A P S N E W S APSJANUARY 1996 THE AMERICAN P HYSICALNews SOCIETY VOLUME 5, NO 1
Sessler Chosen as APS Vice-President in 1995 Election embers of The American Physical Public Affairs, the Committee on the sues as energy conservation, and reit- tralian National University from 1966 to MSociety have elected Andrew M. International Freedom of Scientists, the erated the importance of U.S. 1968. He returned to Michigan State Sessler, a senior scientist at Lawrence Committee on Applications of Physics, involvement in ITER, as well as the need University as an Assistant Professor in Berkeley Laboratory, to be the Society’s and the Division of Physics of Beams. for a fusion facility in this country. He 1968 and has held a faculty appoint- next Vice-president. Sessler’s term Describing himself as “an optimist and also supports a proposed APS-spon- ment there ever since. He served as begins on 1 January, when he will an activist,” Sessler focused in his sored study on the status and associate director of the National Su- succeed D. Allan Bromley (Yale candidate’s statement on ways the APS technological potential of electricity perconducting Cyclotron Laboratory University), who will become President- generation from renewable energy and chaired MSU’s Department of Phys- Elect. Sessler will become APS President sources. “Such unbiased studies can be ics and Astronomy from 1988 to January in 1998. The 1996 President is J. Robert of great importance to the government 1994, when he assumed his current post Schrieffer of Florida State University (see and the citizenry, and it puts the APS, as Dean of the Graduate School. interview, page 2). in good light, into the public eye,” he said, citing past work on safe reactors, Crawley’s research interests are in experi- In other election results, Gerard M. high efficiency vehicles, and directed mental nuclear physics, particularly in the Crawley of Michigan State University energy weapons as examples. simple modes of nuclear excitation. His was elected as chair-elect of the Nomi- APS service includes a stint as chair of nating Committee, which will be chaired The Society’s efforts against pork-bar- the Division of Nuclear Physics from 1991 by Martin Blume of Brookhaven Na- rel additions to the federal budget, as to 1992. He also co-chaired the division’s tional Laboratory in 1996. The well as Congress’ cancellation of the Resource Committee. In this latter role, Nominating Committee selects the slate Superconducting Super Collider and the he was responsible for the production of candidates for vice-president, gen- Advanced Neutron Source, are good and circulation of a brochure which at- eral councillors, and its own chair-elect. examples of the APS assuming a vocal tempted to explain to a lay audience what Its choices are then voted on by the role in shaping national science policy, nuclear physicists do and what society APS Membership. Susan J. Seestrom (Los according to Sessler. He also believes gains from an investment in nuclear phys- Alamos National Laboratory), Donald the APS should continue to be a strong ics. He chaired the Selection Committee Hamann (AT&T Bell Laboratories), advocate for small science, which he for the APS Visiting Minority Lectureship Daniel Auerbach (IBM Almaden Re- Andrew M. Sessler deems essential to the continued health in 1994 and is currently a member of the search Center) and Ronald Walsworth and vitality of the field. However, “At APS Committee on the Status of Women (Smithsonian Astrophysical Observa- can take action on such far-reaching the same time, we clearly need in many in Physics. tory) were elected general councillors. challenges as continued support of subfields of physics a healthy national physics research by the federal govern- program built upon major facilities in Crawley identified three major chal- Vice-President ment, the continued health of the the U.S., as well as vigorous interna- lenges facing the physics community in After earning a bachelor’s degree in profession in industry and academia, tional programs based upon jointly his candidate’s statement: the contin- mathematics from Harvard University, and the shrinking job market for Ph.D. constructed major facilities,” he said. ued tight job market for Ph.D. physicists, Andrew Sessler received his Ph.D. in physicists. The APS should also be con- and the perpetuation of the myth that physics from Cornell University. He cerned with the impact of electronic Chair-Elect, Nominating Committee choosing a career other than faculty at spent a year with Hans Bethe doing publishing on its journals, as well as Gerard Crawley received BSc and MSc research universities constitutes failure elementary particle physics research continuing its efforts on behalf of phys- degrees from the University of as a physicist; better representation of before joining the faculty of Ohio State ics education, women and minorities in Melbourne in Australia in 1959 and women and minorities in the physics University. In 1962 he moved to physics, human rights, and stimulating 1961, respectively, and a Ph.D. in phys- profession; and the need for better com- Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, where physics in other countries. ics from Princeton University in 1965. munication with non-physicists, both in he has remained ever since, with the Following a postdoctoral appointment local and federal government, and the exception of brief tenures at the Niels Specifically, Sessler supports increased at Michigan State University, he was a general public. “We must help them to Bohr Institute, CERN, and Japan’s KEK APS involvement in “selling” physics to Queen Elizabeth II Fellow at the Aus- (continued on page 8) facility. He served as LBL’s director from the government, the universities and the 1973 to 1980. industrial sector, which he believes is essential to creating new jobs and secur- Sessler has also been active in arms ing old ones for physicists. “Physicists are control and human rights issues, chair- remarkably capable of performing in ing the Federation of American ways which constantly surprise non- Scientists from 1987 to 1991, and co- physicists,” he said of future employment INSIDE THE BELTWAY founding Scientists for Sakharov, Orlov opportunities. “We are admirably suited and Sharansky. He received the first APS for ‘nontraditional’ jobs.” Freshman House Republicans Muscle Legislation to a Crawl Nicholson Medal for Humanitarian Ser- by Michael S. Lubell vice for the latter accomplishment. To this end, Sessler particularly advo- Sessler’s extensive service with the APS cates stressing ways physics can When Congress returned from its sum- House or Senate appropriations bill or includes stints as chair of the Panel on contribute to such pressing national is- mer recess shortly after Labor Day, the the actual spending for FY 1995. But in Republican leaders knew that they had some instances the Senate or House a full plate before them. What they appropriations bills had zeroed out ac- IN THIS ISSUE didn’t know was how indigestible its tivities of the federal government, such contents would turn out to be. Work- as the Advanced Technology Program Sessler Chosen as APS Vice-President in 1995 Election ...... 1 ing against the October 1 deadline for administered by NIST. To deal with INSIDE THE BELTWAY ...... 1 the new fiscal year, they could barely these, the Continuing Resolution pro- Schrieffer Focuses on Improving Communication, Science Education ...... 2 achieve enough consensus to send two vided for spending at a level 10 percent Nobel APS Presidents ...... 3 of the thirteen appropriations bills to below the FY 1995 figure. IN BRIEF ...... 3 President Clinton’s desk for his consid- Insights Into Nuclear Structure Featured at 1995 DNP Fall Meeting ...... 4 eration. He signed the one for military It took all of Speaker Newt Gingrich’s APS Honors Two Young Physicists With 1995 Apker Award ...... 4 construction, but vetoed the other for considerable leadership skills to sell his Challenge to Scholarly Surveys Again Rejected ...... 5 legislative branch spending. House Republican freshmen on the tem- DNP Workshops Explore Transition Physics, Education Reform ...... 5 porary spending plan. But their public Southeastern Research Opportunities Featured at SES Fall Meeting ...... 5 To avoid shutting down the federal objections to the deal worked out with Opinion ...... 6 government, all parties in the budget the White House made it abundantly Ballot Survey Indicates More APS Members Are Going Electronic ...... 8 debate were forced to agree to a Con- clear to even the most casual of ob- Announcements ...... 11 tinuing Resolution. For six weeks, it servers that these missionaries were not The Back Page ...... 12 allowed all agencies to spend money about to forego their November 1994 APS Meeting News ...... Insert at a level that was 5 percent below the calling in the ensuing budget debate. lowest figure contained in either the (continured on page 3)
1 APS News January 1996
Schrieffer Focuses on Improving mental technique, or even a sense of the Communication, Science Education intellectual structure of the field is in- he impact of electronic publishing on correlated fermion systems and mag- wonderful communi- cluded. Students are TAPS journals, science education netic effects in solids. He has served cators about their never taught how to reform, and improving communication on numerous committees of federal own research. It reason or conceptu- between the physics community and the agencies, and was recently appointed would be nice if we alize anything. general public are issues of particular chairman of the Scientific Council of the could expand this concern for the APS in the eyes of J. International Centre for Theoretical beyond one indi- We must bring Robert Schrieffer, who begins his tenure Physics in Trieste, Italy, a facility which vidual per year and education into the as APS president this month. A professor fosters research in developing countries. have a group of APS- 21st century, perhaps of physics at the University of Florida, sponsored lecturers to by using canned vid- Schrieffer succeeds C. Kumar N. Patel of Q: One of your concerns is the need give colloquia. eotaped lectures by the University of California, Los Angeles. to improve communication between outstanding com- subfields of physics to unify the Q: A number of municators which Schrieffer’s interest in science developed community, particularly in its ap- scientists have ex- are still flexible early, with childhood interests in chem- proach to funding agencies. What pressed concern enough for teachers istry sets and ham radios. However, he are some ways the APS might help about simplifying to insert them into standard curricula. It didn’t attend the standard physics class to accomplish