Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Department of Physics Annual Issue Fall 2008 Ursa Baylor The Annual Newsletter of the Department of Physics, Baylor University Two Faculty Searches Approved for 2008-09 The Department of Physics is pleased to announce that in the current academic year, we have been given approval to search for two new faculty colleagues. Inside this issue: By the Numbers 2 Chair’s Letter 3 Faculty Profiles 4 - 17 Special Research Focus 18 - 19 Department Highlights 20 - 33 Homecoming Events 33 Alumni News 34 - 36 Special points of interest: • Research Profiles • Highlights from the 2008/2009 Newsletters • Newly completed Research Facilities in AMO Physics • Undergraduate and Graduate Program News • Packard Physics Returns! • Baylor Physics News from around the World • A New Astronomy Degree? • Alumni Feedback We anticipate filling both of these positions during the next year with two persons of excellent potential, both in research and teaching, who will expand our department’s research mission as well as continue the long tradition of excellent The Department seeks a few good faculty … instruction at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The Department of Physics, Baylor University, invites applications for two tenuretrack faculty positions at the level of Assistant Professor beginning in August 2009. The Department is seeking to hire one candidate in experimental high energy physics. Exceptional candidates in other research areas will be considered for the second tenure-track position. Current areas of departmental research include elementary particle physics, astrophysics, dusty plasma physics, condensed matter physics, surface physics, nonlinear dynamics, semiconductor physics, experimental atomic and molecular physics, and theoretical early universe cosmology and string/M theory. Applicants should submit (1) a cover letter, (2) a curriculum vitae including a list of refereed papers published and submitted, (3) a statement of current research interests and pursuits, (4) a statement on teaching interests and philosophy, and (5) a list of three references. Applicants should arrange to have three letters of recommendation sent directly to Chair, Search Committee, Department of Physics, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97316, Waco, Texas 76798-7316, or e-mailed to [email protected]. Salary is commensurate with experience and qualifications. To ensure full consideration, applications should be completed by November 1, 2008. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Baylor, the world’s largest Baptist university, holds a Carnegie classification as a “high-research” institution. Baylor’s mission is to educate men and women for worldwide leadership and service by integrating academic excellence and Christian commitment within a caring community. Baylor is actively recruiting new faculty with a strong commitment to the classroom and an equally strong commitment to discovering new knowledge as Baylor aspires to become a top tier research university while reaffirming and deepening its distinctive Christian mission as described in Baylor 2012 (http://www.baylor.edu/vision/). Page 2 Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Inside the Department by the Numbers … Number of Faculty: 19 Tenured or Tenure-Track: 13 Lecturers: 6 Undergraduate Physics Majors: 39 Physics Graduate Students: 28 Postdoctoral Fellows: 3 2007 - 2008 Enrollments Number of Students Enrolled in Physics Classes: 2322 (+7.3% from the prior year) Summer 2007: 131 Fall 2007: 1097 Spring 2008: 1094 Number of Students Enrolled in Undergraduate Laboratories: 2085 (+3.7% from the prior year) Summer 2007: 119 Fall 2007: 984 Spring 2008: 982 Number of Undergraduate Laboratories: 92 (+50.8% from the prior year) Summer 2007: 6 Fall 2007: 44 Spring 2008: 42 Number of Funded Grants: 21 Scholarly Publications (including Conference Proceedings): 75 Conferences attended by Department Members: 25 US News & World Report’s average ranking of universities from which our tenured & tenure-track faculty received their PhD degrees: 24.8 Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Page 3 From the Chair … October 2008 Dear Friends, Greetings from the Baylor Physics Department! Classes have resumed and professors have returned from summer research and teaching activities. This fall our department was pleased to welcome twelve new undergraduate majors and three new graduate students. We currently have 39 undergraduate majors and 28 graduate students. Randy Hall, a graduate of our Department, has joined us as a lecturer this fall, replacing Bob Farmer. Randy and his wife Cathey are long-time supporters of the university, who have recently “retired” to Waco from Dripping Springs. Since I last wrote to you there have been new developments in several areas. We have installed new desktop computers in our Undergraduate Study Area (USA) and astronomy laboratory. The USA continues Caption to be very popular describing picturewith our undergrads, and the envy of our graduate students! However, there is very good news comingorfor our grad students: the graphic. administration has announced a boost to all TA stipends for PhD students in the sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics. For our students, this means a $3,500 increase in their stipends beginning next academic year. We were pleased to receive approval from the administration for a tenure-track replacement to Darden Powers’ old position. We are also continuing a search for an experimental particle physicist. When these searches conclude, they will bring our number of tenured and tenure-track professors in the Department up to 15. This number is still pretty far below the threshold required to make the top 100 physics departments (about 21); however, it does represent a good step in the right direction. In August, the university revealed decisions about the funding of major strategic proposals. I regret to inform you that the Physics Department proposal was not approved. Our strategy of building the Department by focusing on the development of existing areas of strength was not well received by the executive council—although we did meet or exceed the mean scores of the other proposals in 9 of 10 evaluation categories. Those making decisions continue to evaluate us poorly in the “niche” category, which is the route they believe will vault Baylor into greatness. They do not find it compelling that all of the top 50 universities have top 100 physics programs (of 21 or more faculty) with breadth in several specializations. One of our goals in the upcoming year is to reform our Advisory Board, with a planned first meeting coming in the spring semester. We hope that the Advisory Board will be able to advocate for the Department with administration officials. If you would be interested in serving on the Board (and advocating strongly for us!), please let me know. Physics has received some special recognition this year. Associate Professor Dwight Russell received an award at the May commencement for his outstanding teaching. Dwight teaches our introductory astronomy classes—packing out our 300-seat classroom every semester. Dwight also combined with Dr. Jeff Olafsen to produce a “wormhole” video that has produced thousands of hits on YouTube. In an apparent bending of space and time, a professor walks out one door of an auditorium and in another door nearly simultaneously! The students loved it! Dr. Jerry Cleaver and grad student Richard Obousy presented a conference paper on warp drive that warmed the cockles of every Trekkie’s heart! It also was picked up by the national media, Fox News and Paul Harvey among them. We again thank you for your interest and support. Please continue to pray with us that we honor God in all of our work, and that we accomplish goals that are pleasing to Him. We hope to see many of you at our Alumni Colloquium at 3:30 p.m. on October 31st in BSB E.125 and Physics Homecoming Breakfast before the parade on November 1st in BSB E.301. With warmest best wishes, Greg Benesh Professor & Chairman “When these searches conclude, they will bring our number of tenured and tenure-track faculty in the Department up to 15.” Page 4 Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Faculty Research Profiles Wickramasinghe Ariyasinghe Associate Professor Research Interests: Atomic & molecular physics Auger electron spectroscopy Electron scattering Recent Publication: W. M. Ariyasinghe, P. Wickramarachchi, and P. Palihwadana Total Electron Scattering Cross Sections of alkanes at intermediate energies, , Nucl. Inst. and Meth. Phys. Res. B 259 841 - 846 (2007). Dr. W. Ariyasinghe engages in atomic and molecular physics experiments. The department has several electron beam facilities (20 eV to 10 KeV energy) for studying interactions of low energy and intermediate energy electrons with atoms and molecules. He utilizes these facilities to measure the total electron scattering cross sections, the most reliable experimental scattering cross section, of atoms and molecules at low and intermediate energies. Accurate measurement in this region of energies requires extremely good energy and angular resolution to avoid effects due to forwardscattered electrons. With this in mind, he has developed an experimental station to measure the total cross section accurately. Recently, he has been studying the total electron scttering cross section of hydrocarbons and fluorocarbons, research of great importance to astrophysics, atmospheric physics, chemical physics, plasma physics, bio-medical physics, and semiconductor physics. His goal in this area of research is to provide an accurate pool of total electron scattering cross sections for the users in the above fields and industry. The past research involves the use of Auger electrons produced by heavy ion bombardment (protons and He+ ions) of small organic molecules to study the effect of chemical bonding on normal and satellite lines produced by the impinging ions. The study of heavy ion induced Auger spectroscopy continued to produce the K-shell and L-shell ionizations cross sections (an essential tool in understanding the interaction mechanism between energetic ions with atoms or molecules) of all second and third raw elements in the periodic table . In addition, Dr. Ariyasinghe conducted experiments to investigate the isotropic/anisotropic nature of heavy ion induced Auger emission. For several years, Dr. W. Ariyasinghe and collaborators have been involved with the slowing of He+ ions in thin films of vapordeposited elemental matter and in gases to study the degenerate electron gas model of Jens Lindhard (a student of Niels Bohr in Copenhagen) in three areas: (i) stopping power, (ii) calculation of mean ionization potentials, and (iii) energy straggling. The model is excellent for predicting qualitative features of various parameters, although certain quantitative limitations are clearly revealed. Publications: Total electron scattering cross sections of Kr ans Xe in the energy range 250 - 4500eV with C. Goains, Phys. Rev. A 70, 1050294 (2005). Electron scattering cross sections of He, Ne and Ar at intermediate electron energies with C. Goains, D. Powers, T. Wijerathna and P. Phalihawadana, Nucl. Inst and Meth. Phys. Res. B 225 (2004). Total electron scattering cross sections of CH4 and NH3 molecules in the energy range 400 - 4000eV with T. Wijerathna and P. Palihawadana, Nucl.Inst and Meth. Phys. Res. B 217 (2004). Total electron scattering cross sections of PH3 and SiH4 molecules in the energy range 90 – 3500eV with T. Wijerathne and D. Powers. Phys. Rev. A 68, 032708, (2003). Total electron scattering cross sections of CF4 and C2F6 in the energy range 100 – 1500eV Journal of Rad. Phys. Chem. 68, 79 (2003). Total electron scattering cross seections of CH4, C2H2, C2H4 and C2H6 in the energy range 200-1400eV with D. Powers, Phys. Rev. A 66, 052723, (2002). Absolute K-shell ionization cross-section measurements of B produced by 0.4 - 2.0 MeV H+ and He+ ions and by .6 - 1.2 MeV H2+ ions with D. Powers, Phys. Rev. A 59, 1291 (1999). K-shell ionization of B,O, and F by 0.4-2.0 MeV He+ ions, with A. Ghebremedhin and D. Powers. Phys. Rev. A 53, 1537 (1996) Angular distribution of total LMM Auger electron yields produced by energetic He+ ions in Ar, Cl, and S with P. Guo, A. Ghebremedin and D. Powers, Physical Review A 51, 2117 (1995). Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Page 5 Faculty Research Profiles Gregory A. Benesh Professor Chair, Department of Physics Research Interests: Surface Electronic Structure Surface Physics Gravitational Collapse Recent Publication: Homothetic Self-similar Solutions of Three-Dimensional BransDicke Gravity, Gen. Relativ. Gravit. 