Harvard University Department of Physics Newsletter
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Dayton C. Miller by Peter Hoekje
The newsletter of The Acoustical Society of America Volume 13, Number 1 Winter 2003 Dayton C. Miller by Peter Hoekje ayton Clarence Miller (1866–1941), a founding member a full body composite of himself, and an injured railroad brake- and second president of the Acoustical Society of man. This latter is claimed to be the first use of x-rays for sur- DAmerica, is remembered for his distinctive gical purposes. Tragically, his laboratory assistant died contributions in the early 20th century in several in 1905, apparently from radiation-related illness. fields. Acousticians appreciate his pioneering With the encouragement of Edward Morley, analysis of sound waveforms and spectra, his Miller revisited the 1887 Michelson-Morley accurate measurements of the speed of sound aether drift experiment with a new interfer- in air, and his study of flutes and their ometer in 1902, and continued working on acoustics. But, he is also known for metic- this problem for nearly 30 years. In making ulous measurementsThe newsletterof aether drift, for of the measurements, the interferometer would first surgical x-ray, and for the huge flute be set in motion once and would rotate collection he donated to the Library of freely for an hour while the experimenter Congress. He balanced an outstanding made observations of the fractional scientific research career with a devotion fringe displacement, several times to the arts and education. throughout each rotation. Miller claimed As a small boy, Dayton started his to have walked 160 miles and made musical and acoustic explorations on his 200,000 observations of fringes in the father’s fife.1 His father bought him his course of his experiments! He consistent- first full-size flute on his thirteenth birth- ly arrived at an observed aether drift speed day, but it was too big for his small fingers. -
Penguin Decays of B Mesons
COLO–HEP–395 SLAC-PUB-7796 HEPSY 98-1 April 23, 1998 PENGUIN DECAYS OF B MESONS Karen Lingel 1 Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94309 and Tomasz Skwarnicki 2 Department of Physics, Syracuse University Syracuse, NY 13244 and James G. Smith 3 Department of Physics, University of Colorado arXiv:hep-ex/9804015v1 27 Apr 1998 Boulder, CO 80309 Submitted to Annual Reviews of Nuclear and Particle Science 1Work supported by Department of Energy contract DE-AC03-76SF00515 2Work supported by National Science Foundation contract PHY 9807034 3Work supported by Department of Energy contract DE-FG03-95ER40894 2 LINGEL & SKWARNICKI & SMITH PENGUIN DECAYS OF B MESONS Karen Lingel Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Tomasz Skwarnicki Department of Physics, Syracuse University James G. Smith Department of Physics, University of Colorado KEYWORDS: loop CP-violation charmless ABSTRACT: Penguin, or loop, decays of B mesons induce effective flavor-changing neutral currents, which are forbidden at tree level in the Standard Model. These decays give special insight into the CKM matrix and are sensitive to non-standard model effects. In this review, we give a historical and theoretical introduction to penguins and a description of the various types of penguin processes: electromagnetic, electroweak, and gluonic. We review the experimental searches for penguin decays, including the measurements of the electromagnetic penguins b → sγ ∗ ′ and B → K γ and gluonic penguins B → Kπ, B+ → ωK+ and B → η K, and their implications for the Standard Model and New Physics. We conclude by exploring the future prospects for penguin physics. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .................................... 3 History of Penguins .................................... -
A Plausible Resolution to Hilbert's Failed Attempt to Unify Gravitation & Electromagnetism
Prespacetime Journal| December 2018 | Volume 9 | Issue 10 | pp. xxx-xxx 1000 Christianto, V., Smarandache, F., & Boyd, R. N., A Plausible Resolution to Hilbert’s Failed Attempt to Unify Gravitation & Electromagnetism Exploration A Plausible Resolution to Hilbert’s Failed Attempt to Unify Gravitation & Electromagnetism Victor Christianto1*, Florentin Smarandache2 & Robert N. Boyd3 1Malang Institute of Agriculture (IPM), Malang, Indonesia 2Dept. of Math. Sci., Univ. of New Mexico, Gallup, USA 3Independent Researcher, USA Abstract In this paper, we explore the reasons why Hilbert’s axiomatic program to unify gravitation theory and electromagnetism failed and outline a plausible resolution of this problem. The latter is based on Gödel’s incompleteness theorem and Newton’s aether stream model. Keywords: Unification, gravitation, electromagnetism, Hilbert, resolution. Introduction Hilbert and Einstein were in race at 1915 to develop a new gravitation theory based on covariance principle [1]. While Einstein seemed to win the race at the time, Hilbert produced two communications which show that he was ahead of Einstein in term of unification of gravitation theory and electromagnetic theory. Hilbert started with Mie’s electromagnetic theory. However, as Mie theory became completely failed, so was the Hilbert’s axiomatic program to unify those two theories [1]. Einstein might be learning from such an early failure of Hilbert to unify those theories, and years later returned to Mie theory [1]. What we would say here is that Hilbert’s axiomatic failure can be explained by virtue of Gödel’s incompleteness theorem: which says essentially that any attempt to build a consistent theory based on axiomatic foundations can be shown to be inconsistent. -