this? research to the point where most of comes down to a knowledge-based at his small high school in Illinois. The the essence is lost, in their opinion. versus a wisdom-based approach to A: One way is by organizing cross-dis- physics teacher there had minimal back- Many distrust the media’s focus on education. Physics is probably one of ciplinary symposia at APS meetings to ground in the subject, and, armed with flashier aspects and think less at- the worst in this regard. We teach stu- give more visibility to people who work a textbook used in MIT’s introductory tention is paid to actual physics. So dents all the techniques and expect in one field, but who have expanded physics courses, he and Schrieffer pur- there’s an inherent chasm between them to acquire the complementary their interests into other fields and thus sued an independent course of study the two in terms of communication. wisdom by osmosis. together. Ironically, Schrieffer initially could address the exciting big questions How can we bridge that gap? intended to study electrical engineer- that lie ahead. It’s something that we Q: There is still a serious funding cri- ing in college, but switched his major really haven’t moved very far on, but I A: You have to get people who are not sis for physics research, and an to physics two years later. think it’s important. only very talented at this, but also en- ongoing budget battle in Congress. joy doing it. Fortunately the field does How might physics have to change in The APS Executive Board and Council He received his Ph.D. in physics from have a number of people who have order to survive in this changing eco- typically struggles with many issues on the University of Illinois in 1957, these talents. Historically, there have nomic climate? Will it have to adapt? specializing in the theory of supercon- a very short time scale, and I’ve found been a lot of scientists who’ve been that it’s intellectually very frustrating to ductivity. After holding faculty wonderful communicators in physics A: When physics enjoyed only a small get an in-depth discussion going. I hope appointments at the University of Illi- and we should use these people more fraction of its present funding level, to devote some time to this kind of in- nois, University of Chicago, and the and help them realize that they have a outstanding research was done. The teraction between subfields during the University of Pennsylvania, he became very special talent. Unfortunately, many field has advanced some distance since annual Executive Board retreat in June. Chancellor’s Professor at the University such communicators are viewed as less then, but still the major breakthroughs Perhaps we can come up with some of California, Santa Barbara, where he than outstanding scientists because are made by relatively few individu- more specific things that would be of also served as director of the Institute they’re simplifying things, and also in- als. In all fairness, one can absorb any help in this area. for Theoretical Physics. In 1992 he was jecting their own personality into it. So amount of funds. It all depends on how appointed University Professor at being standout communicators in some one distributes scarce resources. One Florida State University, where he is also Q: What can individual physicists sense degrades their scientific image. do in the meantime? can overfeed a field. The peer review chief scientist of the National High Mag- system is very good for maintaining Q: You’re also concerned with im- netic Field Laboratory. quality, but it also tends to focus re- A: It is very important to ensure that proving pre-college education. Most sources on areas that have already been A past recipient of the APS Oliver the physicists who are the best com- agree that it is vital to incite stu- fertilized. I think the physics commu- Buckley Prize, Schrieffer shared the municators become more active in dents’ curiosity so that they seek nity needs to vigorously look for new 1972 Nobel Prize in Physics with John spreading the word through general out more information on their own. areas of opportunity where investment Bardeen and Leon Cooper for the mi- lectures. There were some outstanding Can this be done in a traditional could pay off. We could then get some croscopic theory of superconductivity. candidates for the Lilienfeld Prize this school structure, or are some dras- of the more senior people to sanction His current research centers on strongly year, for example, each of whom were tic changes needed in our these exciting new areas to attract not educational process? only funding, but scientists interested A: We must at least have the intention of in doing research at the vanguard. APS COUNCIL 1996 making big changes in order to achieve Q: International cooperation, par- President small actual changes. A very large force is APS News ticularly on large mega-science Robert Schrieffer, Florida State University necessary to move something of enormous Coden: ANWSEN ISSN: 1058-8132 President-Elect projects. There’s still some debate as D. Allan Bromley, Yale University inertia, and our present educational sys- Series II, Vol. 5, No. 1 January 1996 Vice-President to whether the U.S. will participate © 1996 The American Physical Society Andrew M. Sessler, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory tem has great inertia. Somehow the in projects like the Large Hadron Executive Officer enthusiasm and excitement of new discov- Editor: Barrett H. Ripin Judy R. Franz, University of Alabama, Huntsville Collider, whether the U.S. is willing Newswriter: Jennifer Ouellette Treasurer eries in physics never reach the high school Harry Lustig, City College of the City University of New York to become a cooperator as opposed Production: Elizabeth Buchan-Higgins Editor-in-Chief classroom. This is partly because individual to a leader and a star. How can the Coordinator: Amy Halsted Benjamin Bederson, New York University states include only basic facts in their phys- Past-President APS help in this debate? C. Kumar N. Patel, University of California-Los Angeles ics requirements, such as the formula for APS News is published 11X yearly, monthly, except August/Sep- tember when bimonthly, by The American Physical Society, One General Councillors water. Not a single concept, axiom, experi- (continured on page 8) Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844, (301) 209-3200. It Daniel Auerbach, Kevin Aylesworth, Arthur Bienenstock, Virginia contains news of the Society and of its Divisions, Topical Groups, Brown, Jolie A. Cizewski, Jennifer Cohen, Charles Duke, Elsa Sections and Forums; advance information on meetings of the Garmire, Laura H. Greene, Donald Hamann, William Happer, Society; and reports to the Society by its committees and task Anthony M. Johnson, Miles V. Klein, Zachary Levine, Susan Seestrom, forces. Ronald Walsworth
Chair, Nominating Committee Letters to the editor are welcomed from the membership. Let- Martin Blume ters must be signed and should include an address and daytime telephone number. The APS reserves the right to select and to Chair, Panel on Public Affairs edit for length or clarity. All correspondence regarding APS News David Hafemeister Thank you! should be directed to: Editor, APS News, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20749-3844, email:
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2 January 1996 APS News
INSIDE THE BELTWAY (continured from page 1) With only one week remaining before spending for high energy physics by the Continuing Resolution was due to almost 4 percent to $667 million. expire, the contentiousness in the IN BRIEF House had so tied up the legislative pro- Nuclear physics, however, fared less cess that only one more appropriations well. It received an 8 percent reduction • The APS Council approved two minor changes to the APS Bylaws regarding bill had been sent to the White House. to $304.5 million. And magnetic fusion, service of APS Congressional Fellows on the Physics Planning Committee And even that one, which funds the Ag- which unfortunately had its future (PPC) and the Panel on Public Affairs (POPA). Congressional Fellows are riculture Department and which the spending tied to two new projects, ITER currently required to serve on POPA in the first year following their fellow- President signed on October 21, cre- and TPX, suffered the largest hit of all. ship tenure. Under the new provisions, Fellows will serve as members of the ated a deep split among the House Budget cutters excised 30 percent of its PPC in the first year after their tenure, and in the second year serve as mem- Republicans, pitting the more seasoned FY 1995 base, despite last minute ef- bers of POPA. “The PPC and POPA feel that they can both benefit from the Appropriations Committee leadership forts by the Clinton Administration to knowledge and experience the Fellows gain by having them serve as mem- against the most hawkish of the GOP establish a coherent set of priorities. bers,” said Charles Falco (University of Arizona), chair of the Committee on freshmen. Without Speaker Gingrich’s Constitution and Bylaws, which proposed the revision. Members are invited direct intervention, that bill, too, might With the freshmen Republicans demand- to comment on these proposed changes before the changes are resubmitted have died on the House floor. ing that House leaders hew to their fiscal to the APS Council for ratification at its Spring 1996 meeting. Comments and social agenda in dealing with their more should be sent to the Executive Office of the APS, One Physics Ellipse, Col- Where does this internecine battling moderate Senate Republican counterparts, lege Park, MD 20740-3844; or by e-mail to