39, 277-289 (2007). Professor Greg Benesh's research deals primarily with the study of metal surfaces with and without adsorbed layers of atoms. The redistribution of charge upon chemisorption determines the nature of the surface chemical bond. It also causes a change in the surface work function and affects the core-level binding energies of atoms near the adsorption site. Many metal surfaces, such as those of platinum, tungsten, silver, and gold, display spontaneous phase transitions from the bulk atomic structure to a new structure once the surface is created. The role that electrons play in such transitions is under investigation. Metal surfaces also serve as catalysts for important chemical reactions. The rate at which interactions progress can often be enhanced by introducing different metal catalysts or by exposing a different crystal face of the same metal. Current research focuses on the face-dependent catalytic activity of various metal surfaces, and on the nature of inter-atomic forces on surface atoms. One of the drawbacks of many surface calculations is the problem of interacting surface states across a thin slab; another is the neglect of bulk electron states which determine surface states and surface resonances. Professor Benesh and collaborators have developed a computational technique in which these problems are eliminated by embedding surface atomic layers onto an infinite bulk substrate. The Surface Embedded Green function (SEGF) method has proved to be extremely accurate for determining the energetics of surface states and resonances. Further refinements and extensions of the method are under development. Dr. Benesh has been interested in what core-level shifts at surfaces tell us about charge transfer and bonding. An unexpected result is that adsorbed electropositive atoms, such as cesium, induce smaller surface core-level shifts than electronegative atoms, such as oxygen. Experimental results such as these have led some to conclude that electropositive atoms bond more covalently and less ionically than electronegative atoms. Currently, Dr. Benesh is focusing attention on several surfaces of rhodium. The Rh(111) surface is particularly interesting since the surface and subsurface shifts are in opposite directions! Obviously, contributions other than from charge transfer play an important role, because no charge transfer is expected between neighboring rhodium atoms. In fact, it is believed that the environmental effect (caused by the reduced coordination of surface atoms) is at least as important as charge transfer. There is also a relaxation (final-state) contribution that is caused by the different screening properties of surface and bulk atoms. Dr. Benesh is currently calculating all three contributions to the surface and subsurface core-level shifts at the Rh(001), Rh(111), and Rh(110) surfaces. Dr. Benesh has recently collaborated with Dr. Anzhong Wang in studying the gravitational collapse of massive stars. They have been investigating the critical nature of the collapse by finding selfsimilar solutions of the Einstein fluid equations. They are interested in calculating the critical exponents that describe the process. On the lighter side, Dr. Benesh is also interested in the physics of everyday phenomena—including the positioning of a gazebo to mark the summer solstice, the death of Spider-Man’s original girlfriend Gwen Stacy, the drowning of Charlie in the underwater (Looking Glass) station on the television series LOST, and the results of various MYTHBUSTERS tests. Dr. Benesh has recently collaborated with Dr. Jeffrey Olafsen in a theoretical and experimental study of the stability of a can of soda (Dr Pepper, of course!) on an accelerating plate. Representative Publications: Asymptotes of Solutions of a Perfect Fluid Coupled with a Cosmological Constant in Four-Dimensional Spacetime with Toroidal Symmetry, With Anzhong Wang. Gen. Relativ. Gravit. 38, 346 (2006). Approximating Infinite-k Representations: Surface Relaxations and Work Functions of Al(001) and Be(0001). With Daniel Gebreselasie. Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 9, 8359-8368 (1997). Surface Embedded Green Function Calculation of Total Energy and Force Application to Al(001) and Al(110). With Daniel Gebreselasie. Physical Review B 54, 5940-5945 (1996). Page 6 Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Faculty Research Profiles Gerald Bryan Cleaver Associate Professor Research Interests: M-theory phenomenology String Theory String Cosmology Dr. Cleaver presented Further Systematic Investigations of the Heterotic String Landscape at the String Vacuum Project Workshop, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, on April 12th and at the annual April American Physical Society Conference, April 15th, in St. Louis, MO. Dr. Gerald Cleaver presented a 60 minute lecture at the Workshop on Cosmology and Theology, August 11th-15th, at the Wheaton College Science Station near Rapid City, South Dakota. Cleaver was one of ten who participated in this “by-invitationonly” workshop. Following this, Cleaver travelled to Geneva, Switzerland to attend the 2008 International Conference on String Theory at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN). Additional Scholarly Activities: Recent Publication: “Quasi-realistic heterotic-string models with vanishing one-loop cosmological constant and perturbatively broken supersymmetry?” with A.E. Faraggi, E. Manno, and C. Timirgaziu Phys.Rev.D 78 (2008) 046009. Dr. Gerald Cleaver’s research specialty is superstring theory, which unifies all forces in nature (gravity, electromagnetics, and the two nuclear forces). In superstring theory each elementary particle in nature originates as a distinct vibration of a single type of string (or loop) of energy, much as different musical notes are produced from a single violin string. Dr. Cleaver's current research topics in string theory include the construction of phenomenologically realistic superstring models, string/M-theory cosmology, and the string landscape. Dr. Cleaver is conducting research with lecturer Dr. Tibra Ali and Ph.D. students Richard Obousy, Matt Robinson, Tim Renner, Kristin Pechan, and Jared Greenwald. Drs. Ali and Cleaver are investigating half-flat manifolds for heterotic strings. With his students, Dr. Cleaver is conducting a long-term systematic study of the generic physical properties of the string landscape in the free-fermionic heterotic region. Richard Obousy will be defending this Ph.D. dissertation in November and Matt Robinson will be defending next semester. Conferences: Dr. Cleaver was asked to organize the String Theory and the Multiverse: Philosophical and Theological Implications Science Symposium at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, on March 26-27. At the Symposium Cleaver presented the 60 minute plenary lecture The String Landscape, the Multiverse, the Anthropic Principle, and Anselm’s Ontological Argument\. Cleaver also gave a 20 minute talk on String Theory and the Cosmos during the Wheaton College Chapel. Later that same week, Cleaver also presented The String Landscape … to the Physics Department at Valparaiso University. During May-June Gerald taught a “minimester” Graduate Special Topics Course on String Cosmology. In the last year Dr. Cleaver refereed 16 manuscripts for Physics Essays, 8 manuscripts for web publisher Scientific Journals International (to which he was appointed to the editorial board), and 1 project proposal for the Netherlands Organization for Scientific research. Publications: “A Note on the standard embedding on half-flat manifolds,” with Tibra Ali, JHEP 0807 (2008) 121. “Radius Destabilization in Five Dimensional Orbifolds from Lorentz Violating Fields,” with R. Obousy, arXiv:0805.0019 [gr-qc]. “Warp Drive: A New arXiv:0712.1649 [gr-qc]. Approach,” with R. Obousy, Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Page 7 Faculty Research Profiles Jay R. Dittmann Assistant Professor Research Interests: Experimental Particle Physics Fermilab Tevatron Collider Large Hadron Collider at CERN The Higgs Boson Recent Publications: T. Aaltonen, et al. (CDF Collaboration). Search for new heavy particles decaying to Z0Z0 ➝ eeee in protonantiproton collisions at 1.96 TeV, Phys. Rev. D 78, 012008 (2008). The Experimental High Energy Physics (HEP) group at Baylor is engaged in experimental elementary particle physics research at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Batavia, IL, 30 miles west of Chicago. At Fermilab, protons and antiprotons are accelerated to nearly the speed of light by the Tevatron, an extremely powerful particle accelerator. Beams of protons and antiprotons collide at the center of two 5,000-ton detectors, and data recorded from these energetic collisions help physicists to identify the properties of the elementary particles that make up the universe. Led by Dr. Jay Dittmann, the Baylor HEP group participates on the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) experiment, which offers opportunities for physics data analysis, detector construction, and detector operation. One of the group’s main projects has been the upgrade and operation of the eXtremely Fast Tracker (XFT), an important part of the experimental apparatus that selects interesting proton-antiproton collisions for subsequent data analysis. Dr. Nils Krumnack, a Postdoctoral Research Associate working with Dr. Dittmann, led the commissioning of the XFT project at Fermilab. Dr. Krumnack, who is stationed at Fermilab, coordinated personnel from six different universities including Baylor, the University of Illinois, The Ohio State University, Purdue University, U.C. Davis, and the University of Pisa (Italy). The new tracking system is fully operational and has greatly improved the quality of the collision data recorded by the CDF experiment. Baylor’s experimental HEP group currently includes three graduate students. Sam Hewamanage, a fifth-year graduate student, has made significant contributions by writing a variety of software diagnostic tools for the XFT system. Currently he is focused on a study of proton-antiproton collisions in which a pho- ton emerges directly from the collision together with “jets” of energetic particles that indicate the production of quarks and gluons. Using these data, it is possible to test the predictions of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) and search for “anomalous” physics that could include the production of new, undiscovered particles. Sam, together with Drs. Dittmann and Krumnack, recently presented his analysis in a poster at the 34th International Conference on High Energy Physics from July 29 – August 5, 2008 in Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Dittmann is a member of the Executive Board of the CDF Collaboration at Fermilab. He is a co-author of two Higgs publications that are under internal review at CDF, and he is the chair of three committees that are presently reviewing other paper manuscripts for publication in Physical Review D and Physical Review Letters. Funding for the Experimental High Energy Physics group at Baylor is provided by grants from the U.S. Department of Energy and Baylor University. Baylor is currently seeking to increase the size of the experimental HEP group by adding an additional faculty member. It is anticipated that this physicist will work in close collaboration with Dr. Dittmann to establish a plan and timeline for involvement in one of the Large Hadron Collider experiments at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. Publications: T. Aaltonen, et al. (CDF Collaboration). Two-particle momentum correlations in jets produced in protonantiproton collisions at 1.96 TeV, Phys. Rev. D 77, 092001 (2008). The Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF). Baylor is one of about 60 universities that study the tiniest particles in nature using this massive detector. Page 8 Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Faculty Research Profiles Truell W. Hyde Professor Director, CASPER Vice Provost for Research Research Interests: Complex Plasmas Space Physics Astrophysics Recent Publication: K. Qiao, M. Benesh and T.W. Hyde Structural Phase Transitions of Three-Dimensional Shielded Coulomb Clusters (Finite Yukawa System), IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science 35, No. 2, pp. 346-351, April, 2007. Dr. Hyde’s research groups conduct research within a variety of theoretical and experimental research areas. Theoretical Dispersion Relations in Complex Plasmas. The formation of 2D and 3D coulomb crystals in low temperature plasmas is one of several interesting problems in a new area of physics called complex plasmas. In a Yukawa system, charged microparticles interact with one another through a screened Coulomb potential allowing system ordering ranging from gas→liquid→solid phases. Determining the dispersion relations of such waves provides a sensitive diagnostic for use on experimental systems as well as provides data for basic physics research. Micro-, Meso- and Nanoscale Formation in Complex Plasmas. The formation of micro- or mesoscale crystals, clusters and balls in low temperature plasmas is a recent (and very interesting) problem in complex