DOCSLIB.ORG

APS NEWS July 2009 • 3

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
APS NEWS July 2009 • 3 July 2009 Volume 18, No. 7 TM www.aps.org/publications/apsnews APS NEWS APS Election Preview A PublicAtion of the AmericAn PhysicAl society • www.aps.org/PublicAtions/apsnews Pages 6 & 7 Women’s Progress Tracked in Reports by APS, National Academies The National Academies re- being selected at proportionally enrolled in physics and did not Canizares of MIT, co-chair of the pers, grant funding, award nomi- leased a study in early June that similar rates as men. In physics delve into the underlying cause of committee that assembled the re- nations, promotions and other job found female scientists at major departments approximately 20 the disparities at the undergradu- port, “[T]he good news is that the opportunities all showed near par- research institutions have made percent of tenure track positions ate level. discrepancies between the number ity with men’s reported rates. The significant progress in overcom- are being filled by women. The “I think you can see even in of PhDs produced and those ap- study did show that women pro- ing many of the professional bar- study found that the main reason the numbers that I showed that plying for faculty jobs and enter- fessors on average earned about 8 riers they have historically faced for this continuing disparity is the physics is still one of the fields ing the faculty is very slight.” percent less than men; however at in academia. Despite these gains small number of women applying that has an unfortunately quite Other encouraging findings the assistant and associate level, however, women continue to re- for such positions. Overall wom- low representation of women at showed that generally once wom- salaries were equivalent. main underrepresented in science en make up only 14 percent of the the higher ranks. It’s certainly en became members of faculties, The study looked specifically faculties overall. PhDs in physics, and 12 percent been improving, at other ranks, they reported few measurable dif- at the full time faculties of the top The congressionally mandated of the applicant pool for univer- but even in the PhD production ferences between them and their 89 Carnegie research universi- study found that women seeking sity positions. The study focused you can see there that the num- male coworkers. Indicators such ties, using data collected through faculty positions and tenure are primarily on women already bers are still too low,” said Claude as the number of published pa- Women continued on page 5 LaserFest Booth Pulls Them In Members Urged to Apply for LaserFest Outreach Grants Calling all physics per- lish outreach initiatives and yearlong celebration Laser- formers! APS and the Opti- travelling physics demonstra- Fest to highlight the impor- cal Society of America are tions in communities and in- tance of lasers and to illus- seeking grant proposals from stitutions across the country. trate how basic scientific re- their members for outreach APS and OSA are especially search can impact the modern events as part of LaserFest looking to support groups 2010. The two organizations with new and innovative ap- world. plan to jointly award several proaches for these outreach The funding is available to grants of up to $10,000 each activities, particularly if they groups with members in ei- to sponsor activities aimed at could potentially be continued ther APS or OSA, and all pro- reaching and informing the past the lifetime of the grant. posals must be submitted by public about the science of 2010 is the 50th anniver- September 30th 2009. Contact lasers for LaserFest on the sary of Theodore Maiman’s information and a complete Road. construction of the first work- Photo by Michael Lucibella This sponsorship, avail- ing laser. To coincide with proposal application can be crowds of interested attendees flock to the laserfest booth that was unveiled able to either individuals or this milestone, APS and OSA found on the website at www. at the cleo/iQec meeting in baltimore in early June, while comics super-hero groups, is designed to estab- have partnered to sponsor the LaserFest.org. spectra (left) takes a break from saving the world from the evil miss Alignment. see story on page 5. APS Announces PhysicsQuest Winners Physics is Olympians’ Idea of a Good Time The winners of the APS-spon- school’s name listed there in or- an original comic book, recount- In a small