ew insights into nuclear structure, Future of Nuclear Physics Research. Electrostatic accelerators are finding im- and various aspects of the internal struc- Nsuperheavy elements, and future Nuclear physics played a major role in portant applications in materials analysis ture of those elements. applications of basic nuclear research the development of nuclear reactors and and materials modification. Particle-in- were among the topics featured at the nuclear weapons 50 years ago. Today, duced x-ray emission is used in fields New Aspects of Nuclear Structure. annual fall meeting of the APS Division according to John C. Browne of Los from art history through environmental Neutron rich nuclei are of particular of Nuclear Physics (DNP), held 25-28 Alamos National Laboratory, neutrons sciences, and in the area of security, x- interest to scientists since they might October 1995 at the Indiana University have the potential of playing an even ray imaging using electron beams and reveal new aspects of nuclear structure Memorial Union in Bloomington, more important role, thanks to advances fast-pulsed neutron analysis is proving associated with an excess of neutrons, Indiana. The meeting consisted of six in high power accelerator technology useful for plastic explosive and drug such as a new region of deformation, invited sessions, including the plenary initially developed for nuclear physics detection. Accelerator-based mass spec- shell effects, and modes of excitation. session on basic research in nuclear trometry is used in a number of fields research. Browne opened the Thursday According to I.Y. Lee of Los Alamos physics, and 22 contributed sessions. A which rely on counting extremely rare morning plenary session on the future National Laboratory, deep-inelastic re- town meeting was also held on Friday isotopes in small samples, and materials of nuclear physics with a discussion of actions have been shown to produce afternoon to provide an opportunity for modification is having a significant im- possible applications, focusing on con- neutron-rich nuclei with a high multi- a large segment of the nuclear science pact on the semiconductor industry. plicity of gamma-ray emission. community to be exposed to and cepts for burning defense and civilian According to G.A. Norton of the Na- contribute to the ongoing discussion nuclear waste using intense sources of tional Electrostatics Corporation, spallation neutrons in accelerator-driven However, the lack of sensitivity of avail- regarding future challenges and virtually all semiconductor devices now able gamma-ray detector arrays have subcritical systems. priorities for the field. rely on ion implantation with ion beam made it difficult to study these reac- energies ranging from a few kilovolts tions. Lee and his colleagues carried to several MeV. out gamma-spectroscopy studies of APS Honors Two Young Physicists neutron rich nuclei using a silicon-strip Recent developments in magnetic reso- detector to detect the projectile-like nance imaging (MRI) have significantly fragments, and coincident gamma rays With 1995 Apker Award improved anatomical imaging, and were detected in the gammasphere. have also added novel dimensions, wo promising young physicists have zona. However, the angular resolution The group also studies pairing strength such as the ability to measure and im- been named by The American of the Schmidt telescope system is too as a function of spin, and the variation T age functional, physiological and Physical Society as recipients of the 1995 coarse to observe real structure in the of the interaction strength of the first metabolic parameters in the human Apker Award for their research remnants, making it difficult to measure backbending. brain. Furthermore, the recent introduc- achievements as undergraduates. their sizes accurately. Thus, Williams tion of high magnetic fields for the use Frederick B. Mancoff and Benjamin F. perfected techniques for making large Scientists at Argonne National Labora- of human studies aids these applica- Williams will each receive a $3000 digital mosaic images, resulting in tory have been investigating the tions, which are limited by the stipend, a certificate, and a travel exceptionally smooth images with ex- positron and positron-electron line phe- signal-to-noise ratio of the MRI meth- allowance to attend the 1996 Joint APS/ cellent signal-to-noise ratios, which nomena in heavy ion collisions using odology. AAPT Spring Meeting in Indianapolis, enabled him to search with much a new device called APEX, which was Indiana, in May, where the awards will greater sensitivity than his predecessors. designed specifically for this purpose. Nucleon and Nuclear Structure be presented. They will also be invited He also conducted an analysis of the Earlier work reporting the observation with Electronmagnetic to present papers at an appropriate statistical distribution of the remnant of line structure in the spectra of technical session during the meeting. sizes, as well as the implications for Interactions. positrons produced in low-energy col- remnant evolution and the supernova Scientists at MIT’s Bates Linear Accel- lisions of very heavy nuclei has As a senior at Stanford University, rate in the M31 galaxy. erator Center have made recent persistently puzzled researchers. But ac- Mancoff designed and carried out an measurements of coincidence reactions cording to LANL’s Alan Wuosmaa, the experiment to study the magneto-trans- The project was hugely successful. with proton, deuteron and carbon tar- new data obtained with APEX, mea- port of a two-dimensional electron gas Where research by several international gets, using a newly constructed proton sured under similar conditions, do not system under a random dipolar mag- groups over the past 20 years has led focal plane polarimeter. The initial mea- show evidence for the reported lines. netic field. While the system forms the to the identification of 12 confirmed surements were of the spin transfer In fact, in the case of the isolated two- analogical basis for the current under- remnants and 12 other candidate ob- coefficient in elastic scattering of po- body decay of a neutral object, the cross standing of the quantum Hall system at jects, Williams identified 100 candidates, larized electrons from hydrogen, and section limits obtained were far below even denominator filling fractions, there the largest optical sample of supernova in quasielastic scattering from the deu- those implied by the previous results. has been little experimental work to remnants known in any galaxy. The teron. According to MIT’s S.P. van Verst, date in that area. In the course of this vastly expanded pool will provide a rich preliminary analysis indicates that in Superheavy Elements. project, Mancoff mastered semiconduc- resource for studying the structure and quasifree kinematics, the spin transfer New results of research on the synthe- tor microfabrication techniques, chemical composition in interstellar coefficients on deuterium are consis- sis and investigation of properties of including photolithography, mask de- medium in the Andromeda galaxy, tent with those on hydrogen to within heavy nuclei at Russia’s Flerov Labora- sign, and wire-bonding, as well as low- which is thought to be very similar to a few percent, and all three compo- tory of Nuclear Reactions have led to temperature experimental techniques. our own Milky Way galaxy. Williams nents of the proton polarization appear the observation of a new region of He also aided graduate students in the was awarded his department’s only consistent with many-body theory. nuclear stability near the closed de- operation of the laboratory’s helium liq- physics prize upon graduation, and formed shells of 108Z and 162N, Using the same technique, Van Verst uefier and the transfer of liquid helium plans to apply to graduate schools later predicted by the macro-microscopic and his colleagues also completed re- into a storage dewar for operating the this year. theory. The experiments were con- coil polarization measurements of the dilution refrigerator necessary for his ducted with beams from the facility’s “The selection committee had a diffi- deuteron away from quasifree kinemat- measurements. heavy ion accelerator using a gas-filled cult task in reaching a decision, because ics. In addition, with an unpolarized separator of recoils. The discovery of all the finalists submitted superb work beam, they measured the induced pro- this new region allows scientists to make Mancoff’s experiment revealed that the and demonstrated outstanding poten- ton polarization with a carbon target, much more accurate assessments re- magneto-resistance of the two-dimen- tial for future achievements in physics,” and the normal component to the pro- garding the properties of heavy sional electron gas increases one-order said Donald Langenberg, chancellor of ton polarization with a proton target. nuclides. of magnitude under the influence of the the University of Maryland System, who Future measurements of the beam random magnetic field. The experiment’s chaired the committee. Since 1994, the helicity dependent polarization compo- importance may one day move beyond committee has sought to select two re- nents are also planned. According to K.E. Rehm of Argonne Na- the even-denominator quantum Hall ef- cipients, one from a Ph.D.-granting tional Laboratory, the study of heavy-ion fect to more practical application of the institution and one from a predomi- New experiments with gaseous inter- induced fusion reactions at sub-Coulom- giant magneto-resistance. He presented nantly undergraduate institution. nal targets at the NIKHEF Internal bic barrier energies reveals a rich and his findings as an invited speaker during Target Facility in the Netherlands have interesting interplay between reaction a symposium on mesoscopic physics at Established in 1978 through an endow- produced measurements of target asym- dynamics and nuclear structure. Consid- the 1995 APS March Meeting in San Jose, ment by Jean Dickey Apker in memory metries with unprecedented accuracy erable progress has been made in recent California, perhaps the first undergradu- of her fellow solid state physicist and for the elastic and the break-up chan- years advancing present understanding ate student to be invited to speak at an husband, LeRoy Apker, the Apker Award nel of tensor-polarized deuterium. of the sub-barrier fusion enhancement APS meeting. is given annually in recognition of out- Planned upgrades to further improve by including additional degrees of free- standing achievement in physics by luminosity will allow researchers to dom, such as static deformation, For his senior thesis at Middlebury Col- undergraduate students, so as to encour- extend these measurements even fur- vibrational motion, and nucleon transfer lege in Vermont, Williams conducted an age young physicists who have ther. According to NIKHEF’s C.W. de reactions. New measurements at ANL extensive search of the nearby spiral demonstrated great potential for future Jager, in future experiments, the avail- involving transitional nuclei exhibit es- galaxy M31, known as Andromeda, for scientific accomplishment. All students at ability of a longitudinally polarized pecially strong enhancement effects, supernova remnants, using large format U.S. colleges and universities who were beam with a high degree of polariza- Rehm reported, and these processes are charge-coupled device (CCD) images undergraduates during at least part of the tion will be used in combination with expected to significantly influence the from the Burrell Schmidt telescope at year prior to the deadline for nomina- polarized targets of 3He and D to mea- fusion of very heavy nuclei using stable Kitt Peak Observatory in Tucson, Ari- tions are eligible to apply. sure the neutron electric form factor and radioactive beams.
