Inside the Perimeter Is Published by Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
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the Perimeter spring - summer 2014 Waiter, There’s a Black Hole in My Condensed Matter ... A Eureka Moment at the Bistro A New Window to the Big Bang? Five Years of PSI-entific Excellence PI Kids ask: Why is Rubber Stretchy? Editor-in-Chief Natasha Waxman [email protected] Contributing Authors Graphic Design Emily Adlam Gabriela Secara Erin Bow Mike Brown Photographers & Artists Phil Froklage Liz Goheen Colin Hunter Colin Hunter Katharine Tuerke Jens Langen Natasha Waxman Scott Norsworthy Gabriela Secara Copy Editors Erin Bow Mike Brown Phil Froklage Colin Hunter Inside the Perimeter is published by Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. www.perimeterinstitute.ca On the Cover: To subscribe, email us at [email protected]. The black hole visualization inside the 31 Caroline Street North, soup bowl is courtesy of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada the European Southern p: 519.569.7600 Observatory (ESO). f: 519.569.7611 02 IN THIS ISSUE 04/ Particles 06/ Particle Physics Without Colliders: A Chat with Asimina Arvanitaki, Erin Bow 08/ Fellowship Fuels Big Ideas, Colin Hunter 09/ Krembil Foundation Invests in Pioneering Science, Colin Hunter 10/ Five Years of PSI-entific Excellence,Mike Brown 14/ Conference Reports 18/ A New Window to the Big Bang?, Colin Hunter 20/ Zooming Out, Erin Bow 22/ A New Spin on Long-range Forces, Erin Bow 24/ A Constellation of Stars 26/ A Eureka Moment at the Bistro, Katharine Tuerke, Colin Hunter 27/ Stranger than Science Fiction, Emily Adlam 28/ Waiter, There’s a Black Hole in my Condensed Matter, Erin Bow 30/ Carrying Forward a Brave Legacy, Colin Hunter 32/ Alien Worlds Under Our Feet: A Chat with Penelope Boston, Colin Hunter 34/ “The first rule is that you must not fool yourself,” Phil Froklage, Erin Bow 36/ Recent Perimeter Publications 41/ PI Kids are Asking: Why is rubber stretchy?, Erin Bow 42/ The Tangy Science of Lemon Tarts 03 particles Revisiting the Wish: Turok at TED A Star on the Rise In 2008, Perimeter Director Faculty member Dmitry Abanin Neil Turok received the recently earned a 2014 Sloan TED Prize and made a Research Fellowship. For more than wish: that the next Einstein a half-century, the Sloan Research would be African. Turok Fellowships have been awarded founded the African Institute annually to the “rising stars” of for Mathematical Sciences science in Canada and the United (AIMS) to help make States, helping establish them as this happen, providing the next generation of scientific leaders. The Sloan Foundation free graduate training in recognized 32-year-old Abanin for his work in understanding mathematics to Africa’s best new materials with unique quantum properties and in discerning young university students. At how those materials might be used in sophisticated future TED, he asked for the world’s help to make AIMS grow. At the technologies, such as quantum computers. 2014 TED All Stars event in Vancouver, Turok took to the stage again to report on AIMS’growth. It’s been impressive. There are now four AIMS centres – the original centre in South Africa, plus While Our Caps Are Off … new ones in Cameroon, Ghana, and Senegal – with more than We’d like to salute Faculty member Freddy Cachazo, who has 550 graduates between them. won a New Horizons in Physics Prize. The $100,000 award is given by the Fundamental Physics Prize Foundation (FPP) Turok was joined on stage by two such graduates: Kidist Zeleke to exceptionally promising young researchers. FPP awards and Martial Ndeffo. Zeleke, originally from a tiny Ethiopian recognize scientists who are “dedicated to advancing our village, now holds a postdoctoral position at the Center for knowledge of the universe at the deepest level.” Although new, Research in Scientific Computing at North Carolina State FPP awards are already considered highly prestigious – almost University. Ndeffo, from Cameroon, is now a staff scientist at a theorist-centric Nobel. Cachazo is Perimeter’s second New Yale University, using his training to model disease and help Horizons winner in as many years, following Davide Gaiotto develop cost-effective interventions to reduce their toll. in 2013. You can read more about Cachazo’s work in “The New Face of Feynman Diagrams,” featured in the Spring 2013 Mike Lazaridis Made Royal Society Fellow edition of Inside the Perimeter. For his visionary contributions to accelerating leading-edge research in fundamental physics, Perimeter’s founder, Mike Welcome Aboard Lazaridis, has been elected to the Royal Society of the UK. Perimeter welcomes Joanne Cuthbertson, LL.D., to its Board of Directors. Cuthbertson Known as the inventor of the smartphone, Lazaridis is brings a wealth of experience in higher recognized internationally as a visionary, innovator, and education to Perimeter’s governing engineer of extraordinary talent. Lazaridis also made the primary leadership. She was the first elected Chair philanthropic donations that established both Perimeter and the of EducationMatters (Calgary’s