2007-2008 Physics at Brown Newsletter
Physics at Brown NEWS FOR ALUM N I an D FRIE N DS 2007 ISSUE GREETINGS FROM THE CHAIR - SP RING 2008 elcome to another issue of the Brown Physics newsletter. the rank of Associate Professor with tenure. We also report on WI wrote three years ago, during my first term as the some notable faculty achievements for the past year. department chair--with a committed faculty, dedicated staff, enthusiastic students, supportive administration, and engaged e continue the tradition of highlighting the research of alumni and friends--that the future of physics at Brown looked Wour 2007 Galkin Foundation Fellow on page 2. Also bright. Many things have taken place since then. Here we the effort in enriching our physics instruction continues. Three highlight some of the activities of the past year. new courses are offered this year and proposals for three new physics concentrations are under way. Other noteworthy 007 marked the 50th anniversary of the BCS Theory activities include WiSE, Poster Session, UTRA Awards, 2of Superconductivity. We honored Prof. Leon Resource Center, etc. In addition, community outreach Cooper with a two-day symposium on April remains a priority for the Department with a weekly 12-13. A brief description of this event is open house at Ladd and a greatly expanded five- provided on page 3. year NSF supported GK-12 program. e also report on the establishment hanks to a generous gift from his family, an Wof the Institute for Molecular and TAnthony Houghton Prize will be awarded Nanoscale Innovation, which represents an annually for the best theoretical thesis. -
Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: the Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe Pdf, Epub, Ebook
DARK MATTER AND THE DINOSAURS: THE ASTOUNDING INTERCONNECTEDNESS OF THE UNIVERSE PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Lisa Randall | 432 pages | 05 Jan 2017 | Vintage Publishing | 9780099593560 | English | London, United Kingdom Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: The Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe PDF Book Randall rebuts such criticism by noting that it could be "simpler to say that dark matter is like our matter, in that it's different particles with different forces", adding "the other answer is that the world's complicated, so Occam's razor isn't always the best way to go about things. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Creo que su lectura es muy recomendable. So if, in fact, there is this dense, dark disk, there should be evidence for it in this data, which will be really exciting. Amazon Second Chance Pass it on, trade it in, give it a second life. Retrieved 12 December Or, if you are already a subscriber Sign in. Randall: I mean there is, of course, also the richness of how the pieces fit together, which is the wonderful stuff that we observe in the world. And second, once we have them, what are all the consequences? Randall conjectures that dark matter may have indirectly led to the extinction of dinosaurs. And those are worth drilling down and really focusing on. Introduction is nice and smooth. And we can see how that fits together and then how that came about and try to understand that with science, over time. Baird, Jr. Although I am left confused to wether there is evidence for periodicity or not. -
Guest Speakers
2011 NES/APS-AAPT Joint Spring Meeting Invited Speakers Banquet Speaker The Make-believe World of Real-world Physics Eric Mazur Balkanski Professor of Physics and Applied Physics and Area Dean of Applied Physics. Harvard University Cambridge, MA That physics describes the real world is a given for physicists. In spite of tireless efforts by instructors to connect physics to the real world, students walk away from physics courses believing physicists live in a world of their own. Are students clueless about the real world? Or are we perhaps deluding ourselves and misleading our students about the real world? APS Talks -1- Taming Light and Electrons with Metamaterials Nader Engheta H. Nedwill Ramsey Professor University of Pennsylvania Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering Philadelphia, Pennsylvania In recent years, in my group we have been working on various aspects of metamaterials and plasmonic nano-optics. We have introduced and been developing the concept of “metatronics”, i.e. metamaterial-inspired optical nanocircuitry, in which the three fields of “electronics”, “photonics” and “magnetics” can be brought together seamlessly under one umbrella – a paradigm which I call the “Unified Paradigm of Metatronics”. In this novel optical circuitry, the nanostructures with specific values of permittivity and permeability may act as the lumped circuit elements such as nanocapacitors, nanoinductors and nanoresistors. Nonlinearity in metatronics can also provide us with novel nonlinear lumped elements. We have investigated the concept of metatronics through extensive analytical and numerical studies, computer simulations, and recently in a set of experiments at the IR wavelengths. We have shown that nanorods made of low- stressed Si3N4 with properly designed cross sectional dimensions indeed function as lumped circuit elements at the IR wavelengths between 8 to 14 microns. -
