the ONLINE PHOTONNEWSLETTER FROM UMD DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS 2012‐2013
Ryan K Morris/Na onal Science & Technology Medals Founda on this issue AAAS Fellows P.2 Extraordinary Year for Gates Graduate Awards P.3 Staff Awards & Luncheon P.4 In January, President Obama named Sylvester James Gates, Jr. as one of this New Faces P.5 year's recipients of the Na onal Medal of Science. The Na onal Medal of Science and the Na onal Medal of Technology and Innova on are the highest honors be‐ stowed by the United States Government upon scien sts, engineers and inven‐ Gates on C‐SPAN’s Q & A tors. The honor was one of four in an extraordinary year for Gates.
Most recently, Gates was awarded the 2013 Mendel Medal by Villanova Universi‐ Jim Gates discusses science educa on, string theory, working ty. The honor recognizes pioneering scien sts who have demonstrated, by their with the President almost becom‐ lives and their standing before the world as scien sts, that there is no intrinsic ing an astronaut and being mistak‐ conflict between science and religion. Addi onally, Gates was one of 84 U.S. re‐ en for Morgan Freeman on C‐ searchers and 21 foreign associates elected to the Na onal Academy of Science. SPAN’s Q & A The interview Elec on to the academy is considered one of the highest honors that can be ac‐ transcript is available on the Q & A website or watch the video at corded a U.S. scien st or engineer. And in January he was named a University Sys‐ tem of Maryland (USM) Regents Professor, the System's most prominent faculty h p://www.c‐spanvideo.org/ recogni on. con nued on page 4... program/JimGa
1 NEWS Howard Milchberg was named a 2013 Jon McKinney's ar cle, Alignment of Mag‐ fellow of the Op cal Society of America ne zed Accre on Disks and Rela vis c Jets Four UMD Physicists (OSA). Fellows are selected based on their with Spinning Black Holes (with Alexander overall impact on op cs. Among Tchekhovskoy and Roger D. Blandford) was Named AAAS Fellow Milchberg’s research interests are the published in Science Express. Four UMD physicists have been interac ons of ma er with ultrashort Ted Jacobson and Raman Sundrum have named Fellows of the American pulses of high‐energy solid‐state lasers. been named Dis nguished Visi ng Re‐ Associa on for the Advancement Dan Lathrop was awarded the APS 2012 search Chairs at the Perimeter Ins tute for of Science (AAAS). Elec on as a Fellow is an honor bestowed upon Stanley Corrsin Award "for his striking ob‐ Theore cal Physics in Waterloo, Ontario. AAAS members by their peers serva ons of flow in a quantum fluid, in‐ A symposium was held for Roald Sagdeev cluding detec on of counter‐flow that con‐ Drew Baden ‐ For dis nguished to honor the Dis nguished University contribu ons to the field of experi‐ firmed the two‐fluid picture of quantum Professor on his 80th birthday. Among the mental par cle physics, par cularly fluid, observa on and characteriza on of goings‐on was an interview with NPR’s for ideas contribu ng to the dis‐ reconnec ons of quan zed vor ces, and Danny Zwerdling, The Day I Said ‘Nyet’ to covery of the top quark and to the discovery of an inverse‐cube tail in the searches for new par cles. Gorbachev. velocity distribu on of superfluid turbu‐ Michael Fuhrer ‐ For experimental lence." Alessandra Buonanno and Jayanth studies of the fundamental Banavar are among the new Outstanding electronic transport proper es of O.W. Greenberg was appointed a member Referees selected by the editors of the APS nanostructured carbon materials. of the Adjunct Faculty at the Rockefeller journals. The highly selec ve Outstanding University in Manha an. Ted Jacobson ‐ For contribu ons to Referee program recognizes scien sts who quantum gravity, black hole Victor Galitski was named a Simons have been excep onally helpful in thermodynamics, and the formula‐ Inves gator. The Simons Founda on assessing manuscripts for publica on in on and phenomenology of Lorentz‐viola ng modifica ons of provides a stable base of support for the APS journals. par cle and gravita onal physics. outstanding scien sts, enabling them to Rabi Mohapatra's paper, On rela ng the undertake long‐term study of fundamental Chris Monroe ‐ For the develop‐ genesis of cosmic baryons and dark ma er, ment and demonstra on of novel ques ons. On July 29, the Wall Street was selected by New Journal of Physics techniques for quantum infor‐ Journal men oned Galitski