sored 2008 PhysicsQuest contest der to believe that we had really ing the story of young Tesla and classroom at the have been selected. Jason Hol- won,” Holstege said, “[I]t also his adventures to illuminate the University of stege’s 7th Grade Science class at feels good, because the students 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Maryland, nine- the Heritage Christian School in worked hard at understanding the “The goals are to give kids teen pairs of eyes Hudsonville, Michigan won this concepts.” an experience with physics. The stare attentively at year’s grand prize. The class was Each year APS sends out main idea is to teach them some- a blackboard full awarded with a $500 certificate thousands of PhysicsQuest kits thing without them realizing it,” of a complex ar- to the educational supplier Edu- containing simple physics experi- Rebecca Thompson-Flagg, head ray of quadratic cational Innovations, and each ments to teachers and students of outreach for APS said. “The equations. Though student won an iPod Shuffle en- across the country. Each kit in- comic book was a big hit. It was the physics on graved with “PhysicsQuest Supe- cludes four classroom experi- something they hadn’t seen be- the chalkboard is hero.” ments and an activity book aimed fore.” distinctly college “I was pretty shocked when I at middle school students. This In keeping with this year’s Tes- level, the class is Photo by Michael Lucibella got the call on a Friday afternoon, year’s theme focused on the life la theme, most of the experiments composed entire- olympian yunfan Zhang (right) takes a break from the and I had to check the website and work of Nicola Tesla. These incorporated the physics of elec- ly of high school rigors of the training camp to enjoy a moment of conver- sation with coach Paul stanley. out a couple times just to see the kits were also the first to include WINNERS continued on page 7 students. This is the training camp physics problems during the nine- DAMOP Meets in Charlottesville for the 2009 International Physics day competition in mid July. Or- The APS Division of Atomic, about how quantum optic technolo- Long term quantum memory could Olympiad’s US Team. At the end ganizers of both the international Molecular and Optical Physics gy is being used in fields as diverse play an important role in future of the ten-day preparatory camp, event and the training camp strive held its annual meeting in Charlot- as atomic physics, nanotechnology, quantum computer developments, five of the nineteen students were to advance physics education and tesville, Virginia in May. Featuring many body physics, and quantum matter-light entanglement, and mat- selected to travel to Mexico for reward students that have distin- more than seventy sessions, the information science. ter qubit rotations. this year’s international competi- guished themselves in the field. meeting attracted over a thousand Other highlighted talks included Ultracold molecules in opti- tion in July. Though only the five The Olympiad began in 1967 physicists from across the country. Alex Kuzmich of Georgia Tech cal lattices continue to be a major students were selected to go, all in Eastern Europe and expanded The annual award presentations who announced his method for focus of research, with over one nineteen kids in the classroom rep- during the 1970s to include the and plenary talks kicked off the greatly improving the lifetime of hundred papers devoted to the tech- resent some of the brightest scien- rest of Europe and later the rest of meeting. The recipient of the Her- quantum memory. By minimizing nique. One novel use is a method tific minds in the country. the world. The United States first bert P. Broida prize, Gustav Gerber, the sensitivity to magnetic fields, described by Andrew Ludlow of The International Physics participated in 1986 when its team discussed his method to manipulate Kuzmich has been able to store in- NIST Colorado to use strontium Olympiad is the global zenith for brought back three bronze medals quantum systems with femto-sec- formation on atomic coherences atoms suspended in an optical lat- high school physicists. Each year from London, the best any team ond laser pulses shaped by a liquid- that lasts up to several milliseconds, tice to create the next generation teams of high school students from had done on its first outing. The crystal display. Mikhail Lukin, re- rather than the few hundreds of mi- of highly accurate atomic