July 2002 NEWS Volume 11, No. 7 A Publication of The American Physical Society http://www.aps.org/apsnews

Physics Bachelors on the Rise After 10-Year Decline 2002 APS General Election Preview A new study issued by the entering directly into physics gradu- grees awarded in the U.S., only tinue with physics at the under- American Institute of Physics (AIP) ate study. about 3.3 are awarded in physics, graduate level in the future,” says The APS announces its second reports that, for the first time in According to Patrick Mulvey in and during the 1990s, physics Mulvey. Most respondents said annual Society-wide electronic nearly a decade, the production of AIP’s Statistical Research Center, the bachelor’s degree production de- they chose to major in physics election. Members for whom the physics bachelor’s degrees in on data in the report are based on re- clined sharply by 27%. “In a sense, because they were intrigued by APS has valid e-mail addresses will the rise. The graduating class of sponses from 2,721 physics seniors physics lost some of its market the subject matter, followed be notified via e-mail regarding 2000 produced a total of 3,849 from 763 degree-granting US phys- share,” says Mulvey. Especially hard closely by the influence of the election procedures and all mem- bachelor’s degrees in physics, an ics departments, who were hit were the larger departments high school teacher or college bers are encouraged to use the increase of 7% over the class of surveyed during their final year of that included graduate as well as professor who taught their first web-based voting process devel- 1999, and that number is expected undergraduate physics study. The undergraduate programs, and it is physics course. Ironically, very oped by Survey and Ballot Systems, to continue to rise at least for the center has been collecting data on these departments which are now few students cited long-term Inc. of Eden Prairie, Minnesota. next two years. The report also senior-level physics and astronomy largely responsible for the recov- employment goals as their pri- The election website will be found that there has been a slight majors from both students and de- ery in degree production. mary influencing factor in open from June 15 until Sep- increase in recent years in the pro- partments for more than 30 years. The report found that the like- choose to major in physics. tember 33.3tember Paper ballots will be portion of new degree recipients For every 1000 bachelor’s de- lihood of an individual receiving Once students have declared a provided upon request or for a physics bachelor’s degree is major, the study found that 76% of those for whom the APS does much higher if he or she has taken physics majors said they had not have a valid e-mail address. Boston Area Fellows Meet a high school physics course; 92% worked on an undergraduate re- Those who are elected will be- of physics bachelor’s said they had search project, which Mulvey says gin their terms on 1 January take at least one physics class in “gives undergraduates a feel for re- 2003. A brief biographical sum- high school. Based on this find- search through practical hands-on mary for each candidate is on ing, “With the increasing student experience, solving real problems, page 6. Complete biographical in- enrollments seen in high school not just those in curriculum-based formation and candidates’ physics in recent years, one can labs.” Such participation could also statements can be found on the be optimistic in thinking that be an indicator of whether they will APS Website: http://www.aps.org/ more students may choose to con- See BACHELORS on page 3 exec/election2002/ Friedman Testifies in Washington on NSF Doubling Bill

Former APS President Jerome grant applications because of fi- Photo by Darlene Logan Friedman, a Nobel laureate and nancial constraints. Increasing the APS hosted a reception for Fellows in the Boston area on May 1 at the Harvard professor of physics at the Mas- NSF budget would allow it to in- Faculty Club. Shown here are (left to right) Frans Spaepen, David Litster, and sachusetts Institute of crease the number, size and Denis McWhan. APS President Bill Brinkman served as master of ceremonies. Technology, testified before the duration of research grants, and Venkatesh Narayanamurti, Dean, Division of Engineering & Applied Sciences at Harvard was the local host. The program focused on APS education programs House Science Subcommittee in reduce the backlog of research and Dan Kleppner, (MIT) also gave a short presentation on the APS-sponsored early May in support of proposed facilities’ upgrades, says Smith. study of boost-phase missile defense that he is co-chairing. legislation authorizing 15% in- Friedman devoted much of his creases in the budget of the testimony to the issue of major re- National Science Foundation in search equipment and facilities Panel Probes Possibilities each of the next three years. construction. “The NSF currently H.R. 4664, currently known as does not provide the scientific com- in Particle Physics the “Investing in American’s Future munity or Congress with a derly planning by the research com- Act”, was authored by subcommit- prioritized list of approved munity. As a result, science has “The Future of U.S. tee chairman Nick Smith (R-MI), projects,” he said, commenting on suffered and international research High-Energy Physics” who said that part of the rationale NSF’s decision-making process for partners have been left dangling.” he is a big topic that was behind the legislation was the construction and operation of ma- cited the lack of an NSF funding re- addressed from differ- subcommittee’s concern that the jor facilities. “The lack of quest for the Rare Symmetry ent points of view by NSF may be rejecting too many transparency has prevented or- See FRIEDMAN on page 4 participants in a special session at the meeting of the Division of Par- APS News Interview ticles and Fields (DPF) HHHHighlightsighlightsighlights Ethnic Profiling, Other Issues Still in Williamsburg, VA in Photo by Jessica Clark late May. Left to right: Stanley Wojcicki, Raymond Surround Wen Ho Lee Case Participating were Orbach, Joseph Dehmer, William Brinkman. 2002 APS General By James Riordon APS President William 6 Election Preview F. Brinkman, Director Members to Elect New The bad guys used to wear to wear the uniforms of our own Officers, Councillors from of NSF’s Physics Division Joseph L. US scientists. The LHC will be opera- 2002 Slate of Candidates. black hats in grainy old cowboy country’s soldiers and law enforce- Dehmer, Director of the Depart- tional in about five years, and the movies, and the good guys wore ment agents. Based on that list, a ment of Energy’s Office of Science particle physics community is al- white. Cinematic profiling was a turncoat spy is likely to be a white, Raymond L. Orbach, and DPF ready looking ahead to the next big handy way to let audiences know middle-aged male employed as a Chair Stanley G. Wojcicki. The accelerator, which will probably be whom to cheer and whom to jeer guardian of US national security. panel was chaired by APS Past an electron-positron linear collider. during the inevitable, climactic Robert Hanssen (FBI), Aldrich President George Trilling. Orbach stressed that this must be an shoot out. In real life, of course, Ames (CIA), and George Trofimoff Orbach talked about some areas international effort from the start, villains are not always so obliging (US Army Reserves) are among the of research in high-energy physics regardless of where the machine is - and when it comes to espionage, high profile spies who betrayed the that he felt were exciting and deserv- built, and expressed concern that “we they’re often downright contrary. country while working in counter- ing of a high level of support from don’t have a mechanism to bring gov- In an August 2001 CNN list of espionage. But one spy suspect on his office. One was the Large Had- ernments together to work towards twenty-two recent espionage sus- the CNN list stands out: Wen Ho ron Collider, now under this end.” pects, twenty-one US traitors Lee is an Asian-American, a former construction at the CERN laboratory Second on Orbach’s list was the Back Page: Richard Craig on land since 1984 not only shunned Los Alamos National Laboratory in Geneva with significant help from See PANEL PROBES on page 3 8 mines. black hats, but as a rule preferred See WEN HO LEE on page 2 2 July 2002 NEWS