in a follow‐up editors to be included in the Highlights of ma on processing and quantum ar cle on the New York Times Simmons 2012 collec on. simula on with trapped ions. Inves gator Awards announcement. Other UMD Fellows named were Steven Anlage gave several invited talks at Postdocs Samuel Gralla and Alexandre Millard Alexander, Marco Columbi‐ interna onal conferences last Fall: Le Tiec’s study of the temperature of a ni, William Fagan, Cynthia Moss, Aravind Srinivasan and Raymond black hole was cited in the New Scien st. Understanding Electromagne c Proper es St. Leger. New Fellows were of Complex Metallic Enclosures by Means Doojin Kim has received the pres gious presented with an official of Wave Chaos, invited talk at the Innova‐ cer ficate and a gold and blue LHC‐theory ini a ve (LHC‐TI) postdoctoral ons in Wave Modeling Conference, Uni‐ (represen ng science and fellowship, a year a er receiving the versity of No ngham, United Kingdom, 4 engineering, respec vely) rose e graduate version of the award. Kim is September, 2012. pin on Saturday, 16 February, at working toward his PhD under Kaustubh the AAAS Fellows Forum during the Agashe, and will join the University of Fading Sta s cs in Communica ons – A 2013 AAAS Annual Mee ng in Florida in the fall. Random Matrix Approach, Wave Chaos Boston, Mass. from the Micro‐ to the Macroscale, Inter‐
2 na onal Conference, Max Planck Ins tute The European Physical Society (EPS) High American Physical Society to write a review for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dres‐ Energy Physics Division will award the 2013 on the book "The Physics of Wall Street: A den, Germany, 22 October, 2012. High Energy Par cle Physics Prize to the Brief History of Predic ng the Unpredicta‐ ATLAS and CMS collabora ons at the Large ble" by James Owen Weatherall. The book Johnpierre Paglione was one of 65 scien‐ Hadron Collider (LHC), "for the discovery of review was published in the August 2013 sts from across the na on selected to a Higgs boson, as predicted by the Brout‐ issue of Physics Today. Addi onally, receive a pres gious U.S. Department of Englert‐Higgs mechanism," and to Micahel Yakovenko gave an invited talk at the Asia Energy Early Career Award for "Non‐ Della Negra, Peter Jenni and Tejinder Vird‐ Pacific Econophysics Conference on 30 July Centrosymmetric Topological Supercon‐ ee, "for their pioneering and outstanding 2013 at the Asia Pacific Center for duc vity." The award supports the devel‐ leadership roles in the making of the ATLAS Theore cal Physics in Pohang. It was a sat‐ opment of individual research programs of and CMS experiments.” Maryland re‐ ellite mee ng to the major conference on outstanding scien sts early in their careers searchers, including Drew Baden, Sarah sta s cal physics STATPHYS 25 in Seoul. and s mulates research careers in the dis‐ Eno, Nick Hadley and Andris Skuja, have ciplines supported by the DOE Office of Ted Jacobson gave several talks this played a strong role in the CMS (Compact Science. summer, tled Plasma without plasma: Muon Solenoid) collabora on. They have exact force‐free magnetospheres without The American Physical Society (APS) has made significant contribu ons to nearly symmetry. He a ended two mee ngs and awarded Phillip Sprangle the 2013 James every aspect of CMS from the construc on also a two‐week workshop, en tled Black Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics for and opera on of the detector to physics Holes: Complementarity, Fuzz, or Fire?, at " pioneering contribu ons to the physics of analysis. the KITP in August. high intensity laser interac ons with plas‐ Victor Yakovenko was invited by the edi‐ mas, and to the development of plasma tors of Physics Today magazine of the accelerators, free‐electron lasers, gyro‐ trons and high current electron accelera‐ tors." In Memoriam Michael Fisher was listed among Aneki Rankings and Record’s Top Living Physi‐ Robert "Bob" Dahms Jr., died June 23 of a heart a ack. He cists. According to the ar cle, his claim to is survived by his beloved wife fame was his theory of phase transi ons, of 41 and 1/2 years, Anita; his FKT algorithm. sons, Robert Aaron Dahms and Jon Dahms; daughter, Dan Lathrop was featured in an episode of Rachel Swingler; brother, the Weather Channel series, Secrets of the Richard Dahms; sister, Earth. The magne c shield episode aired Rebecca Dahms‐Lioi and four on June 27th. grandchildren.