plasmas. These particles self assemble into structured formations depending on the specific boundary conditions. This research area is of great interest in nanofabrication and manipulation and is on the cutting edge of nanoscience research. Coagulation of charged micron-sized dust. The coagulation of micronsized dust plays an essential role in the process of protoplanetary formation. Protoplanets are formed from the gas and dust left in the circumstellar disk of a newly formed star where the gas and dust coalesces on a relatively short time scale. Since the dust is immersed in a plasma environment, it will become charged. Dynamics of charged grains in Saturn's F Ring. Saturn's F Ring is a dynamic system as shown in Voyager pictures revealing braids, kinks, and clumps evolving over a matter of weeks or months. The plasma conditions in the F Ring are unknown, but it is reasonable to assume that the micron sized dust contained in the ring is weakly charged. As such, Saturn's magnetic field imparts a significant perturbation to the orbits of these grains leading to a sizesorting mechanism which may influence the formation of braids and clumps. Experimental Complex Plasmas / Collidal Systems. Micron-sized dust immersed in a plasma is known as a complex plasmas. Within such plasmas, the grains can form an ordered (crystalline) lattice when the ratio of the kinetic energy of the dust grains to their potential energy is small. A primary instrument for examining such complex plasmas is a GEC RF Reference Cell modified to allow the formation of dust crystals. CASPER's two (2) GEC RF cells are currently being used to study such effects as size distributions of the dust grains, wave propagation through crystalline lattices, dispersion properties of the system and interparticle forces between individual grains. Meso- and Nanoscale Physics. One of the primary instruments for examining meso- and nanoscale physics is a GEC RF Reference Cell modified to allow the formation of dust crystals. CASPER's two (2) GEC RF cells (one of which is equipped with a Zyvex S100 nanomanipulator system) are currently being used to study such effects as micro and mesoscale structure formation, wave propagation through crystalline lattices, dispersion properties of the system and interparticle forces between individual grains. All of these areas are of interest in the new field of nanoscale science, particularly nanofabrication and manipulation. Fusion Research. Over the past decade, dust particulate contamination has increasingly become an area of concern within the fusion research community. In a burning plasma machine design like the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), dust presents problems for diagnostic integration and may contribute to tritium safety issues. Since the dynamics of such dust can in general be explained employing a combination of the ion drag, Coulomb force, and ion pre-sheath drifts, recent research in complex (dusty) plasma physics often offers unique insights for this research area. Research is underway to determine how experimental observations of the dust and plasma parameters within a GEC RF Reference Cell and the data collected from both impact and witness plates within the light gas accelerator might be employed to diagnose conditions within fusion reactors, hopefully providing insight into possible mechanisms for dust detection and removal. Low Velocity Impact Studies. Spacecraft and satellites in orbit around Earth are constantly subject to impacts with dust traveling at speeds ranging from a few meters per second to a few kilometers per second. At the HIDPL, two Light Gas Accelerators and a Linear Accelerator are used to study impact craters, conduct research and development on impact detection sensors, and collect the data necessary to properly assess the durability of materials used in space. Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Page 9 Faculty Research Profiles Lorin Swint Matthews Assistant Professor Research Interests: Complex Plasmas Theoretical Space Physics Experimental Space Physics CASPER Recent Publications: Matthews, L., and T. Hyde, Charging and Growth of Fractal Dust Grains, IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, 36(1), 310-314, 2008. My research interests cover a variety of areas, both theoretical and experimental, in complex plasmas and space physics. Several of these projects combine theory and experiment, and most are collaborative efforts with graduate and undergraduate students, post-docs, and other faculty members in the Physics Department. The projects I have been working on most recently are the charging and coagulation of fractal aggregates, the coagulation of magnetic grains, and dynamics of charged grains in Saturn’s F ring. The coagulation of micrometer sized particles in a complex (dusty) plasma is a fundamental process that plays an important role in the early parts of planet formation. Planets form through mutual collisions of planetesimals, bodies ranging in size from 1 to 10 km. The planetesimals in turn are thought to have formed from the dominant constituent material of circumstellar disks: gas and dust. Recent astronomical evidence shows that the coagulation process must be very efficient to have the planets form on relatively short time scales. The primary factors that affect the coagulation rate are the relative velocity between grains, collisional crosssection, and sticking probability. Several experimental and numerical studies have made it evident that coagulation results in the formation of fluffy fractal aggregates. In the primordial solar nebula, the dust is imbedded in a plasma and can become charged. While dust grains usually charge negatively, the arrangement of charge over the dust surface can lead to dipole moments which actually enhance coagulation. I have been working with post-docs Victor Land and Ke Qiao and graduate student Theresa Ma to develop and enhance charging and coagulation models which include the effects of dipole-dipole charge in- teractions. We’ve also designed laboratory experiments which used gold-coated (conducting) grains to see if dipole moments on individual spheres affect the dynamics of dust crystals. (Lab experiments usually use grains made from melamine formaldehyde, a non-conductor.) Jorge Carmona-Reyes and Bernie Smith have been coordinating these efforts. Matthew Benesh completed his senior physics research project under my direction modeling the thermophoretic force on dust crystals in a laboratory plasma. The initial dust which is available in protoplanetary disks also includes magnetic material, which may have magnetic domains frozen in as they condense from vapor. These grains also have strong dipole-dipole interactions during collisions and as a result, the magnetic dipoles are usually aligned in the resulting aggregate structure. Two undergraduate students, Jonathan Perry and Erik Remkus, have been working on revising our numerical models to include these effects. Eileen Fernandez has also been working on her Senior Honors Research project under my direction for the last year and a half. She has been working on translating a code for circumplanetary Martian dust from Fortran into Matlab. She will then generalize the program for Saturn’s F Ring to model the effects of grain charge, Saturn’s magnetic field, the shepherding moons, and solar radiation pressure and gravity on ring dynamics. Professional Activities: Conducting Grains in Dusty Plasmas, Jorge Carmona-Reyes, Lorin Matthews, Truell Hyde, paper presented at the 37th COSPAR (Committee on Space Research) Scientific Assembly in Montreal, Canada, July 13-18, 2008. Effect of Plasma Distribution Function on the Growth of Fractal Aggregates, Lorin Matthews, Victor Land, Truell Hyde, paper presented at the 37th COSPAR Scientific Assembly in Montreal, Canada, July 13-18, 2008. Light Gas Gun Testing of PVDF by Undergraduates, Truell Hyde, Jorge Carmona-Reyes, Lorin Matthews, poster presented at the 37th COSPAR Scientific Assembly in Montreal, Canada, July 13-18, 2008. Developing a Seamless Science Education Program (K-Graduate School), Bernard Smith, Jorge Carmona-Reyes, Truell Hyde, Lorin Matthews, paper presented at the 37th COSPAR Scientific Assembly in Montreal, Canada, July 13-18, 2008. Modeling Charging and Coagulation of Fractal Aggregates, seminar presented to the Baylor Physics Department, March 26, 2008. Smith B., T. Hyde, L. Matthews, J. Reay, M. Cook, and J. Schmoke, Phase Transitions in a Dusty Plasma with Two Distinct Particle Sizes, Advances in Space Research, 41(9), 1509-1512, 2008. A mosaic of 107 images of Saturn’s F ring from the Cassini spacecraft showing some of the unusual dynamic structures seen in the ring. Page 10 Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Faculty Research Profiles Jeffrey Stuart Olafsen Associate Professor Research Interests: Nonlinear Systems Biomechanics Non-equilibrium Physics Recent Publication: I. S. Aranson, A. Snezhko, J. S. Olafsen, and J. S. Urbach, Comment on ‘Long-Lived Giant Number Fluctuations in a Swarming Granular Nematic.’ Science, 320, 612 (2008). Dr. Jeffrey Olafsen’s research interests are interdisciplinary in nature, cutting across scientific disciplines to examine systems at the interface of physics, chemistry, biology and engineering. In particular, Dr. Olafsen is interested in processes that are driven far from equilibrium as well as systems that are inherently nonlinear in their dynamic behavior. Unlike most research disciplines in physics, nonlinear dynamics typically extends across research topics and the investigations tend to be interdisciplinary by nature. This has advantages of incorporating techniques from many disciplines to attack unanswered problems. The majority of the research program so far has centered on “table top” investigations of driven granular gases, large collections of macroscopic particles for which deterministic equations exist but for which unique solutions cannot be determined for any one single particle. The results of the investigations are applicable to a variety of different industrial processes from pharmaceuticals to grain transportation and storage. Granular physics applies to the handling of any material that is composed of a large number of macroscopic particles. Common examples are the handling and transportation of munitions, food grains and sand, and even improving the understanding of the formation of larger structures such as planets in the early solar system. Even though such media can appear to flow like a fluid, there are important differences that do not allow their behavior to be predicted with the Navier-Stokes equation, as is the case with classical fluids like water and oil. For instance, granular materials can randomly clog and jam very easily due the large amount of friction between particle surfaces. These behav- iors are by definition nonlinear in nature and are extremely difficult to predict. Because of the lack of a constitutive equation, industrial processes in the past have been created on a case-by-case basis but the fundamental physics underlying such materials is not well understood. The projects themselves are diverse, from insect biomechanics to granular plasmas, low dimensional chaos, imaging and predicting structural failure of buildings, and developing new sensing techniques for detecting land mines in shallow sand beds. The students who work in the nonlinear dynamics lab are thereby trained in a more interdisciplinary manner to help create the next generation of researchers who will be called upon to solve the challenges of an increasingly interdisciplinary research landscape. The majority of the previous investigations have been pursued by undergraduate researchers in the lab, a benefit of the experiments being “table top” in size and scope, perfect for an undergraduate laboratory research experience . As the pilot projects, originally pursued by the undergraduates, mature, they are handed over to graduate student researchers who have longer periods of time to invest in more thorough scientific investigations. In the past year, several undergraduate students were hard at work in Dr. Olafsen’s laboratory. Kristin Combs worked on an experiment to follow up the lab’s observation of molecular chaos in a system driven far from equilibrium. During the summer, Kristin continued her work in the lab and undergraduate Jacob Jantzi developed an experiment to examine mixing in granular flows due to rotational modes. REU student Kyle Taljan developed a coupled logistic map for the chaotic encryption of image data, and sophomore Lindsay Buckingham worked to analyze image data from a photogrammetry project. Work by these students was used in grant proposals to ACS, NSF, NASA & the Welch Foundation. Publications: G. W. Baxter and J. S. Olafsen, “Experimental Evidence for Molecular Chaos in Granular Gases..” Physical Review Letters, 99, 028001 (2007). G. W. Baxter and J. S. Olafsen, “The temperature of a vibrated granular gas.” Granular Matter, 9, 135-139 (2007). X. Zhao, S. M. Williams, J. S. Olafsen, “Water release from shaken silica substrates in a catalytic reactor.” ASCE Conference Proceedings, 188, 76 (2006). M. D. Sturge (deceased) and J. S. Olafsen, A Solutions Manual for Statistical and Thermal Physics: Fundamentals and Applications by M. D. Sturge, Published by A.K. Peters, Ltd. (2005). Revised (2006). J. S. Olafsen and J. S. Urbach, “Two-dimensional melting far from equilibrium in a granular monolayer.” Physical Review Letters, 95, 098002 (2005). Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Page 11 Faculty Research Profiles Linda Jean Olafsen tinues to work on a waveguide model (written in IDL) to match the spatial profiles we measure in the laboratory. Associate Professor Acquisition of a Nano-second Time Resolved Spectroscopy accessory that interfaces with the step-scan Fourier Transfer Infrared Spectrometer now allows for the measurement of short-pulse infrared emission spectra. This fast detection system has already been used to verify the output wavelengths of the optical parametric oscillator used for optically pumping semiconductor materials, but more importantly has yielded the spectral output of the midinfrared laser materials being studied in the laboratory, opening the possibilities for a plethora of new experimental characterization measurements. Research Interests: Semiconductor lasers Mid-IR physics Biophysics devices Recent Publication: Progress in Semiconductor Materials V — Novel Materials and Electronic and Optoelectronic Applications, edited by Linda J. Olafsen, Robert M. Biefeld, Michael C. Wanke, Adam W. Saxler (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 891, Warrendale, PA, 2006). Dr. Linda Olafsen leads the semiconductor laser optics laboratory. Students in her group perform experimental research on the optical and electronic properties of layered semiconductors, particularly antimonide-based quantum well heterostructures designed to emit or absorb mid-infrared radiation. These “wave-function engineering” devices have within their structures elaborate combinations of finite quantum wells and tunneling barriers, making them very practical applications of introductory quantum mechanics. The target wavelength range is between 3 and 5 μm, and these wavelengths are important for countermeasures and for developing chemical sensors that are at least 100 times more sensitive than those operating in the near-infrared. In the spring, Windrik Lynch completed his University Scholar thesis work, “Laser Beam Profiling from an Electrically Stimulated W-Well Semiconductor,” culminating over a year of undergraduate involvement in the laboratory. He is now in his first year of medical school at Texas A&M University. Ph.D. student Angela Douglass continues her hard work in the laboratory and has made great strides taking seminal data in the laboratory. She is now moving from reconciling our measurements with previous work to investigating new optically pumped semiconductor laser structures using our novel variable pump wavelength technique to excite these materials at their resonant wavelength. Graduate student Alex Price is the newest member of the group and joined the lab after completing his first year of graduate studies at Baylor. His work thus far has been focused on profiling the output of our mid-infrared semiconductor lasers, and he con- Drs. Jeffrey and Linda Olafsen continued an investigation supported by a Faculty Research Investment Program grant to use an infrared camera to measure spatial output profiles from midinfrared semiconductor lasers. While still working to optimize and calibrated these new measurement techniques, they have been able to observe differences between images of “on” and “off ” states of the laser. An infrared image is shown below. After teaching Solid State Physics to the senior Physics majors in the spring, Dr. Olafsen once again has the privilege of teaching an honors section of Physics 1420 this fall. The 18 students enrolled are a superposition of University Scholars and majors in Physics, Engineering, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, and even Political Science and Business. Five of the new freshman Physics majors are in this class. Publications: J. T. Olesberg, C. Cao, J. R. Yager, J. P. Prineas, C. Coretsopoulos, M. A. Arnold, L. J. Olafsen, and M. Santilli, “Optical microsensor for continuous gluclose measurements in interstitial fluid,” Proceedings of the SPIE, 6094, 609403 (2006). J. P. Prineas, J. R. Yager, J. T. Olesberg, S. Seydmohamadi, C. Cao, M. Reddy, C. Coresopoulos, J. L. Hicks, T. F. Boggess, M. Santilli, and L. J. Olafsen, “PIN versus PN homojunctions in GaInAsSb 2.0–2.5 micron mesa photodiodes,” Proceedings of the SPIE, 6119, 611903 (2006). T. C. McAlpine, K. R. Greene, M. R. Santilli, and L. J. Olafsen, W. W. Bewley, C. L. Felix, I. Vurgaftman, and J. R. Meyer, H. Lee and R. U. Martinelli, “Resonantly pumped optical pumping injection cavity lasers,” Journal of Applied Physics, 96, 4751 (2004). Left: Infrared image through a calcium fluoride window of an electrically pumped semiconductor device mounted on the cold stage of a dewar. The image was obtained by a IRcamera used to examine emissions in the 3-12 micron range. Page 12 Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Faculty Research Profiles Kenneth Taesung Park Associate Professor Research Interests: Surface Defects of Transition Metal Oxides Interface between Metal and Thin Films of Organic Molecules that in FePc on Ag(111), the organic thin film forms a commensurate overlayer structure (see Figure below). Moreover, FePc molecules exhibit a distinctive molecular orientation within the unit cell. The molecules at the opposite corners in the unit cell align and point their isoindole rings at each other along the unit cell diagonal. In this arrangement, the intermolecular distance is significantly increased despite of weakening the van der Waals-type intermolecular attraction. The molecular orientation of FePc is in sharp contrast to that observed from a close-packed square lattice that many metallo-phthalcyanine (MPc) molecules including CuPc often self-assemble into. This distinctive overlayer structure of FePc among MPc is attributed to strong interaction of FePc with Ag(111) through the molecular orbitals centered on Fe2+ (e.g. Fe3dxz,yz) and the Ag 4dxz,yz valence states [3]. References: Dr. Park and his collaborators at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences have been working on a single crystal “model catalyst” such as TiO2 to investigate surface morphology, defects, local electronic structure, and chemical properties using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and other surface sensitive probes. The crucial role that Ti interstitials play in surface reconstructions and formation of sub-stoichiometric defects has been elucidated [1]. As for the first case study, they have investigated the relationship between distinct local structures and stoichiometry of these Ti interstitial-based, surface defects and their chemical reactivity, exemplified in the reaction with molecular oxygen [2]. Ab initio molecular dynamics calculations show that the row of Ti interstitials, as a highly under-coordinated cationic site, readily dissociates molecular oxygen. The dissociated oxygen surrounds a Ti interstitial to form an oxygen plane of a partial octahedron. On the other hand, the partially oxidized Ti2O2 strand exhibits much subdued reactivity. Although the line defect neither dissociates nor adsorbs molecular oxygen, it serves as a nucleation site for an oxidized Ti interstitial such as a TiO2 molecule and for further growth of the line defect. The results from this work should be of broad interest as the interaction of oxygen with TiO2 is essential in many photochemical and catalytic processes including the oxidation of CO by gold nanoparticles supported on titania as well as other reducible oxide supports. Another active research topic is centered on the thin film formation of organic molecules on surface. Copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) and its family of Pc molecules have attracted considerable interest. This interest originates in part from the possibility that the electrical and optical properties of these organic molecules can be easily manipulated by systematically altering the metal cations and ligands. The presence of a surface can affect the thin film morphology and their electronic structure. Kedar Manandhar observed [2] Re-oxidation of TiO2(110) via Ti interstitials and Line Defects, K. T. Park, M. Pan, V. Meunier, and E. W. Plummer, Phys. Rev. B 75, 245415 (2007). [3] Heteroepitaxial Thin Films of Iron Phthalocyanine on Ag(111), K. Manandhar, K. T. Park, S. Ma and J. Hrbek, in preparation (2008). 0.5 1 Re-oxidation of TiO2(110) via Ti interstitials and Line Defects, K. T. Park, M. Pan, V. Meunier, and E. W. Plummer, Phys. Rev. B 75, 245415 (2007). [1] Surface Reconstructions of TiO2(110) Driven by Sub-Oxides, K. T. Park, M. Pan, V. Meunier, and E. W. Plummer, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 226105 (2006). 0 0 Recent Publication: 0 1 2 3 4 STM image (Left) and the height profiles (Right) of the ordered FePc molecules on Ag(111). (40 nm x 40 nm, -1.93 V, 12 pA). a and b are the overlayer lattice vectors, f is the angle between the lattice vectors and θ is the angle between [0-11] and a. (Lower Left) A model showing structure of FePcs unit lattice, compared to the model showing the more commonly observed, closepacked arrangement of MPc (Lower Right). Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Page 13 Faculty Research Profiles Dwight Russell Associate Professor Research Interests: Materials Science Quantum Solids Astronomy Recent Publication: Role of Surface Dimer and Gas-Phase Excitation Models in Electron Stimulated Desorption of Ions from Sodium Chloride(100) Crystals, D. P. Russell, W. Durrer, Rad. Eff. and Def. in Solids 160, 151 - 154 (2005). This year my activities have covered four main areas: teaching intro astronomy, research on pulsating white dwarf stars, research on alkali halide surfaces and as past-chair the Texas section of the American Physical Society (TSAPS). The introductory astronomy course continues to be a popular course with class sizes approaching 300 students. The field of astronomy certainly ‘helps out’ by providing a veritable flood of new and exciting discoveries. It is easy to say that the last fifteen years of astronomy are as significant in the increase and impact on our understanding of the physical universe as at any time in history. Happily, this trend shows no signs of slowing down. It truly is an exciting time to introduce students to the study of astronomy. In efforts to improve our astronomy facilities, several of the faculty have begun visiting planetariums in Texas. The technology for star field projection and incorporating multimedia into planetarium activities is truly revolutionary and maturing rapidly. It holds real promise as a powerful tool to introduce students to the universe It was very nice this year to be recognized in the Spring commencement as outstanding teacher in the College of Arts and Sciences. Being part of a great department helps one be their best as well. In a small way we are contributing to the body of knowledge in astronomy by participating photometric studies of pulsating white dwarf stars. This work is done in collaboration with Don Winget’s group at UT-Austin and the Central Texas Astronomical Society’s Meyer Observatory. This work involves the study of a unique instability strip on the HR-diagram. It has provided both summer students in the REU program and our own seniors with important interesting research projects. As part of the is project I also visited Shelly Hynes in Natchitoches LA to set up the camera in the observatory at the Louisiana School for Math/Science/Arts. In the area of material science, my work on electron irradiation of alkali halides has continued. This year we have added a com- puter simulation project. Recent studies by Marek Szymoksi’s group at the Jagolleon University in Austria has shown the importance of F* defects in the distribution of permanent defects in alkali halides and has demonstrated the role of surface pitting in the desorption of alkali metal atoms. Using these new insights, we have developed a new simulation of the growth of alkali-rich regions on the surface and in the near surface bulk under electron irradiation. Computer modeling of these process is continuing. In addition, we have acquired a new sample manipulator capable of controlling sample temperature from less than 100 K to over 800 K. This provides for the first time the ability to distinguish between normal thermal energy and local heating due to electron energy deposition. As past-chair of the Texas Section of the APS (TSAPS), I am head of two committees for the TSAPS: the Hyer award committee and the ‘Texas Hall of Fame’ committee. The Hyer