapons while reducing and secur- Davis says that although there bers received an email message passed. charge, an ad hoc subcommit- ing the country’s nuclear stockpile are no major technical obstacles to from President Curtis Callan, so- The series of events leading to tee of POPA, chaired by Duncan is achievable but likely to take the reduction of nuclear weapons, liciting their input on the issue of this situation began at the Coun- Moore, produced a commentary time, according to a new APS re- climate change. Members were cil meeting last May, when a mo- of several paragraphs on the state- port. The study, titled “Technical asked for input on a proposed tion was introduced by Councilor ment. That commentary has now Steps to Support Nuclear Downsiz- commentary to be added to the Robert Austin to substantially gone to the full APS membership ing,” was conducted by the Panel APS climate change statement, change the 2007 statement. The for their input. on Public Affairs to organize steps which was originally passed by motion was tabled, and then-Pres- In order to submit a comment, the United States could take to re- Council in November of 2007. ident Cherry Murray appointed an APS member must click on duce nuclear threats worldwide. As APS News goes to press, the an ad hoc committee, chaired by the URL provided in the email. The report was, in part, prompt- comment period is still open, and Daniel Kleppner, to advise her. The link is unique to the indi- ed by the upcoming Non-Prolifer- a subcommittee of the Panel on The Kleppner committee recom- vidual member, and insures that ation Treaty Review Conference. Public Affairs (POPA) are getting mended sending the statement to he or she can submit a comment Every five years, signatories to ready to analyze member input POPA to address issues of “clar- PANEL continued on page 7 the nuclear nonproliferation treaty meet to discuss ways to work to- ward the treaty’s goals of reducing Closing In on Dark Matter and High-Energy Cosmic Rays nuclear weapons around the world. The vacuum of outer space data from NASA’s Fermi Gam- protons collide with interstellar In addition, President Obama has is not quite as empty as one ma-ray Space Telescope, he has gases, they create short-lived pi- diplomatic and political issues, as stated that nuclear weapons re- ons that then decay into gamma well as secrecy concerns, are the might believe. Exotic particles been able to pinpoint supernovas duction is a goal of his adminis- rays. Funk says that the sources biggest impediments to the global fly through the interstellar void, as the likely cause of this inter- tration and is negotiating with the of cosmic rays would thus pro- reduction of nuclear weapons. continually bombarding Earth stellar radiation. Russians to set up a new bilateral duce large amounts of gamma “One of the dangers is always to from all directions. Physicists at The term “cosmic ray” is a weapons agreement to replace the rays. As the paths gamma rays project your own beliefs and per- the “April” Meeting presented misnomer, as the radiation de- Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, travel are unaffected by magnet- ceptions onto other countries,” Da- the latest discoveries made here tected on Earth is from high en- which expired in December 2009. ic fields, the sources of cosmic vis said, adding that it was impor- on Earth about these astronomi- ergy protons traveling though “I think the administration in- rays can be inferred by looking tant to incorporate “the attitudes of cal sojourners. space, not electromagnetic radia- tends investment and action on for signature gamma ray emit- countries that don’t currently have Cosmic Rays tion. Because these “rays” are in all those grounds, and what we’ve ters in space. Using the Fermi nuclear weapons but might want High energy protons careen fact charged particles, interstel- done is said ‘here’s a way to do Telescope, the team found such them” into any non-proliferation through the cosmos as so-called lar magnetic fields deflect them, this,’” said Jay Davis, a lead study strong gamma rays emanating framework. cosmic rays. Though first iden- making it difficult to pin down from supernova remnants, in- participant and founder of the De- The report breaks down the tified early in the 20th century, their origins. Funk says that the cluding Cassiopeia A, W51C fense Threat Reduction Agency overall aim of nuclear weapons re- their origins have largely re- key to finding their source lies in and W44. and former U.N. weapons inspec- duction into three main goals: veri- mained a mystery. Now, Stefan