This Month in Physics History

“It seems by the time they left the “Although they have a weird June 1963: Discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background class, they were looking at the world name, Wimpzillas are among the with a more critical and more scien- most reasonable of current specula- Sometimes the most stunning tific eye.” tive ideas in the field.” scientific discoveries are the least —Jim Kakalios, University of Minne- —Angela Olinto, University of Chicago, expected, and occur more by ser- sota, on using comic books to teach on a possible dark matter candidate, endipity than by intent. Take the physics, AP, May 9 2002 New Scientist, June 3, 2002 ✶✶✶ ✶✶✶ case of Bell Labs physicists Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, who “Anywhere you find waves you And finally, some quotes having set out to map radio signals from find solitons.” to do with alleged misconduct by the Milky Way and wound up be- —Randall Hulet, Rice University, on cre- scientists at Bell Labs: ing the first to measure the cosmic ating solitons in Bose-Einstein condensates, background radiation (CMB). Dallas Morning News, May 20, 2002 “We found the results to be ex- ✶✶✶ Their momentous discovery made tremely intriguing and potentially it possible to obtain information “It would be quite foolish to rest revolutionary. We had a significant about cosmic processes that took the future of civilization (at least of team focusing on this work and try- place about 16 million years ago, countless lives) on the feeble assur- ing to reproduce the published and forever changed the science ance of small odds. It is a matter not results. So far, we have not been able of cosmology, transforming it from the receiver itself by cooling it with and Wilson got in touch with his of whether a serious collision will to reproduce the results.” a specialty of a select few astrono- liquid helium. laboratory. He visited Bell Labs happen, but of when.” —Thomas N. Theis, IBM Watson Re- mers to a “respectable” branch of However, when Penzias and Wil- and confirmed that the mysteri- —Marcelo Gleiser, Dartmouth College, search Center, NY Times, May 23, 2002 physics almost overnight. son reduced their data, they found ous radio signal was indeed the on the possibility of Earth being struck “There were funny things about In the 1950s there were essen- an annoying background “noise”, cosmic background radiation — by a large asteroid, LA Times, May 27, the data that just shouldn’t have oc- tially two theories about the origin like static in a radio, that interfered proof of the Big Bang. Dicke 2002 curred.” ✶✶✶ of the universe. One was the Steady with their observations. The noise shared his theoretical work with —Lydia Sohn, Princeton University, State Theory, which held that the was a uniform signal in the micro- the Bell Labs researchers, even “We expect it will be a long Financial Times, May 23, 2002 universe was homogenous in space wave range (with a wavelength of as he resignedly admitted to his struggle to perfect the instrument. “It looks very unusual, and I felt and time and would remain so for- 7.35 centimeters), and seemed to Princeton colleagues, “We’ve Hundreds of things need to be just it was my ethical responsibility to ever . The more controversial theory come from all directions. Penzias been scooped.” right to get the sensitivity we need.” inform the people involved.” sought to incorporate Edwin and Wilson checked everything The two groups published —Fred Raab, LIGO Hanford Observa- —Paul McEuen, Cornell University, AP, Hubble’s discovery in 1929 that they could think of to rule out the their results at the same time in tory, on the difficulties of detecting May 23, 2002 galaxies are moving away from one source of the excess radiation. They Astrophysical Journal Letters. gravitational waves, Seattle Post- “I am not convinced it will all turn another at remarkable speeds. A pointed the antenna at New York Penzias and Wilson received the Intelligencer, May 28, 2002 out to be fraudulent, and in fact I’d ✶✶✶ handful of physicists led by George City and found it wasn’t due to ur- Nobel prize in physics in 1978 be surprised if the ultimate story is Gamow argued that the separation ban interference. Nor was it for their serendipitous discov- “The ability to manipulate mol- as simple as that.” between galaxies must have been radiation from our galaxy or extra- ery of the CMB. More than three ecules with tailored laser pulses —David Goldhaber-Gordon, Stanford smaller in the past, which meant terrestrial radio sources. decades later, NASA sent the opens up the ability to understand University, AP, May 22, 2002 that at some point the universe had Finally , they decided the prob- Cosmic Microwave Background and possibly eventually alter the “We will report back to Lucent once been infinitely dense. Every- lem might be due to the droppings Explorer (COBE) satellite into or- pathways of chemical or biological on our findings whether we believe thing in the universe had emerged from pigeons roosting in the horn- bit to investigate the CMB in processes.” there has been scientific misconduct from this incredibly dense and hot shaped antenna, contrived a pigeon great detail, producing the first — Herschel Rabitz, Princeton Univer- or not.” state in a cataclysmic explosion trap to oust the birds, and spent detailed map analyzing the small sity, on using lasers to control —Malcolm Beasley, Stanford Uni- called “the Big Bang.” hours removing pigeon dung from irregularities, or “ripples”, in the photosynthesis, UPI, May 29, 2002 versity, NY Times, May 21, 2002 ✶✶✶ ✶✶✶ Bell Labs had built a giant, 20- the contraption. [Ivan Kaminow, a microwave background. foot horn-shaped antenna in colleague of Penzias during the The giant radio antenna at latter’s early days at Bell Labs, once Holmdel was designated a National WEN HO LEE, Holmdel, NJ in 1960 as part of a from page 1 very early satellite transmission joked that Penzias and Wilson Historic Landmark in 1990. Even (LANL) hydrodynamics expert, claiming that he singled out Lee system called Echo, but the “looked for dung but found gold, the lowly pigeon trap has found its and, it now seems, probably inno- because of his ethnicity.) Based on launch of the Teslar satellite a which is just opposite of the experi- way into posterity. It is now one of cent. declassified documents, including few years later made the Echo ence of most of us.”] Yet still the the key artifacts on permanent dis- A full explanation of the events the 1999 Cox congressional report system obsolete for its intended background radiation remained. play in Washington, DC, part of a that led to Lee’s ill-fated prosecu- on security concerns relating to commercial application. Penzias So Penzias and Wilson began new exhibit at the Smithsonian tion may never be revealed. Too the People’s Republic of China, the and Wilson seized the opportu- looking for theoretical explana- Institute’s National Air & Space much information is buried in clas- DOE suspected that design details nity to use the antenna as a radio tions. Around the same time, Museum that debuted in Septem- sified documents. This past May, a for the W-88 thermonuclear war- telescope to amplify and mea- Princeton University physicist ber 2001, entitled, “Exploring the judge dismissed a civil lawsuit head were leaked to China in the sure radio signals from the Robert Dicke theorized that if the Universe.” And Penzias and Wil- brought against Lee by Notra mid-1980s. Convoluted logic even- spaces between galaxies. To do universe was created according to son went down in scientific history Trulock, the Energy Department’s tually convinced investigators to so, they had to eliminate all rec- the Big Bang theory, a low-level for a momentous discovery that former security chief who was in- focus on Lee despite the ognizable interference from background radiation at around opened a window into the early strumental in identifying Lee as a countervailing precedents set by their receiver, removing the ef- 3 degrees Kelvin would exist universe, enabling astronomers likely spy, after government attor- Ames, Hanssen, and most of the fects of radar and radio throughout the universe. Dicke and physicists to see the initial con- neys warned that national security other convicted members of the US broadcasting and suppressing had begun looking for evidence to ditions from which the beauty of could be compromised if the clas- spy fraternity. interference from the heart of support his theory when Penzias the present-day cosmos emerged. sified documents vital to Lee’s Ultimately, Lee did not escape defense were introduced into evi- prosecution entirely unscathed. dence. (Trulock’s suit alleged that Round-the-clock surveillance of Lee and government investigators Lee and his family, a multi-million had damaged his reputation by See WEN HO LEE on page 7

Series II, Vol. 11, No. 7 One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844, Past-President Bunny C. Clark (Nuclear), Sally Dawson, Peter Meyers July 2002 [email protected]. George H. Trilling*, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Particles & Fields), Stephen Holmes (Physics of NEWS ©2002 The American Physical Society For Nonmembers—Circulation and Fulfillment Beams), Richard Hazeltine (Plasma), Kannan Division, American Institute of Physics, Suite 1NO1, 2 General Councillors Jagannathan, (New England), Joe Hamilton (Southeast Huntington Quadrangle, Melville, NY 11747-4502. Jonathan A. Bagger, Philip Bucksbaum*, L. Craig Davis, Stuart Section) Coden: ANWSEN ISSN: 1058-8132 Allow at least 6 weeks advance notice. For address Freedman*, Frances Houle, Leon Lederman*, Gerald Mahan, changes, please send both the old and new addresses, Margaret Murnane*, Cherry Ann Murray, Philip Phillips*, ADVISORS Editor ...... Alan Chodos and, if possible, include a mailing label from a recent Jin-Joo Song, James Trefil Representatives from Other Societies Associate Editor ...... Jennifer Ouellette issue. Requests from subscribers for missing issues will Special Publications Manager ...... Elizabeth Buchan-Higgins be honored without charge only if received within 6 International Councillor Christopher J. Chiaverina, AAPT; Marc Brodsky, AIP months of the issue’s actual date of publication. Periodical T. Maurice Rice Design and Production ...... Stephanie Jankowski International Advisors Proofreaders ...... Ken Cole, Edward Lee and Sue Otwell Postage Paid at College Park, MD and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to APS News, Chair, Nominating Committee Michael Thewalt, Canadian Association of Physicists, Membership Department, American Physical Society, Susan Nan Coppersmith Gerardo C. Puente, Mexican Physical Society APS News (ISSN: 1058-8132) is published 11X News should be directed to: Editor, APS News, One One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844. yearly, monthly, except the August/September issue, Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20749-3844, E-mail: Chair, Panel on Public Affairs Staff Representatives by the American Physical Society, One Physics [email protected]. APS COUNCIL 2002 James C. H. Tsang Alan Chodos, Associate Executive Officer; Irving Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844, (301) 209- President Lerch, Director of International Affairs; Fredrick 3200. It contains news of the Society and of its Subscriptions: APS News is an on-membership William F. Brinkman*, Bell Labs-Lucent Technologies (retired) Division, Forum and Section Councillors Stein, Director of Education and Outreach; Robert Divisions, Topical Groups, Sections and Forums; publication delivered by Periodical Mail. Members President-Elect Harold Metcalf (Atomic, Molecular & Optical), Robert L. Park, Director, Public Information; Michael Lubell, advance information on meetings of the Society; residing abroad may receive airfreight delivery for a fee Myriam P. Sarachik*, City College of New York - CUNY Eisenberg (Biological), Sylvia Ceyer (Chemical), E. Dan Director, Public Affairs; Stanley Brown, Editorial and reports to the Society by its committees and of $15. Nonmembers: Subscription rates are: domestic Vice-President Dahlberg*, Allen Goldman* (Condensed Matter Physics), Director; Charles Muller, Director, Journal task forces, as well as opinions. $105; Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, and Helen Quinn*, Stanford University (SLAC) Steven White (Computational), Jerry Gollub* (Fluid Operations; Robert Kelly, Director of Journal Caribbean $105; Air Freight Europe, Asia, Africa and Executive Officer Dynamics), Peter Zimmerman (Forum on Education), Gloria Information Systems; Michael Stephens, Controller Letters to the editor are welcomed from the Oceania $120. Judy R. Franz*, University of Alabama, Huntsville (on leave) Lubkin (Forum on History of Physics), Stuart Wolf (Forum and Assistant Treasurer membership. Letters must be signed and should Treasurer on Industrial and Applied Physics), James Vary (Forum on Administrator for Governing Committees include an address and daytime telephone number. Subscription orders, renewals and address changes Thomas McIlrath*, University of Maryland (emeritus) International Physics), Ed Gerjuoy (Forum on Physics and Ken Cole The APS reserves the right to select and to edit for should be addressed as follows: For APS Members— Editor-in-Chief Society), Timothy P. Lodge, (Polymer Physics), W. Carl length or clarity. All correspondence regarding APS Membership Department, American Physical Society, Martin Blume*, Brookhaven National Laboratory (on leave) Lineberger (Laser Science), G. Slade Cargill, III (Materials), * Members of the APS Executive Board NEWS July 2002 3

