Turner Takes Over at the NSF
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PEOPLE APPOINTMENTS Turner takes over at the NSF On 1 October 2003 the astrophysicist the Physics of the Universe, which earlier this Michael Turner, from the University of year produced a comprehensive report Chicago in the US, took over as assistant entitled: "Connecting Quarks with the director for mathematical and physical Cosmos: Eleven Science Questions for the sciences at the US National Science New Century". This report contributed to the Foundation (NSF). This $1 billion directorate current US administration's science planning supports research in mathematics, physics, agenda. Turner, who will serve at the NSF for chemistry, materials and astronomy, as well a two-year term, replaces Robert Eisenstein, as multidisciplinary and educational pro who was recently appointed as president of grammes. Turner recently chaired the US the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico National Research Council's Committee on (see CERN Courier June 2003 p29). Institute of Advanced Study announces its next director Peter Goddard is to become the new director what was to become string theory. Goddard of the Institute for Advanced Study, is currently master of St John's College, Princeton, from 1 January 2004. Goddard, a Cambridge, UK, and is professor of mathematical physicist, is well known for his theoretical physics at the University of work in string theory and conformal field Cambridge, where he was instrumental in theory, for which he received the ICTP's helping to establish the Isaac Newton Dirac prize in 1997, together with David Institute for Mathematical Sciences. Olive. This work dates back to 1970-1972, Photograph courtesy of the Institute for when he held a position as a visiting scientist Advanced Study, Princeton. Photographer: at CERN and began working with others on Cliff Moore. CERN CERN signs a further protocol with Pakistan CERN Council has approved a protocol to the co-operation agreement between CERN and Pakistan, according to which Pakistan will make a net contribution of up to $5 million to CERN. The protocol was signed on the occasion of the opening of the 28th Nathiagali Summer School in Islamabad. Shown here signing the protocol are Parvez Butt (seated centre), chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and Riazuddin (seated left), director of the National Centre of Physics (NCP). Diether Blechschmidtfrom CERN (seated right) and members of the PAEC and the NCP (standing behind) look on. CERN Courier October 2003 35 I PEOPLE AWARDS Royal Society elections recognize research in particles and waves Research in particle physics and gravitational research at Imperial College, London, and waves has been recognized in the 2003 James Hough, director of the Institute for elections to the Royal Society. Valentine Gravitational Wave Research at the University Telegdi, who is professor of physics at the of Glasgow, have both been elected members Eidgenossiche Technische Hochshule, Zurich, of the Royal Society. Dornan is recognized for has been elected as a foreign member. The his role in suggesting the possibility of Royal Society's citation observes that Telegdi searching for charm decays using the SLAC has measured every property of the muon, rapid cycling bubble chamber and initiating an namely: parity violation in the JC -»ji -» e imaginative scheme to provide the necessary decay chain; the muon mass; the positron trigger. He later led the Imperial College group spectrum from polarized ^i-decay; ji-capture into the ALEPH collaboration at CERN, rates; the muon-neutrino helicity; and the RF developing the experiment's very precise inner spectroscopy of muonium, and all were done tracking chamber in order to study heavy with great simplicity and elegance. His study, flavour physics. Hough, for his part, has with a group from Argonne, of the brought the UK to the forefront of research in asymmetries in polarized neutron decay is the detection of gravitational waves, with the described as perhaps "his most informative development of innovative and practical work yet, directly yielding the structure of the laboratory techniques. Aspects of these (3-decay coupling". Valentine Telegdi: elected as a foreign techniques have been successfully transferred Peter Dornan, head of high-energy physics member of the Royal Society. to other fields and to industry. Turbulence pioneers Kraichnan and Zakharov awarded 2003 Dirac Medal Robert H Kraichnan and Vladimir E Zakharov, governmental organizations and private firms, professor of physics at the Landau Institute two pioneer physicists in the field of including MIT, the National Science for Theoretical Physics in Moscow, is an turbulence, have been awarded the 2003 Foundation and the US Department of Energy. expert in the mathematical physics of Dirac Medal of the Abdus Salam International He has conducted pioneering research on nonlinear phenomena. Zakharov's work has Centre for Theoretical Physics. field-theoretic approaches to turbulence and proven to be instrumental to our basic Robert Kraichnan, who was one of Albert other non-equilibrium systems. Most understanding of