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.