BACHELORS, from page 1 continue on to graduate studies. pressed optimism about their Ninety percent of those students in- career prospects as physics ma- tending to go to graduate school in jors, with 81% agreeing that their physics had participated in a re- physics degree would provide search project, compared to 65% of them with a solid background for APS Committees Acting Globally those planning graduate studies in any career they ultimately chose other fields and 68% of students to pursue. In terms of long-term One in five APS members cur- wonderful, and we want everybody institutions in different regions of the planning to enter directly into the goals, the report found a slight rently lives and works outside of the to be able carry it on freely — to fol- world and to further extend world- workforce. Unfortunately, barely half shift in postbaccalaureate plans, US; international collaborations are low their imaginations and creativity. wide access of physicists to scientific of those hoping to become high with slightly more than one-third vital for large research efforts; and It’s a universal concept, independent information and its exchange.” To school teachers participated in such planning to continue with gradu- few things stimulate scientific of where in the world it’s done.” these ends, CISA promotes the free projects—a group that could greatly ate studies in physics, and progress more than the free flow of Such lofty goals require patience and flow of information and scientific benefit from such an experience another one-fifth planning to information across borders and cul- persistence. “We are dealing with personnel across borders, and since “They are the ones who will be pursue graduate studies in other tures. These are just a few of the closed regimes, with regimes where strives to bolster science programs imparting a feel for such practices subjects. The top career goal for many reasons that the APS has inter- laws change as you go along: as soon and funding in underdeveloped to others in the future.” physics bachelor’s recipients ests in events and conditions in the as you get past one hurdle, laws change countries. An overwhelming majority (31%) is to work at a college or world beyond American shores. In and you start all over again,” Koller Current CISA chair Peter Barnes (84%) expressed satisfaction with university doing teaching and/or fact, two of the standing APS com- explains. “It takes a long time for each feels that physics education and re- their choice of major and said research, although the majority mittees are specifically dedicated to individual before we get them out of search, in both developing and they would choose the subject of new degree recipients said monitoring and influencing interna- jail or out of trouble. We’ve achieved established countries, are among the again if given the opportunity to they planned to go directly into tional affairs. some success in several cases, but it committee’s primary concerns. Co- repeat the experience. Those who the workforce upon graduation. The Committee on the Interna- has been slow.” ordinating interactions that cement said they would change their tional Freedom of Scientists (CIFS) Ironically, one of the difficulties the physics community worldwide major cited developing interests Editor’Editor’Editor’s note:note:s The full report began as a subcommittee under the that CIFS has faced in recent years is also an important committee func- in another subject as their rea- covering the survey can he found APS Panel On Public Affairs (POPA) resulted from the fall of the Soviet tion. A recent focus, which is son, not dissatisfaction with online at http://www.aip.org/statis- in the 1970s, and blossomed into a Union. During the cold war, imperil- somewhat nebulous at the moment, physics. Respondents also ex- tics/trends/undtrends/htm. full-fledged APS committee in the led Soviet dissidents included involves helping find solutions to 1980s. The Committee on Interna- physicists Andrei Sakharov and technically sophisticated applied tional Scientific Affairs (CISA) Natan Sharansky, and biologist Yuri physics problems that plague under- New Mexico Yields New followed a similar progression in the Orlov. While countless lesser-known privileged nations. 1980s and early 1990s. The cold war dissidents suffered as well, the big “Under the category of educa- Senior Editors for PRC era that set the stage for the creation three achieved enough notoriety tion,” says Barnes, “we promote of the committees in the first place is that a group of activists in the US physics in underdeveloped coun- and PRE rapidly fading into history. Neverthe- joined the struggle against Soviet re- tries. Getting copies of the Physical less, the injustices that motivate CIFS pression under the moniker Review, for example, into libraries or Following a year long search Grest takes over from Irwin and the issues that trouble CISA re- “Scientists for Sakharov, Orlov, and physics departments in Africa or process, committees for Physi- Oppenheim, PRE’s original senior main as serious today as they were a Sharansky,” or SOS for short. It’s Latin America is one educational av- cal Review C and Physical editor. quarter century ago. likely that few people these days rec- enue that we pursue.” Review E have found new edi- Peter Bond (BNL) chaired the ognize the names Yury Barnes breaks down the research tors. Benjamin Gibson of Los PRC search committee and CIFS: Working for Freedom Bandazhevsky, Tong Shidong, or effort into two categories. One thrust Alamos National Laboratory Herman Cummins (City College) Even in the era of enlightened glo- Valentin Danilov — three physicists involves helping physicists involved will take the senior position at lead the PRE committee. balization, free speech is still a crime included on the CIFS list of current in research in developed countries. PRC and Gary Grest of Sandia The community responded in many countries. Peaceful assem- cases. Raising awareness for com- “We have an important segment of National Laboratory will be strongly to the call for nomina- bly and other fundamental liberties paratively anonymous individuals is the APS that works in research labs PRE’s senior editor. tions and candidates, which are restricted in some corners, and a significant challenge. such as CERN and DESY, and labs in Gibson has been involved off appeared in a number of domes- unheard of in others. Because scien- In light of the events of the past Japan, to name a few.” Another CISA and on (mostly on!) on the PRC tic and international publications. tists are often at the forefront of the year, CIFS must adjust again. “We are effort concentrates on promoting Editorial Board or as a PRC As- Each committee had over 40 entering new terri- sophisticated research programs in sociate Editor since 1978. His names to consider. Electronic tory,” says Koller, less developed regions. “For ex- long association with the Divi- communication (not to mention “September 11 ample, we were recently discussing sion of Nuclear Physics is the high percentage of interna- changed the param- the established plans for construc- another of his assets. Gibson tional authors and subscribers) eters.” Sessions at APS tion of a light source (SESAME) in will replace Sam Austin, who has allowed the search committees to meetings, which once Jordan.” been at PRC’s helm since 1988. consider international candi- served as the primary CISA is also instrumental in pro- Grest is a recent Divisional Asso- dates, and several of these vehicles for dissemi- moting development of the physics ciate Editor for PRL and has been a reached the short lists. nation of CIFS community as a whole. “That means very active au- information, are orchestrating physics conferences thor and referee Noemie Koller Peter BarnesBarnesPeter drawing fewer partici- between the American Physical So- for PRE. struggle for basic rights, they are pants. The committee is considering ciety and, say Canadian and Mexican His broad disproportionally represented using newsletters to take up the slack societies,” Barnes explains, “This is background in among those imprisoned for crimes in communication. Another issue of useful both from the point of view condensed mat- of conscience. In addition, scientists increasing importance is communi- of discussing physics research as well ter, soft matter, are crucial to technological military cation with scientists in Islamic as tying the communities together.” computational projects, and the simple access to communities. Koller points out that Finally, the committee is contem- physics, poly- sensitive information is sometimes CIFS has well developed relations plating a request to become involved mers and enough to draw fire from overzeal- with countries such as Russia, China, in a rather different issue. There is a complex fluids ous spy hunters, even in countries and Belarus, but little experience need for expertise to help find ways made him a Benjamin Gibson GarGarGary GrGry estestest as enlightened as the US. with the Near East. “We have to in- to detect and clear land mines in strong candidate. CIFS is the APS committee re- crease our awareness of the scientific countries such as Croatia, where the sponsible for monitoring concerns climate and opportunities in Near request for help originated, as well regarding human rights of scien- Eastern countries and open chan- as Southeast Asia and many other PANEL PROBES, from page 1 tists throughout the world. In nels of communication.” regions. “It’s going to be a problem addition to informing the APS Koller is not entirely certain what in Afghanistan,” says Barnes. “This is general area of astro-particle phys- nificant commitment to SNAP,” president, Executive Board, and vehicles CIFS will employ in their a well known applied physics prob- ics and the problem of dark energy. Orbach said. Council about rights violations, the future efforts, considering the vola- lem of international proportions, “The public at large is interested in Orbach also called for a major committee writes letters on behalf tility of the moment, but her vision which requires development of so- these philosophical concepts” effort to improve US computing of imprisoned or persecuted sci- of the committee’s ultimate purpose phisticated and highly reliable Orbach stated, and added that capabilities. He pointed out that the entists. Recently, CIFS added its is clear. “Our major goal,” asserts technical solution.” Barnes specu- their study is “important philo- Japanese have built a computer, the name to a list of sponsors on a pe- Koller, “is to monitor and uphold lates that APS role, if it has one in sophically, almost religiously.” He Earth Simulator, that studies the tition to authorities of the People’s the human rights of scientists this case, is to motivate the invest- particularly mentioned the SNAP weather and is roughly 50 times Republic of China requesting fair throughout the world.” ment of US technical expertise in this (SuperNova/Acceleration Probe) faster than anything that exists in treatment for eight prisoners, two very difficult area. [See the BackPage experiment proposed by scientists the US. “To find ourselves second of whom are physicists. CISA: Advancing Physics in this issue.] at Berkeley’s Lawrence Radiation on an international scale is a na- “The most important role of CIFS,” Education, Research, and Laboratory to measure the accel- tional disaster,” he said. explains committee chair Noemie Community Facing a World in Flux eration of the universe, using The study of quantum chromo- Koller, “is to help people who have CISA’s role, as defined in the APS Koller and Barnes both express distant supernovae, much more dynamics (the theory of strong not been lucky enough to live under bylaws, consists of “encouraging the some concern over the roles of their accurately than has been possible interactions) on a lattice is an excel- free conditions. And part of the mo- society’s efforts to strengthen inter- committees in coming years. After to date. “In putting together the lent way to develop leading-edge tivation is, of course, that science is action among researchers and See FOCUS on page 7 2004 budget we have made a sig- See PANEL PROBES on page 4 4 July 2002 NEWS