cosmic gamma rays. “Shock waves of these giant tor in Iraq. Davis, who is president fying the dismantling of nuclear Funk from the Kavli Institute for The force from exploding stellar explosions in our galaxy of the Hertz Foundation, added that weapons, maintaining the coun- Particle Astrophysics and Cos- supernovas accelerates protons are cosmic accelerators way he hopes that it also prompts more try’s capability and expertise, and mology thinks he might have to velocities near the speed of in-depth study by individuals with ensuring the peaceful use of fissile discovered their source. Using light. When these high-energy RAYS continued on page 4 access to classified information, materials. The study establishes after officials in the administra- tion get a chance to examine the DOWNSIZING continued on page 7 Prize and Award Recipients at APS "April" Meeting Visa Problem Keeps Iranian Physicist from Attending March Meeting By Michael Lucibella the US embassy in Bern where he Visa complications prevented a was asked if he had ever been ar- renowned Iranian physicist from rested. He responded that he never attending this year’s March Meet- had been, “Not even in Iran.” He ing in an apparent case of mistaken was then told that he had a US ar- identity. Though these kinds of rest record from 1983, despite the identity mix-ups are rare, long visa fact that he was in Iran for all of processing times are normal for that year and at that time the Ira- physicists traveling to the United nian government banned travel to States. the United States. He was told he Farhad Ardalan, a string theorist would not be allowed in the United at Sharif University of Technol- States and was asked to relinquish ogy in Iran who helped establish his green card. Ardalan refused to its first doctoral program, was de- turn it over and left the consulate. nied a travel visa by the United In a follow-up communication States consulate in Switzerland in he had with the embassy, he was January. Though the error was ul- told that State Department found Photo by James Tkatch timately corrected and his visa was a record of deportation proceed- cleared six days before the meet- ings against him in 1962; however At the "April" meeting in february, APs President curtis callan presented certificates to many of the 2010 APs Prize and Award recipients. the recipients (including one from the American institute of Physics) posed with President callan ing, the logistics to get the embassy he has no recollection of any visa after the ceremonial session. seated (l to r): moishe Pripstein, gustav-Adolf Voss (AiP), ronald K. thornton, Priscilla to stamp his passport in time made problems while he was an under- laws, calem r. hoffman, stephen g. brush, claus rolfs. standing (l to r): gerald s. guralnik, Abdul nayyar, t. w. it unfeasible for him to attend. graduate at Columbia. b. Kibble, Joseph birman, carl r. hagen, herman winick, herman b. white, David sokoloff, eugene w. beier, John The first sign of trouble came Peoples, Jr., curtis g. callan, tingjun yang, steven c. Pieper, robert b. wiringa, frans Pretorius, robert brout, Pervez when he applied for his J-1 visa at VISA continued on page 5 hoodbhoy, françois englert. 2 • April 2010 APS NEWS Members This Month in Physics History in the Media April 12, 1912: Victor Hess’s balloon flight during total “Physicists tend to be super from the presidency of the univer- eclipse to measure cosmic rays critical of strong conclusions, but sity, WBUR.org, March 1, 2010. Today we take it for granted that Earth’s atmo- off with height, and then began to rise rapidly. At the data on global warming now sphere is constantly bombarded by high-energy a height of several miles, the ionization was sev- indicate the conclusions are not “It would be better if DOE just cosmic rays originating far outside our solar sys- eral times greater than that at Earth’s surface. Hess nearly strong enough.” took this back.” tem. But such was not always the case. It was a concluded that “a radiation of very high penetrating Leon Lederman, Fermilab, Arjun Makhijani, Institute for 29-year-old Austrian physicist named Victor Hess power enters our atmosphere from above.” The Christian Science Monitor, Energy and Environmental Re- who officially “discovered” cosmic rays, and went Another clinching piece of evidence came dur- March 11, 2010. search, on drums of depleted ura- on to devote an illustrious scientific career to study- ing Hess’s ascent on April 12, 1912, during a near- nium waste slated to be transferred ing the effects of radiation on the human body.