4 January 1996 APS News Challenge to Scholarly Surveys Again Rejected udge Leonard B. Sand, of the United advertising, letters, and presentations by of the Governing Board of the AIP U.S. what has previously been found JStates District Court for the Southern APS and AIP officials. Judge Sand ruled stated that “we are extremely gratified in Germany and Switzerland — that District of New York, issued a decision for AIP and APS on several of these by Judge Sand’s decision. His action the surveys are not false or mislead- on November 2, 1995, reaffirming the claims, but found there were factual is- provides important protection for stud- ing. Although we are confident that First Amendment right to publish sues as to others that had to be resolved ies of an issue of significant importance we will prevail on the remaining is- surveys analyzing the prices of scientific at trial. For the remaining secondary to libraries and the scientific commu- sues, the scholarly community is not journals. The decision represents a uses, G&B will now have to show that nity as a whole — the escalating price served by the diversion of scarce re- significant confirmation of the legal the surveys were false or misleading — of journals in a period of declining li- sources into the defense of G&B’s protection afforded speech of claims that have been previously re- brary budgets.” lawsuits.” importance to the scholarly community. jected in Switzerland and Germany after thorough review. They said, however, “we are dis- For further information or a copy of the In 1986 and 1988 The American Physi- tressed that, in having to litigate the decision, contact Joan Wrather (301) cal Society (APS) and the American Dr. C. Kumar N. Patel, President of The remaining secondary uses, AIP and 209-3093, fax: (301) 209-0846, or email: Institute of Physics (AIP) published sur- APS and Dr. Roland W. Schmitt, Chair APS will have to defend again in the ([email protected]). veys prepared by Professor Henry Barschall of the University of Wiscon- sin/Madison analyzing the comparative prices of physics journals. A suit chal- lenging the articles was brought by DNP Workshops Explore Transition Physics, Gordon & Breach Science Publishers (G&B). As noted by Judge Sand, “[a] s Education Reform it happened, journals published by AIP and APS scored near the top of the ar- he APS Division of Nuclear Physics Experiments at these facilities will pro- workshop allowed professionals and ticles’ rankings and several of G&B’s T(DNP) organized two workshops on vide crucial tests of QCD models of students to discuss the particular rami- journals were ranked at or near the October 25, just prior to, but in hadron structure, and will explore the fications for nuclear physicists of the bottom.” G&B filed suit in New York, conjunction with, its annual fall meeting interface between non-perturbative and changing environment in which physi- as well as a series of related actions in in Bloomington, Indiana. The first was perturbative QCD descriptions of had- cists work and live. Europe, claiming that the articles con- on physics at the transition, and the ron interactions. Topics covered during stituted false or misleading advertising. second focused on the changing goals the workshop included physics near the The workshop featured a panel discus- for graduate education in nuclear physics. strange and charm production thresh- sion, moderated by APS Executive Officer The recent decision arises from G&B’s olds, flavor dependence of the quark Judy Franz, summarizing various perspec- request that the court modify its previ- The “transition” regime in the strong sea in nucleons and nuclei, the search tives of the issue, including those of ous decision holding that publication of interactions spans energies from where for QCD exotica, the search for color graduate student organizations, research the articles was speech entitled to con- a purely baryon and meson description transparency, charmed hybrid mesons, universities, industry, and more teaching- stitutional protection. Judge Sand stated is appropriate, to where a perturbative and the search for parity and time-re- oriented institutions. Participants then that “it is plainly inconsonant with jus- description in terms of quarks and glu- versal violations between hadrons. broke into discussion groups to explore tice to grant [G&B’s] requested relief,” ons emerges. The purpose of the such topics as alternate minors, match- noting that G&B “seek [s] back-door en- workshop on transitions was to eluci- The workshop on graduate education ing training with employment try to revisit the issue, after undertaking date the complementarity of the addressed potential changes in the opportunities, the role of funding agen- the exact discovery that the Court cau- research programs at several electron graduate education of nuclear physicists cies in graduate education reform, and tioned against in the first instance.” and hadron facilities. A systemic explo- to meet the challenges of the future. how much and what type of teaching ration of the transition regime will be While similar questions are being ad- might be required. The program con- G&B also challenged various “second- the specific mission of new and pro- dressed in a wider context elsewhere cluded with an open discussion led by ary uses” of the surveys, including posed accelerators at CEBAF, ELFE, by the APS and other organizations, panel members, and an informal recep- COSY and Light-Ion Spin Synchrotron. workshop organizers said that the DNP tion for the participants.
Southeastern Research Opportunities Featured at SES Fall Meeting
merging new research opportunities light sources to such diverse fields as Other efforts include computer systems M.R. Buckner of Westinghouse Savan- Ein the Southeast, in such areas as nuclear spectroscopy, surgery, mul- developed for introductory physics nah River Company, studies of his magnetic fields research, free electron tiphoton processes, X-ray holography, laboratories at the University of Ten- company’s PWR designs demonstrate lasers, and the quark structure of matter, and analytical microscopy. Finally, the nessee and the University of Florida, the potential for timely disposition of were among the highlights of the 62nd completion of the Continuous Electron which feature user-friendly software the material at relatively low cost, and meeting of the APS Southeastern Beam Facility is expected to produce programs for creating experiment- its existing four-loop reactors can safely Section, held in Tallahassee, Florida, in seminal new insights into the quark specific acquisition programs, and dispose of 0.94 megatons of plutonium November. Hosted by the National High structure of matter. spreadsheet programs to aid student each year. Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL), data analysis. Kinesthetic apparati in the whose facilities house some of the most Opportunities for scientists also exist in Worldshop Physics program at Speakers at a Friday morning session powerful research magnets ever magnetic field research. Magneto- Dickinson College help students relate on astrophysics described work on cru- developed, the conference also photoluminescence (MPL) spectroscopy natural phenomena to the laws of me- cial questions in the field by leading featured invited sessions on nuclear has proven to be a powerful technique chanics, while North Carolina State Southeastern researchers. Topics in- waste management, astrophysics, and for studying the interband optical University uses instructional computer cluded new supercomputer simulations computer applications in physics transitions in quantum well-type semi- animations in its physics courses. of core collapse supernovae, nuclear teaching. conductor heterojunctions, and the probes of stellar evolution, recent ob- NHMFL has established a facility to Over the next several years, approxi- servations of gamma ray bursts at the A number of new facilities in the South- optically study the properties of two- mately 100 tons of excess weapons Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, and east are opening up many diverse dimensional electron systems at high plutonium in the U.S. and former So- the assembly of a large database of odd research opportunities in the region. For magnetic fields in the quantum limit viet Union will be produced from star clusters in the Milky Way using re- example, Construction of the Holifield using this technique. Other promising existing nuclear stockpiles, growing at cent advances in telescope technology Radioactive Ion Beam Facility at Oak areas of research include the continued a rate of about 70 tons per year. Public at the Space Telescope Science Insti- Ridge National Laboratory has been com- improvement of high-resolution nuclear opposition, nuclear safeguard issues, tute in Baltimore, Maryland. pleted. The scientific program, affording magnetic resonance, which is expected and long-term critical stability of fissile new research opportunities in nuclear to reach 1 GHz in the near future, and material are causing scientists to ex- Friday evening’s banquet featured the structure and nuclear astrophysics, will strongly correlated electron systems at plore alternatives to geologic storage. presentation of the George B. Pegram begin operation in the spring of 1996. extreme limits. For instance, Los Alamos has developed Award to Joseph Ferguson of Mississippi Accelerator-Driven Transmutation State University, and the Jesse W. Beams Louisiana State University opened its Southeastern colleges are discovering Technology (ADTT), which couples a Award to George Samuel Hurst of the Center for Advanced Microstructures innovative applications of computers to high-power accelerator to an efficient University of Tennessee. Awarded an- and Devices two years ago, containing education. For example, L.C. Dennis of neutron-producing target and a subcriti- nually by the section for more than 20 the first commercially built electron stor- Florida State University described a cal fission assembly to destroy nuclear years, the awards consist of a gold age ring in the U.S. with a maximum project known as the Cyberspace Middle waste. medal and certificate citing the energy of 1.5 GeV. Applications include School (http://www.scri.fsu.edu/ recipient’s accomplishments for which basic research, chemical and structural ~dennisl/CMS.html), a World Wide Web Another alternative for plutonium he or she is being honored. The Beams analyses, and microfabrication, includ- site for math and science education which disposition is to fabricate the weapons- Award is intended to recognize a physi- ing the printing of electronic circuits and emphasizes hands-on activities. Access grade plutonium into mixed-oxide fuel cist in the Southeastern region who has production of microdevices. Duke to the school’s home page currently ex- and then irradiate in either advanced conducted significant research in phys- University’s Free Electron Laser Labo- ceeds 750 visitors and electronic requests or existing pressure water reactors ics, while the Pegram Award honors an ratory is making advances in for science information or project ideas (PWR) to a depleted level similar to that individual who has demonstrated ex- applications of these accelerator-based are received weekly. of commercial spent fuel. According to cellence in the teaching of physics. 5 APS News January 1996 OPINION APS VIEWS The Hard Realities of International Science LETTERS by Irving Lerch, APS Director of International Scientific Affairs To The Editor, APS News The U.S. physics community faces some alarming questions with discordant inter- Barrett Ripin’s editorial (“Why Belong?”, quired applicants to list, along with pa- national overtones: What will be the consequences to high-energy physics if the APS News, November 1995) made some pers and previous grants, names and U.S. refuses to support the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN? What will very relevant points. However, I was addresses of all previous PhD and MS happen to fusion research if ITER self-destructs? What will physicists do if there is disappointed that on the most important advisees, and solicited from each of these no domestic or international development of next-generation intense synchro- question of the PhD glut, he chose to a confidential letter assessing the value tron and neutron sources? What can we do to promote dialog among nations concentrate entirely on the demand side of their graduate training to their present concerning the implementation and management of major new collaborative pro- (to which the efforts of APS and its mem- employment. This would have more grams? And finally, what role will physicists play in the Megascience Forum of the bers represent a small perturbation at effect than all the “alternative careers Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)? best) and to ignore the supply side, where workshops” that have ever been held. they could (given the will to do so) solve Some questions, like the first three, wrench our vitals. The last seems benign, the problem in a short time. Suppose, Pieter B Visscher almost petty. But rephrasing the question makes the issue more immediate: How for example, that granting agencies re- University of Alabama will physicists affect the debate among the industrialized nations about where, when and who will benefit from the next big science project? The implication is Eliminate Postdoctoral Positions that we may find ourselves excluded from the decision-making process which Given the employment situation in sci- These days, the fact that many people will mold the complexion and fate of physics for a generation or more. ence, I strongly feel that it would be in work on soft money is one of the vicis- the best interests of our field, of young, situdes of our