plasma physics, hydro Einstein's last assistants at the Institute for noteworthy are his insights into the inverse dynamics, magnetism and optics, in Advanced Study in Princeton, has had a long cascade for two-dimensional turbulence. particular contributing to a deep under career as a consultant in a variety of Vladimir Zakharov, who is director and standing of weak wave turbulence. MI X bL Zero-flux™ Measuring Systems Power The Proven Performers Protection http://www.hitecsms.com 36 CERN Courier October 2003 PEOPLE AWARDS Prague honours theory and experiment Medal winners Guenakh Mitselmakherand Frank Wilczek (second and third from left), The commemorative medal depicting together with Miroslav Finger of Charles University (left) and Ivan Netuka, dean of the Charles the 4th, Emperor of the Holy Roman Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Charles University (right). Empire and founder of the Charles University. Frank Wilczek of the Massachusetts Institute medal as "one of the world's most outstand experimental particle physicists". The citation of Technology and Guenakh Mitselmakherof ing theoretical physicists", for work including mentions his contributions to experiments at the University of Florida have been awarded the discovery of "asymptotic freedom" and particle colliders as well as his integrating role commemorative medals from the Faculty of other results of fundamental importance. The in international research, including contribu Mathematics and Physics of the Charles award for Mitselmakher acknowledges his tions to co-operation between the Charles University in Prague. Wilczek received his achievements as one of the "world's leading University and major research centres. LETTERS lab in August, the DO collaboration announced NEW PRODUCTS the most stringent limit so far on the scale of CERN Courier welcomes letters from readers. large extra dimensions, based on 250 pb"1 of PI (Physik Instrumente) has announced Please e-mail [email protected]. data from Tevatron Runs I and II combined. the arrival of the world's smallest multi-axis, We reserve the right to edit letters. The new limit on the fundamental Planck scale closed-loop, piezoelectric scanning stages for is 1.37TeV (in the GRW convention). We applications in scanning microscopy and Limits on extra dimensions expect to significantly improve on this sensitiv nano-manipulation. The stages offer high We enjoyed the informative article "Testing ity as more data are collected at the Tevatron. multi-axis linearity and stability, and are times for strings" by Ignatios Antioniadis in John Womersley and Jerry Blazey, co- capable of 50 picometres resolution. the July/August 2003 edition of CERN spokespersons, DO experiment at Fermilab. For further information, e-mail: info® Courier. The author gave a most accessible polytecpi.com, or visit the websites: report on string theory and associated hidden Bubble-chamber pioneers www.pi.ws orwww.polytecpi.com. dimensions. We would like to remedy one The July/August 2003 issue of CERN Courier apparent oversight in the article regarding contains an article entitled "The legacy of the SPSS Science is now offering an all-inclusive the status of current experimental searches bubble chamber". It is regrettable that the bundle of software for data analysis and for extra dimensions. Such searches are article does not acknowledge the monumen graphic presentation. The two components of already an ongoing and active part of the tal work of Ralph Shutt's bubble-chamber the new software bundle consist of physics programme at the FermilabTevatron. group at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Not SigmaStat, which contains the most Both the CDF and DO collaborations have only was this group technically and scientifi frequently used statistical procedures, and performed searches sensitive to the cally creative, but they also initiated the social SigmaPlot, which includes editing functions anomalous production of dilepton and experiment of providing film to outside groups that enable the creation of publication- diphoton final states associated with graviton for analysis at their own institutions. quality graphs. For further information about interactions in extra dimensions. R Ronald Rau (retired), Brookhaven the bundle, see the SPSS website at At the Lepton-Photon Conference at Fermi- National Laboratory. www.spss.com/science. CERN Courier October 2003 37 J PEOPLE ANNIVERSARIES Helmut Reich - from Booster to books Helmut Reich, well known as one of the main protagonists of CERN's proton synchrotron (PS) Booster, celebrated his 80th birthday in May. He joined the PS magnet group at CERN in 1955, as a young physicist-engineer, and after a decade of varied responsibilities, his abilities put him in the role for which he is so well remembered. In 1964, Pierre Germain initiated plans for a major PS upgrade. Intensity was limited by space-charge effects, and a higher injection energy would raise that limit. Helmut was given responsibility for a study on how this could best be achieved. A new 200 MeV linac was considered, as was an intermediate accelerator to raise the energy of the protons from the existing 50 MeV linac.