Associate Professor Min Ouyang has re‐ ceived one of the five Scialog Awards spon‐ On July 11, the department sored by the Research Corpora on for Sci‐ held an ice cream social in ence Advancement The Scialog (short for honor of our colleague and dear friend. Bob's favorite science dialog) awards support innova ve UMD treat was ice cream research in the area of solar energy con‐ from the Dairy. version. K. Sickles
3 NEWS Physics graduate student Sergii Per‐ encourages students to pursue advanced shoguba, advised by Victor Yakovenko, study and careers in the sciences, GRADUATE STUDENT has been awarded an Ann G. Wylie Disser‐ engineering and mathema cs. Randall is a AWARDS ta on Fellowship. Pershoguba works in double major in physics and mathema cs theore cal condensed ma er physics. and plans to pursue a doctorate in At the Graduate Awards on theore cal physics. Mandell plans to pur‐ December 4, 2012, Sarah Eno, The CMNS Board of Visitors selected sue a Ph.D. in physics. Associate Chair for Graduate Rashmish Mishra, a graduate student in Educa on, announced the following the Maryland Center for Theore cal Physics undergraduate student Sebas an fellowships and cita ons: Physics, to receive the 2013 Outstanding Serrano received a UMD Phillip Merrill Qiuzi Li: The Ruth Davis Fellowship Teaching Assistant Award. Presiden al Scholarship, and cited Chris Fund for Mathema cs and Physics
Lobb’s “genuine passion for physics and for William McConville: The Leon A. Kaji Rajibul Islam was awarded a Dis n‐ effec ve teaching.” Serrano has also been Herried Fellowship guished Disserta on Award. Islam was named the recipient of the Jerry Marion advised by Christopher Monroe. His disser‐ Brian Calvert: The Kapo‐Barwick Award, which goes to a gradua ng senior Award ta on, Quantum Simula ons of Interac ng who plans to pursue physics educa on. Spin Models with Trapped Ions, was com‐ Sungwoo Hong: The Richard and Anna Iskraut Award pleted and submi ed in 2012. Tom Mason, who received dual bachelor’s degrees in physics and electrical engineer‐ Shane Squires: The Monroe H. Mar‐ The Thomas G. Mason Interdisciplinary ing in 1989 from this campus, returned in n Graduate Fellowship Physics Fund winners are Cam Guven and March to give a colloquium on Entropic self Jason Andrews: The Ralph Myers Ma hew Kretschmer. Guven will work ‐organiza on of hard Brownian polygons in Teaching Award with Wolfgang Losert of Physics and John two dimensions . He is a Professor of Steve Cowen: The Ralph Myers Fourkas of Chemistry, inves ga ng how physics and chemistry at UCLA. Teaching Award the regulators of cell mo on are affected Guilherme Miranda: The Ralph My‐ by nano‐scale surface features. Ma Former Physics Ph.D. student Sheng‐ ers Teaching Award Kretschmer will work with Ed O of Phys‐ Chiang Lee has been granted tenure in the John Biddle: The Ralph Myers ics and Brian Hunt of Math on the Joint Physics Department at Mercer University Teaching Award Honorable Men on State Method of data analysis for im‐ in Georgia, USA. He received his Ph.D. un‐ Chris Schroeder: The Ralph Myers proved weather modeling and forecas ng. der the direc on of Steven Anlage in 2004. Teaching Award Honorable Men on
Physics graduate student Rachel Lee has Steve Slo erback: The Ralph Myers received an endowed fellowship from the Teaching Award Honorable Men on Metro Washington Chapter of the ARCS (Achievement Rewards for College Scien‐ sts) Founda on. Lee works on the dynam‐ ics of collec ve cell mo on with Wolfgang Scholarship Announcements Losert of Physics and Carole Parent of the The following 2012‐2013 undergraduate student scholarships were NIH. She is a summa cum laude graduate awarded: of the University of Arkansas, a Goldwater The Professor Williams M. MacDonald Physics Scholarship ‐ Julia Ruth Scholar and an NSF Graduate Fellow. The Joseph Helfand Memorial Scholarship ‐ Eric Spieglan and Guillaume Stephen Randall and Noah Roth Mandell Cheron have been awarded scholarships by the The Physics PALS Scholarship ‐ Brendan Lockhart Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Educa on Founda on, which
4 STAFF AWARDS & LUNCHEON
At a luncheon at the Stamp Atri‐ um on November 7, 2012, em‐ ployees were thanked for their years of service to the University:
Rob Bard ‐ 40 Thai Nguyen Doug Bensen ‐ 25 Melissa Bri on ‐ 5 Das Sarma, Goodman Receive BOV Awards Mark Connners ‐ 5 Sankar Das Sarma and Jordan Goodman innova ve spirit in developing new Jean Dudley ‐ 10 have been selected to receive CMNS courses. Most recently, he conceived of Nick Hammer ‐ 5 Board of Visitors Awards, established an advanced honors seminar that would Jane Hessing ‐ 25 and funded by the Board to acknowledge blend science, technology, and public Sally Megonigal ‐ 25 the accomplishments of our faculty and policy; it was first offered this fall as students. HONR378N, Research in Science and Linda O'Hara ‐ 25 Public Policy for the U.S. Na onal Securi‐ Bonnie Seal‐Filiatreau ‐ 15 Professor Das Sarma, the Richard E. ty Agency. He is a Dis nguished Scholar‐ Mary Su on ‐ 15 Prange Chair in Physics, is a Dis n‐ Teacher, a college Dis nguished Alum‐ guished University Professor, a fellow of Bob Woodworth ‐ 10 nus, a recipient