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Asia Pacific Physics Newsletter APPN ASIA PACIFIC PHYSICS NEWSLETTER September 2012 • Volume 1 • Number 2 A publication of the SEATPA and IAS@NTU Singapore A Centenary Celebration of the Life and Work of Madame Chien-Shiung Wu Scientific Achievements of Prof. Chien Shiung Wu My Life as a Boson: The Story of “The Higgs” Satyedra Nath Bose – His Life and Times World Scientific Connecting Great Minds FORTHCOMING TITLE BASED ON FIRST WOLF PRIZE WINNER MADAME CHIEN-SHIUNG WU The First Lady of Physics Research by Tsai-Chien Chiang & translated by Tang-Fong Wong Chinese biographies of scientists were usually written in a naïve and superficial way, therefore not worth reading. This book, however, seriously and honestly presents the humanity and background of the success of Wu Chien-Shiung. It opens a new era of such biographies. Chen Ning Yang, Nobel laureate This book presents an unbiased account of Wu’s life as well as lasting achievements in physics. Her deep views and observations, creativity and determination made her a most successful scientist and a distinguished human being. The author has done serious research, and has written accurately and eloquently. It is an accurate, in-depth masterpiece of study about the life and unusual achievements of one of the world’s greatest physicist. Samuel C. C. Ting, Nobel laureate The life of Professor Wu is indeed an enviable, rich history of a distinguished scientist, full of admirable achievements and struggles. Her scientific career had many exciting incidents worth studying by young scientists. I am very arrating the well-lived life of the “Chinese Madame Curie” — a recipient of the first Wolf Prize in Physics (1978), the first woman happy to see this masterpiece of Chiang Tsai-Chien. He did to receive an honorary doctorate from Princeton University, as well his research diligently on the life of Wu, and wrote the book N as the first female president of the American Physics Society — this book with discipline and professionalism. I believe that this provides a comprehensive and honest account of the life of Dr Chien-Shiung biography will inspire many young scholars to advance Wu, an outstanding and leading experimental physicist of the 20th century. forward, and make many young people understand that : Students and laymen. there are not many more meaningful careers than scientific Readership research. 300pp Dec 2012 Lee Yuan-Tseh, Nobel laureate 978-981-4374-84-2 US$98 £65 978-981-4368-92-6(pbk) US$48 £32 AD-JK-07-12-05-W Preferred Publisher of Leading Thinkers AD-JK-07-12-05-W.indd 1 9/24/12 11:12 AM Connecting Great Minds FORTHCOMING TITLE BASED ON FIRST WOLF PRIZE WINNER APPN ASIA PACIFIC PHYSICS NEWSLETTER MADAME CHIEN-SHIUNG WU September 2012 • Volume 1 • Number 2 A publication of the SEATPA and IAS@NTU Singapore Asia Pacific Physics Newsletter publishes articles reporting frontier discoveries in EDITORIAL The First Lady of Physics Research physics, research highlights, and news to facilitate interaction, collaboration and 3 by Tsai-Chien Chiang & translated by Tang-Fong Wong cooperation among physicists in Asia Pacific physics community. COMMENT The Elementary Particle Physics Research in Singapore: the Editor-in-Chief 4 Kok Khoo Phua Past, the Present and the Future Kok Khoo Phua Chinese biographies of scientists were usually written in a SEATPA Committee naïve and superficial way, therefore not worth reading. This Christopher C Bernido book, however, seriously and honestly presents the humanity Phil Chan Leong Chuan Kwek News and background of the success of Wu Chien-Shiung. It opens Choy Heng Lai 5 Hiroaki Aihara Elected Chair of IUPAP Commission C11 of a new era of such biographies. Swee Cheng Lim Ren Bao Liu Particles and Fields Chen Ning Yang, Nobel laureate Hwee Boon Low Fifth ASTROD Symposium and Outlook of Direct Anh Ký Nguyên This book presents an unbiased account of Wu’s life as well Choo Hiap Oh Gravitational-Wave Detection K. G. Arun, Bala R. Iyer, Wei-Tou Ni as lasting achievements in physics. Her deep views and Kok Khoo Phua Roh Suan Tung observations, creativity and determination made her a most Preecha Yupapin Third International Symposium on Plasma Nanoscience successful scientist and a distinguished human being. The Hishamuddin Zainuddin Shuyan Xu author has done serious research, and has written Freddy Zen accurately and eloquently. It is an accurate, in-depth Managing Editor masterpiece of study about the life and unusual Roh Suan Tung RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS achievements of one of the world’s greatest physicist. 