2002 Physics Olympiad Team Announced LETTERS Country’s Brightest Students Top Quark Discovery Was a Joint Effort Bridge Goes Too Far Head to Physics ‘Boot’ Camp We are very pleased to see that group, and wasn’t close to meet- I must take issue with your deci- in the April 2002 issue of APS ing the normal criteria for a sion to publish the Zero Gravity News, “This Month in Physics His- discovery in particle physics (a article written by Martin Bridge (May tory” (on page 2) describes one five standard deviation effect). 2002). Are the pieces in APS News of the recent successes of par- This may seem like a tempest not refereed or is it that you seek to ticle physics, the discovery of the in a tea-cup, but hundreds of promote sexist and elitist ideas? This top quark. The article contains a people, including many graduate article was not funny. I don’t know very fair description of how the students, worked hard to put the much about so-called table-top fu- discovery unfolded. data concerning the top quark on sion, so I can’t comment on whether Unfortunately, in searching for a rigorous and statistically firm or not this author and you have any a snappy title for this piece, your basis. By 1995, when this had justification for such ridicule of that healine writer erred. “April 1994: been done, discovery could be, experiment, but I must comment on Photo by Malcolm Tarlton Discovery of the top quark at and was, announced. Without the depiction of women and com- Twenty-four students from 15 presentations from prominent Fermilab” is not correct, and the them, the discovery wouldn’t munity college teachers. states have been selected as some of scientists. They will also be com- article itself makes this clear. In have happened. They are natu- I quote. “‘You’d think we’d found the brightest physics and math stu- peting. The top five students 1994, the first evidence for top rally very sensitive to any the Higgs Boson or something,’ said dents in the country. On May 31st, from the camp will be awarded started to come in, and the ac- perceived attempt to “backdate” Emily McTavish, who has been hav- the students will arrive at the Univer- medals and college scholarships tual discovery was made in 1995. the discovery to this earlier pa- ing her hair done at Gladys’s every sity of Maryland as members of the at a tribute ceremony at NASA This is important because the per. This would imply that all their other Wednesday.” What is the in- 2002 Physics Olympiad Team. First headquarters in Washington D.C. 1995 results were the indepen- hard work was unneeded. tended sentiment in this quip found nominated by their high school phys- on June 7th. At the ceremony the dent work of two groups and Harry Weerts in Bridge’s article? It seems obvious ics teachers in January the students students will hear from NASA As- were statistically very solid. The John Womersley to me: Women in beauty parlors began taking extremely challenging tronaut Dr. John Grunsfeld, a 1994 publication was from one Fermilab should clearly know nothing about physics exams, eventually scoring veteran of four space flights, in- the Higgs Boson. It reminds me of a higher than 1100 other students to cluding the most recent shuttle Report Omitted “Wigner and Symmetries” Talk talk given by a colleague a few years earn a spot on the prestigious team. mission to service the Hubble ago, where he kept stating that “even The team is about more than Space Telescope. “Dr. Grunsfeld I just received the APS News, task of talking on “Eugene Wigner my mother could understand this.” I just academics however, says Dr. is an excellent example of where April 2002, Volume 11, No.4 on and Symmetries in Physics” asked him after the fourth or fifth Bernard Khoury, Executive Officer physics training can take you,” page 3 there is a note on “Remem- where I tried in 40 minutes to repetition if his mother wasn’t a physi- of The American Association of says James Stith, Vice President bering Wigner”. The writer present the main achievements cist. He was not amused. As a female Physics Teachers (AAPT), which of Physics Resources at AIP. probably was not present at the of Wigner on applications of member of the audience, neither was co-sponsors the U.S. Olympiad The U.S. Physics Olympiad Pro- Centennial Symposium in honor group theory from atomic to rela- I. Another physicist whom I admire Team with the American Institute gram was started in 1986 to promote of Eugene Wigner. He speaks of tivistic physics. thought I shouldn’t take offense if of Physics (AIP). “These students and demonstrate academic excel- George Marx who gave a lively As I have spent my life work- none was intended. Perhaps Mr. are great role models, learning lence and prepare students to talk on Wigner’ s life, John ing at the Universidad Nacional Bridge meant no offense either, but what it means to be the leaders compete in the International Physics Wheeler, whose subject was in- Autonoma de Mexico my name one can easily see his attitude towards driving the technological advances Olympiad. Due to concerns about teresting but unfortunately his was probably unknown to the women and APS editors should be of tomorrow,” he says. the safety of international travel, this health was poor, and Alvin author of the report, but at sensitive to how it could make female The Physics Team will spend year’s winners will not be traveling to Weinberg, who very properly least he must have read the ab- members of their society feel. a week at the physics ‘boot’ the international competition being mentioned Wigner as the first stract of my talk that appeared Likewise, how should physics camp, conducting lab experi- held in Indonesia. nuclear engineer. in the Bulletin of the April Con- teachers at community colleges feel ments, taking exams, and hearing — Inside Science News Service He forgot the fact that I, ference. about this “lighter side of science?” Wigner’ s student in 1946-1949 Marcos Moshinsky Another supposedly funny part of with whom I got a Ph.D., had the Mexico City the article goes on, “Rodney FRIEDMAN, from page 1 Colquist, a physics teacher at Violating Process project as an ex- University of Maryland President A Scientist looks at the Corporate Universe Swampscott Community College, ample, and recommended that NSF C.D. Mote described the financial was the one who discovered what adopt a process similar to that out- constraints facing principal investi- In the hectic corporate world, The time you have to do the next job was going on when his wife, lined in the legislation. Friedman also gators in need of hiring students to one should understand the under- is always less than the time available Samantha, came home after her ap- described the large decline in stu- perform research, but expressed lying physics. When Einstein studied for the current job. pointment at Gladys’s in a frenzy of dents enrolled in physics since the even greater concern over looming the physical universe, he concluded A corollary of this theorem is excitement and disbelief.” 1960s, noted the corresponding re- scientific manpower shortages. that as one goes faster and faster, captured in the well known folk Clearly,one should have no respect duction in physics research funding, “[This] authorization bill will send a time slows down. This is good! How- saying, “The more faster you go, for the intellect of a physics teacher and said that many students “felt strong signal to the appropriators, ever, in the corporate universe, the more behinder you get.” at a mere community college, it they had no future” in physics. the rest of the Congress, and the Ad- analysis has shown that as one goes Sheldon Kavesh seems. And if not, then how about Among other witnesses at the ministration, that support for the faster and faster, time accelerates. Whippany, New Jersey high school teachers — the ones hearing was the dean of Tufts NSF is strong, it is bipartisan, and it we’re supposed to be desperately, University’s engineering department, is grounded in sound arguments,” More on Kelvin’s Degree actively recruiting? I thought APS Ionnis Miaoulis, who expressed con- he said. In a letter in the March issue degrees Kelvin. Note that degrees wanted to do something about at- cern that the nation’s unbalanced At the conclusion of the hearing, of APS News, B.S. Chandrasekhar is plural. Now the word degrees tracting more women to physics also, R&D portfolio, with underfunding subcommittee members approved ‘corrects’ Arne Reitan on the is- has been dropped (along with but I guess was wrong about that. for the physical and engineering sci- the bill and sent it to the full House sue of whether the plural of the capital letter) and we get K This makes me want to quit be- ences in favor of the life sciences, Science Committee, which reviewed kelvin is kelvin or kelvins. With- kelvin (without the s). In other ing a member of your society, but “will in the long run have a detri- it the following week. However, the out taking sides on who is right, I words kelvin is a short-hand for you’re the only game in town, so I mental effect on the life sciences,” legislation has a long way to go. Smith advance the following explana- degrees kelvin. guess I have to renew my member- later declaring, “The nation’s creative predicted that “competition for tion for the confusion. W. J. Metzger ship, though it has a bitter taste. minds should spend more time fo- money is going to become much We used to say the temperature Nijmegen, Monica Halka cusing on their research and less time more aggressive” in the wake of the was, e.g,. N degrees Celsius or K The Netherlands Portland, Oregon trying to get funding.” See FRIEDMAN on page 7