clocks. over sixty different countries vie American Association of Physics cipient of the I.I. Rabi prize, spoke croseconds previously achieved. DAMOP continued on page 7 for the gold by unraveling complex OLYMPIANS continued on page 5 2 • July 2009 APS NEWS Members This Month in Physics History in the Media “I always say that what Dan most valuable resource we have.” July 1654: Pascal’s Letters to Fermat on the “Problem of Points” Brown did for the Roman Catholic Ralph Nobles, hoping that a Games of chance are as ancient as human history, Intrigued, Pascal realized he would need to in- Church in ‘The Da Vinci Code,’ tract of land in California slated with archaeologists unearthing evidence of them on vent a new method of analysis to solve the puzzle, he did for me and my research for development will be bought by prehistory digs.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Saul Perlmutter Receives Nobel Prize in Physics 27 October 2011
    Saul Perlmutter receives Nobel Prize in physics 27 October 2011 wonderful that the Nobel Prize is being awarded for results which reflect humanity's long quest to understand our world and how we got here. The ideas and discoveries that led to our ability to measure the expansion history of the universe have a truly international heritage, with key contributions from almost every continent and culture. And quite appropriately, our result - the acceleration of the universe - was the product of two teams of scientists from around the world. These are the kinds of discoveries that the whole world can feel a part of and celebrate, as humanity advances its knowledge of our universe." Saul Perlmutter addresses reporters and Berkeley Lab "I offer my congratulations to Dr. Perlmutter and the staff at a press conference on the morning of October 4 entire Berkeley Lab team for their extraordinary following the announcement of his Nobel Prize in contributions to science, which are being Physics. Credit: Roy Kaltschmidt, Lawrence Berkeley recognized with the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics," National Laboratory said Energy Secretary Steven Chu, former director of Berkeley Lab and himself a winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997. "His groundbreaking work showed us that the expansion of the universe is Saul Perlmutter, an astrophysicist at the U.S. actually speeding up rather than slowing down. Dr. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley Perlmutter's award is another reminder of the National Laboratory and a professor of physics at incredible talent and world-leading expertise the University of California at Berkeley, has won America has at our National Laboratories.
    [Show full text]
  • Nobel Laureates Endorse Joe Biden
    Nobel Laureates endorse Joe Biden 81 American Nobel Laureates in Physics, Chemistry, and Medicine have signed this letter to express their support for former Vice President Joe Biden in the 2020 election for President of the United States. At no time in our nation’s history has there been a greater need for our leaders to appreciate the value of science in formulating public policy. During his long record of public service, Joe Biden has consistently demonstrated his willingness to listen to experts, his understanding of the value of international collaboration in research, and his respect for the contribution that immigrants make to the intellectual life of our country. As American citizens and as scientists, we wholeheartedly endorse Joe Biden for President. Name Category Prize Year Peter Agre Chemistry 2003 Sidney Altman Chemistry 1989 Frances H. Arnold Chemistry 2018 Paul Berg Chemistry 1980 Thomas R. Cech Chemistry 1989 Martin Chalfie Chemistry 2008 Elias James Corey Chemistry 1990 Joachim Frank Chemistry 2017 Walter Gilbert Chemistry 1980 John B. Goodenough Chemistry 2019 Alan Heeger Chemistry 2000 Dudley R. Herschbach Chemistry 1986 Roald Hoffmann Chemistry 1981 Brian K. Kobilka Chemistry 2012 Roger D. Kornberg Chemistry 2006 Robert J. Lefkowitz Chemistry 2012 Roderick MacKinnon Chemistry 2003 Paul L. Modrich Chemistry 2015 William E. Moerner Chemistry 2014 Mario J. Molina Chemistry 1995 Richard R. Schrock Chemistry 2005 K. Barry Sharpless Chemistry 2001 Sir James Fraser Stoddart Chemistry 2016 M. Stanley Whittingham Chemistry 2019 James P. Allison Medicine 2018 Richard Axel Medicine 2004 David Baltimore Medicine 1975 J. Michael Bishop Medicine 1989 Elizabeth H. Blackburn Medicine 2009 Michael S.
