DOCSLIB.ORG

APS News May 2020 Vol 29, No. 5

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
APS News May 2020 Vol 29, No. 5 The Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics Who discovered Jupiter's Eucalyptus Foundation Physicists Advocate for Back Page: Scientists Must 02│ Great Red Spot? 03│ Supports PhysicsQuest 04│ Nuclear Threat Reduction 08│ Commit to Research Integrity May 2020 • Vol. 29, No. 5 aps.org/apsnews A PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY COVID MEETINGS Physicists Rise to the Challenge The April Meeting Must Go On..line BY SOPHIA CHEN BY LEAH POFFENBERGER n the evening of March 10, at the University of Illinois, O Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) campus, two physicists stayed late to chat about the upcoming spring break. The conversation, however, did ad 2020 been like any normal that we did the meeting as a not center on sunny beaches or year, APS would have whole, the number of people forest hikes. Nigel Goldenfeld and Hhosted a March Meeting [who attended] and the number Sergei Maslov were worried. In in Denver, CO, and an April Meeting of sessions that went on—and four days, a significant fraction of in Washington, DC. Everything they went off mainly without a the school’s 48,000 students and was set for these meetings, until hitch, aside from a little glitch here 13,000 faculty and staff would be the COVID-19 pandemic hit the or there,” says Hunter Clemens, Nigel Goldenfeld Sergei Maslov trudging through crowded airports, United States, causing the March Director of Meetings at APS. “What sharing hugs and kisses with loved event to be cancelled and April to I loved was seeing comments like ones, celebrating in restaurants the twin cities of Urbana and Over more than three decades initially be in limbo. ‘I’ve always wanted to go to this and bars—and then, after eight Champaign, Illinois, to forecast at UIUC, he had branched into But thanks to tireless work from meeting and I haven’t been able days, returning to campus. the impact of spring break. computational biology to study several APS departments, decisive to attend. It was great to be able At the time, the impact of Little did they know that just flocking and evolutionary patterns leadership from the meeting’s to participate.’” COVID-19 had not fully descended eleven days later, the governor of in various ecosystems, among program committee, and support Meeting Virtually on Illinois, with only 19 confirmed Illinois would issue a statewide other research interests. from the physics community, the For anyone who has attended an cases. But Goldenfeld and Maslov stay-at-home order citing their Maslov, a 51-year-old Russian- April Meeting wasn’t cancelled—it April Meeting, this year’s line-up had followed the news in China work as part of the reasoning. American who kept his hair long just went virtual. The meeting took was familiar, despite the venue and in Italy. “We were both very Neither Goldenfeld nor Maslov even prior to the pandemic, place on April 18 to 21 as scheduled changing from hotel meeting alarmed by how quickly the virus had advised policymakers before. A followed a similarly interdisci- and drew in over 7,000 participants, rooms to home offices, kitchen replicates and spreads through 63-year-old bespectacled theorist plinary academic career. Skipping almost five times the expected tables, and living rooms. As usual, the population,” says Maslov. That originally from the UK, Goldenfeld around from magnetic materials number for a typical, in-person evening, they built a simple math- began his research career studying April Meeting. ematical model of their hometown, superconductors and polymers. CHALLENGE CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 “I think it was purely amazing: MEETING CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 OBITUARY LETTERS Philip Anderson 1923–2020 Physicists and COVID BY ALAINA G. LEVINE The response to the COVID-19 – Juan Carrasquilla is a physicist and working on three research hilip Warren Anderson, pandemic has meant radical changes at the Vector Institute for Artificial projects with my collaborators. condensed matter physi- for scientists as they adjust to labo- Intelligence in Canada. Being a theorist, all I really need ratory shutdowns, online teaching, is my laptop, pen, and paper, so my cist, Nobel Laureate, and I’ve been asked to participate in P and travel restrictions. APS News work has not really been affected demystifier of diverse fields of a group of epidemiologists, virolo- and Physics want to hear about your that much. I continue to talk to my scholarship, died on March 29 gists, and modelers who are trying experiences at [email protected]. More advisor regularly, and I have Skype at the age of 96. “He is easily to estimate, in different scenarios, letters are available at the Physics meetings with my collaborators the leading figure in condensed how this pandemic will strike website (physics.aps.org). almost every day. Unfortunately, matter physics in the second half Buenos Aires and its surround- two conferences I was planning on of the 20th century,” says Daniel ings. I closed the lab, maintaining Keeping Research Going, and attending have been canceled. A few L. Stein, Professor of Physics minimal guards for the animals, Contributing in Other Ways more scheduled