Panel Probes, from page 3 computers, Orbach maintained. mitments. He added that the over- in some kind of malaise. He cited a Americans going into physics has we shouldn’t ignore”, and remarked “QCD simulation leads the way,” he all FY2003 request was down by variety of reasons for this percep- gone way down, and suggested that that “if you can’t fight ‘em, join ‘em.” said, calling it “as fundamental an ex- 1-2% but expected nevertheless tion, and pointed out that in many this could be ameliorated if the fund- “Physics has become irrelevant to ercise as experiment and theory.” that the situation would improve cases the reality was quite different. ing agencies would significantly our quality of life” was another com- Dehmer said that despite cur- for the individual investigators. Although there has been declin- increase the stipends that they of- plaint that Brinkman felt was highly rent problems with funding, “the “Broad support for physical sci- ing enrollment in physics, and PhD fered to students, for example with overstated. He said that not only was public enjoy and are impressed by ence has been strong and coherent” production now stands at about NSF Fellowships. the Web invented by physicists, but the new developments in science.” He on Capitol Hill, Dehmer said, and 1200/year, Brinkman noted that Another factor Brinkman cited entire internet is based on improved noted that although the FY2002 predicted that the effects of that sup- when production reaches 1500 un- was the perception that there is an optical communication, and cited the NSF budget was up 4.4%, the level port would be evident when the employment can result, and as long increasing emphasis on biology at the optical amplifier as “one of the enabling of funding for individual investiga- Congressional appropriations were as it stays above about 1000 there expense of physics. But he noted that things invented by physicists.” tors in physics was actually down passed in the fall. tends to be an adequate supply of “some physicists” had invented a way Brinkman echoed Orbach and about 10% because of the neces- Not being a particle physicist him- new physicists. He concluded that to do very rapid decoding of DNA, Dehmer in asserting that “concepts sity to support facilities, new self, Brinkman took a broader view “this is not a major aspect” of any which stimulated great advances in in astrophysics, cosmology and par- initiatives like Physics Frontier and addressed the question of possible malaise. biology. He said there were “oppor- ticle physics have greatly piqued the Centers, and other NSF-wide com- whether physics as a discipline was He did agree that the number of tunities in biology for physicists that See PANEL PROBES on page 7 NEWS July 2002 5

Professional Master’s Degree Programs: A Case Study in Identifying Challenges and Orchestrating Successes By Alaina G. Levine

There’s been a lot of talk re- PMDPs can foster new or rein- which must be adequately scruti- companies for internships or per- cently about professional master’s force existing partnerships with nized before solidifying the manent positions also did not degree programs (PMDPs) in ap- industry, cultivate connections decision to institute a PMDP. Since comprehend the benefit of hiring plied physics. We’ve heard the with alumni, and invigorate depart- every situation is different, it would students from the PMDP. The de- rationale for and benefits of these ments by attracting a new crop of be impossible to provide a singular partment realized that these initiatives: students who graduate talented physics students who oth- model program which other phys- problems could be solved through from these programs have more erwise might not have considered ics departments can emulate. public relations efforts and a lot career options and unique skills graduate school. However, one can examine a case of one-on-one discussions with ranging from the highly technical So the word is out: PMDPs can study of a successful program, in students and industry partners. to business acumen in communi- do a lot of good for physics depart- which the sponsoring department, However, it is a slow process, and cations, teamwork, and project ments and the constituents they in initiating and administering the since the PMDP is such a new con- Alaina G. Levine management. Industry benefits serve. But just because a PMDP is PMDP identified the desire and Alaina G. Levine cept, the department regularly because they get students who are appropriate for one department, need for the creation, the chal- fessional Master’s Degree Program seeks advice from other PMDPs specifically educated for industry does this mean that every depart- lenges it faced and still faces, and in Applied and Industrial Physics on how to effectively recruit stu- and are ready and fully capable of ment should or even is able to jump keys which led to the program’s ul- dents and industry partners, most contributing to the success and on the PMDP bandwagon? timate fruition and success. Background: notably with other Sloan-funded bottom-line of companies and or- It is obvious that every physics The University of Arizona (UA) schools, such as Michigan State ganizations. Of course, physics department is unique and has its The Case:Case:The launched its professional master’s University and Rice University. departments benefit because own individual needs and goals The University of Arizona’s Pro- degree program in 2000, spon- One of the main reasons the sored by the Sloan Foundation’s department has had success in nationwide initiative. The program its program is because it continu- was created “in response to the of- ally reevaluates the program and ten-repeated complaint that its goals, fine-tuning any aspect physics professors typically train that has deviated from the ulti- Ph.D.s to be carbon copies of mate mission of the PMDP. themselves,” said Daniel L. Stein, Self-assessment, and constant Head of the UA Physics Depart- and thorough consultation with SCIENTIST SPLITS ATOM, FINDS TOY ment. industry, faculty, and students “Meanwhile, there’s a real and are certainly keys to success as increasing demand in industry for the program continues to grow PRIZE INSIDE people who bring the unique skills and prosper. In addition, great and perspectives of physics to bear pains have been taken to ensure Promise of Hidden Surprises Has Propelled Fission Research for Decades on solving problems that arise in that the actual physics has not the development and manufacture been compromised for the sake Princeton, N.J. (SatireWire.com) — before discov- of various goods and services. So, of the “professional” aspect of A Princeton physicist recently split ering a plastic in the spirit of ‘adapt or die’, we the degree. Yet, the program is an atom of hydrogen and found a whistle inside a explored ways in which we could flexible, allowing students to spe- toy prize inside, the journal Science newly split take the initiative and provide a cialize in any subdiscipline of reported in its June issue. nucleus of ura- service to both students and indus- physics or related area (such as “It was just a cheap plastic nium. “He was try while of course benefiting optics or satellite circuit design). clicker you use to make cricket so happy, he ourselves at the same time,” Stein Students constantly interact with sounds, and it broke, like, the sec- just cried and said. industry leaders and have the ond time I used it, but it was the cried,” wrote The UA’s program was orga- opportunity to attend special in- surprise I found most colleague Ed- nized around a series of learning dustry-related conferences, satisfying,”said Prof. Harold ward Teller in outcomes designed to give stu- tradeshows, seminars, and skill- Lumiere of the Princeton Plasma his 1952 dents proficiency in teamwork, building workshops. Physics Laboratory. book, The change management, computa- By building the PMDP around Science noted that it was the Physicists Guide to Isotopal Isolation pinball game Heisenberg found in tional techniques, communication, not only the research strengths of first prize found inside an atom and Collectible Atomic Prizes. “For a phosphorous atom. and basic business and legal issues the department and other units at since Allison Wyatt of Cambridge days after, Enrico kept running Ironically, while the lure of tiny associated with scientific projects. the UA, but also the industrial University discovered a magic around the lab, his fingers to his tokens has shaped history and led The components of the program strengths of the region, and by in- puzzle toy in a lithium atom in lips, trying to play that whistle,” scientists to unravel much of the consist of a core curriculum in stilling in the program an inherent February. Teller recalled. “Of course, we riddle of the atom, the existence graduate-level physics, specialty and perpetual alliance with indus- For Lumiere, it was the first couldn’t hear it, but he said he of the prizes themselves is perhaps electives in any related subfield, try, this PMDP has been able to time in his 15-year, atom-splitting could. He was such a goof.” the greatest mystery facing phys- two courses in business founda- effectively serve and benefit all of career that he has come across More than half a century later, ics today. Who, they still wonder, tions and project management, a its constituents. Physics students anything more than the normal perceptibility remains an issue with put the prizes there? colloquium series with speakers receive excellent educational ex- protons, gluons, and quarks. “I physicists. “You can’t do much with Many have proposed theories. from industry ranging from CEOs periences uniquely preparing know that over at MIT, Hendricks (the toys) because they’re infinitesi- Einstein thought it was aliens. Niels to intellectual property attorneys them for industrial careers, par- has amassed an entire collection mally small,” said Lumiere. “You Bohr suspected it was Einstein. to lab directors, an internship, and ticularly geared towards regional of little gewgaws – spinning tops, can only play with them under an Ernest Rutherford conjectured a final project or thesis. The final enterprise. Industry benefits from decoder rings, stickers,” he said. electron microscope, and if you that the prizes were natural for- project, which takes into account a new workforce with strong tech- “He is so lucky. I hate him.” have to sneeze, kiss it goodbye.” mations. But most physicists today the learning outcomes and unites nical skills, knowledge of business And well he should. Atomic Some winners, meanwhile, have accept the argument espoused by the physics with the industrial as- fundamentals, and consequen- prizes are so rare as to drive scien- been forced to part with their prizes Nobel laureate Ernest Walton, pects of the degree, often is a tially, the connection between tists into the field of physics, and without so much as exhaling. who along with John Cockcroft culmination of research con- science and business in industry. then, quite often, drive them mad. In his book, Bohr, Baubles, and split the atom in 1932. ducted or applied problems solved Legendary theoretical physicist the Bomb: Why the Nazis Lost the In early 1946, Walton was in the internship. Alaina G. Levine is Directory of Spe- Richard Feynman, in fact, first be- Nuclear Race, historian Everson thrilled to discover a decoder ring cial Projects, College of Science, came interested in nuclear fission White recounts how Hitler’s quest and secret message inside a car- Challenges and Keys to Suc- University of Arizona. She currently after watching a professor at Cal to build the ultimate weapon was bon atom. After four days of cess:cess:cess: oversees the University of Arizona’s Pro- Tech discover a mystery motion fun thwarted by his own policies that painstaking work, he finally deci- The challenges of orchestrating fessional Master’s Degree Program in card inside an iodine atom. claimed atomic prizes were the phered the message: “Sorry,” it a PMDP at the UA seem simple and Applied and Industrial Physics, Math- Feynman himself, however, never property of the Third Reich. read, “you’re not a winner. Try straightforward, but many of them ematical Sciences, and Applied Biosciences, knew that joy. This deficiency Danish physicist Niels Bohr, a fis- again.” “That’s gotta be God,” still exist. One issue the depart- as well as public, media, and industrial caused him to declare, on his sion pioneer, fled occupied Walton reportedly said. ment realized early on is that it relations for the UA College of Science death, that despite his Nobel, he Denmark after learning of the Reprinted with permission from cannot assume that potential stu- and its 14 departments. She can be con- had failed to win the only real prize policy, while German colleague SatireWire.com, who also have dents will fully understand the tacted at [email protected] or in physics. Werner Heisenberg stayed behind authored the new book “Economy of uniqueness and more importantly 520-621-3374. More information on the Even Enrico Fermi, a pioneer of but sabotaged the program after Errors: SatireWire gives Business the the value of the PMDP in their ca- UA PMDP can be obtained at http:// fission, had to wait nearly 10 years Goering confiscated a “Hi Score” Business.” reer plans. Similarly, target cos.arizona.edu/sloan. 6 July 2002 NEWS 2002 APS General Election Preview ——eview Members to Elect New Officers, Councillors from 2002 Slate of Candidates Election notices and invitations to vote electronically were sent to APS members with valid e-mail addresses in June. Members without e-mail or invalid e-mail addresses were sent paper ballots. Web votes and paper ballots must be received by Survey and Ballot Systems by noon CDT, September 1, 2002 to be counted. Paper ballots can also be requested by calling 301-209- 3288 or e-mailing [email protected] Editors Note: Complete biographical information and candidate statements can be found at: http://www.aps.org/exec/election2002/