    [Show full text]
  • From Theory to the First Working Laser Laser History—Part I
    I feature_ laser history From theory to the first working laser Laser history—Part I Author_Ingmar Ingenegeren, Germany _The principle of both maser (microwave am- 19 US patents) using a ruby laser. Both were nom- plification by stimulated emission of radiation) inated for the Nobel Prize. Gábor received the 1971 and laser (light amplification by stimulated emis- Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention and devel- sion of radiation) were first described in 1917 by opment of the holographic method. To a friend he Albert Einstein (Fig.1) in “Zur Quantentheorie der wrote that he was ashamed to get this prize for Strahlung”, as the so called ‘stimulated emission’, such a simple invention. He was the owner of more based on Niels Bohr’s quantum theory, postulated than a hundred patents. in 1913, which explains the actions of electrons in- side atoms. Einstein (born in Germany, 14 March In 1954 at the Columbia University in New York, 1879–18 April 1955) received the Nobel Prize for Charles Townes (born in the USA, 28 July 1915–to- physics in 1921, and Bohr (born in Denmark, 7 Oc- day, Fig. 2) and Arthur Schawlow (born in the USA, tober 1885–18 November 1962) in 1922. 5 Mai 1921–28 April 1999, Fig. 3) invented the maser, using ammonia gas and microwaves which In 1947 Dennis Gábor (born in Hungarian, 5 led to the granting of a patent on March 24, 1959. June 1900–8 February 1972) developed the theory The maser was used to amplify radio signals and as of holography, which requires laser light for its re- an ultra sensitive detector for space research.
    [Show full text]
  • Luis Alvarez: the Ideas Man
    CERN Courier March 2012 Commemoration Luis Alvarez: the ideas man The years from the early 1950s to the late 1980s came alive again during a symposium to commemorate the birth of one of the great scientists and inventors of the 20th century. Luis Alvarez – one of the greatest experimental physicists of the 20th century – combined the interests of a scientist, an inventor, a detective and an explorer. He left his mark on areas that ranged from radar through to cosmic rays, nuclear physics, particle accel- erators, detectors and large-scale data analysis, as well as particles and astrophysics. On 19 November, some 200 people gathered at Berkeley to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth. Alumni of the Alvarez group – among them physicists, engineers, programmers and bubble-chamber film scanners – were joined by his collaborators, family, present-day students and admirers, as well as scientists whose professional lineage traces back to him. Hosted by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and the University of California at Berkeley, the symposium reviewed his long career and lasting legacy. A recurring theme of the symposium was, as one speaker put it, a “Shakespeare-type dilemma”: how could one person have accom- plished all of that in one lifetime? Beyond his own initiatives, Alvarez created a culture around him that inspired others to, as George Smoot put it, “think big,” as well as to “think broadly and then deep” and to take risks. Combined with Alvarez’s strong scientific standards and great care in execut- ing them, these principles led directly to the awarding of two Nobel Luis Alvarez celebrating the announcement of his 1968 Nobel prizes in physics to scientists at Berkeley – George Smoot in 2006 prize.
    [Show full text]
  • Electronic Newsletter 2011-2012, Part 2 April 2012 APS Meeting
    Electronic Newsletter 2011-2012, Part 2 March 10, 2012 In this issue April 2012 APS Meeting • April 2012 Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia • Exec Comm Elections • Annual Business Meeting • Plenary Sessions • Lunch with the Experts • DAP Session Schedule • Invited Session Highlights APS DAP Officers 2011-2012: Chair: Rocky Kolb Chair-Elect: Clifford Will Past Chair: Dan McCammon Vice Chair: Angela Olinto Secretary/Treasurer: Corbin Covault Deputy Sec./Treasurer: Grzegorz Madejski Member-at-Large: Alicia Soderberg Member-at-Large: Lynn Cominsky Member-at-Large: Rachel Bean Member-at-Large: Finalize your plans now to attend the April 2012 meeting held Amber Miller this year in Atlanta, Georgia. This year’s theme is 100 Years of Cosmic Ray Physics, a theme that resonates in several exciting Councilor: areas of particular interest to the membership of the Division Neil Cornish of Astrophysics. A number of plenary and invited sessions will feature presentations by DAP members. Here are the key details: Questions? Comments? What: April 2012 APS Meeting Newsletter Editor: Corbin Covault When: March 31 through April 3, 2012 [email protected] Where: Hyatt Regency Hotel, Atlanta, Georgia More: Information on Registration, Lodging, Program, etc: go to http://www.aps.org/meetings/april Division of Astrophysics Executive Committee Elections: Each year the Division of Astrophysics (DAP) of the APS elects new members for the open positions on the DAP executive committee. A nominating committee has been appointed by the current executive committee.The Division of Astrophysics (DAP) will be holding elections to fill vacancies for three open positions in DAP that will be selected this year.