award is the premier award for excellence in research to be offered by TSAPS. It is in its second year and reports from the award judges are that several outstanding nominations have been submitted. The ‘Texas Hall of Fame’ which is at present only a working title, is a new project to establish an advisory committee for TSAPS consisting of members who have made significant contributions over and extended period to maintaining and expanding TSAPS. This serves two purposes. It provides a way to maintain expertise important to the continuity of the programs supported by TSAPS. It also provides a much needed way of recognizing the contributions that have been made and affect so many, particularly students, active in the Texas physics community. Finally, the executive committee has worked with the Four corners section of the APS to form the first ever joint meeting of the two sections. This meeting will be held at UTEP, El Paso TX, Oct 17-19, 2008. Publications: Elastic interactions and the metallurgical and acoustic effects of carbon in the Caribbean steel drum, Ferreyra E, Murr LE, Russell DP, Bingert JF, Materials Characterization 47 (2001) 325363. Electron and Photon-Stimulated Desorption of Atomic Hydrogen from Radiation-Modified Alkali Halide Surface, L. T. Hudson, N. H. Tolk, C. Bao, P. Nordlander, D. P. Russell, J. Xu, Phys. Rev. B 62 (15) 10535 – 10543 (2000). Materials Science and Metallurgy of the Steel Caribbean Steel Drum, Parts 1&2, (with L.E. Murr et al.) Journal of Materials Science 34 967-979 (1999). Page 14 Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Faculty Research Profiles Anzhong Wang Professor Research Interests: Late Cosmic Acceleration of the Universe in string/ M-Theory Advanced Numerical Analysis of Observational Data String/Brane Inflation High Dimensional Black Holes & AdS/CFT Correspondence Recent Publication: Y. Gong and A. Wang, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 211301 (2007) [arXiv:0704.0793]. GCAP (Gravity, Cosmology, and Astroparticle Physics Group) is one of the three theoretical research groups in CASPER, and was formed in the spring of 2006. Currently, it consists of 12 members: Dr. Anzhong Wang (Physics), the head of the group, Dr. Qin (Tim) Sheng (Mathematics), Dr. Yumei Wu (Physics), Dr. Rong-Gen Cai, an adjunct professor from the Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, Dr. N. O. Santos, an adjunct professor from the Brazilian National Scientific Computation Lab (LNCC); graduate students, Michael Devin, Te (Hart) Ha, Yongqing Huang, Preet Sharma, Andreas Tziolas, and Qiang (Bob) Wu; and one undergraduate student, Erik Lentz. Recently, research topics include the late cosmic acceleration of the universe and the early universe in the framework of string/MTheory, advanced and highly effective and efficient numerical fittings of observational data sets, the cosmological constant and hierarchy problems, higher dimensional black holes, AdS/CFT correspondence, and their thermodynamics and formation. One of the remarkable discoveries over the past decade in astronomy is that currently our universe is at its accelerating expansion phase. In Einstein's theory, to account for such an acceleration, a new component to the matter fields of the universe with a large negative pressure is needed, the dark energy. Recent astronomical observations indicate that our universe is flat and currently consists of approximately 70% dark energy, 25% dark matter, and 5% baryonic matter and radiation. A fundamental question in this direction is the nature and origin of the dark energy. The hierarchy and cosmological constant problems are other outstanding problems in particle physics and cosmology. To solve them, recently brane-world scenarios were proposed, in which our four-dimensional universe is considered as a brane embedded in a high dimensional bulk. An important result of such investigations is that high dimensional black holes are predicted to be produced in the next generation of colliders in laboratories, such as the newly-built Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In addition, theories of gravity, including general relativity, predict the existence of black holes and gravitational waves. Black holes, their thermodynamics and formation from gravitational collapse have been one of the main focuses in the last couple of decades. Recently these studies have further been promoted by several gravitational wave detectors, such as LIGO (USA, 2002), GE600 (Germany & England, 2002), Virgo (Italy & France, 2002), and TAM300 (Japan, 2001). Publications: Q. Wu, P. Vo, N.O. Santos, A. Wang, JCAP, 09, 004 (2008) [arXiv:0804.0620]. P. Rocha, A.Y. Miguelote, R. Chan, M.F. da Silva, N.O. Santos, and A. Wang, JCAP, 06, 025 (2008) [arXiv:0803.4200]. A. Wang and N.O. Santos, The cosmological constant in the brane world of string theory on S1/Z2, Phys. Lett. B, in press (2008) [arXiv:0712.3938]. Y.-G. Gong, A. Wang, and Q. Wu, Phys. Lett. B 663, 147 (2008) [arXiv:0711.1597]. Y.-G. Gong, Q. Wu, and A. Wang, Astrophys. J. 681, 27 (2008) [arXiv:0708.1817]. Q. Wu, Y. Gong, A. Wang, and J. Alcaniz, Phys. Lett. B 659, 34 (2008) [arXiv:0705.1006]. A. Tziolas and A. Wang, Phys. Lett. B 661, 5 (2008) [arXiv:0704.1311]. A. Wang, R.-G. Cai, N.O. Santos, Nucl. Phys. B 797, 395 (2008) [arXiv:astro-ph/0607371]. Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Page 15 Faculty Research Profiles B. F. L. Ward Distinguished Professor Research Interests: Theoretical Physics Particle Physics Relativistic Quantum Mechanics Quantum Field Theory Recent Publication: B.F.L. Ward IR -Improved DGLAP-CS Theory: Kernels, Parton Distributions, Reduced Cross Sections, Annals of Physics 323, (2008) 2147 – 2171. The goal of theoretical elementary particle physics is to understand the most fundamental laws which govern our universe, and to understand the structure and nature of the universe at the deepest level. Theorists at Baylor are approaching these questions from a variety of perspectives. Standard Model Phenomenology The interactions of all known subatomic particles can be described by a single theoretical framework known as the "Standard Model". This model describes matter in terms of leptons (including electrons, neutrinos, ...) and quarks, together with their interactions via force-carriers called "gauge bosons", which include the photon, W and Z bosons, and gluons. The theory is modeled by a gauge group SU(2)L x U(1) x SU(3)c which encompasses all known forces except gravity, which is too weak on small scales to have been observed in any particle physics experiments. An important constituent of the standard model is the Higgs boson, which is associated with a Higgs field which causes most of the particles in the standard model to acquire a mass. Large high-energy physics laboratories such as the ones at Fermilab, SLAC, and CERN, have been very successful in verifying the predictions of the standard model, with the exception of finding the Higgs boson. Discovering and uncovering the properties of the Higgs boson is the primary goal of particle colliders currently under construction, including the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. Interpreting the results of high-energy collisions in terms of the standard model requires high precision calculations of the various processes and backgrounds which are to be observed. The theoretical high energy physics phenomenology group at Baylor focuses on rigorous quantum field theoretic investigations an em- phasis on the theory of higher order radiative corrections to the SU(2)L x U(1) x SU(3)c model of elementary particle interactions. Dr. Ward is engaged in constructing computer realizations of the quantum field theory calculations required for high-precision tests of the Standard Model. Collision properties are calculated in the context of realistic detector simulations using "Monte Carlo" event generators, which randomly generate scattering events based on the predictions of quantum field theory. The Monte Carlo realization of the radiative corrections has played an essential role in precision Standard Model tests and new physics probes in the LEPII final data analysis, and in the preparation of the physics for the CERN LHC. These calculations also have immediate consequences for the ongoing studies at the lower-energy FNAL Tevatron and for precision Standard Model tests at the B-Factories and at the Φ-Factory. High precision is achieved via resummation methods based on the theory of Yennie, Frautschi and Suura (YFS), which have been extended to non-Abelian gauge theories like QCD. The YFS methods, which allow one to resum the infrared terms in quantum field theory, can also be extended and applied to perturbative quantum gravity. Dr. Ward has been investigating this, and in the process has found a new way to analyze classes of quantum gravity graphs which may otherwise have been expected to produce divergences. This may provide a fruitful new approach to the long-standing problem of quantizing gravity. More recently, this summer Dr. Ward was invited to lecture at the Werner-Heisenberg-Institut, Max-Planck-Institut, Munich, Germany, at the 2008 HERA-LHC Workshop in CERN, Geneva, Switzerland, and at the 34th International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP08) in Philadelphia, PA. The lecture at the MPI, as with his poster presentation at ICHEP08, presented a summary of the new results of his group on their unique platform for precision LHC physics by MC methods, the only such platform in the world wherein quarks can be massive in the higher order initial state QCD radiation. His lecture at ICHEP08 presented the latest result of this new UV finite approach to quantum general relativity. Page 16 Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Faculty Research Profiles Walter Wilcox Professor Research Interests: My Baylor colleague, Abdou Abdel-Rehim (now moved to William and Mary University), and I attended the “Lattice 2008” conference in Williamsburg, VA this past summer. We made two presentations there involving new deflated hermitian matrix inversions methods as well as some new results for electric polarizability on the lattice. This work is being done in collaboration with Ron Morgan of the Baylor mathematics Department. Lattice QCD Disconnected Diagrams Hadron Polarizability Deflation Algorithms Finite Quark Matter The following presentations can be retrieved from the conference site using the links. These three presentations are entitled (respectively): Deflated and restarted symmetric Lanczos methods for linear equations in lattice QCD problems with multiple right-hand side Recent Publication: http://conferences.jlab.org/lattice 2008/talks/parallel/walter_wilcox.pdf With Dean Darnell and Ronald B. Morgan, Seed methods for linear equations in lattice QCD problems with multiple right-hand sides Deflated GMRES for Systems with Multiple Shifts and Multiple Right-Hand Sides, Linear Algebra and its Applications, 429, (2008), pp. 2415-2434. http://conferences.jlab.org/lattice 2008/talks/poster/abdou_abdel-rehim.pdf Tests of Electric Polarizability on the Lattice http://conferences.jlab.org/lattice 2008/talks/poster/frank_lee.pdf Research Area Description My main area of research is the study of the interactions of particles known as quarks and gluons; I do extensive numerical simulations of the theory describing these particles, known as Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). Lattice QCD represents a numerical attempt to solve, and compare to experiment, physically observable quantities. State of the art numerical methods, including matrix deflation, are used to solve the theory on high performance computers. My field is called “lattice" QCD because I simulate the interactions of the theory on a discrete space-time lattice using numerical methods on supercomputers. The variables in the lattice represent the QCD vacuum, the basis of all other particle states. These variables are determined via a Monte Carlo procedure in each “configuration” and all physical quantities are then defined by an average over these configurations. Lattice QCD benefits from a synergy of field theory, experimental particle physics and computer technology. One of my recent areas of activity has been the electric and magnetic polarizability coefficients, as well as magnetic moments, of hadronic systems. We do these calculations by putting uniform electric or magnetic external fields in the lattice simulations and measuring the changes in energy of the particle. This work is being done in collaboration with Frank X. Lee at George Washington University. See the figure to the right, from Phys. Lett. B 627: 71 (2005), giving the magnetic moments of the proton and neutrons as a function of pion mass squared. The lines are simple extrapolations from the data and the red triangles are experimental values of these quantities. When I was a graduate student, I never imagined that one would be able to calculate these quantities. Lattice QCD is working well! Recent Publications: Magnetic moments of vector, axial, and tensor mesons in lattice QCD, Frank X. Lee, Scott Moerschbacher (George Washington U.), and Walter Wilcox, arXiv: 0807.4150 (submitted for publication, Phys. Rev. D). Deflated and restarted symmetric Lanczos methods for eigenvalues and linear equations with multiple right-hand sides, Abdou M. Abdel-Rehim (Baylor U.) , Ronald B. Morgan, Dywayne A. Nicely (Baylor U., Math. Dept.), and Walter Wilcox, arXiv: 0806.3477 (submitted for publication, SIAM J. Scientific Computing, special issue for Copper Mtn conference). Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Page 17 Lecturer Profiles Tibra Ali Born in Bangladesh, Tibra received his bachelor and masters degrees from Dhaka University (birthplace of BoseEinstein statistics). He obtained his PhD in High Energy Physics in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Cambridge University. After a postdoctoral position here at Baylor, Tibra joined the department as a lecturer teaching PHY 1420 & 1430 and is supervising the introductory sequence tutorials. In 2008, Tibra published “A Note on the standard embedding on half-flat manifolds” with Dr. Gerald Cleaver in JHEP, 0807:121 (2008). Linda Kinslow Linda Kinslow has been teaching at Baylor University for seven years. She also coordinates the undergraduate physics labs. Prior to coming to Baylor she worked for BP as a exploration geophysicist. Linda earned her PhD degree from Baylor. John Vasut John Vasut received his PhD from Baylor University in 2001 and has been working as a full-time lecturer in the department since 2002. He was named Advisor of the Year at the 14th Annual Baylor Advisor Appreciation Banquet held on April 16, 2007. Yumei Wu Yumei received her PhD from the University of Ioannina in Greece in 1992. In addition to lecturing, she continues to do theoretical research in viscoelastic systems. In 2007, Yumei published “Kink Instability of Self-Similar Solutions of Scalar Field in 2+1 Gravity with A. Wang in Gen. Relativ. Grav. 39, 663-676 (2007). Edward Schaub Ed Schaub has been involved in the Baylor Physics department for the past 22 years, first as an instrumentation engineer on the NASA CRAF/CoDEM project under the leadership of Dr. Merle Alexander, and most recently as a full-time lecturer. Previous to his Baylor employment, Schaub held a number of positions in industry. He was a production engineer with Texas Instruments in the Government Products Division and a research engineer with AFS Research Corporation investigating alternate energy resources. Schaub holds an M.S. in Physics and an M.S. in Environmental Studies. … and our latest addition: Randy Hall The Department is pleased to welcome Randy Hall as a lecturer this fall. Randy received his Bachelor’s of Science degrees in Physics and Mathematics from Baylor in 1971, and an MS in Mathematics from Baylor in 1972). Randy did additional graduate work in mathematics and computer science (1973-75) at UT Austin. Randy Hall is President and CEO of Digatex, Inc., a developer and supplier of accounting and management software for soft drink bottlers and other food and beverage distributors (1978-2007). He is married to Cathey L Hall (BSEd Baylor 1973) and they have a daughter Jessica (BBA Baylor 2006) currently a 3rd year law student at Texas Wesleyan in Fort Worth. This summer, Randy participated in the First Bytes Workshop given by the computer science department at the University of Texas at Austin. Page 18 Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Special Research Focus: Nano-scale physics The Quest for Understanding Nanometer-sized Defects In this new millennium, a greater emphasis is placed on nanoscale science and technology. The need for fundamental science in this area has been underlined in a DOE report [1]. “The reason that nanoscale materials and structures are so interesting is that size constraints often produce qualitatively new behavior… Although such changes can be the dominant effects in nanoscale structures, we still have remarkably little experience or intuition for the expected phenomena and their practical implication, except for electronic systems…Thus, there is an urgent need for broadly based investigations of the physical phenomena associated with confined systems, especially in materials and structural contexts where the implications are not at all well understood.” A pair of line defects together with two charged end structures creates perhaps the smallest capacitor (white lines) in the world. As expected for quantum confinement, a long-wavelength oscillatory feature is seen. Titanium dioxide is an example of a system that provides a playground rich with new emergent behaviors stemming from nano-scale defects. Linear defects on the surface of TiO2(110) form in pairs separated by 1.2 nm creating a quantum dot (Figure). However, the two charged structures at the ends provide strong electron-electron correlation for electrons injected from an STM tip to “push up” the energy levels within the confined box from milli-electron volts to the electron volts range. The consequence of this Coulomb-blockade-like behavior is to enable the direct observation of charge density oscillation even at room temperature! [2] Nano-scale defects also play an important role in chemistry. Ever since Valden et al. reported the exceptional oxidation reactivity of gold nanoparticles on TiO2 [3], there have been intensive investigations of the Au adsorption sites and the origin of the catalytic activity worldwide. Recent STM data analysis by graduate student Nancy Yu has identified that only certain types of defects, similar to the end structures shown above, attract gold atoms preferentially. These defects are topographically distinct from the sub-stoichiometric linear defects. Atomistic modeling of the structure is currently in progress. [1] D.H. Lowndes (Ed.), Nanoscale Science, Engineering and Technology Research Directions. Basic Energy Sciences Program, US Department of Energy, ORNL, 1999. [2] V. Meunier, M.H. Pan, F. Moreau, K.T. Park, and E.W. Plummer, Scanning tunneling microscope (STM) submitted to PNAS (2008). [3] M. Valden, X. Lai, and D.W. Goodman, Science 281, 1647 (1998). at ORNL used for study. Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Page 19 Special Research Focus: AMO Physics Lab Above: Dr. Ari’s new AMO facility in the E wing of the BSB. Left: Fume hood and workbenches Right: Student work area in adjoining space to the laboratory. This year brought the completion of the new Atomic, Molecular, and Optical (AMO) laboratory on the third floor E-wing of the BSB. The laboratory, in support of Dr. Ariyasinghe’s (Ari’s) group, marks the completion of the physics research facilities on the hallway. Page 20 Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Newsletter Highlights: September/October 2007 The Texas Section of the American Physical Society (TSAPS) held its Fall 2007 meeting at Texas A&M Oct 1820 at Texas A&M. The conference was held jointly by TSAPS, TSAAPT, and SPS zone 13. In recent years the conference has also been supported by the APS Forum for Industrial and Applied Physics (FIAP), and the National Societies for Black and Hispanic Physicists (NSBP and NSHP). The local organizers at Texas A&M, lead by Dr. Roland Allen, with support from the Mitchell Institute, organized an excellent conference with an outstanding list of Invited speakers: Dudley Herschbach, “The Second Einstein Centennial”, Douglas Osheroff, “How Advances in Science Are Made”, Helmut Katzgraber “The Physics of Diving”, Oscar Vilches, “1, 2 & 3 Dimensional Physics with Films Absorbed on Carbon Nanotube Bundles”, Banquet Presentation -Fred Jerome and Rodger Taylor “Einstein on Race and Racism”, Laura Smoliar, “Industrial Physics”, Keith Baker, “Exciting Prospects and New Experiments in both High Energy and Nuclear Physics”, Vy Tran “The Great Observatories: New Windows into the Universe”, Casey Papovich “Probing the Universe in the Infrared with the Spitzer Space Telescope”, Lucas Macri “How to Measure the Age of the Universe” Along with the invited speakers nearly 150 contributed talks and posters were presented. Also, TSAAPT sponsored teaching workshops specializing in demonstrations and new lab equipment. Our department’s own Dwight Russell served as President of the Texas Section for the 2007 year. November/December 2007 Dr. Gary White Director, Society of Physics Students, Sigma Pi Sigma Assistant Director of Education, American Institute of Physics gave a special departmental colloquium in the Fall of 2007 entitled, “The Secret Lives of Hidden Physicists.” The talk highlighted the variety of careers open to physics students, as well as how physicists end up in the strangest of places. For those of you unable to attend the talk, a video is available at: http://jay-dittmann.baylor.edu/garywhite/presentation.mov Slides of the talk itself are also available at: Dr. Gary White demonstrates the use http://jay-dittmann.baylor.edu/garywhite/presentation.pdf of a spandex sheet as an intuitive/ counterintuitive model of the fabric of space. Several students participated in Editor’s note: Dr. White expressed his enjoyment of the visit to Drs. Linda and Jeffrey Olafsen at the APS March Meeting in New Orleans, LA a few months later. We’ll be looking forward to his return. the demonstration. January/February 2008 Nabita Manandhar, Kedar Manandhar and Ken Park at the Doctoral Dinner Reception on Saturday, December 14. Also attending but not pictured were Greg and Dana Benesh and Ken’s wife, Maria. The Doctoral Dinner is one of the truly great parts of Commencement Weekend for our PhD students, as is the gauntlet of faculty that greet and congratulate the new doctor as they leave the stage at graduation. Our prayers and best wishes go with Kedar (at the time, our latest PhD) and wife Nabita. Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Page 21 Newsletter Highlights: March/April 2008 Kodiak, the new computational resource on campus, has 128 nodes with 8 processors each, for a total of 1024 processors. From recent results, we have surmised that it runs about 40 times faster than the old Baylor cluster. This is measured from fermion inversion, using GMRES-DR (Generalized Minimum Residual-Deflated Restarted) on 24 x 24 x 24 x 48 lattices at very small quark masses. One of these runs took about 7.3 seconds on the Kodiak cluster (432 processors) compared to 281 seconds (48 processors) to complete on the old HP cluster. Once the cooling situation is under control, we will be able to run on twice as many processors. We are told that this makes the Baylor computer ~300th fastest in the world! Kodiak is expected to run at 4-5 teraflops on Linpack benchmark and it uses an Infiniband network. (The fastest computer in the world at the moment is the 212,000 processor IBM BlueGene/L machine at Lawrence Livermore National Lab. It runs at 478 Teraflops!) Currently, we are doing two things with this cluster. First, with Ron Morgan, we do full scale tests of new computer algorithms for solving linear equations. This is the Applied Mathematics part of our work. Second, we use these algorithms to then solve field theory problems in the field of lattice QCD. The linear equations one finds there are some of the most difficult systems to solve in all of physics. This is (a) because the matrices are so large! (on the order of a 10 million by 10 million square matrix) and (b) because the problem is usually "illconditioned". That is, the system of equations are ALMOST singular. We attack this latter problem with a technique called "deflation", which solves the HARD part of the problem in a special way and makes the complete solution much faster. - Originally submitted by Walter Wilcox, who apparently still is giddy about the new resource! May/June 2008 Our own Dr. Dwight Russell received recognition at the Spring 2008 Commencement ceremony on May 17th. Dr. Russell was honored with an Outstanding Faculty Award for Teaching by Tenured Faculty. Part of the nomination for Dr. Russell read: “Dr. Russell has taught numerous graduate and undergraduate courses since he joined the Baylor faculty in 2001. Most notably, he has been teaching PHY 1455, Descriptive Astronomy, since Spring 2002 and it has come to be one of the most popular laboratory science courses on campus, filling its maximum enrollment of 300 students each semester. However, Dr. Russell is just as devoted to encouraging and mentoring students in their research activities. He has directed the research efforts of students and teachers in the Physics REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) and RET (Research Experience for Teachers) programs. Dr. Russell has been very active in the Texas Section of the American Physical Society (TSAPS), serving as Chair-elect and Chair in the last two years. As part of these duties he organized the student award competition and helped establish the Robert S. Hyer Award for students and their research