field; it will probably get However, despite all the lip-service to the contrary, there is little evidence that the and of mature scientists, if the position worse before it get better. Never the international community is moving toward ever-increasing cooperation in big of post doc were eliminated from Ameri- less there are still better ways to em- science research. The credibility of the U.S. as a partner in international ventures can science. This could be done by ploy young scientists given this is open to question as Congress and the Administration inflate and collapse the universities, national labs, funding agen- constraint. Many universities have re- bubble of support for collaborative programs. cies, and accreditation agencies working search staff positions, and may national cooperatively or independently. labs contract out work. Universities may The instruments at our disposal for international participation are few. In the be able to use independent contractors post-war period, foreign regional projects like CERN were viewed as peripheral From what I have read and observed, also. I strongly believe these should chips in our national mosaic dominated by Fermilab and SLAC. United Nations when a student finished his Ph.D de- be the vehicle through which young sci- programs such as the International Atomic Energy Agency were engineered by gree, the next step is a never ending entists are hired, not post docs. This the member states as mere extensions of their foreign policies. The International merry go round of post docs, each of way the recent Ph.D is hired into what Union of Pure and Applied Physics moved along at its leisurely pace, badly which lasts one or two years. This is at least may be a permanent position. underfunded and only occasionally seeking larger relevance through the organi- especially true in the university and If he does not work out, he can be ter- zation of international committees on specific subjects. national lab sectors, important employ- minated just like any other employee. ers of Ph.D scientists. These post doc On the other hand, as grant support By far the largest programs for support of U.S. scientists in international collabo- position are often in very different parts shifts, the company or research staff may rations came from the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense and of the country. The negative impact or may not want to retain the person. other government funding agencies. But many of these programs are imploding on a person’s family life is almost incal- and the very survival of some agencies is at risk. culable. Usually it is not possible for a It is probably true that the available post doc to do his best work, since support can employ more post docs With this in mind, it’s important to focus on the last two questions above in the much of his attention is necessarily fo- than permanent employees. However context of current problems. We are familiar with the recommendation of the cused on his next position. I believe this is more of a reason to eliminate the Drell Panel which requested funds for U.S. participation in the LHC. What will these positions exploit young scientists; post doc position, in my opinion. If happen if funding is not provided? Is it at all certain that the long-standing policy they are not optimum for employers the field cannot support a scientist, bet- of open access to the best qualified U.S. physicists will not be abrogated? either. Also in a field with the eco- ter he should know after he completes nomic prospects of ours, to somehow his Ph.D than after bouncing around Not necessarily. At a meeting of the UNESCO Physics Action Council at CERN this suggest that a new Ph.D needs addi- the country for ten years, completing past June, Director-General Chris Llewellyn-Smith asserted that the CERN council tional education before he is really five post docs. will probably feel compelled to impose at least some restrictions on non-member qualified to work, is laughable. Natu- participation in the absence of contributions to operations. rally, a scientist’s education never ends, I strongly believe the post doc position and there are many ways a scientist is simple exploitation. It should be Is this ingratitude for the open policy that hosted thousands of European scholars could profitably spend time in a uni- eliminated. at U.S. institutions over the past two generations? More likely, this reflects the versity or national laboratory. However hard realities of an organization seeking to implement a difficult program while such visits are best arranged as ex- Wallace M. Manheimer laboring under declining financial resources. It also illustrates the fear of some changes between employed persons. Naval Research Laboratory CERN members that U.S. participation, now fourth behind England, Germany and France in the existing experimental program, will shoulder out the smaller dues-paying members. This is not an idle fear. More than 500 U.S. physicists are now involved in the preparation of LHC experiments, whereas there are fewer than 270 physicists for Italy, Germany, France and the U.K., respectively.
What about the OECD Megascience Forum — the one-time vision of APS Vice- President D. Allen Bromley during his tenure as President Bush’s science advisor? Both the U.S. Liaison Committee to IUPAP and the UNESCO Physics Action Coun- cil have expressed their apprehension that the physics community will be excluded from the process or relegated a secondary role as expert “advisors.” And there are many in the scientific community who have yet to face the reality that large science programs must reflect the individual interests of nations and the collec- tive interests of regions. Scientists cannot decide where a facility is best sited, the size of each participant’s contribution, and how such facilities will be funded.
Whether we like it or not, OECD represents the economic and political interests of its members, not the intellectual interests of scientists. Thus, if the physics community is to play a substantive role, it must enlarge its horizon and call upon its leaders to face the broader facts of life. Physicists are no longer able to conjure the ghosts of their cold war status. We are now forced to demonstrate anew what physics contributes to international amity, prosperity and peace.
These are the hidden beasts that stalk us in the international wilds. While the industrialized nations talk about the need to collaborate, they are increasingly unwilling as individuals to make the necessary investments. What is needed is a new international regime with sufficient access to funds and the best scientific intelligence, enabling us to act wisely and decisively to maintain the vigor and vision of science.
6 January 1996 APS News OPINION How I Went From Comedy Writer to Science Teacher in 65 Easy Lessons by Casey Keller
ell it’s finally happened: I had to turn from comedy writer to Get the kids on your side. “Beakman’s learn from their local news show may W responsibility for the education science teacher overnight. And the World” is the opposite of school. Instead not be. More importantly, it’s our job of America’s future scientists has been weirdest thing happened. All that old of imposing structure on our audience, as broadcasters to provide shows for passed on to a couple of guys who used stuff I thought I hadn’t learned back in we appear to be chaotic. Our irreverent children that are worth watching and to write for “The Loveboat” and “Who’s Mr. Creen’s ninth grade science class comedy, our underground comix style lessons that are worth learning. the Boss?”. What’s wrong with you jumped up out of my unconscious animation and our sound effects — people? What can you be thinking? memory and into my conscious particularly the sound effect you hear I’ve picked up a bit of scientific knowledge memory. Weirder still, it started mak- coming from Lester, a guy in a rat suit over 65 Beakman episodes. I’ve learned My partner, Richard Albrecht, and I had ing sense. Suddenly, Archimedes’ Law — tell the audience that we’re not their that the main purpose of every life form on spent 15 years writing situation comedies became clear as a bell and I finally un- parents or teachers. We’re the bad boys earth is to pass on its genetic information. when we interviewed for a job as head derstood the difference between (and girls) of science. But we humans are probably the only spe- writers on a new show called “Beakman’s potential energy and kinetic energy. cies that has something else to pass on World.” We watched a ten-minute pre- (Don’t laugh. I told you I’m not a sci- Don’t talk down to the kids. Kids know besides our genes. We have to pass on our sentation tape. On it, we saw a bizarre entist.) when you’re patronizing them. By writ- culture and our civilization. Not just because man with bizarre hair in a bizarre labo- ing a show we enjoy and that makes it’s a nice thing to do, but because it’s es- ratory talking about the most Sixty-five episodes later, “Beakman’s us laugh, we are assured of never talk- sential to our survival. excruciatingly boring subject we had ever World” has won three Emmys, the Cable ing down to our audience. Of the considered — and making it fascinating Ace Award for best children’s show, thousand letters that arrive at We must equip our kids with the knowl- and fun. Best of all, it made us laugh. and the Ollie Award for Excellence in “Beakman’s World” every week, some edge they need and the skills to acquire Children’s Programming. More impor- of my favorites are from adults who that knowledge if we’re going to keep We had reservations about taking the tantly, my children love the show and write to confess that they watch our our civilization alive. There were two job. We’re not scientists, we’re comedy love to talk about science. On a recent show even though they don’t have kids. and half billion people on this planet writers. Mark Waxman, the show’s ex- vacation, Zoe, my five-year-old, took when I was born. Today, there are close ecutive producer, assured us that our the pilot of our plane aside to tell him You can eat a whole cow if you do it to six billion. Who knows how many lack of scientific knowledge would not that the four forces of flight are thrust, one hamburger at a time. There is no people there will be by the time my be a problem. The research people drag, lift and weight. principle, scientific or otherwise, so kids are young adults. We’ve got to would write the lessons. All we had to complicated that children cannot learn equip these people with the knowledge they’ll need to survive. We’ve got to do was add jokes. As I said, I’m not a scientist, I’m a com- it. The trick is to break it down into empower them with the learning skills edy writer. But I have learned a few bite-sized pieces that little minds can Mark Waxman isn’t a liar, but he was and thinking skills they’ll need to keep things during my time at “Beakman’s consume. It’s also critical that we ex- badly mistaken. “Beakman’s World” is civilization civilized — or as close to World.” plain the little things that may seem about teaching science in new and ex- terribly obvious to us, but are not to civilized as it gets. citing ways. Those new and exciting our youngest viewers. ways are the jokes. Our research staff Children don’t hate learning — they And it’s not just my kids, Max and Zoe, did an heroic job, but they could not just hate school. And why shouldn’t All television is educational television who need this empowerment. The qual- deliver on Mark’s promise. That was they? As important as it is, school is the when kids are watching. Those power- ity of their lives and their survival really up to us. process by which we harness up our ful little brains are sponges, soaking up depend on everybody’s kids learning, children so they can be put to work everything they see and hear on that and more important, learning to learn. It turned out to be great fun. We im- for our society. We impose structure small screen. But those little minds don’t mersed Beakman in a tank of water to on their unbridled free spirits. For a have the tools to discriminate between Casey Keller is a television writer-pro- explain displacement. We had Josie and few hours each day we take away their things worth learning and things not ducer with a long list of credits in Lester sing “Bee-Barf-A-Loo-La” to re- spontaneity and make them focus their worth learning. If you doubt me, ask situation comedy. “Beakman’s World” mind our viewers that honey is energies on things that often don’t in- my son, Max, to recite TV commercials can be seen on CBS affiliates and on regurgitated from the stomachs of bees. terest them. School is where many for our local Ford dealer. cable’s The Learning Channel. With his Beakman, Lester and Liza got their children get their first tastes of failure partner, Richard Albrecht, he recently hands dirty fixing a clogged drain pipe and inadequacy. At “Beakman’s World,” Since all television is educational created another educational show, to explain how doctors treat heart at- we receive thousands of letters every whether we intend it to be or not, it’s “A.J.’s Timer Travelers,” which pre- tacks. We call these gags that make you week from school kids who want an- our job as parents to help our children miered in syndication this fall. laugh and learn at the same time the swers to their questions. Nobody tells choose the shows they watch. The “ahas.” It’s that moment where the light them to write to us. They do it because things our kids learn from “Sesame This article originally appeared in the bulb goes off over the heads of our they want to know. The hunger for Street” are extremely valuable, empow- newsletter of the APS Forum on Educa- audience. knowledge is out there. ering and life affirming. The things they tion, Summer 1995.