for June and July and Mathematics at New York and I do simulations at home. Fortunately, my research is are currently in limbo. Apart from University. “He was the guiding – Gabriel Midlin is a physicist at the theoretical and computational, that, I am grateful to be one of the light.” University of Buenos Aires. so it has not been difficult for my But Anderson was known for lucky few whose life has not been Philip Anderson group to continue working and A Silver Lining much more than condensed matter completely scrambled. – Alexander to stay in touch as we all hunker I enjoyed writing short stories in physics. He was a visionary in very prescient,” notes Stein, who Yosifov is a PhD student at the Space down at home. But graduate my high school and college years. showing how fields as diverse served as Anderson’s protégé while Research and Technology Institute, students in campus housing have But after getting my doctorate in as economics and physics, or pursuing his doctorate. “He saw Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. been particularly affected. Many physics and then teaching large sociology and computer science, and thought about things before Donating Supplies of them have had to vacate their undergraduate classes, I had no could intertwine. His paper “More others came along to understand On the morning of March 20th, housing and find new lodging time to indulge in this pastime. is Different” inScience Magazine in them. He was a natural at this. we were closing our labs at the on extremely short notice. [My The coronavirus outbreak forced me 1979, which served as a rallying cry That was typical of Phil.” School of Physics and Astronomy group] also volunteered for the to join the ranks of college faculty for interdisciplinary investigations, Early on, Anderson had been when a call came, asking whether Rapid Assistance in Modelling around the world who communicate set the stage for much of his later contemplating order and hierarchy we had personal protection equip- the Pandemic (RAMP) initiative with their students online. How research into the interconnectivity in nature and how complexity can ment (PPE) that could be donated in the UK, which brings together could I continue to make physics of subjects. The article “could be serve as a lens through which we to the UK’s National Health Service researchers with many kinds of exciting to my students when I thought of as a Magna Carta for can investigate many other fields. (NHS). We have a lot of this equip- computational skills. We hope could no longer interact with them modern complexity research insti- “Back then physicists tended to ment because we are active in that our expertise will be valuable personally? Then the inspiration tutions,” says Stein. And indeed, think hierarchically: that there is biophysics, nanotechnology, and there. – Andrea Liu is a physicist at came to me: I would write short in 1984, Anderson co-founded the a hierarchy of fundamental science device fabrication. Within an hour, the University of Pennsylvania and stories centered round the topic to Santa Fe Institute, the first research with particle physics at the fun- three colleagues and I had packed Speaker of the Council of the American be covered in class. One of them is institute dedicated to the study of up all of the PPE we could find, and Physical Society. a detective story about the charging complex adaptive systems. “He was ANDERSON CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 it was on a truck to the NHS, along and discharging of capacitors. I guess my story is pretty with supplies from the Electrical – Basil S. Davis is a physicist at standard: healthy so far, quar- Engineering Department’s clean Xavier University of Louisiana in antined for two and a half weeks, room. I heard later that some New Orleans. bathtub office. I help my students institutions across the world were on Slack and Skype frequently and Completing a Thesis hitting administrative barriers attend seminars and meetings on Following the government’s when trying to do the same thing. Zoom, which turns out to work call for social distancing, I have But our dean was very happy to really well. Running calculations not left my apartment in over a hear what we’d done. is not a problem for now. But week. As a PhD student in my final running things from home with year, I am very busy. I split my my 4-year-old son is challenging. time between writing my thesis LETTERS CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 Revised 05/11/2020 2 • May 2020 MEMBERSHIP UNITS The Topical Group on Precision THIS MONTH IN Measurements and Fundamental Constants Physics History BY ABIGAIL DOVE he Topical Group on Precision Measurement May 1664: Hooke vs.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • U DLCR Records of the Liquid Crystals and Advanced 1929-2015 Materials Research Group, University of Hull
