March 2016 • Vol. 25, No. 3 A PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY APS Membership on the Rise Page 5 WWW.APS.ORG/PUBLICATIONS/APSNEWS Gravitational Waves Caught in the Act APS Addresses Sexual Harassment Scandals By Emily Conover By Emily Conover and reaffirmed the urgency of its In the culmination of a decades- Sexual harassment scandals efforts already underway. long quest, physicists have directly have rocked the astronomy com- In October, exoplanet researcher detected the minuscule ripples in munity in recent months, as news Geoff Marcy resigned from the spacetime known as gravitational outlets uncovered a number of University of California, Berkeley, waves. Predicted one hundred years university investigations which after BuzzFeed News revealed that Caltech/MIT/LIGO Laboratory ago as part of Einstein’s general found that astronomy professors the university had investigated him theory of relativity, gravitational had harassed students. The stories on multiple accusations of sexual waves stretch and squeeze space have generated outrage among sci- harassment and found him in viola- itself. Such waves are generated entists, politicians, and the public, tion of university policy. by some of the most violent cata- and spurred calls for harsher pun- Soon, more scandals followed. clysms in the universe, like the ishments for harassers. Caltech professor Christian Ott was exploding stars known as super- The incidents have served as a placed on a year of unpaid leave novae, or pairs of neutron stars or wake-up call for many in the sci- for inappropriate interactions with black holes coalescing into one. The LIGO Laboratory operates two detector sites, one near Hanford, WA, entific community. Both NASA graduate students. And a decade-old In a paper published in Physical and another near Livingston, LA. This photo shows the Livingston detec- and the National Science Founda- University of Arizona investigation Review Letters on February 11, the tor site. The detector arm stretching off in the distance is 4 km long. tion issued statements that they resurfaced, detailing inappropriate Laser Interferometer Gravitational- do not tolerate sexual harassment. behavior by astronomy educator wave Observatory (LIGO) and of the merger of so-called binary September 14, 2015 — during an And Representative Jackie Speier Timothy Slater (now at the Uni- Virgo collaborations announced black holes. The detection heralds engineering run just days before (D-CA) spoke about the issue on versity of Wyoming). the detection of just such a black a new era of astronomy — using official data-taking started — a the House floor on January 12, The problem is by no means hole merger — knocking out two gravitational waves to “listen in” strong signal, consistent with saying she would introduce legis- confined to the astronomy com- scientific firsts at once: the first on the universe (see related article merging black holes, appeared lation to address sexual harassment munity. University of Chicago direct detection of gravitational on p. 5). nearly simultaneously in LIGO’s in science. The events have also waves and the first observation In the early morning hours of WAVES continued on page 4 prompted increased action at APS, SCANDALS continued on page 4 Edward Witten Receives Inaugural APS Medal Research News From By Emily Conover For the first time, APS has recog- New Form of Carbon Stores Lots of Gas nized the remarkable achievements Kyle Bergener By Tamela Maciel hydrogen) are the best commer- of a single scientist — selected from Carbon can form diamond, cial option, but they require a huge across the entire field of phys- nanotubes, or the nanoscale spheres amount of energy to maintain. So ics — with the 2016 APS Medal called buckyballs, as well as sev- many researchers are now focused for Exceptional Achievement eral other structures. Now a team on developing porous materials that in Research. In a ceremony held has produced what they call carbon can both trap and release hydro- January 28 in Washington, DC, the honeycomb, a structure that appears gen gas while consuming much less inaugural recipient, string theorist to have a huge gas-storage capac- energy. In theory, carbon nanotubes Edward Witten of the Institute for ity. By slightly altering a common and other nanostructures, with their Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., fabrication method, the researchers very large surface areas, are good received the prize. created what appears to be a 3D candidates, but in practice, access The annual APS Medal is honeycomb built from the carbon to the gas storage space in these intended to “recognize contributions sheets known as graphene. This structures is often blocked. Some of the highest level that advance our structure might be used as a light, researchers have proposed a new knowledge and understanding of the On January 28, APS awarded its first Medal for Exceptional Achievement in foam-like carbon structure with a Research to Edward Witten (center right), Institute for Advanced Study, Princ- energy-efficient fuel storage con- physical universe in all its facets,” eton. The award was funded by a donation from Jay Jones (center left) and tainer for hydrogen fuel cells. higher gas storage capacity, but it and “to celebrate the human value was presented by 2016 APS President Homer Neal (left) and CEO Kate Kirby Storing and transporting hydro- has not yet been demonstrated [2]. (right). of open and free inquiry in the pur- gen gas efficiently remains a key To develop better hydrogen suit of knowledge.” The physicist Witten received the award for to condensed matter physics and obstacle to its use as a renewable storage, Nina Krainyukova of the chosen for this honor receives a “discoveries in the mathematical heavy ion physics.” fuel source. So the U.S. Department National Academy of Sciences of medal and an award of $50,000 — structure of quantum field theory “It’s marvelous to have the of Energy has challenged scien- Ukraine and Evgeniy Zubarev of the making it the largest prize given that have opened new paths in all opportunity to work in science; I tists to develop a system that can National Technical University, both by APS. areas of quantum physics.” Wit- consider myself very lucky,” Witten store more than 5.5% of its total in Kharkiv, Ukraine, experimented The award was established ten is the originator of M-theory, said. “For one who has the passion mass as hydrogen by 2020 [1]. At with various ways of making carbon thanks to a donation from entre- which united five competing string for physics, the chance of being a the moment, storage tanks at very structures. Their most successful preneur Jay Jones, the founder and theory models. This result kicked physicist is the best thing that one high pressure (for hydrogen gas) technique was similar to the “arc former president of Olympic Medi- off intense interest and rapid devel- can imagine.” or very low temperature (for liquid CARBON continued on page 2 cal Corporation. opments in the field, leading to a He added, “This award from “It is truly a wonderful occa- boom known as the second super- the American Physical Society sion,” said 2014 APS President string revolution. really means a lot to me, especially Malcolm Beasley, speaking at the Summing up the importance of because I know that the American ceremony. “The APS can finally his work and that of colleagues in Physical Society is a very important recognize those among us who have the field, Witten said, “I believe voice for physics in our society and Sciences of Ukraine made the most important contri- we’ve made lasting achievements in Washington.” butions across the entire field of in understanding quantum field the- In remarks during the ceremony, physics. That was not possible ory better, in learning how it might Jones said, “I don’t think your before.” Beasley, who helped estab- be generalized to combine it with committees could have selected a Academy of N. Krainyukova/National lish the prize during his presidential Einstein’s theory of gravity, and in more deserving or distinguished term, added that doing so was “the learning and applications to many physicist, and I also think it’s an This new carbon nanostructure is a 3D honeycomb built from graphene most joyous experience of my ser- areas of physics and mathematics, extremely auspicious beginning for sheets in either periodic (left) or random (center) form. The structure can vice in the APS presidential line.” that range from algebraic geometry WITTEN continued on page 6 absorb large numbers of gas atoms and molecules (right). Revised 04/11/2016 2 • March 2016 CARBON continued from page 1 discharge” method, where car- until they found one that matched all bon fragments fly between a pair of their observations. This winning This Month in Physics History of charged carbon electrodes and structure has a repeating pattern of land on a nearby surface to form flat graphene sheets bound on edge March 1844: Publication of Faraday’s Letter nanostructures. But instead of two into hexagons to form a “carbon electrodes, the team heated a single honeycomb,” as the researchers call Describing His Ice-Pail Experiment carbon rod up to its sublimation it. The open hexagonal channels in he eminent 19th-century scientist Humphrey with an electroscope, and demonstrated that the point using an electric current. The the honeycomb are key to its high TDavy is known for many things, including the electric charge never penetrated into the interior of hot rod produced a vapor containing absorbency, and the team says that discovery of the elements barium, strontium, sodium, the makeshift room. much smaller carbon fragments than the size of these channels could be potassium, calcium, and magnesium. But it has often Seven years later, Faraday built on that earlier the arc discharge method, according adapted to fit many different atoms been said that his one-time laboratory assistant, work with his famous ice-pail experiment to dem- to Krainyukova.