    [Show full text]
  • Nobel Lecture: Accelerating Expansion of the Universe Through Observations of Distant Supernovae*
    REVIEWS OF MODERN PHYSICS, VOLUME 84, JULY–SEPTEMBER 2012 Nobel Lecture: Accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae* Brian P. Schmidt (published 13 August 2012) DOI: 10.1103/RevModPhys.84.1151 This is not just a narrative of my own scientific journey, but constant, and suggested that Hubble’s data and Slipher’s also my view of the journey made by cosmology over the data supported this conclusion (Lemaˆitre, 1927). His work, course of the 20th century that has lead to the discovery of the published in a Belgium journal, was not initially widely read, accelerating Universe. It is complete from the perspective of but it did not escape the attention of Einstein who saw the the activities and history that affected me, but I have not tried work at a conference in 1927, and commented to Lemaˆitre, to make it an unbiased account of activities that occurred ‘‘Your calculations are correct, but your grasp of physics is around the world. abominable.’’ (Gaither and Cavazos-Gaither, 2008). 20th Century Cosmological Models: In 1907 Einstein had In 1928, Robertson, at Caltech (just down the road from what he called the ‘‘wonderful thought’’ that inertial accel- Edwin Hubble’s office at the Carnegie Observatories), pre- eration and gravitational acceleration were equivalent. It took dicted the Hubble law, and claimed to see it when he com- Einstein more than 8 years to bring this thought to its fruition, pared Slipher’s redshift versus Hubble’s galaxy brightness his theory of general Relativity (Norton and Norton, 1984)in measurements, but this observation was not substantiated November, 1915.
    [Show full text]
  • POEMMA-IPA2017-Krizmanic.Pdf
    POEMMA OWL Orbing Wide-field Light-collectors CHANT CHerenkov from Astrophysical Neutrinos Telescope John Krizmanic (NASA/GSFC/CRESSTII/UMBC) for the POEMMA study team IPA2017 09-May-17 NASA Astrophysics Probe Mission Concept Studies POEMMA NASA Solicitaon NNH16ZDA001N-APROBES (Scope of Program): Announced: 19-Feb-16 Due Date: 15-Nov-16 Selecon: 17-Mar-17 NASA has started preparaons for the 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey (hp:// science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/2020-decadal-survey-planning/). One of the tasks of the 2020 Decadal Survey Commiee will be to recommend a porolio of astrophysics missions. The Decadal Survey Commiee may choose to recommend a porolio of missions containing a mix of priorized large- and medium-size mission concepts, or even a program of competed medium-size missions. NASA and the community are interested in providing appropriate input to the 2020 Decadal Survey regarding medium-size mission concepts, also referred to as Astrophysics Probe concepts. To this end, NASA is solicing proposals to conduct mission concept studies for Astrophysics Probe missions. Following peer review of the proposed mission concept studies, NASA will select a small number of proposals for 1.5 year (18 month) funded studies. Results of the selected studies will be provided by NASA as input to the 2020 Decadal Survey. Astrophysics Probes are envisioned to have a total lifecycle (NASA Phases A through E) cost between that of a MIDEX mission (~$400M) and ~$1B. Proposals for concept studies may envision missions that include contribuons from other agencies (naonal or internaonal), industry, and universies. Should NASA choose to develop a mission that flows from any selected mission concept study, the responsibility for that mission will be assigned by NASA; there is no expectaon that the mission concept study team or par+cipa+ng organiza+on FINAL REPORTS DUE SEPTEMBER 2018 IPA2017 09-May-17 2 POEMMA Study Collaboraon POEMMA University of Chicago: Angela V.