of the Kirwan Under‐ the Joint Quantum Ins tute, and the graduate Educa on Award and the UMD director of the Condensed Ma er Theory President's Medal. A par cle astrophysi‐ In addi on, Jane Zhang received Center. He will receive the Dis nguished the Chair's Award and Anne cist, he is the Principal Inves gator for Faculty Award in recogni on of his stellar Suplee the Sibylle Sampson the HAWC Gamma Ray Observatory in career and of recent achievements in Award. Santa Negra, Mexico. He currently chairs topological qubits and predic ons of the University Research Council. Majorana fermions in superconductors. In 2008, he won the Kirwan Faculty Research Prize for his groundbreaking Gates’ Awards & Honors work in quantum compu ng, par cularly Gates, the John S. Toll Professor of Physics and Director of the Center for interac ons of quasipar cles that‐‐at a String & Par cle Theory, is a UMD Dis nguished Scholar‐Teacher and a mem‐ few millionths of a degree above ber of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the President's Council of absolute zero and in the presence of a Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) and the Maryland State Board strong magne c field‐‐create pa erns of Educa on. In addi on to his seminal work in supersymmetry, supergravity that could allow nearly error‐free and string theory, Professor Gates is a well‐known advocate for science and compu ng of immense speed and capac‐ science educa on here and abroad. He has been a frequent guest on NOVA ity. produc ons on PBS and a featured presenter at the World Science Fes vals. Professor Goodman will receive the He has delivered the annual Karplus Lecture to the Na onal Science Teachers Board of Visitors Crea ve Educator Associa on and has received the Public Understanding of Science and Tech‐ Award, in recogni on of his long contri‐ nology Award from the American Associa on for the Advancement of bu ons to our educa on mission and his Science.
5 2012 Outstanding NEW FACES Alumnus Award Phillip Sprangle, Professor The Department's 2012 Out‐ Sprangle will be adding his exper se to the department's work in accelerator physics. He standing Alumnus Award went joined the Naval Research Laboratory, a er receiving his Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Con‐ to Bill Bandy, who received his rell university in 1973, and was a Senior Scien st for Directed Energy Physics. Ph.D., in 1974. under the direc‐ Jay Sau, Assistant Professor on of Arnie Glick. He worked for many years developing Sau is a theore cal physicist with exper se in many‐body theory, materials science, AMO microelectronics for the Na‐ theory, superconduc vity, quantum informa on and topological ma er. He received his onal Security Agency, and up‐ Ph.D. from the University of California ‐ Berkeley in 2009, before joining Maryland as a post‐ on his re rement co‐founded doctoral fellow at JQI and CMTC. Matrics Inc., a pioneer in radio‐ frequency iden fica on. A er Alberto Belloni, Assistant Professor selling Matrics, Inc. he founded Belloni joined the faculty as an assistant professor in January. He is a high‐energy experimen‐ Innurva on, working on a non‐ talist who recently joined the CMS Collabora on and is currently involved in the upgrade of invasive diagnos c systems for the Hadronic Calorimeter (HCAL). He received his Ph.D. from the Massachuse s Ins tute of the gastrointes nal tract. Technology in 2007.
James Williams, Assistant Professor
Williams will join our condensed ma er experiment group. He received his Ph.D. at Harvard in 2009 and has since worked at Stanford, pursuing hybrid topological insulator‐ superconductor devices, ionic‐ga ng to create unique two‐dimensional electron liquids on the surfaces of complex oxides and transport in high‐quality graphene devices.
Vladimir Manucharyan, Senior Visi ng Research Scholar
Manucharyan will join our condensed ma er experiment group. He received his Ph.D., in the area of quantum inform on with superconduc ng quibits, from Yale University. He then accepted a Junior Fellowship from Harvard working on proximity‐induced superconduc vity in semiconduc ng nanowires and local magetometry of superconductors.
Katharine B. Gebbie, Senior Visi ng Research Scholar
Gebbie recently re red as the Director of the Physical Measurement Laboratory of the Na‐ onal Ins tute of Standards and Technology. She graduated from Bryn Mawr College with a degree in physics and subsequently received a bachelor's degree in astronomy and Ph.D. in physics from University College London.
Gloria Lubkin, Senior Visi ng Research Scholar CONTACT US:
Lubkin has enjoyed a truly remarkable career as a science journalist and historian, notably as For ques ons, comments or to the long me editor of Physics Today. She holds degrees in physics from Temple University submit informa on, please and Boston University, and worked as a mathema cian and physicist in the private sector contact Carole Kiger before joining the physics department at Sarah Lawrence College. She started as an [email protected] associate editor of Physics Today in 1963 and re red as Editor Emerita in 2009. 301.405.5945
www.umdphysics.umd.edu
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