FOR VICE-PRESIDENT FOR VICE-PRESIDENT

MARVIN L. COHEN NEAL LANE University of California, Berkeley Rice University Born in Montreal, Cohen was an undergraduate at Berkeley Lane was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and obtained his B.S., and completed graduate studies at the University of Chicago in M.S. and PhD degrees from the University of Oklahoma. From 1993 to 1963 (PhD 1964). After a one year postdoctoral position with the 2001, Neal served in the Clinton Administration, first as Director of the Theory Group at Bell Laboratories (1963-64), he joined the Berke- NSF, from 1993-98, and later as Presidential Science Advisor and Direc- ley Physics Faculty, becoming University Professor in 1995. He has tor of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, from also been a Senior Faculty Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley Na- 1998-2001. At the NSF, Neal emphasized the integrity of peer review; tional Laboratory since 1995. Cohen’s current and past research balance of funding among fields; NSF-wide support of all large construc- work covers a broad spectrum of subjects in theoretical condensed matter physics. He is tion projects, such as LIGO; quality science and math education for all; staff morale; electronic best known for his work with pseudopotentials with applications to electronic, optical, and proposal processing; good relations with the White House and Congress; and other matters. structural properties of materials, superconductivity, semiconductor physics, and While at the White House, he stressed the importance of research funding for the physical nanoscience. Cohen is the recipient of the APS Oliver E. Buckley Prize for Solid State sciences, a point emphasized by President Clinton in his FY2001 budget request, which included Physics and the APS Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize. In 2002 Cohen will receive the National the new National Nanotechnology Initiative. Medal of Science. Prior to going to Washington, Lane enjoyed a successful academic career in teaching, research, and He has served as a member and then chair of the Executive Council of the Division of Condensed administration. He was Provost of Rice University from 1986-93, and Professor of Physics, from 1972, Matter Physics of the APS, as the US representative on the IUPAP Semiconductor Commission, and as serving one term as chair. He also has served as Chancellor of the University of Colorado at Colorado a member of the National Academy of Sciences Government-University Industry Research Roundtable. Springs (1984-86), and Director of the NSF Division of Physics (1979-80). Cohen served on a variety of national and international boards and committees as an advisor and His field of research is AMO physics, specializing in electronic and atomic collision theory. He advocate for science education. He was Vice Chair of the NAS-GUIR Working Group on Science and serves on several boards and advisory committees and has received a number of fellowships, Engineering Talent emphasizing the recruitment of women and minorities. He was a featured speaker honorary degrees, and awards, including the AAS/AMS/APS Public Service Award. He has served for the Electron Birthday Project (televised to US high schools) and is currently active in lecturing to lay at various times on APS Council and Executive Board, POPA (chair 1983), and other APS groups, K-12 students, and industrial groups. committees. He currently serves on the APS Physics Policy Committee.

FOR CHAIR-ELECT, NOMINATING COMMITTEE FOR CHAIR-ELECT, NOMINATING COMMITTEE

JOHN PEOPLES SUNIL SINHA Fermilab University of California, San Diego Peoples is a senior scientist in the Fermilab Experimental Astrophysics Sinha obtained his Ph.D. in physics from Cambridge University in Group and Director of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). He received his 1964. He has held positions at universities (Iowa State University, Ph.D. in Physics in 1966 from Columbia University. He was an Assistant 1965-1975), industrial research laboratories (Exxon Corporate Re- Professor in Physics at Columbia from 1966 to 1969 and at Cornell Uni- search Laboratories, 1983-1995), and government research versity from1969 to 1972. He joined Fermilab in 1972 and during the next laboratories (Argonne National Laboratory, 1975-1983 and 1995- sixteen years he was engaged in the construction and management of 2001). He is currently professor of physics at the University of experimental facilities and accelerators for high-energy physics. He served California San Diego. His research involves the study of the structure Fermilab as Deputy Director in 1988 and Director from 1989 to 1999. He was appointed and dynamics of Condensed Matter using neutron and X-ray scattering techniques. He has Director Emeritus in 1999. He was the chair of the Division of Particles and Fields in 1984 and spent several periods as a visiting fellow and visiting scientist in Japan, France, Germany, the chair of the Division of Physics of Beams in 1999, and is currently a member of the APS Denmark and India. He has served on the Executive Committees of the APS Division of Committee of International Scientific Affairs. He was a member of the High Energy Physics Condensed Matter Physics and the APS International Physics Group, and on numerous Advisory Panel from 1976 until 1980 and again from 1984 through 1985. advisory and review committees of several materials science and physics departments and neutron and synchrotron radiation facilities around the world.

FOR GENERAL COUNCILLOR FOR GENERAL COUNCILLOR

JANET M. CONRAD LAURA SMOLIAR Columbia University Lighwave Electronics Conrad received her Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1993. Born in New York City, Smoliar earned her Ph.D. from the Univer- Since that time, she has been associated with Columbia University sity of California, Berkeley in 1995. As a graduate student, she spent and is presently an Associate Professor. At present, Conrad’s re- seven months in Taiwan at the Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sci- search focuses on using neutrinos as tools to search for ences (IAMS), an institute of the Academia Sinica founded by Professor beyond-the-standard-model physics signatures. She was given the Lee and spent an additional year as a postdoc working at IAMS and Marie Goeppert-Meyer Award from APS in 2001 for her leadership the Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (SRRC). Smoliar has in the search for neutral heavy leptons at the NuTeV deep inelastic neutrino scattering worked in Silicon Valley since September, 1996. Initially she worked in the data storage experiment at Fermilab. Conrad has been active in the APS since she was a graduate industry at Seagate Technology, and in 1998 co-founded a start-up working on three-di- student, and is a member of FPS, DPF, DPB and DNP. She has been a member of the DPF mensional laser-based displays. She was then recruited by Lightwave Electronics, a small Executive Committee since 2000. She has served on the Tanaka Prize Committee and is privately-held photonics company in Silicon Valley, to lead a development program aimed at presently on the Selection Committee for the Maria Goeppert Meyer Award. She has the display industry. At Lightwave, she manages a multi-disciplinary group of engineers and been active in outreach and mentoring, giving public lectures, describing neutrino physicists, working very closely with development partners in Asia and Europe. She has physics on NPR’s Earth & Sky, and serving on a number of panels focused on outreach been very active in the APS Forum on Industrial and Applied Physics, serving on the Execu- to educators and the larger community. tive Committee and as Chair in 2001-02.