Physics & Practice Of
VOLUME 1 MAZUR PRINCIPLES PRINCIPLES & PRACTICE OF PHYSICS & PRACTICE OF Putting Principles First Based on his storied research and teaching, Eric Mazur’s Principles & Practice of Physics builds an understanding of physics that is both thorough and accessible. Unique organization and pedagogy allow students to develop a true conceptual understanding of physics alongside the quantitative skills needed in the course. • New learning architecture: The book is structured to help students learn physics in an organized way that encourages comprehension and reduces distraction. • Physics on a contemporary foundation: Traditional texts delay the introduction of ideas PHYSICS that we now see as unifying and foundational. This text builds physics on those unifying foundations, helping students to develop an understanding that is stronger, deeper, and fundamentally simpler. • Research-based instruction: This text uses a range of research-based instructional techniques to teach physics in the most effective possible manner. The result is a groundbreaking book that puts principles first, thereby making it more accessible to students and easier for instructors to teach. MasteringPhysics® works with the text to create a learning program that enables students to learn both in and out of the classroom. About the Cover Two jets of water collide and mix to form a single swirling wave. The image conveys the elegance and symmetry of physics and how the separate Principles and Practice volumes of this text meld together to teach students the beauty of physics. Please visit us at www.pearsonhighered.com for more information. ISBN-13: 978-0-321-95840-2 To order any of our products, contact our customer service department ISBN-10: 0-321-95840-3 90000 VOL. -
Electrical Engineer Disproves Einsteins Relativity Theory: the Ruins of 106 Years Relativity
Arend Lammertink: Electrical Engineer disproves Einsteins Relativity Theory: The Ruins of 106 Years Relativity. http://tuks.nl/wiki/index.php/Main/Ruins96YearsEinsteinRelativity Electrical Engineer disproves Einsteins Relativity Theory: The Ruins of 106 Years Relativity. Last week the newspapers were filled with the discovery of "impossible" particles traveling faster than the speed of light. A month ago an "impossible" star was discovered and earlier the Pioneer space probes also refused to adhere to the law. This way, the scientific establishment will slowly but surely be forced to return to reality, the reality of the existence of a real, physical ether with fluid-like properties. The inevitable result of that will be that Einstein’s relativity theory will go down in the history books as one of the biggest fallacies ever brought forth by science. In the future they will look back to relativity with equal disbelief as to the "Earth is flat" concept. The relativity theory not only goes against common sense, as Tesla already said in 1932, a fundamental thinking error has been made by Maxwell in his equations. This eventually lead to the erroneous relativity theory, as is proven in this article. It is therefore no exaggeration to state that the scientific establishment is going to have a religious experience. source: Tesla’s Ambassadors The scientific establishment has been completely beside the mark by worshiping Albert Einstein and forgetting about Nikola Tesla. This logically thinking realist already wiped the floor with the theory of relativity in 1932 and thus proved for the umpteenth time to be far ahead of his time: 1 of 12 06/08/13 23:15 "It might be inferred that I am alluding to the curvature of space supposed to exist according to the teachings of relativity, but nothing could be further from my mind. -
Understanding a Warped Cosmos
Lisa Randall. “One challenge today is to see what you can do with large amounts of data, to study fundamental properties, not just questions of how electromagnetism gives rise to certain things. Can we actually see deviations from what you would predict in conventional theories?” Rami Shllush Understanding a warped cosmos What’s the connection between dinosaurs and dark matter? What is the glue that holds the universe together? Is there a fourth - and fifth - dimension? These are just some of the questions that occupy Lisa Randall, the first female physicist to get tenure at Princeton, Harvard and MIT ■ ״ ״r* י •• 1 י׳ The CERN facility, near Geneva. “We need higher-energy machines and particle Illustration of a large asteroid colliding with Earth over the Yucatan Peninsula, in accelerators,” says Randall, “but to really see new things, we need even more Mexico. The impact of such occurrences are thought to have led to the death of the powerful machines.” Richard Juillian/AFP dinosaurs some 65 million years ago. Mark Garlick/Science Photo Libra Ido Efrati in the sciences. In 2016 he mystery of the universe,be seen as evidence that dark matter Over the years, studies have specializes interview with The New she and the many riddles that re- interacted in some way with hydrogen mapped the presence of dark matter Yorker, related that in her teens she had fre- main open about itcan be ex- atoms, thus leadingto the loweringof in various placesin the universe,in- the of the dark matter. our emplifiedin myriad ways. temperature eludingin the center of galaxy,the quent confrontations with her mother, to One of the most frustratingPhysicistsresponding the article Milky Way. -