unique Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of public education trust), founder of SPEAK Waterloo. According to the Royal Society’s citation, “Together, (Support Public Education – Act for Kids), and a recipient of the these institutes have transformed physics in Canada. Perimeter Calgary Award (Education). She is Chancellor Emeritus of the Institute has already become an international beacon for University of Calgary, Co-chair of the Scholars’ Academy (which theoretical physics and the Institute for Quantum Computing is she established upon retirement), and the Dean’s Circle Chair widely regarded as the leading centre of quantum information in the Faculty of Environmental Design. Cuthbertson serves as science worldwide.” a Fellow of Glenbow Museum and as Director of the Alberta Bone & Joint Health Institute, and she is a Queen Elizabeth II High-Energy Drama Diamond Jubilee Medal recipient. A number of Perimeter researchers made their big screen debut this year, New Faces on the Leadership Council appearing in Particle Fever, an award- Menelaos “Michael” Serbinis, Harry Zarek, and Patrice Merrin winning documentary depicting the are the newest faces on Perimeter’s Leadership Council. The discovery of the Higgs boson through Council is a group of prominent individuals who volunteer their the lives of six scientists. Distinguished time, offer their guidance, and act as ambassadors for Perimeter Visiting Research Chairs Nima Arkani- to the business and philanthropic communities. Serbinis’ vision Hamed and Savas Dimopoulos are for an open, global reading service inspired him to found Kobo featured, and Faculty members Asimina Inc., where he serves as Vice Chairman. Zarek is President, Arvanitaki, Philip Schuster, Natalia Toro, CEO, and Founder of Compugen, which he built from a garage and Itay Yavin make “also starring” appearances. They have start-up to a $400 million company. He has a PhD in physics. promised not to let the fame go to their heads. Merrin is an international business executive and corporate 04 director with over a decade of experience in the mining and Understanding the Weirdness energy sectors. She is Co-Chair of the Emmy Noether Council at Perimeter Institute (see pages 30-31). of Quantum Mechanics In February 2014, Distinguished Visiting Jolly Good! Perimeter’s Educational Research Chair Leonard Susskind published his fourth popular science book, Quantum Resources Cross the Pond Mechanics: The Theoretical Minimum, which Perimeter’s interactive classroom kits – which bring hands-on also represents his second effort tied to his engagement with topics like dark matter, quantum reality, and popular Stanford University-based continuing the theory of relativity to high school classrooms – have already education course. With co-author and data engineer Art reached over two million students in Canada. Last year, they Friedman, Susskind dives into the strange world of quantum made an international debut through the Ministry of Education in mechanics, replete with the theory’s associated mathematics. Singapore. Now, a new partnership with the Institute of Physics, This isn’t exactly leisure reading, but Susskind and Friedman a not-for-profit scientific society, is bringing them to the United have given amateur scientists another tool to tackle one of Kingdom. Members of the IOP’s Physics Teacher Network can physics’ most famously difficult fields, covering principles such download the kits, each of which includes a full-length high- as entanglement and time dependence. definition video, teacher support materials, supplementary reading, customizable student activity worksheets, lab activities, Pourhasan Wins Brodie Prize and demonstrations. Graduate student Razieh Pourhasan has won the 2014 John Brodie Alex Landry Wins Luke Santi Award Memorial Award, given annually to a In February, Alex Landry, a first- PI graduate student who demonstrates year physics student at Mount creativity, breadth, and independence Allison University, received in research. Pourhasan certainly has Perimeter’s 2013 Luke Santi breadth down: she’s worked on higher Memorial Award. The award curvature gravity theories, abelian is presented annually to a dark matter, cosmic fluids, and holographic condensed matter, Canadian postsecondary student among other things. “She’s gotten into many areas of physics whose academic excellence and is willing to dig into interesting problems,” says Rob Myers, and passion for science is one of Pourhasan’s supervisors. “One of the things that impresses matched by a commitment to me is that if you look at her list of publications, you’ll find that extra-curricular activities and she has collaborators not just across Perimeter, but at UBC, the community involvement. A Bohr Institute, Princeton, Stanford… it’s a list that reflects a certain native of Moncton, New Brunswick, Landry’s physics fascination fearlessness. She’s willing to go talk to senior people and discuss is complemented by a deep interest in neuroscience. He has also interesting physics. Her curiosity and toughness will carry her far.” run five half-marathons and completed two medical research projects at The Moncton Hospital.