    Hull History Centre: Liquid Crystals & Advanced Materials Research Group, University of Hull U DLCR Records of the Liquid Crystals and Advanced 1929-2015 Materials Research Group, University of Hull Accession number: 2014/04(1-4); 2014/05 Historical Background: The Liquid Crystals Research Group at the University of Hull Chemistry Department The Beginnings - The 1930s-1940s The beginnings of the Liquid Crystals Research Group at the University of Hull are to be found in the 1930s with the research of Brynmor Jones (later Sir Brynmor Jones, Chancellor of the University of Hull) into liquid crystal materials. Having joined the University of Hull from Sheffield University's chemistry department, Jones began to establish a strong basis for research into this emerging area. George William Gray - The 1950s-1960s The mantle of liquid crystal research passed to George William Gray after he joined the Department of Chemistry in 1946 and completed his PhD thesis in 1953. Gray's first papers were published in collaboration with Jones but during the 1950s and 1960s it was his own interest and personal drive that kept research alive at a time when liquid crystals were less than fashionable and could attract little funding. In these decades the focus of Gray's research was the extension of earlier studies of the relationships between molecular structure and liquid crystal properties. This research centred on studies of alkoxy-aromatic carboxylic acids derived from benzene, biphenyl, naphthalene, fluorene, fluorenone and anthracene, and also studies
    [Show full text]
  • 2005 CERN–CLAF School of High-Energy Physics
    CERN–2006–015 19 December 2006 ORGANISATION EUROPÉENNE POUR LA RECHERCHE NUCLÉAIRE CERN EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH 2005 CERN–CLAF School of High-Energy Physics Malargüe, Argentina 27 February–12 March 2005 Proceedings Editors: N. Ellis M.T. Dova GENEVA 2006 CERN–290 copies printed–December 2006 Abstract The CERN–CLAF School of High-Energy Physics is intended to give young physicists an introduction to the theoretical aspects of recent advances in elementary particle physics. These proceedings contain lectures on field theory and the Standard Model, quantum chromodynamics, CP violation and flavour physics, as well as reports on cosmic rays, the Pierre Auger Project, instrumentation, and trigger and data-acquisition systems. iii Preface The third in the new series of Latin American Schools of High-Energy Physics took place in Malargüe, lo- cated in the south-east of the Province of Mendoza in Argentina, from 27 February to 12 March 2005. It was organized jointly by CERN and CLAF (Centro Latino Americano de Física), and with the strong support of CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas). Fifty-four students coming from eleven different countries attended the School. While most of the students stayed in Hotel Rio Grande, a few students and the Staff stayed at Microtel situated close by. However, all the participants ate their meals to- gether at Hotel Rio Grande. According to the tradition of the School the students shared twin rooms mixing nationalities and in particular Europeans together with Latin Americans. María Teresa Dova from La Plata University was the local director for the School.
    [Show full text]
  • Real Time Density Functional Simulations of Quantum Scale
    Real Time Density Functional Simulations of Quantum Scale Conductance by Jeremy Scott Evans B.A., Franklin & Marshall College (2003) Submitted to the Department of Chemistry in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY June 2009 c Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2009. All rights reserved. Author............................................... ............... Department of Chemistry February 2, 2009 Certified by........................................... ............... Troy Van Voorhis Associate Professor of Chemistry Thesis Supervisor Accepted by........................................... .............. Robert W. Field Chairman, Department Committee on Graduate Theses This doctoral thesis has been examined by a Committee of the Depart- ment of Chemistry as follows: Professor Robert J. Silbey.............................. ............. Chairman, Thesis Committee Class of 1942 Professor of Chemistry Professor Troy Van Voorhis............................... ........... Thesis Supervisor Associate Professor of Chemistry Professor Jianshu Cao................................. .............. Member, Thesis Committee Associate Professor of Chemistry 2 Real Time Density Functional Simulations of Quantum Scale Conductance by Jeremy Scott Evans Submitted to the Department of Chemistry on February 2, 2009, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Abstract We study electronic conductance through single molecules by subjecting
    [Show full text]
  • The Struggle for Quantum Theory 47 5.1Aliensignals
    Fundamental Forces of Nature The Story of Gauge Fields This page intentionally left blank Fundamental Forces of Nature The Story of Gauge Fields Kerson Huang Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA World Scientific N E W J E R S E Y • L O N D O N • S I N G A P O R E • B E I J I N G • S H A N G H A I • H O N G K O N G • TA I P E I • C H E N N A I Published by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224 USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601 UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. FUNDAMENTAL FORCES OF NATURE The Story of Gauge Fields Copyright © 2007 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the Publisher. For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher. ISBN-13 978-981-270-644-7 ISBN-10 981-270-644-5 ISBN-13 978-981-270-645-4 (pbk) ISBN-10 981-270-645-3 (pbk) Printed in Singapore.