Applied Combinatorics 2017 Edition
Keller Trotter Applied Combinatorics 2017 Edition 2017 Edition Mitchel T. Keller William T. Trotter Applied Combinatorics Applied Combinatorics Mitchel T. Keller Washington and Lee University Lexington, Virginia William T. Trotter Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, Georgia 2017 Edition Edition: 2017 Edition Website: http://rellek.net/appcomb/ © 2006–2017 Mitchel T. Keller, William T. Trotter This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Interna- tional License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-sa/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA. Summary of Contents About the Authors ix Acknowledgements xi Preface xiii Preface to 2017 Edition xv Preface to 2016 Edition xvii Prologue 1 1 An Introduction to Combinatorics 3 2 Strings, Sets, and Binomial Coefficients 17 3 Induction 39 4 Combinatorial Basics 59 5 Graph Theory 69 6 Partially Ordered Sets 113 7 Inclusion-Exclusion 141 8 Generating Functions 157 9 Recurrence Equations 183 10 Probability 213 11 Applying Probability to Combinatorics 229 12 Graph Algorithms 239 vii SUMMARY OF CONTENTS 13 Network Flows 259 14 Combinatorial Applications of Network Flows 279 15 Pólya’s Enumeration Theorem 291 16 The Many Faces of Combinatorics 315 A Epilogue 331 B Background Material for Combinatorics 333 C List of Notation 361 Index 363 viii About the Authors About William T. Trotter William T. Trotter is a Professor in the School of Mathematics at Georgia Tech. He was first exposed to combinatorial mathematics through the 1971 Bowdoin Combi- natorics Conference which featured an array of superstars of that era, including Gian Carlo Rota, Paul Erdős, Marshall Hall, Herb Ryzer, Herb Wilf, William Tutte, Ron Gra- ham, Daniel Kleitman and Ray Fulkerson. -
Vitae of Jay X. Tang
Vitae of Jay X. Tang 1. Name, Position and Academic Department(s) Jay X. Tang, Professor of Physics and Engineering Brown University (he/his/him) Tel: 401 863 2292; Fax: 401 863 2024 E-mail address: [email protected] 2. Home Address (on file with Brown University) 3. Education B. S., July, 1987, Department of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, P. R. China. Ph.D., February 1995, Department of Physics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA. Thesis topic: Isotropic and cholesteric liquid crystalline phase transitions of filamentous bacteriophage fd. Advisor: Seth Fraden. 4. Professional Appointments Postdoctoral Research Fellow supported by a National Institute of Health (NIH) training grant, Harvard Medical School, July, 1994-September, 1997 Instructor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, October, 1997-August, 1999 Assistant Professor of Physics, Indiana University, August, 1999-December, 2002 Guest Faculty at the Institute of Theoretical Physics (ITP), University of California-Santa Barbara, Program Title: Complex Fluids, Feb-March, 2002 Assistant Professor of Physics and Engineering, Brown University, July, 2002- June, 2008 Guest Professor, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, PRC, 2005-2008 Associate Professor of Physics and Engineering, Brown University, July, 2008- 2015 Professor of Physics and Engineering, Brown University, July, 2015-present Member, Center for International Collaboration, Institute of Physics (IOP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, PRC., 2019-present. Faculty Trainer, Biomedical Engineering (BME) and Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology (MPP) graduate programs, 2010-present. 5. Publication b. Book Chapters 1. Janmey, P. A., Shah, J. V., and Tang, J. X., Complex Network in Cell Biology. In Dynamic networks in physics and biology. G. -
Minutes High Energy Physics Advisory Panel October 22–23, 2009 Hilton Embassy Row Washington, D.C
Draft Minutes High Energy Physics Advisory Panel October 22–23, 2009 Hilton Embassy Row Washington, D.C. HEPAP members present: Hiroaki Aihara Wim Leemans Marina Artuso Daniel Marlow Alice Bean Ann Nelson Patricia Burchat Paris Sphicas Lance Dixon Kate Scholberg Graciela Gelmini Melvyn J. Shochet, Chair Larry Gladney Henry Sobel Boris Kayser Maury Tigner Robert Kephart William Trischuk Steven Kettell Herman White HEPAP members absent: Priscilla Cushman Lisa Randall Sarah Eno Sally Seidel Stephen Olson Also participating: Barry Barish, Director, Global Design Effort, International Linear Collider Frederick Bernthal, President, Universities Research Association Glen Crawford, HEPAP Designated Federal Officer, Office of High Energy Physics, Office of Science, Department of Energy Joseph Dehmer, Director, Division of Physics, National Science Foundation Cristinel Diaconu, Directeur de Recherche, IN2P3/CNRS, France Robert Diebold, Diebold Consulting Marvin Goldberg, Program Director, Division of Physics, National Science Foundation Judith Jackson, Director, Office of Communication, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Young-Kee Kim, Deputy Director, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory John Kogut, HEPAP Executive Secretary, Office of High Energy Physics, Office of Science, Department of Energy Dennis Kovar, Associate Director, Office of High Energy Physics, Office of Science, Department of Energy Kevin Lesko, Nuclear Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Marsha Marsden, Office of High Energy Physics, Office of Science,