13 Spin-Orbit Coupled Quantum Gases Senior Publishing Editor Hui Zhai Samuel C. C. Ting, Nobel laureate Fang Zhang Highlights from the Asia Pacific Region The life of Professor Wu is indeed an enviable, rich history Publishing Editors Yu Song of a distinguished scientist, full of admirable achievements Kai Wang and struggles. Her scientific career had many exciting (a) (b) incidents worth studying by young scientists. I am very arrating the well-lived life of the “Chinese Madame Curie” — a Graphic Designer recipient of the first Wolf Prize in Physics (1978), the first woman happy to see this masterpiece of Chiang Tsai-Chien. He did Chuan Ming Loo to receive an honorary doctorate from Princeton University, as well p13 p16 p17 his research diligently on the life of Wu, and wrote the book N as the first female president of the American Physics Society — this book with discipline and professionalism. I believe that this provides a comprehensive and honest account of the life of Dr Chien-Shiung biography will inspire many young scholars to advance Wu, an outstanding and leading experimental physicist of the 20th century. forward, and make many young people understand that ARTICLES : Students and laymen. there are not many more meaningful careers than scientific Readership 32 Time-Shift in the OPERA Setup research. 300pp Dec 2012 Antonino Zichichi Lee Yuan-Tseh, Nobel laureate 978-981-4374-84-2 US$98 £65 The Daya Bay experiment and the Discovery of a new type of 978-981-4368-92-6(pbk) US$48 £32 Neutrino Oscillation Yifang Wang Cover: Madame Chien-Shiung Wu (Courtesy of Vincent Yuan) AD-JK-07-12-05-W Preferred Publisher of Leading Thinkers AD-JK-07-12-05-W.indd 1 9/24/12 11:12 AM Asia Pacific Physics Newsletter PEOPLE (APPN) 50 My Life as a Boson: The Story of “The Higgs” is published jointly by South East Asia Peter Higgs Theoretical Physics Association (SEATPA) and Institute of Advanced Studies, Nanyang Technological University (IAS@NTU) HISTORY 52 Scientific Achievements of SEATPA and IAS@NTU Prof. Chien Shiung Wu Address: Tan Lu 60 Nanyang View #02-18 Singapore 639673 Satyendra Nath Bose Tel: +65 6513 7660 Fax: +65 6794 4941 – His Life and Times seatpa.org Kameshwar C. Wali ntu.edu.sg/ias APPN is distributed by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. p52 Address: 5 Toh Tuck Link BOOKS Singapore 596224 64 Madame Chien-Shiung Wu: The First Lady of Physics Tel: +65 6466 5775 Introduction to Statistical Mechanics Fax: +65 5467 7667 Statistical Mechanics in a Nutshell worldscientific.com Electronic edition APPN is also available online at: Research INSTITUTES AND LABS worldscinet.com/appn 69 IUCAA: Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Subscriptions Astrophysics, Pune, India APPN is available 4 issues per year For subscription please contact: [email protected] Advertisement For advertisement please contact: [email protected] Authors APPN welcomes articles with general interests to the physics community. To Institute for Advanced Study: Hong Kong University of Science recommend or contribute news, articles, and Technology history, book reviews, please write to: [email protected] CONFERENCE Calendar 74 Upcoming Conferences in the Asia Pacific Region The views expressed in this Newsletter belong to the authors, and do not necessarily represent those of the JOBS publishers. 77 Print ISSN: 2251-158X Societies Online ISSN: 2251-1598 80 List of Physical Societies in the Asia Pacific Region MICA (P) 216/07/2012 EDITORIAL In this issue of Asia Pacific Physics Newsletter (APPN), we especially commemorate the birth centennial of Madame Chien-Shiung Wu. Madame Wu was born on 31 May 1912 in Taicang, near Shanghai, China. She received the first Wolf Prize in Physics for her persistent and successful exploration of the weak interaction which helped establish the precise form and the non conservation of parity for the weak interaction. In the history section, Lu Tan reviewed on the Scientific Achievements of Madame Wu. Based on the discovery of parity violation, the Standard Model for particle physics was then established. On 4 July 2012, CERN announced the discovery of the new particle on the LHC with mass between 125-126 GeV, in consistent of the Higgs boson. It is an exciting news especially for the centenary birth of Madame Wu. We have featured an article by Peter Higgs on My Life as a Boson: The Story of “The Higgs”, and two articles on Neutrino experiments: Time-Shift in the OPERA Setup by Antonino Zichichi and The Daya Bay experiment by Yifang Wang. The name boson was commemorative of the contribution of Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose. The article Satyendra Nath Bose – His Life and Times, by Kameshwar C. Wali, describes the story of the historical paper of Bose-Einstein statistics. We hope that the publication of APPN will facilitate interactions, collaboration and cooperation among physicists in the Asia Pacific physics community. Thanks for all the supports and feedback about APPN. Happy reading! Editor in Chief Kok Khoo Phua President, South East Asia Theoretical Physics Association Director, Institute of Advanced Studies, Nanyang Technological University September 2012, Volume 1 No 2 3 COMMENT The Elementary Particle Physics Research in Singapore: the Past, the Present and the Future Kok Khoo Phua he discovery of the Higgs Boson (or more popularly After the 1980s, Singapore physicists made some known in media as God particle) in early July contribution in elementary particle physics, and the city was hailed as one of the most significant scientific had even become the venue for international conferences Tbreakthrough in the 21st Century, stirring a sensation in and workshops on this subject.
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