    [Show full text]
  • LIQUID CRYSTAL NEWSLIQUID NEWS $(%(&' "!!#$(%(&'"!!# GW Gray Medal for 2006 Professor Heino Finkelmann
    LIQUID CRYSTAL NEWSLIQUID NEWS $(%(&' "!!#$(%(&'"!!# GW Gray Medal for 2006 Professor Heino Finkelmann as originally intended in Krakow. Since these days, we have met very frequently, for example, when I was privileged to lecture in Professor Finkelmann’s Institute and at many other scientific meetings not least of which was the Twelfth International Liquid Crystal Conference held in 1988 in Freiburg itself and chaired and organised by Professor Finkelmann. My wife and I well remember enjoying a glass of wine with Heino and his wife and two boys at their home after the closing ceremonies were complete and people like conference chairmen are at last allowed to relax. I have put the material in the above paragraph early in this article about Heino Finkelmann, because I wanted to stress that his very great contributions to the subject of liquid crystals have been not only in the area of scientific research, but also, by his readiness to travel far and wide to Heino Finkelmann was born in Gronau in Lower give lectures, by spreading the word on the subject, by Saxony in 1945. After school, his studies at the Scientific serving on the editorial boards of relevant journals, by Technical Academy at Isny were in the field of chemical organising meetings and conferences such as the 12th engineering and on the way to qualifying in 1969, he spent ILCC, by serving as he has twice done on the Board of time with Unilever Research and with British Petroleum in Directors of the International Liquid Crystal Society and by Hamburg. He then studied Chemistry at the Technical acting as Chairman of the German Liquid Crystal Society University of Berlin, and it was here that he first began as he did for many years.
    [Show full text]
  • January 2007 Volume 16, No
    January 2007 Volume 16, No. 1 APS NEWS www.aps.org/publications/apsnews Highlights Wireless Non-Radiative Energy Transfer A PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY • WWW.APS.ORG/PUBLICATIONS/APSNEWS Page 6 Particle Physicists Meet Halfway Jacksonville Hosts 2007 April Meeting The 2007 APS April Meeting will cists, a high school teachers’ day, a and registration information, be held April 14-17 in sunny students lunch with the experts, and are available online at Jacksonville, Florida. The scientific the presentation of several APS prizes http://www.aps.org/meetings/april/ program, which focuses on astro- and awards in a special ceremonial index.cfm. The abstract submission physics, particle physics, nuclear session. A public lecture, on the deadline is January 12; post-dead- physics, and related fields, will con- physics of NASCAR, will be given line abstracts received by February 5 sist of three plenary sessions, approx- by Diandra Leslie-Pelecky of the will be assigned as poster presenta- imately 75 invited sessions, more University of Nebraska. tions. Early registration closes on than 100 contributed sessions, and Further details of the program, February 23. poster sessions. Among the invited sessions will April Meeting Plenary Talks be a special Nobel Prize session at Saturday, April 14 Laboratory which both of this year’s laureates, • String Theory, Branes, and if John Mather and George Smoot, will • First Results from Gravity You Wish, the Anthropic speak. Probe B, Francis Everitt, Stanford University Principle, Shamit Kachru, APS units represented at the meet- Stanford University ing include the Divisions of • Two-Dimensional Electron Photo by Kay Kinoshita Astrophysics, Nuclear Physics, Systems, Allan MacDonald, Tuesday, April 17 Particles and Fields, Physics of University of Texas at Austin • The 21-cm Background: A The APS Division of Particles and Fields held a joint meeting with their colleagues Beams, Plasma Physics, and • New Measurement of the Probe of Reionization and the from the Japanese Physical Society in Honolulu.