    [Show full text]
  • Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Astrobiology
    ASTRONOMY, ASTROPHYSICS, AND ASTROBIOLOGY JOINT HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPACE & SUBCOMMITTEE ON RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION July 12, 2016 Serial No. 114–87 Printed for the use of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://science.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 20–916PDF WASHINGTON : 2017 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY HON. LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas, Chair FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., ZOE LOFGREN, California Wisconsin DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois DANA ROHRABACHER, California DONNA F. EDWARDS, Maryland RANDY NEUGEBAUER, Texas SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas ERIC SWALWELL, California MO BROOKS, Alabama ALAN GRAYSON, Florida RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois AMI BERA, California BILL POSEY, Florida ELIZABETH H. ESTY, Connecticut THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky MARC A. VEASEY, Texas JIM BRIDENSTINE, Oklahoma KATHERINE M. CLARK, Massachusetts RANDY K. WEBER, Texas DONALD S. BEYER, JR., Virginia JOHN R. MOOLENAAR, Michigan ED PERLMUTTER, Colorado STEPHEN KNIGHT, California PAUL TONKO, New York BRIAN BABIN, Texas MARK TAKANO, California BRUCE WESTERMAN, Arkansas BILL FOSTER, Illinois BARBARA COMSTOCK, Virginia GARY PALMER, Alabama BARRY LOUDERMILK, Georgia RALPH LEE ABRAHAM, Louisiana DRAIN LAHOOD, Illinois WARREN DAVIDSON, Ohio SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPACE HON. BRIAN BABIN, Texas, Chair DANA ROHRABACHER, California DONNA F. EDWARDS, Maryland FRANK D.
    [Show full text]
  • The Titans of the Cosmos
    FALL 2018 Titans of the Cosmos Exploring the Mysteries of Neutron Star Mergers & Supermassive Black Holes 10 | Educating the next generation of innovators in science and industry 16 | Berkeley leads the way in data science education Research Highlights, Department News & More CONTENTS CHAIR’SLETTER RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS2 Recent breakthroughs in faculty-led investigations PHOTO: BEN AILES PHOTO: TITANS OF THE COSMOS Fall classes are underway, our introductory courses ON THE COVER: Exploring the Mysteries of are packed, and we have good news on several fronts. Berkeley astrophysicist Daniel Kasen's research group uses Neutron Star Mergers and On July 1 we welcomed our newest faculty member, supercomputers at the National Supermassive Black Holes condensed matter theorist Mike Zalatel. In August the Energy Research Scientific Com- puting Center at LBNL to model 2018 Academic Rankings of World Universities were cosmic explosions. See page 4. announced, with Berkeley Physics second, between MIT CHAIR and Stanford – fine company. In September we learned Wick Haxton 4 that Professor Barbara Jacak will be awarded the 2019 MANAGING EDITOR & Tom Bonner Prize of the American Physical Society for DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT her leadership of the PHENIX detector at Brookhaven’s Rachel Schafer Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, and new graduate stu- CONTRIBUTING EDITOR & dent Nick Sherman will receive the LeRoy Apker Award SCIENCE WRITER for outstanding undergraduate research in theoretical Devi Mathieu PHYSICS INNOVATORS condensed matter and mathematical physics. Most re- DESIGN 10INITIATIVE cently, Assistant Professor Norman Yao has been named Sarah Wittmer Educating the Next a Packard Fellow, one of the most prestigious awards CONTRIBUTORS Generation of Innovators available in STEM disciplines.
    [Show full text]
  • Reversed out (White) Reversed
    Berkeley rev.( white) Berkeley rev.( FALL 2014 reversed out (white) reversed IN THIS ISSUE Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory Tabletop Physics Bringing More Women into Physics ALUMNI NEWS AND MORE! Cover: The MAVEN satellite mission uses instrumentation developed at UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory to explore the physics behind the loss of the Martian atmosphere. It’s a continuation of Berkeley astrophysicist Robert Lin’s pioneering work in solar physics. See p 7. photo credit: Lockheed Martin Physics at Berkeley 2014 Published annually by the Department of Physics Steven Boggs: Chair Anil More: Director of Administration Maria Hjelm: Director of Development, College of Letters and Science Devi Mathieu: Editor, Principal Writer Meg Coughlin: Design Additional assistance provided by Sarah Wittmer, Sylvie Mehner and Susan Houghton Department of Physics 366 LeConte Hall #7300 University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94720-7300 Copyright 2014 by The Regents of the University of California FEATURES 4 12 18 Berkeley’s Space Tabletop Physics Bringing More Women Sciences Laboratory BERKELEY THEORISTS INVENT into Physics NEW WAYS TO SEARCH FOR GOING ON SIX DECADES UC BERKELEY HOSTS THE 2014 NEW PHYSICS OF EDUCATION AND SPACE WEST COAST CONFERENCE EXPLORATION Berkeley theoretical physicists Ashvin FOR UNDERGRADUATE WOMEN Vishwanath and Surjeet Rajendran IN PHYSICS Since the Space Lab’s inception are developing new, small-scale in 1959, Berkeley physicists have Women physics students from low-energy approaches to questions played important roles in many California, Oregon, Washington, usually associated with large-scale of the nation’s space-based scientific Alaska, and Hawaii gathered on high-energy particle experiments.