STEVEN G. LOUIE University of California, Berkeley KATEPALLI SREENIVASAN Institute for Physical Science & Technology, University of Maryland Louie received his Ph.D. in physics in 1976, both from the Univer- sity of California at Berkeley. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the IBM Sreenivasan was educated in India, Australia and Johns Hopkins Watson Research Center, a visiting member of the technical staff at and was a faculty mamber at Yale University from 1979 until this AT&T Bell Laboratories, and Assistant Professor of Physics at the year. He is currently the Distinguished University Professor and University of Pennsylvania before returning to UCB in 1980. He is Director of the Institute for Physical Science and Technology at the concurrently a Senior Faculty Scientist in the Materials Sciences Divi- University of Maryland. His research is devoted to experimental sion of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His research and theoretical studies of wide-ranging problems in fluid dynam- interests are in theoretical condensed matter physics and nanoscience. He was awarded ics, with a major focus on the turbulent state. Within the APS, Sreenivasan has served as the APS Aneesur Rahman Prize for Computational Physics in 1996, and the APS Davisson- the Chairman of the Division of Fluid Dynamics, Chairman of the Topical Group on Germer Prize in 1999. Within the APS, he has served on the Aneesur Rahman Prize Selection Statistical and Nonlinear Physics which he helped create, Associate Editor of Physical Committee, the Davisson-Germer Prize Selection Committee, the Nicholas Metropolis Award Review E (1994-97), and Divisional Associate Editor of Physical Review Letters. He is Selection Committee, and the Nominating Committee, Fellowship Committee, and Execu- also a member of the APS Publications Oversight Committee. Sreenivasan was awarded tive Committee of the Division of Computational Physics. a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1989 and the APS Otto Laporte Award in 1995. NEWS July 2002 7 ANNOUNCEMENTS Are you active in or supportive 2002-2003 Women’s www.nextwave.org, is the weekly online publication International Science of undergraduate research? that focuses on the careers of scientists—from undergradu- Collaboration The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) and its affili- ates to faculty. Next Wave is published by the American AAAS announces the second round ated colleges, universities, and individuals share a focus on en- Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and of applications for the 2002-2003 hancing research opportunities for faculty and undergraduate stu- Science magazine. Women’s International Science Collabo- dents. CUR provides support for faculty development, works with ration (WISC) Program. agencies and foundations to develop research opportunities for This global site includes weekly news, alternative career faculty and students, and assists administrators and faculty mem- Supported by the U.S. National Sci- profiles, discussion forums, career advice and funding in- bers in improving and assessing the research environment as it ence Foundation (NSF), this program relates to undergraduate education at their institutions. We are formation. aims to increase the participation of the national voice for undergraduate research and for primarily To stay on top of the latest articles from Next Wave, women in international scientific re- undergraduate institutions. you can subscribe to our weekly e-mail alerts at http:// search through travel awards to mailman.aaas.org/mailman/listinfo/snwreader locations around the world. 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WEN HO LEE, from page 4 dollar government investigation, tigation of Lee’s case is frequently that copying certain files consti- APS News:News:APS The response of the Alamos or other National Labo- and Lee’s nine months of solitary cited along with intelligence fail- tuted security violations. Do you US scientific community, including ratories, the work environment confinement culminated when Lee ures prior to the September 11 think the government’s discovery the American Physical Society, to is much better than in the se- pled guilty to one of the attacks as evidence of the break- of those security violations war- the news of your arrest and denial cured area. prosecution’s fifty-nine original down in our national security ranted some action against you, of bail consisted primarily of well charges. On September 13, 2000, infrastructure. and if so what sorts of actions publicized letters to Janet Reno and APS News: Finally, do you US District Judge James Parker Although Lee recently released a would have been appropriate? other governmental officials de- think you will be content to spend apologized to Lee for the biographical account of his harrow- manding you be released on bail the remainder of your life in re- government’s abuses during the in- ing experiences (My Country Versus WHL:WHL:WHL: The purpose for down- pending trial. Do you feel this re- tirement? If you think you might vestigation and prosecution, and Me, Hyperion, 2001), and has be- loading my files was to protect sponse was sufficient? want to get back to work, what subsequently sentenced Lee to come the poster child for groups my work. I used the best tech- sort of employment do you envi- time served for mishandling sensi- monitoring investigative abuses and nique that I knew to protect my WHL:WHL:WHL: I feel that the American sion? Has your trial and conviction tive material. racial discrimination, he is a difficult files. I know others who have Physical Society and the rest of the hampered your efforts to secure Repercussions stemming from man to reach these days. Lee is insu- performed similar downloading, US scientific community have done such employment? the Lee espionage case continue to lated by phalanx of friends and but nobody was ever put into the best they could. I really appre- shake up federal law enforcement relatives eager to protect what is left solitary confinement like me. The ciate everyone’s help! WHL:WHL:WHL: I have tried to get a job agencies and the National Labora- of his private life. In addition, his law- worst punishment I have heard in both the university and indus- tories. A Government Accounting yers are loath to permit him to for someone who performed APS News: Based on your ex- try setting. But, so far, I have not Office report requested by House comment on anything that relates to similar downloadings was reloca- perience, would you advise foreign been able to locate a job. I am Representatives David Wu (D-OR) his current civil suit alleging that the tion from a secured area to an and naturalized scientists working currently doing my own research and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) government violated Lee’s privacy by unsecured area. in the US not to accept employ- on semiconductor design. I hope in response to Lee’s case was re- leaking his name to reporters dur- ment requiring a security that someday I can make a con- leased in April. The report, entitled ing the espionage investigation. APS News:News:APS During your Feb- clearance? How about employ- tribution to the electronics “Actions Needed to Strengthen Nevertheless, APS News recently ruary appearance at New York ment, at Los Alamos and other industry. Equal Employment Opportunity managed to pass the following ques- University to promote your book, National Laboratories, if a security Oversight,” revealed a pattern of tions to Lee through a trusted you said, “I hope when you read clearance is not required? Wen Ho Lee and his wife discriminatory employment prac- intermediary. [My Country Versus Me] you will Sylvia still live in New Mexico. He tices toward women and minorities see what a huge mistake the gov- WHL:WHL:WHL: I feel that racial profil- works in his garden, and fre- at three national weapons labs, in- APS News:News:APS A number of scien- ernment has made and will learn ing may be a very complicated quents secret fishing spots where cluding LANL. Also in April, Ray tists have publicly stated that the something from my experience.” and longstanding problem. It he can bag trout twenty-seven Juzaitis’ bid for the top position at government’s actions against you, What specifically do you think we will take a long time even to make inches long. Lee’s son Chung is a Lawrence Livermore National after its discovery that you had mis- can learn from your experience? tiny progress. Therefore, the risk medical student, and his daugh- Laboratory was derailed in part handled sensitive information, of unequal treatment may still be ter Alberta is a vocal activist for because of his comparatively re- were unjustified. In particular, de- WHL:WHL:WHL: As a scientist, we al- unnecessarily high for a foreign her father’s cause. Further infor- mote supervisory connection to taining you without bail and placing ways try to do a good job on our and naturalized scientist working mation on Lee’s case and a Lee as head of nuclear weapons you in solitary confinement research work. Now, I know that in a US Company that requires petition drive for his presiden- research at LANL during the Lee seemed excessive. On the other we also have to pay attention to security clearance. For employ- tial pardon is available on the web fiasco. And the pathological inves- hand, in your book you concede the politics. ment in the open area at Los site “www.WenHoLee.com.”

PANEL PROBES, from page 4 FOCUS, from page 3 FRIEDMAN, from page 4

interest of the general public.” He contention that the next accelerator people. “What does a graduate stu- all, the world’s current political and September 11th terrorist attacks, denied that it looks like physics is in had to be international from the dent do in a 500 member social volatility presents at least as and performance and results will trouble because one cannot go on start. “The next major accelerator collaboration? How does she man- much challenge to CISA and CIFS as therefore become more important building bigger machines, pointing facility, a TeV scale linear collider, has age not be lost? How does he did the precarious balances of the in scientific research. Rep. Gil to the exciting results from the neu- to be an international effort,” he said, manage to have his work recog- cold war era. However they ap- Gutknecht (R-MN) said that Con- trino observatories, and expressing but added that “construction of a nized?” he asked, adding that “the proach their respective tasks, the gress is facing difficult fiscal confidence in physicists’ abilities to multi-billion dollar scientific facility experimental timescale today ex- chairs are both hopeful that the com- challenges, and that Congress re- find “new directions, new ways of as an international enterprise will not ceeds the natural time scales of a mittees will continue to effectively flects the will of the American doing things.” be a piece of cake. In addition, our graduate career, postdoc tenure, reflect the growing international fla- people, whose priorities lean more Summing up, Brinkman urged his political system with its separate Ex- or appointment length of an Assis- vor of the APS. Ironically, one of the towards national security, prescrip- audience to “think of yourselves as ecutive and Legislative branches and tant Professor. The senior people positive outcomes of these troubled tion drug coverage, and lower taxes. physicists—you are one end of a our funding system, with its year to in the field…must address [this] is- times is likely to be increased con- After passing the Research Sub- spectrum from the curiosity driven year appropriations, do not make the sue and search for solutions which tact, and potentially improved committee unanimously, and to the very applied. You are part of a situation any easier.” will overcome these inherent diffi- relations, with Islamic nations that gaining the approval of the Science very large community that does all He also remarked on internal culties that are of such paramount have long been under-represented Committee, H.R. 4664 was passed kinds of physics.” problems within high-energy phys- importance to our younger col- in the global physics community. by the full House of Representa- Wojcicki agreed with Orbach’s ics, especially as they affect younger leagues.” –James Riordon tives on June 5. 8 July 2002 NEWS THE BACK PAGE LAND MINES: An Explosive Issue Requiring Physicists’ Help By Richard Craig

I have to confess that I am not an WWII metal mines are of very lim- devices require detection commu- Where can physics help? The op- expert on land mines. This issue ited application. Sappers—those substantial power nity is multiprobe portunities in detection are marks my third anniversary of work- who remove mines—are loath to sources. instruments, either several-fold: First, identifying a physi- ing in this area. What I’ve learned has depend on low-detection probabil- Land mines to provide comple- cal probe or suite of probes that is been connected with research on ity techniques because false have different mentary strengths superior to those under consider- how to deal with them. The mines I’ve negatives are the source of about half thermal conduc- for differing soil ation; second, finding a way to met have had the detonators re- of all land mine injuries. tivity and heat conditions, or to improve the performance of the ex- moved—and I’m just as happy to The people who presently remove capacity than the provide on-board isting probes, and third, engineering keep it that way. Land mines, how- land mines mostly do so by hand. surrounding confirmation. that high-tech probe into a low-tech ever, present an issue that won’t go They use a probe to search the earth. As a result, Generally, the con- instrument that is patently acceptable away on its own and provide oppor- ground, inch-by-inch. at certain times of firmatory to a community that is comfortable tunities for physicists to apply their Except for the mechanical probe, day, a land mine instruments are with mechanical probes. The powers- peculiar skills to help address this life- there may be no single technology presents a integrated into au- that-be in the demining community and-death issue. capable of finding land mines un- warmer or cooler tonomous remote have a dream date: Mine detection at