Communicating Physics to the Public is a Valuable Skill by Ruth Howes
anel after distinguished panel central labs dedicated to basic research We physicists can no longer afford the explain their physics results in ordinary P recommends improving the commu- towards research tied closely to specific luxury of talking mainly to ourselves. language. nications skills of physics students. We in product development. Certainly small We must learn to appreciate the skills the physics community heartily endorse start-up companies tie research activi- of the journalist, and yes, the public Finally, we must recognize that those their recommendations. Unfortunately, nei- ties to production. In these arenas, relations guru. Physicists must involve who communicate physics to the pub- ther the physics community nor the physicists must work closely with busi- the media and the public they serve lic and to students possess a unique assembled experts describe exactly what ness types trained in marketing and with physics and its exciting results. talent and a practiced skill. Not all of us “communications skills” we need to im- management. can push the envelope of physical un- prove. Research results are judged by Our students should practice writing derstanding. Nevertheless, all physicists publication and presentation to critical Recent budget debates demonstrate that press releases on their research should have a solid understanding of peers. Current teaching techniques include the general public (including politicians) projects, as well as Physical Review Let- the major ideas of physics and the fun- having students write up lab reports for does not understand science in general ters. Physics students should explain damentals of physics research. Not all Physical Review Letters, or using class for and physics in particular. The images their work not only to classmates, but of us can explain frontier research re- 10-minute physics papers, or even requir- of physics and physicists on popular also to groups from other disciplines sults to the person on the street. But all ing proposals for senior projects. But today television programs are problematic to and members of the public, such as physicists must learn to do this ad- the survival of physics research depends say the least. Consider the recent com- middle school students. We must rec- equately, see that our students’ skills on constituencies outside physics and sci- mercials for tires, soft drinks and tennis ognize that communication includes exceed our own, and value those ence itself. shoes that claim to voilate the laws of receiving as well as broadcasting. At- among us who can communicate. physics, use physics jargon to repel tending seminars in other disciplines, For years, industrial physicists have unwanted sexual advances and mangle our students should analyze them as Ruth Howes is a professor of physics at pointed out that they interact regularly the principles of physics to win games. physicists. Real-world problems present Ball State University and chair of the with engineers, mathematicians, chem- Dare to ask a casual passerby what themselves in ordinary language. APS Forum on Education. This article ists, and even biologists. Today’s physics is or what physicists can do. Therefore students must learn to recast originally appeared in the Forum on corporations are moving away from The results can be startling. them in physics terms — and, of course, Education newsletter.
7 APS News January 1996
needs form a context for our research,” ticipation by women and minorities to Election Results (Continued from page 1) he said. He does not believe that choos- achieve that end, as well as less infight- become aware of the value and excite- research is an essential component of ing research directions that addresses ing between the subdisciplines of ment of our discoveries, which enrich the value physics provides,” he said. the needs of those constituents will physics. “If we demonstrate through our society both materially and intellectu- “But it does mean forging new rela- prove detrimental to basic research; actions that we do not appreciate the ally,” he said. tionships among the broad constituency rather, it will expand the range and di- science being pursued by our col- represented in the Society: physicists versity of fundamental problems to leagues, it will be difficult to persuade General Councillors in academia, government labs and which the methodology of physics can the public of its importance.” Daniel Auerbach received B.S., M.S., industry.” be applied. Providing graduate students and Ph.D. degrees in physics from the with such a context for their thesis re- Ronald Walsworth received a B.S. in University of Chicago. He held research Donald Hamann received his B.S. in search can help prepare them for a physics from Duke University in 1984, positions at the FOM Institute for Atomic 1961, and his Ph.D. in 1965, both from broad range of career options. and a Ph.D. in physics from Harvard and Molecular Physics, Amsterdam, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technol- University in 1991. In 1991 he joined the University of Chicago and served ogy. He promptly joined the Theoretical Susan Seestrom received her Ph.D. in the Smithsonian Astrophysical Obser- on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins Uni- Physics Research Department at AT&T experimental nuclear physics from the vatory where he is now a staff physicist. versity before joining IBM in 1978. His Bell Laboratories, and was appointed University of Minnesota in 1981. She research interests center around the head of that department in 1979. He did post-doctoral research at Los Alamos His research interests cover a wide dynamics of gas surface interactions, in- assumed his present position as head National Laboratory from 1981-1983 and range of basic and applied topics. He cluding the determination of potential of the Surface Physics Research Depart- at the University of Minnesota from currently heads a research group work- energy surfaces, the study of energy ment in 1981. 1983-1986. In 1986 she returned to Los ing on the following problems: the transfer processes, and the investigation Alamos as a technical staff member, development of improved atomic of the detailed mechanisms of chemi- Hamann’s initial research was in many where she has remained until the clocks; the experimental investigation cal processes on surfaces. body physics, with a focus on the low present time. Her research interests in- of low temperature atomic and con- temperature properties of dilute mag- clude weak interaction nuclear physics, densed matter physics; searches for Auerbach has a broad range of profes- netic alloys. He has also made fundamental symmetries studied using physics beyond the Standard Model sional activities. He served as an contributions to the subjects of interca- neutron beams, nuclear structure and through precise tests of physical laws associate editor of Chemical Physics lated graphite, oxide superconductors, reaction mechanism. and symmetries; and the development Letters and is currently on the editorial and quantum Monte Carlo theory. and application of new tools for bio- board of Surface Science Reports and Hamann was awarded the Davisson Seestrom was a member of the Execu- medical imaging and spectroscopy. Applied Physics. He served in various Germer Prize of the APS in 1979 for his tive Committee of the APS Division of capacities in the American Chemical research on the electronic structure of Nuclear Physics from 1993-1995, and a Walsworth identified four main goals Society, including Chairman of the Di- surfaces, and served on the Executive member of the DNP Program Commit- he deemed important for the APS in vision of Physical Chemistry. He is a Committee of the APS Division of Con- tee from 1986-1988. She has also been his candidate’s statement: further im- member of the American Vacuum Soci- densed Matter Physics. He also served an active user of the Los Alamos Me- proving communication between the ety, the American Chemical Society, and on various program committees and son Physics Facility, serving on the physics community and Congress and is a Fellow of The American Physical review panels, and chaired the Panel Board of Directors of the LAMPF Users’ the general public; fostering analysis, Society. on the Theory of Surfaces of the DOE Group from 1990-1992. discussion and action regarding the Council on Materials Science. career problems facing all scientists; In his candidate’s statement, Auerbach In her candidate’s statement, Seestrom continuing to publish highly regarded identified his chief goal as strengthen- In his candidate’s statement, Hamann identified the lack of support and journals and to hold top quality con- ing and initiating new activities for the called for a more substantive APS understanding of the importance of ferences; and working to break down APS aimed at defining, expanding and response to the crises in physics em- basic research in science by the gen- barriers to multi- and cross-disciplin- communicating the value of physics and ployment and research support, eral public and government as the most ary research. “Some of the most exciting physicists to society as a whole. He be- maintaining that many proposals focus important issue facing the APS. “It is work today in both fundamental and lieves this is especially important to primarily on improved public relations. essential that we...convince non- applied science involves the crossing meet the difficult challenges facing the “The academic, governmental and in- specialists of the value and and merging of disciplines,” he said. physics community today. This does not dustrial constituencies which underwrite interdependence of basic and applied “It is vital to eliminate barriers within imply abandoning basic research in fa- our activities have a legitimate self-in- research,” she said, calling for improved funding agencies and research and edu- vor of more directed research. “Basic terest in our results. Like it or not, their educational efforts and increased par- cational institutions to such efforts.” Ballot Survey Indicates More APS Members Are Going Electronic
PS members are making greater and tant to the services we offer, the APS Wide Web, with 44 percent regularly The ballot survey also included a box A more frequent use of electronic officers and staff decided to include using the service, and similar percent- that members could check to request services such as email and the World questions that would give us data to ages used electronic ftp services. that information be sent to them on Wide Web, but are less familiar with guide us towards improving member However, only 30 percent had made either Physical Review Letters online or emerging electronic preprint servers, services,” said Tracy Alinger, APS use of electronic preprint servers, the members-only version of Physical according to the results of a member information services manager. Last year with 13 percent using them regularly. Review B Rapids. Both electronic prod- survey that accompanied the 1995 gen- the ballot survey feature was used to ucts have recently been introduced by eral election ballots earlier this year. determine how many APS members Nearly half (47 percent) of the respon- the APS (see APS NEWS, February used electronic mail, and to update dents regularly use Windows PC 1995). Twenty-five percent requested The APS began including survey their email addresses. systems, with MacIntosh and UNIX questions on the annual election ballot PRL-o information and 12 percent re- workstations ranking second in popu- last year, when the company that More than 9,000 members responded quested PRB-RC information. Alinger provides the service, Interactive Com- to the survey. Eighty-three percent of larity, each used by 37 percent of emphasized that the confidentiality of puterized Elections (ICE), offered the the respondents said they had ac- respondents. Only 19 percent said they the ballots was not compromised by feature at no additional cost, depend- cessed electronic mail to and from the used PCs with DOS only. Apparently doing so. “We never saw the actual bal- ing on available space. “Since the Internet, and 78 percent did so on a a number of members use more than lots,” she said. “ICE merely sent us a electronic capabilities of our members regular basis. Nearly 67 percent of one computer system since the total of set of labels for those who requested are changing quickly and are impor- respondents had accessed the World the above numbers exceed 100 percent. information.”