    [Show full text]
  • Communications-Mathematics and Applied Mathematics/Download/8110
    A Mathematician's Journey to the Edge of the Universe "The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." ― Socrates Manjunath.R #16/1, 8th Main Road, Shivanagar, Rajajinagar, Bangalore560010, Karnataka, India *Corresponding Author Email: [email protected] *Website: http://www.myw3schools.com/ A Mathematician's Journey to the Edge of the Universe What’s the Ultimate Question? Since the dawn of the history of science from Copernicus (who took the details of Ptolemy, and found a way to look at the same construction from a slightly different perspective and discover that the Earth is not the center of the universe) and Galileo to the present, we (a hoard of talking monkeys who's consciousness is from a collection of connected neurons − hammering away on typewriters and by pure chance eventually ranging the values for the (fundamental) numbers that would allow the development of any form of intelligent life) have gazed at the stars and attempted to chart the heavens and still discovering the fundamental laws of nature often get asked: What is Dark Matter? ... What is Dark Energy? ... What Came Before the Big Bang? ... What's Inside a Black Hole? ... Will the universe continue expanding? Will it just stop or even begin to contract? Are We Alone? Beginning at Stonehenge and ending with the current crisis in String Theory, the story of this eternal question to uncover the mysteries of the universe describes a narrative that includes some of the greatest discoveries of all time and leading personalities, including Aristotle, Johannes Kepler, and Isaac Newton, and the rise to the modern era of Einstein, Eddington, and Hawking.
    [Show full text]
  • Highlights APS March Meeting Heads North to Montréal
    December 2003 Volume 12, No. 11 NEWS http://www.physics2005.org A Publication of The American Physical Society http://www.aps.org/apsnews APS March Meeting Heads North to Montréal California Physics Departments Face More The 2004 March Meeting will Physics; International Physics; Edu- be organizing a host of special For those who want to Budget Cuts in an be held in lively and cosmopolitan cation and Physics; and Graduate events, including receptions, explore, there will be tours of Uncertain Future Montréal, Canada’s second largest Student Affairs, as well as topical alumni reunions, a students’ Montréal, highlighting the city’s city. The meeting runs from March groups on Instrument and Mea- lunch with the experts, and an history, cultural heritage, cosmo- The California recall election 22nd through the 26th at the surement Science; Magnetism and opportunity to meet the editors politan nature, and European was a laughing matter to many, Palais des Congrès de Montréal. Its Applications; Shock Compres- of the APS and AIP journals. flavor. a veritable circus of replace- Approximately 5,500 papers sion of Condensed Matter; and ment candidates of dubious will be presented in more than 90 Statistical and Nonlinear Physics. celebrity and questionable invited sessions and 550 contrib- An exhibit show will round out APS Honors Two Undergrads qualifications for the job. But for uted sessions in a wide variety of the program during which attend- physics departments across the categories, including condensed ees can visit vendors who will be With Apker Award state, the ongoing budget woes matter, materials, polymer physics, displaying the latest products, that spurred angry voters to chemical physics, biological phys- instruments and equipment, and Peter Onyisi of the University action in the first place remain ics, fluid dynamics, laser science, software, as well as scientific pub- of Chicago received the award deadly serious.
    [Show full text]