    [Show full text]
  • Leo P. Kadanoff (1937–2015): an Appreciation RETROSPECTIVE
    RETROSPECTIVE Leo P. Kadanoff (1937–2015): An appreciation RETROSPECTIVE Susan N. Coppersmitha,1 Leo P. Kadanoff, who died on October 26, 2015, models depended greatly on devoted his scientific life to trying to elucidate how small changes in the ingre- much of the world can be understood using mathe- dients put into the models. matical models. Historically, physics has addressed this Leo recognized that this sen- problem by searching for fundamental laws that com- sitivity of the results on the pletely specify the right ingredients to put into a theo- details of the models that he retical model. For example, the standard model of constructed made it difficult to particle physics provides a specification of the proper- make robust predictions, and ties of elementary particles and their interactions. after several years he returned Inprinciple,thestandardmodelcouldbeusedto to physics research (6). Over describe macroscopic physical systems. However, the succeeding decades, Leo because of the enormous number of elementary investigated a broad variety of particles in any macroscopic amount of matter, imple- complex systems, with a particu- menting such a calculation is not feasible. Leo was the lar focus on identifying phenom- first to understand clearly that the behavior of systems ena with universal features. He on different length scales can be understood using excelled at bringing people to- different effective theories, and that the effective gether to perform interdisciplin- theories that describe macroscopic phenomena should ary investigations incorporating be derivable by a suitable mathematical procedure theory, experiment, and compu- from the microscopics (1, 2). K. G. Wilson succeeded in tation, and thought deeply about constructing a complete mathematical formulation of the role of computation in scien- Leo P.
    [Show full text]
  • Nehmen Wir An, Die Kuh Ist Eine Kugel... «
    dtv Lawrence M. Krauss »Nehmen wir an, die Kuh ist eine Kugel ...« Nur keine Angst Vor Physik Nicht nur Faust wollte wissen, »was die Welt im Innersten zusammenhält.« Dabei muß man kein Physiker sein, um das moderne Weltbild der Physik – von Galilei Bis Stephen Hawking – zu verstehen. Lawrence M. Krauss zeigt uns, wie spannend und unterhaltsam die Beschäftigung mit der Physik sein kann. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag »Nehmen wir an, die Kuh ist eine Kugel...« Ziemlich abwegig, mag mancher denken. Aber wie sinnvoll solche radikalen Ver- einfachungen sein können, zeigt Lawrence M. Krauss an vielen anschaulichen und vergnüglichen Beispielen. Wer wissen will, »was die Welt im Innersten zusammenhält«, sieht nach der Lektüre dieses Buches klarer, denn man muß kein Physiker sein, um das moderne Weltbild der Physik - von Galilei bis Stephen Hawking - zu verstehen. «Mit der Selbstverständlichkeit eines Hausherrn führt Krauss seine Leser durch das Gedankengebäude der theoretischen Physik: von der Relativitätstheorie über die Quantendynamik hin zu einer Theorie >über alles<. Weil er dabei so originell und unkonventionell vorgeht wie sein Lehrer Richard Feynman, ist die Lektüre das reine Vergnügen.« (Physikalische Blätter, Weinheim) Lawrence M. Krauss, geboren 1954 in New York, ist Professor für Physik und Astronomie und Leiter des Instituts für Physik an der Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Er lieferte bedeutende Beiträge über die Vorgänge bei explodierenden Sternen bis hin zum Ursprung und der Natur des Stoffes, aus dem das Universum ist. Zahlreiche Veröffentlichungen. Lawrence M. Krauss »Nehmen wir an, die Kuh ist eine Kugel... « Nur keine Angst vor Physik Mit 39 Schwarzweißabbildungen Aus dem Amerikanischen von Wolfram Knapp Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag Ungekürzte Ausgabe August 1998 Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co.
    [Show full text]
  • Chicago Physics One
    CHICAGO PHYSICS ONE 3:25 P.M. December 02, 1942 “All of us... knew that with the advent of the chain reaction, the world would never be the same again.” former UChicago physicist Samuel K. Allison Physics at the University of Chicago has a remarkable history. From Albert Michelson, appointed by our first president William Rainey Harper as the founding head of the physics department and subsequently the first American to win a Nobel Prize in the sciences, through the mid-20th century work led by Enrico Fermi, and onto the extraordinary work being done in the department today, the department has been a constant source of imagination, discovery, and scientific transformation. In both its research and its education at all levels, the Department of Physics instantiates the highest aspirations and values of the University of Chicago. Robert J. Zimmer President, University of Chicago Welcome to the inaugural issue of Chicago Physics! We are proud to present the first issue of Chicago Physics – an annual newsletter that we hope will keep you connected with the Department of Physics at the University of Chicago. This newsletter will introduce to you some of our students, postdocs and staff as well as new members of our faculty. We will share with you good news about successes and recognition and also convey the sad news about the passing of members of our community. You will learn about the ongoing research activities in the Department and about events that took place in the previous year. We hope that you will become involved in the upcoming events that will be announced.