of our own generally, because doing environments that the APS is dominated A: Most of the Society’s income derives Schrieffer (continured from page 2) so benefits physics. John Bardeen was by basic academic scientists who look from its publications. While the APS is A: Personally, I believe that science must able to move between applied physics down their noses at applied and indus- developing electronic versions of its jour- be internationalized, not only on large- and fundamental physics with ease, and trial research. I don’t think this is true, nals, the prevailing concern is how to scale projects, but on small-scale research without any judgment as to which was but the APS hasn’t pushed hard enough maintain subscriptions and avoid having as well. However, it is difficult for the the best. In fact, I think he felt the best to serve them, and I think this is an im- someone post Physical Review Letters on APS to address this issue, because it re- the World Wide Web, for example, pro- physics was that which transcends these portant area. I feel very positively about lates to the future of a specific field, and viding universal access free of charge. compartmentalizations. our efforts to date in this area, but the most fields identify first with their own It’s a very real concern. Society has a long way to go, so that not house, and then with the APS. It’s a shame Q: The APS recently formed the Fo- only do our industrial members feel wel- I think that if we’re going to have a viable when a particular subfield of physics feels rum on Industrial and Applied Society in the future, we must find areas to much more tightly bound to itself than come, but also that they benefit from their Physics to give its members em- serve the members which are over and to the body politic of physics as a whole. involvement in the APS. ployed outside of academia an above publications and meetings. We must official voice in the Society. Should think creatively about what businesses the Science, at least historically, has not more be done to foster better ties Q: The emergence of electronic pub- lishing is raising serious questions APS will be involved with 8 to 10 years been like the professions. We’ve tradi- with industry? from now, and how it will serve its mem- about the future of APS journals. tionally been interested in the good of bers. If we don’t address this issue, time What should the Society be doing to the field rather than the practitioners of A: There has been this feeling for a long will overtake us. Still, in general I feel very address this issue? the field, although we try to take care time among physicists in corporate good about the future. 8 January 1996 APS News ___
(Continued on Reverse) NOMINATION BALLOT NOMINATION
(To be Completed by Members of the Society Only) Members be Completed by (To Council and Committee Positions (Please Attach Appropriate Supporting Biographical Documentation) The American Physical Society The American Physical For General Councillor For General Councillor For Chairperson-Elect, Nominating Committee For Chairperson-Elect, Nominating Committee For Membership on the Nominating Committee For Membership on the Nominating Committee For Vice-President Nominee:______For General Councillor Nominee:______Affiliation: ______For Chairperson-Elect, Nominating Committee Nominee:______Affiliation: ______For Membership on the Nominating Committee Nominee:______Affiliation: ______Affiliation: For General Councillor For General Councillor For Chairperson-Elect, Nominating Committee For Chairperson-Elect, Nominating Committee For Membership on the Nominating Committee For Membership on the Nominating Committee
9 APS News January 1996 For Membership on the Panel on Public Affairs For Chairperson-Elect, Panel on Public Affairs oie:Affiliation: ______of Nominator and Address Signature ______Affiliation: ______Nominee: ______Nominee: The deadline for receipt of this ballot is 3 February 1996. Council and Committee Positions NOMINATION BALLOT Please Address your Envelope to: Please Address The American Physical Society College Park, MD 20740-3844 email: [email protected] One Physics Ellipse fax: (301) 209-0865 Attn: Amy Haltsed
(301) 209-3266 (continued) ______Sponsor’s Data ______Contributions Cited: on the Citation and Indicating Originality Significance of Supporting Paragraph Enlarging ______Suggested Citation to Appear on Fellowship Certificate if Nomination is Approved ______3 2 1 Nominee’s most significant contributions and principal publications PLEASE NOTE: PLEASE NOTE: To Additional Information Required: (a) Curriculum Vitae(b) Supporting Letters Additional Information or Biographical Information; ______Sponsor’s Recommendation: ______Sponsor’s Address:______Sponsor’s Name:______Signature:______Sponsor’s Recommendation: ______Sponsor’s Address:______Sponsor’s Name:______Signature:______For information on deadline dates for specific units consult the APS WWW Home For information Page (http://aps.org) under the Prize, Awards & Fellowship button, or call Page (http://aps.org) (Each nominee must have two sponsors who are members of the APS.) Nomination for APS Fellowship ______Enclose original and duplicate of nomination form. facilitate this nomination, be sure you have answered every question. you have answered facilitate this nomination, be sure
APS Honors office at (301) 209-3268. APS Honors office (continued) (PLEASE PRINT):
(list four publications)
(30 words or less) : :
10 January 1996 APS News ANNOUNCEMENTS
STOP! CAUGHT IN THE WEB THINK! Notable additions to the APS Web Server for the month of November. The APS Web Server can be found at http://aps.org NOMINATE!
Access Information: Units APS News Online-login as apsnews with • DCMP Public Interest Articles new password of F=ma • History of Physics Newsletter Meetings APS Member Directory Search-login as • 1996 March Meeting Housing Bulletin directory with new password of F=ma Board Note: logins and passwords are case sensitive. Miscellaneous New/Updated Links: • CRDF for the Independent States of Honors the FSU • 1996 Prizes and Awards • Challenge to Scholarly Surveys • 1995 Fellows with Citations • On Belonging to the APS
Now Appearing in RMP… Which of your APS member colleagues do you admire most? Who shares Reviews of Modern Physics is a quarterly journal featuring review your views and concerns? Who has the best combination of knowledge and articles and colloquia on a wide range of topics in physics, as well experience to represent you, and lead the APS in the right direction? Well, as a listing of review articles appearing in other journals and se- why not nominate the person (who could be you) to be a candidate for an rial publications. Titles and brief descriptions of the articles in the elected position in the APS? January 1996 issue are provided below. Reprints of individual ar- The Nominating Committee depends on APS members to propose candidates ticles may be obtained by sending a written request to the American for positions elected by the membership: Vice President, Chair-Elect of the Institute of Physics, Attention: Circulation and Fulfillment Division, Nominating Committee, and General Councillors; and those elected by the 500 Sunnyside Boulevard, Woodbury, NY 11797-2999. Council: members of the Panel on Public Affairs and of the Nominating Com- mittee. Quantum Nondemolition Measurements: the Route from Toys to Tools. V.B. Braginsky and F.Ya. Khalili describe recent experiments that dem- A nomination form appears on page 9-10. Send your nominations to Amy onstrate the feasibility of quantum nondemolition (QND) measurements Halsted, Administrator for Operating Committees, APS, One Physics Ellipse, in quantum optics, and discuss some fundamental physics problems to College Park, MD 20740-3844, phone: (301) 209-3266; fax: (301) 209-0865; (email: which QND methods could be applied. [email protected]). Please provide biographical/supporting material on your nominees. The deadline is February 2. Strongly Correlated Fermions: the Local Impurity Self-Consistent Approxi- mation. Antoine Georges, Gabriel Kotliar, Werner Krauth and Marcelo J. Rozenberg describe recent progress in the study of strongly corre- lated systems through the construction of a consistent dynamical mean-field theory, based on a mapping of lattice models onto quan- tum impurity models. CRDF Announces Cooperative Grants Program
Sub-Poissonian Processes in Quantum Optics. Luiz Davidovich describes On November 6, 1995, the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation the basic concepts and main experimental achievements to date in the (CRDF) announced a call for proposals for its new Cooperative Grants Program. emerging field of nonclassical sources of light in quantum optics. He This program will allow teams of former Soviet and U.S. scientists and engineers also presents recent derivations of the laser theory which allow him to to apply jointly for support of cooperative projects in any area of civilian research analyze systematically four strategies for achieving quantum noise re- and development. Teams may apply for $10,000 to $80,000 of funds for a two- ductions in lasers and masers. year period.