Some refer to land mines as the der all conditions. And a different area than its sur- Photo by NEED A NAME or heavily hard- a distance with a minimum standoff perfect soldiers. They are inexpen- mechanical probe is required for roundings. This is Richard Craig ened vehicles. of 10 meters. Others are specifying sive—a few 10s of dollars each to differing conditions. the physical basis of infrared tech- Once the issue of finding a land aircraft standoff. Most of the present buy and deploy. They don’t eat; they A continuing issue for all technolo- niques for mine detection. When IR mine has been solved, the first step probes are limited by applicable phys- don’t fall asleep on duty; they don’t gies is “clutter”—objects that have detection works, it can work very in the removal process is uncover- ics to much shorter distances. require maintenance. Land mines signals similar to the target but that well—antitank mines can show up ing it. The present approach is to The demining community will ac- are selective in the sense that they are false positives. When real-time very clearly from an airborne plat- brush the covering soil off—very cept higher-cost devices; it will not don’t, generally, detonate spontane- imaging is possible, this provides the form. The issue with IR is that it may carefully to take into account the accept a device that is perceived to ously or when encountered by operator with the basis for interpret- not work at all. This is not a confi- possibility of booby trapping. An “air reduce the reliability, compared to a something less than their target. By ing away much clutter. dence-building characteristic for a shovel” has been developed—basi- mechanical probe, regardless of speed design, land mines aren’t shock-sen- demining technology. cally a vacuum cleaner operated in or other advantages. Perhaps the low- sitive so they’re difficult and High-tech options field magnetic resonance expensive to defeat. The scientific community already spectroscopy work coming out of Most field soldiers with whom I’ve has invested considerable R&D to Table 1. MOST HEAVILY MINED COUNTRIES Berkeley recently can provide a basis spoken don’t like them at all. They find, remove, and dispose of land for low-power, low-field resonance mines. Various approaches are being Country Number of Estimated total view land mines as an evil compo- land-mines number of chemical probing akin to NQR. The developed, each with advantages and nent of warfare. To them, land mines per square mile land-mines need for helium cooling would re- are undiscriminating weapons that disadvantages either from a techni- strict the application only slightly. cal aspect, feasibility angle for kill and maim friends and foe alike. Bosnia andandBosnia Another variation on the dielectric Yet another perspective is that of implementation, or cost issue. Each probe theme, (not yet considered for Herzegovina 152152152 3,000,0003,000,0003,000,000 civilian inhabitants of former war is significant in its own way. Because land-mine detection, to my knowl- zones. For these people, land mines of the variety of environments in CambodiaCambodiaCambodia 143143143 10,000,00010,000,00010,000,000 edge, although it has been successful are a part of their everyday life. Land which these must operate, the inter- CroatiaCroatiaCroatia 137137137 3,000,0003,000,0003,000,000 in examining storage tanks for leaks), mines render their living and work- national community is moving EgyptEgyptEgypt 606060 23,000,00023,000,00023,000,000 is electrical-resistance tomography; ing areas dangerous. This is especially towards an integrated suite of tech- this would require that the soil have IraqIraqIraq 595959 10,000,00010,000,00010,000,000 true in the case of civil wars for which nologies as the most reliable and some reasonable conductivity. Neu- the purpose of the land mines is, of- comprehensive method of detecting AfghanistanAfghanistanAfghanistan 404040 10,000,00010,000,00010,000,000 tron-scattering land-mine detection ten, genocidal. Bosnia/Herzegovina land mines, instead of relying on a AngolaAngolaAngola 313131 15,000,00015,000,00015,000,000 could be improved substantially if a and Croatia are one such example: single device. IranIranIran 252525 16,000,00016,000,00016,000,000 small, truly inexpensive neutron gen- Land mines, laid as part of ethnic In terms of finding land mines, the erator became available. This would RwandaRwandaRwanda 252525 250,000 cleansing activities, continue to con- best single technology is still a dog or also provide a source that might be taminate the traditional living and similar animal. The difficulty with the “turned off”, improving public per- N ote: Note: farming areas of noncombatant use of animals is that the training cost Note: There is too little information about some countries to ceptions, as well. Source:Source: populations. and required infrastructure often out- include them in the estimates. Source: UNICEF website http:// Finally, there is an interesting so- weigh the advantages. The U.S. DoD www.unicef.org/sowc96pk/hidekill.htm. cioeconomic issue for humanitarian Low tech, High numbers has a “Synthetic Dog’s Nose” program demining in developing countries. The numbers are overwhelming. to replace the biological sensor with Acoustic-detection techniques are reverse—to carefully remove the Presently, mine clearance there is of- The United Nations estimates that more something electronic; mass balance also being explored. For these the prin- soil around a found mine. ten a closed shop. Those doing the than 110 million mines contaminate sensors with selective coatings are the cipal hurdles is the large attenuation in Uncovered, the mine can be de- work are among the best-paid work- greater than 20 million square miles in heart of this program but others are soils and the very large impedance dif- stroyed in-place, although this usually ers in their countries. They are loath 64 countries. (See Table 1.) It estimates looking at ion-mobility devices. The ference between air and soil. The latter requires a fairly substantial explosive to see outsiders come in to replace more than 800 civilian deaths per limitation here is that most high explo- essentially restricts the technology to charge because land mines are de- them or allow others to do so. Any month. Because antipersonnel mines are sives have vanishingly small vapor in-ground transducers. signed to be shock-insensitive. technology to be used in these areas designed to maim rather than kill many pressures; the technology depends on A number of groups around the Moreover, exploding in place is un- must be engineered to be adaptable others are crippled. the vapors (primarily nitrobenzenes) world are using neutron scattering popular because of the essential lack to the existing infrastructure. There are various estimates for released by trace contaminants and as a means of land-mine detection. of control. Several groups are work- As a community, how can physi- the rates of humanitarian land-mine degradation products. Because vapor One “gotcha” with neutron scatter- ing on means to destroy, cists help? The physics community has removal but, until very recently, the transport through soil is slow, the dog— ing is that some mines classified as nonexplosively, mines in place. One repeatedly demonstrated the talent, rate of mine placement exceeded and its synthetic analog—work best plastic are, in fact, glass-fiber com- such method is to use, in effect, a torch creativity and attitude needed in the that of removal manyfold. The cost shortly after a rainfall. posite; apparently there is sufficient to cut through the mine casing and pursuit of feasible, reliable solutions of land-mine removal is 2 to 3 or- Most research into mine detection boron in the glass fiber to capture a ignite the high explosive. In most in- to real-world challenges, including ders of magnitude greater than that involves a physical probe other than large fraction of thermal and stances, the high explosive will burn those of land-mine detection. The bot- of placement. a mechanical probe. Ground-pen- epithermal neutrons. rather than explode. tom line is that this problem isn’t solved The ORDATA II database lists 800 etrating radar (GPR), is attractive For all the nuclear techniques, the and it is more than just a technical chal- varieties of land mine; this includes because it provides the potential for principal hurdle is the antipathy to- The Future: our challenge lenge. We can develop technologies metal, plastic, wood, and ceramic imaging the subsurface when phase wards things radioactive. The sources The land-mine problem isn’t go- that will be used to save lives the lives mines. There are anti-tank mines, information is retained. The particu- used can be small enough as not to ing to go away. Some of the of women and children often recruited bounding mines—antipersonnel lar difficulty with GPR is that the project any significant risk to the user— approaches presently being studied to clear mine fields. mines that pop out of the ground impedance mismatch between the air especially when considered in the may help to reduce the problem but, Richard Craig is a physicist at Pa- and then explode, for increased ef- and soil is so great that a large surface context of working in a possible mine even if each is able to provide a con- cific Northwest National Laboratory in fective radius—and “toe poppers” reflection results. field—but public perception still re- tribution under its most promising Richland, WA. He received last year’s with just a few grams of explosive. Nuclear quadrupole resonance gards things nuclear in a negative light. physical conditions, there will still be Christopher Columbus Foundation For most modern mines the casing (NQR) depends on the contrast in Just as NMR imaging was changed to conditions under which none, yet Award for his development of a timed is plastic and little to no metal is used nitrogen concentration between the MRI for public relations purposes, for addressed, are effective. Conse- neutron detector of plastic land mines in construction. Consequently, in- explosive and the soil. But the NQR the same reasons, developers of NQR quently, the world will not be clear Editor’Editor’Editor’s Note:Note:s A longer version of duction-based metal detectors, return pulse is very weak and sub- are silently dropping the “N” to QR. of mines by 2010 or 2110 for that this article can be found on line at which worked so successfully on ject to interference, so fieldable NQR Current thinking in the land-mine matter. www. aps.org/apsnews/.

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