    [Show full text]
  • NEWSLETTER Issue No 14 – 2017
    NEWSLETTER Issue No 14 – 2017 ue In this Iss p. 2 Focus „Soft Matter & Health“: Of Switchable Contact Lenses, Protein Interactions, and Cell-to-cell Communication p. 8 Research Highlights 2016 p. 10 Events p. 14 Personalia/News FROM NOVEL SOFT Editorial MATERIALS TO SWITCHABLE Europe can look back at over 2000 years of glo- rious, but often tumultuous history. In particular, CONTACT LENSES the last century should have shown us very clearly that working together is much more fruitful and beneficial to all Europeans than working against each other. Unfortunately, in the last few years, this development seems to have come to a halt, with nationalism on the rise again in many countries. Science and scientific knowledge are under siege by “alternative facts”. We, as European scientists, are in a unique position to fight back. Science has long been an international endeavour, with scientists from various countries and continents working together in friendly competition for new insights and novel technological developments. Let us continue to do so, and to further strengthen the links which have been formed over decades. SoftComp is an ideal platform to foster this collaboration! Switchable liquid crystal contact lens Angela Wenzik & Gerhard Gompper with graphene electrodes fabricated by the Leeds team. Demonstration of 2.5 Dioptre change in optical focus from the contact lens. by Cliff Jones, Leeds University, UK, [email protected]; also in the picture: his colleagues Mamatha Nagaraj (left), and Helen Gleeson. Together they make up the new Leeds Liquid Crystals group. 3 axis parallel to the field onto it, and methods for automatically trig- direction so that the material ap- gering operation by detecting gaze direc- The use pears to be isotropic in both ON and OFF tion or other eye changes.
    [Show full text]
  • CHICAGO PHYSICS 3 Quantum Worlds
    CHICAGO PHYSICS 3 Quantum Worlds Welcome to the third issue of Chicago Physics! This past year has been an eventful one for our Department and we hope that you will join in our excitement. In our last issue, we highlighted our Strickland from University of Waterloo, the Department’s research on topological physics, third Maria Goeppert-Mayer Lecturer and the covering the breadth of what we do in this third female Physics Nobel Prize winner. research area from the nano to the cosmic The University has renamed the Physics scale and the unity in the concepts that drive Research Center that opened in 2018 as the us all. In the current issue, we will take you on Michelson Center for Physics in honor of a journey to the quantum world. former faculty member Albert A. Michelson, The year had several notable events. The a pioneering scientist who was the first physics faculty had a first-ever two-day retreat American to win a Nobel Prize in the sciences, in New Buffalo, MI. We discussed various and the first Physics Department chair at challenges in our department in a leisurely, the University of Chicago. The pioneering low-pressure atmosphere that allowed us work of Michelson is fundamental to the field to make progress on these challenges. This of physics and continues to support new retreat also helped us to bond!! We were discoveries more than a century later. pleased that many family members joined This year we also welcomed back our own lunch and dinner. This was immediately David Saltzberg (Ph.D., 1994) as the followed by a two-day retreat of our women annual Zachariasen lecturer who told of his and gender minority students.
    [Show full text]
  • Unusual Particle Motions in the Liquid Crystal Phases
    Unusual Particle Motions in the Liquid Crystal Phases A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree for PhD in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences 2014 JIYOUNG OH School of Physics and Astronomy/Condensed Matter, Atomic and Biological Physics Abstract The motions of particles dispersed in liquid crystals can be influenced by the application of an electric field, the effect depending on the field frequency and field amplitude. Sandwich cells under the application of electric field are widely used as the tool in order to investigate the fundamental research relating to electro-optic display technology. Therefore, the aim of this experimental work is to find and investigate novel motion of the particles dispersed in the liquid crystal phases, held within a sandwich cell. For the liquid crystal–particle systems in the sandwich cells in this thesis, the particle shapes, temperature and cell geometry are all shown to have an influence on the regime of the particle’s motions, with different phenomena observed using three different phases of liquid crystals. The experiments are designed to find and investigate the novel motion of the micron sized silica particles in the liquid crystal phases. In the chiral nematic phase, spherical particles are shown to exhibit linear motion, which is related to the electrophoretic mobility. Such spherical particles are also observed to show circular motion which is found to have a field dependency that can be related to Quincke rotation. A maximum frequency for motion occurs which is found to possibly be related to the effect of the ion diffusion in the liquid crystal- particle composite system.
    [Show full text]