Phase Diagram and Correlation Exponents for Interacting Fermions in The CRDF intends to allocate over $6 million for Collaborative Grants Program One Dimension. Eugene B. Kolomeisky and Joseph P. Straley discuss awards. Proposals must be submitted to the CRDF’s office in Arlington, Virginia aspects of one-dimensional, interacting Fermi gas that are of interest in by March 1, 1996. Based on the results of a competitive peer review process, the higher-dimensional materials, especially the cuprate superconductors. CRDF Board of Directors will announce the first awards and award levels by July 1, 1996, and will announce all awards by September 1, 1996. Nonlinear Dynamics of Radiative Condensations in Optically Thin Plas- mas. Baruch Meerson describes recent progress in understanding the The CRDF is a private, non-profit foundation created in August 1995 as an Ameri- process of radiation condensation in plasmas, using reduced nonlinear can response to the ongoing crisis facing science and engineering in the former models which illuminate a wide variety of condensation phenomena, Soviet Union. The mission of the CRDF is to encourage productive civilian em- including bubble formation, shock-wave propagation, and singularity ployment alternatives for former FSU defense scientists while providing development. opportunities for FSU and U.S. scientists to pursue mutually beneficial entrepre- neurial R&D activities expected to strengthen market economies and stable Decay Widths and Total Cross Sections in Perturbative Quantum Chro- democratic regimes in the region. modynamics. Levan Surguladze and Mark A. Samuel review the status of very-high-order perturbative calculations for several important quan- The creation of the CRDF was originally authorized in 1992 Congressional legislation tum chromodynamic cross-sections and decay widths, as well as sponsored by Congressman George Brown of California, then-Senator Al Gore of discussing ambiguities in the renormalization scheme and scale depen- Tennessee, and Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut. Its imminent creation was dence of expansions in the strong coupling. announced by President Clinton at the May 1995 Summit Meeting in Moscow.
RMP Colloquia. This section contains short, broadly accessible articles The CRDF’s initial funding derives from a $5 million allocation from the Department describing recent research at the frontiers of physics, particularly those of Defense’s “Nunn-Lugar” program to promote demilitarization in the FSU and from concepts that link many different subfields of physics. a matching $5 million gift to the National Science Foundation (NSF) by philanthro- pist George Soros. The NSF, as directed by the 1992 legislation, used these combined Sputtering of Ices in the Outer Solar System. R.E. Johnson discusses the funds to establish the CRDF, and also appointed its Board of Directors. differing physical processes of the sputtering of particles from icy sur- faces, and the consequences for plasmas, atmospheres, and surfaces of For more information on the CRDF Cooperative Grants Program, please contact the far planets. the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation, 1800 North Kent Street, Suite 1106, Arlington, Virginia, 22209; Phone: (703) 526-9720; Fax: (703) 526- 9721; email: [email protected]; WWW: http://www.internext.com/crdf.
11 APS News January 1996 THE BACK PAGE Looking Ahead: It’s Time To Defend All of Scientific Research by Martha Krebs
s I write this, it is Thanksgiving eve cilities that provide vital infrastructure is frustrating to ev- to federal invest- Ahere in Washington, DC. Most to thousands of researchers supported eryone involved, ments in science federal workers have just returned from by industry and other federal agencies. but especially the and technology a forced vacation following the battle In our case, it’s been a mixed year. staff of the federal that should both between the Republican Congress and Our FY 1996 request went to Con- science agencies. drive the economy the White House over a framework for gress at $2.7 billion and came back They have worked and protect the en- balancing our nation’s budget by the at $2.5 billion. hard through vironment. These year 2002. Although many of our different administra- investments must colleagues in other science agencies High energy physics has been reason- tions with changing also sustain our were among those on furlough, the ably treated, up $40 million from FY political perspec- leadership in world- Department of Energy (DOE) operated 1995 but $20 million below the origi- tives to establish class science, math on carry-over funds and the Energy and nal DOE request that would have programs and and engineering Water Development Approprations bill honored the HEPAP recommendations. bring scientific re- based on peer re- signed by President Clinton on We will go forward with discussions for sults forward that view. Having said November 31, 1995. U.S. participation in the Large Hadron illuminate policy this, we face a pe- Collider, in collaboration with the Na- decisions, but do riod where the Although the budget battles over the tional Science Foundation. not reflect the po- federal science in- FY1996 programs are not finished, it is litical views of vestment is not a good time to reflect on them and to Nuclear physics was reduced $10 mil- individual scien- likely to grow look forward to what the coming year lion below our request and continues tists. The cheap shot attacks by with inflation. This is in spite of good may bring. The to languish. politicians and scientists who have not words from the Republican Con- DOE spent much The RHIC been subject to peer review in these gressional leadership. The budget of 1995 fighting for project was cut fields are deeply distasteful to me. agreement between Congress and the its existence and “Another problematic $5 million for President will put more pressure on caught up in the budget balanc- Another problematic action by Congress the discretionary parts of the Federal freshmen action by Congress is the ing purposes is the dramatic reduction of the fusion budget. Republican mem- dramatic reduction of the only. As a re- energy program. Reduced by one-third bers’ zeal for fusion energy program. sult, we expect from $363 million to $244 million, the There is no way that the science bud- reducing the num- the total project program must be fundamentally restruc- gets will not be more deeply scrutinized ber of cabinet Reduced by one-third…” costs to in- tured away from a time-driven effort. than they already have been by both agencies. In large crease about What the character and scope of the Congress and the Administration. The measure, the ener- $20 million and new program should be is a tremen- NSF and the National Institute of Health gies of Energy stretch project dous challenge to the fusion and plasma will undoubtedly receive favored treat- Secretary Hazel O’Leary and her imme- completion by six months to one year. scientists. Personally I think the Con- ment, but growth will be harder and diate staff were absorbed in that contest, As NSAC is about to deliver its long- gressional action was unwise, foolish harder to come by. The basic research and it looks like we have survived to range plan to a $325 million budget and tragic in the face of what we know programs in DOE, NASA, and the De- fight another year. projection, Congress is giving Energy will be the energy requirements of the partment of Defense will continue to Research a discouraging message that U.S. and the world by the middle of be squeezed, and defending the impor- Below that grand scale, different DOE will likely bring some tough decisions the next century. It is also a tragedy for tant benefits received from these programs have been under different lev- in the next few years. many individuals who have had a pro- investments must receive the attention els of support and attack. Our energy found commitment to making fusion of professional societies, not just divi- technology programs for efficiency and More positive was the message to the energy happen. A cut of this size, a shift sions representing subfields. Funding renewables have been caught up in the Basic Energy Sciences programs where in direction this sudden, will leave hu- that leaves programs like fusion will not controversy that support for applied re- increases for operation and instrumen- man and scientific wreckage; there is go to other areas of science. Funding search is corporate welfare by another tation at the major synchrotron and no avoiding it. In spite of this, Con- that leaves national laboratories will not name, and look like they will be re- neutron scattering facilities was gress has made go to other areas of science. Funding duced by approximately 30 percent. strongly supported. New pro- a clear state- cut from applied research will not be Our atomic weapons programs with grams will also be started for ment and its FY added to basic science. their focus on science-based stockpile basic research that supports the “This is a time for 1996 funding stewardship and a recommitment to the Partnership for a New Genera- defending all of level is based This is a time for defending all of three weapons laboratories have been tion of Vehicles and on the expecta- science, not particular fields and insti- well received and are increased above environmentally sound materi- science, not par- tion that the tutions. This is a time for articulating the President’s request. Our massive als and chemical processes. ticular fields and restructured fu- the benefits our nation has received program to repair the environmental institutions.” sion science from its investments in science and sci- damage at former weapons’ sites faced Our environmental programs program will entists. It is a time for speaking to all of serious scrutiny, was reduced below its faced some early challenges as cost signifi- our public representatives, federal and request level by $300-$400 million, but “claptrap” science by some cantly less in local, and especially when they are not also received $50 million for a peer-re- members of Congress, but our appro- the future. This is not the time for de- based in Washington, DC. This is a long- viewed basic science program. priators recognized the quality and nial, delay or recrimination. It is a time term job that will not take place in D.C., independence of DOE’s investigators in for imagination. nor will it be finished once we know Although the general state of DOE may our global climate and ozone research the final determination for the budget be interesting, I know that when physi- programs. By comparison to some of So what do we make of all this? What for FY 1997. cists think about DOE, they usually think the other agencies who support work can we expect next year? What should about the Office of Energy Research — in these areas, Energy Research was well we do? As a member of President Martha Krebs is the Assistant Secretary of the home of basic science in the DOE, treated. The irrationality of these attacks Clinton’s administration, I believe that Energy Research, Office of Energy Re- the investor in major scientific user fa- in the face of peer-reviewed programs we have made a strong commitment search, at the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Back Page is intended as a forum to foster discussion on topics of interest to the scientific community. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the APS, its elected officers, or staff. APS NEWS welcomes and encourages letters and submissions from its members responding to these and other issues. Letters must be signed and should include an address and daytime telephone number. The APS reserves the right to select and to edit for length or clarity. All correspondence regarding APS News should be directed to: Editor, APS News, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20749-3844, or email:
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