advisor. The wholehearted support of his students and colleagues for his nomination for this honor speak volumes for how deserving he is.” Summer 2008 Once again the Baylor Department of Physics and CASPER hosted the NSF REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) and RET (Research Experience for Teachers) programs. This year we had thirteen undergraduate students and three high school teachers participating in the program. Theoretical and experimental research projects were conducted under the direction of Mr. Dick Campbell, Dr. Truell Hyde, Dr. Ken Park, Dr. Lorin Matthews, Dr. Ray Nazzario, Dr. Jeffrey Olafsen, Dr. Dwight Russell, and Dr. Anzhong Wang. Page 22 Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 The Graduate Program Dear physics alumni and friends, It is an exciting and productive time in the Baylor Physics Department and it is a pleasure to share some of the accomplishments in the graduate program over the past year by our students and professors. The most important recent development in the graduate program is the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) stipend enhancement agreement worked out and authorized by former Provost Randall O’Brien and former President John Lilley. This was a landmark decision recognizing that for Baylor to be competitive in attracting good technically-minded students, a substantially increased stipend was necessary. This was the result of many people acting in agreement on this issue, including Graduate Dean Larry Lyon, Associate Dean Kenneth Wilkins, and our Chair, Dr. Greg Benesh. All Baylor STEM Ph.D. students are scheduled to have their base stipends increased from $15,500 per year to $19,000 for the 2009-2010 fiscal year, a 22.6% across the board increase in just one year! Last year we also received an increased contribution from Baylor for health insurance for those graduate students with spouses and students. We can now compete with other Big Twelve Schools in recruiting the best graduate students available, especially considering that additional stipend enhancements are also available for outstanding students from the Graduate School. We have three new graduate students this year: Jared Greenwald from Brigham Young University, Brandon Harris from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Ke Zhu, from the Physics School, Wuhan, China. All three students had outstanding GRE scores and received significant stipend enhancements from the Graduate School. We wish them well in their studies! We also had three graduations over the past year. Rui Wu, whose advisor was Dr. Anzhong Wang, graduated in December, 2007 with an M.S. degree. Kedar Manandhar also graduated at that time with a Ph.D. under the direction of Dr. Ken Park. In addition, Michael (Mick) Whitaker, graduated this summer with an M.A. degree. His oral presentation Chair was Dr. Dwight Russell. The 13 graduate faculty members in the department are now able to offer 6 graduate courses per semester in the physics department (7 if you count colloquium), which is a significant help for our graduate students in getting the courses they need to advance their careers as quickly as possible. Besides our Ph.D. ”core” courses, this means we can offer two electives in the fall and three in the spring. Our revised graduate preliminary exam procedures, instituted several years ago, have also helped to speed their studies. The research done in the department, as compiled by Gerald Cleaver in the 2006-2007 academic year, consisted of 72 scholarly publications, 38 conferences attended and 22 grants received. You may see samplings of recent papers from our professors and graduate students in the wooden display tray collection in the physics conference room. Read and enjoy! Very best wishes, Walter Wilcox Graduate Program Director for Physics Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 The Undergraduate Program Dear Alumni and Friends of the Physics Department, The 2008-09 academic year is now in full swing! The Physics Department has more physics students than ever before. We especially welcome nearly a dozen new first-year students! The enrollment in our general physics courses is also at an all-time high. Of these, Descriptive Astronomy (PHY 1455), taught by Dr. Dwight Russell, is running near maximum for several semesters in a row. The algebra-based General Physics I (PHY 1408) course is also a popular choice among students, with 5 sections taught by Drs. John Vasut, Yumei Wu, Ed Schaub, and Linda Kinslow. Based on the success of our honors physics program last year, we are once again offering an honors section of calculus-based General Physics I (PHY 1420 H1). This section, taught by Dr. Linda Olafsen, is geared especially for ambitious students with a strong background. This year’s class boasts students from a variety of majors including physics, math, biology, chemistry, biochemistry, engineering, business, political science, and university scholars. Dr. John Vasut will be teaching the honors section of calculus-based General Physics II (PHY 1430 H1) in the spring semester. This fall, Modern Physics (PHY 2350) is being taught by Dr. Tibra Ali and boasts an enrollment of 15 students! Even our most seasoned physics faculty members can’t remember Modern Physics with such a high enrollment. The growth of the Physics Department is tremendously exciting! This year we will continue to develop undergraduate research opportunities and complete a careful study of how our curriculum compares to that of our peers. Finally, we are submitting a proposal for new astronomy and astrophysics degree options within the department. With kind regards, Jay Dittmann Director of Undergraduate Studies Our graduating seniors in 2008: (l - r) Meg Vaitses, Pamela Vo, Kyle Lartigue, and Matthew Benesh (w/bride, Emily) Page 23 Page 24 Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Departmental Scholarships Baylor University Department of Physics Physics Funds Cy Lynch Physics Scholarship (032 SBUX) This scholarship is merit-based for graduate students. Gordon K. Teal Physics Scholarship (032 SBVA) This scholarship is for physics majors with outstanding grades. Herbert Schwetman Physics Scholarship (032 SBUZ) This scholarship is merit-based for physics majors. Physics Department Special Scholarship (032 SBUY) Funds to benefit the departmental scholarship program. Physics Endowment and Excellence Fund (032 MAUN) Physics general fund to promote excellence within the Department. Roy W. Stiegler, Jr., Endowed Physics Scholarship Fund (032 SDFN) This scholarship is need-based for physics undergraduate and graduate students. Shim and Theresa Park Physics Scholarship (032 SCPS) This scholarship is merit-based for international students. People sometimes ask us how they can help us accomplish our goals of growing as a Department. One important way in which all of our alumni and friends can help is to give to the ongoing support of the scholarships that we offer to students within our Department. A list of these scholarships and their goals are provided here. Last year, eight undergraduates and six graduate students received awards ranging from several hundred to a few thousand dollars given on the basis of merit and need. One of the great benefits of having these scholarships is the good that can be accomplished by gifts of any size made to these funds. Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Page 25 A Very Special Event Dr. Robert G. Packard, Emeritus Professor of Physics, returns in the Spring 2009 Semester to teach Physics 1405 (known informally as “Packard Physics”), Section 1, TuesdayThursday 12:30-1:45 in BSB D110. Page 26 Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Baylor Physics in the Future Planetarium Visits The Department is seeking to expand its current offerings in Astronomy. Due to the popularity of our Astronomy classes, and the interest in courses beyond the introductory level, we foresee a need to expand our programs in Astronomy and Astrophysics at Baylor. The Department is also working to add facilities for a planetarium on campus. With expanding the astronomy program in our department, the interest in improved facilities is also growing. This includes both observational and educational facilities. Presently collaboration with the Central Texas Astronomical Society provides our students access to the Meyer observatory with its 24" Richey-Chretien telescope. For presentation of the night sky and astronomical events, planetariums provide the best facilities. The need for one at Baylor is also growing. Our interest has prompted us to visit planetariums in the Central Texas area. It has turned out to be an interesting time to do so. The advent of computers and digital projection techniques has ushered in a new generation of planetariums. The traditional starball optical projection systems are being replaced by more modern technologies. We have visited two planetariums. Dwight Russell, Greg Benesh and Jeff Olafsen first visited the planetarium located at the Museum of Nature & Science at Fair Park in Dallas. It is in a small 24’ dome but has a Digistar III projection system. Digistar III is the latest generation of the Digistar projectors. Digistar systems are produced by Evans and Sutherland in Salt Lake City, Utah. Digistar III systems are based on sophisticated software for producing star fields combined with motion picture quality video. There are several Digistar III models differing in the projector subsystem used. The most common is a CRT based system using 6 CRT projectors spaced around the edge of the dome to produce the full sky. The CRT system can generate a 3-4 million-pixel image on the dome. The Fair Park Planetarium instead uses a laser-based projector capable of producing 13 million pixels. The higher resolution comes at a cost - the enormous digital video throughput required over a dozen computers working in concert to provide real-time full dome images. The system also suffered from lack of uniformity in the black background and planet projection but gave us a clear idea of the power of the new technology. John Cotton, the technical advisor for the Planetarium, was a wonderful host with plenty hands on experience with a variety of Planetarium projection methods. It was a great introduction to modern Planetariums. Our next visit was to The Cooke Planetarium in Corsicana. Walter Wilcox and John Vasut joined Dwight and Greg for this trip. The Cooke Planetarium was huge with a 60’ dome and 200 seats. The projection system was an earlier Digistar II system. It has a raster projector that limits it to projecting points and lines. It is not capable of full digital video projection but did produce a better star field than the Fair Park Planetarium. Because it is an older system, lacking new programming, this is not a viable option but it gave a great perspective on the changing technology and the impact of the sheer space of a large dome. Our next trip will be to the Mayborn Planetarium in Killeen. The Mayborn Planetarium is using digital projector for films and a traditional starball for sky fields. Check with Dwight Russell x2273 and if you have the time - maybe you can join us! Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Page 27 Baylor Physics in the Nation’s Capital Dr. Linda Olafsen traveled twice this year to Washington, DC with colleagues from the Materials Research Society (MRS) in order to discuss appropriations of funding for basic research at the offices of a variety of members of Congress, including Texas Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn and Representative Chet Edwards. During the March 5 visit, Members of Congress were encouraged to support the FY09 President’s budget for the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and Department of Defense (DOD) Basic Research to stay on target to double these appropriations over the next 10 years. While the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science (COMPETES) Act–signed into law in 2007–authorized a doubling of these budgets for basic research, it is still necessary to appropriate the necessary funds in each budget cycle. Senator Hutchison and Representative Edwards are key members of the appropriations committees in the Senate and House. The plea to members of Congress also included a request for supplemental appropriations to correct last year’s final Omnibus appropriation decisions for NSF, DOE Office of Science, and NIST that did not maintain the required doubling track. Supplemental funding was approved, and while not at the levels in the President’s budget, was of benefit to many programs at NSF and DOE. Dr. Olafsen was teamed with constituents from California and visited the offices of Senator Boxer, Representative Capps, and Representative Honda in addition to visiting members of the Texas delegation. The visit September 17 was in the midst of a hectic season in Washington as members of Congress prepare to complete necessary business so they could return home to campaign. With many other crises, partisan politics, and the uncertainty attached to the upcoming presidential election, it was widely believe that new budgets would not be passed and that a Continuing Resolution would be passed to keep the government running at FY08 levels either until after the elections or after the new year. Despite that expectation, MRS representatives visited the offices of many members of Congress, encouraging them to continue the doubling track for basic research funding so that the country will not be facing a “science crisis” in the coming years. Dr. Olafsen visited nine offices; in addition to meeting staff from Representative Edwards and Senators Hutchison and Cornyn, she visited the offices of members from Alabama (Senators Shelby and Sessions, Representative Cramer) and North Carolina (Senators Dole and Burr, Representative Price). There are a number of Baylor graduates working for members of Congress. Dr. Olafsen met with one of them, Sara Butler, who works in Senator Cornyn’s office. There are a number of Baylor graduates working for members of Congress, and Dr. Olafsen had the opportunity to meet Sara Butler in Senator Cornyn’s office and was scheduled to meet with Denise Edwards in Representative Bud Cramer’s office, though Denise was unfortunately detained in another meeting. A number of other staffers mentioned that they worked with Baylor alumni, making it fun to see the presence and impact of Baylor graduates in the nation’s capital. While in Washington, Dr. Olafsen took advantage of several extra hours to meet with program managers at NSF, the Office of Naval Research, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. The discussions were beneficial, and program managers made very useful suggestions about opportunities at their respective funding agencies. More information about America COMPETES Act: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.uscongress/legislation.110HR2272 http://science.house.gov/legislation/leg_highlights_detail.aspx?NewsID=1938 Dr. Linda Olafsen meets Representative Chet Edwards May 2007 Page 28 Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Baylor Physics in the World Distinguished Professor B.F.L. Ward (third row, just to the right of center) gave the presentation, “Exact Amplitude - Based Resummation Approach to Precision QCD: Recent Results” at the Approaches to Quantum Chromodynamics Physics Symposium in Oberwolz, Austria from September 7 - 13, 2008. A new agreement with the University of Stuttgart in Germany will provide new opportunities for Baylor faculty and staff. The intent of the agreement is to bridge the gap between discoveries in our research laboratories and the practical application of those discoveries in industry. The Baylor Advanced Research Institute, under the direction of Dr. Truell W. Hyde, vice provost for research at Baylor, will oversee the relationship, which will include: • exchange visits for faculty and students; • joint research activities and projects; • exchange of research students and young scientists; and • exchange of academic materials and other information. Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Page 29 Baylor Physics in the υ’s, Nu’s, News Dr. Gerald Cleaver, Associate Professor of Physics, and his Ph.D. student Richard Obousy, received national and international attention for their recent articles, Warp Drive: A New Approach, to appear in the peer-reviewed Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, and Putting the Warp into Warp Drive, written at the request of the editors of Spaceflight magazine. Cleaver and Obousy were interviewed live on BBC radio and interviewed for articles about their papers by FoxNews.com, Discovery Channel, Space.com, MSNBC.com, and UPI.com. Reports on Cleaver’s and Obousy’s papers also appeared on numerous science websites including PhysicsWorld.com, LiveScience, and itwire, and in several international newspapers, as afar away as Australia and Russia. Their papers are either reviewed or discussed on over 2700 websites. In addition to his appearance in the Baylor Lariat discussing the developing ELG on computational learning, Jeffrey Olafsen continues to receive a good bit of publicity concerning his Physical Review Letter with G. William Baxter last August on “Experimental Evidence for Molecular Chaos in Granular Gases.” Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 028001 (2007). Several on-line news organizations including Science Daily, Newswise, Softpedia and RealScience have picked up the story that originally was published by Baylor Marketing & Communications and authored by Matt Pene. Editor’s note: This story was taken from a Baylor press release authored by Matt Pene Dr. Bennie F.L Ward, distinguished professor of physics at Baylor University, has received an honorable mention in an international essay competition conducted by the Gravity Research Foundation. The year-long competition seeks “the most pioneering essays in research on the subject of gravitation, its theory, application or effects.” “Resummed Quantum Gravity” presents a new solution to the famous problem that Albert Einstein could not solve - the union of the quantum mechanics theory of Bohr and the fundamental general theory of relativity by Einstein. “I am excited and honored to have been recognized in this exceedingly strong competition,” Ward said. “The recognition shows that Baylor's physics department is creating physics on the cutting-edge, something essential for any physics department that hopes to become a top-tier department.” Baylor grad students Samantha Hewamanage and Martin Frank, along with Dr. Jay Dittmann, attended the April Meeting of the American Physical Society in St. Louis, Missouri, from April 12-15, 2008. Sam gave a presentation entitled “Search for Anomalous Production of Gamma + Jets + Missing Transverse Energy,” which describes a signature-based, model-independent search for physics beyond the Standard Model at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. This analysis is being peformed by Sam with Nils Krumnack, Jay Dittmann, Ray Culbertson, and Sasha Pronko. Sam was awarded a $300 Graduate School Travel Award to provide partial support for travel expenses. Martin Frank and Sam Hewamanage each recently completed a 3-month term of duty as “ACE” for the Collder Detector at Fermilab experiment. The CDF experiment collects data from proton-antiproton collisions almost constantly, and a three-person shift crew is on duty 24 hours a day to operate the detector, monitor the experimental apparatus, and verify the data quality. The “ACE” is the member of the shift crew in charge of controlling the data-taking systems for the 5000-ton detector. Not an easy job! Congratulations, Martin and Sam! Jay Dittmann, leader of the Experimental High Energy Physics group, was awarded a 3-year grant renewal totaling $240,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy. This grant provides support for Baylor's participation on the CDF experiment at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, IL. Jay recently served as the leader of the review committee for an analysis of momentum correlations of particles in hadronic jets produced in proton-antiproton collisions. This measurement, entitled “Two-particle momentum correlations in jets produced in proton-antiproton collisions at 1.96 TeV” was recently accepted for publication in Physical Review D. As leader of the review committee, Dr. Dittmann thoroughly reviewed the data analysis and edited significant portions of the publication. Mike Hutcheson is working on configuring the HP cluster (Kodiak) for submitting performance data to the “Top 500” list of the world’s fastest computers. The additional air conditioning capacity has been installed to enable running on all 1024 processors. Page 30 Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Baylor Physics on the Web New Undergraduate Research Webpage Visitors to the Physics Department Webpage will notice a new link and page devoted to Undergraduate Research Opportunities within the Department here at Baylor University. While the specific information for the webpage is still being gathered, we encourage our majors and other students interested in opportunities in physics research to feel welcome to speak with any of the following faculty who want to involve undergraduate students with work in their research laboratories. The list of faculty includes: Professors Ariyasinghe, Benesh, Cleaver, Dittmann, Hyde, Matthews, both Jeffrey and Linda Olafsen, and Park. Students should feel welcome to visit and discuss research opportunities with any of these faculty. More information about each of their specific research opportunities will be forthcoming on the webpage in the near future. The web has allowed Drs. Dwight Russell and Jeffrey Olafsen to have a good bit of fun on April Fool’s Day “demonstrating” how a wormhole works, theoretically allowing nearly instantaneous travel between two distant points in space. The demonstration involved the two doors at the front of the lecture hall. For those of you who would like to see the demonstration, the department has posted a video of it to YouTube. You can either visit the YouTube website and search for “Baylor wormhole” or type in/follow this link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi1ZGL3bMV4 The video currently has had over 7000 hits. Editor’s note: That’s better than some NASA videos! Visit us on the web! http://www.baylor.edu/physics In addition to the other materials discussed above, on our website, we keep an archive of the prior monthly and annual newsletters. We welcome you to download these and use them to keep track of what is going on in the Department of Physics. Additionally, we know that many of you would like to be kept up to date when we publish a current issue of the Newsletter, so we have started a mailing list. An email will go out approximately every other month alerting you to when we have published a new issue and letting you know some of the highlights of its content. Participation in the Newsletter email is completely voluntarily and can be started (or stopped) at any time simply by sending an email to [email protected] from the email address that you would like to have added to our emailing list. (If you are mailing from a different email address than the one you would like to have used for the mailing, please simply tell us what email address to use.) Finally, Dr. Walter Wilcox is supervising an upgrade to the Baylor Physics Webpage with the help of ITS, the Information Technology Services here at Baylor University. If all goes as envisioned, potential graduate students will be able to apply for graduate work in our department through a form that will be available on the Baylor Physics Webpage. This effort represents the latest in a list of current upgrades to create more technologically convenient ways for people to interact (especially at a distance) with our department. Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Page 31 Baylor Physics Fun Right: “It couldn’t hurt Dr. Linda Olafsen’s head, they’re elastic balls - no energy is lost in collision. Here, try using the soccer ball, Sterling.”-Miss Jane Left: Material for tunic: $25 Phaser off E-bay: $15 Batteries: $ 4 Making physics fun: Priceless Right: Paul Dittmann teaches a pre-K class on combinatorics: “Okay, Jane, you can do this, three balls, two red and one orange; four kids, two girls and two boys; how many unique combinations? Anyone? Anyone?” Above: The easiest way to enjoy a cold drink in the Texas summer is through the use of liquid nitrogen - and lots of it! Right: Assuming a constant coefficient of friction, determine the height of the slide from the electrostatic repulsion on John’s head. Page 32 Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 ELG Development continues on into 2009 Editor’s note: The following story is partially reproduced from a Lariat article by Shannon Daily augmented with additional information from Jeffrey Olafsen, Director of the new ELG on computational learning entitled “Envisioning Information.” It is also updated for more recent developments. Three new Engaged Learning Groups (ELGs) were approved in February to start up this coming fall. The new ELGs consist of a Computational Learning group within the Department of Physics and the School of Engineering and Computer Sciences; a Global Community group within the Modern Foreign Languages and Journalism Departments; and an Entrepreneurship and Creative Leadership group within the Entrepreneurship and Theater Arts Departments. More information about the ELGs Dr. Frank Shushok, Dean for Student Learning and Engagement, said each ELG proposal was (Engaged Learning Groups) is reviewed and these three were selected because they represented the several different aspects an available on the Baylor website at ELG should incorporate. ELGs should integrate interdisciplinary learning, research and interac- http://www.baylor.edu/elg/ tion both in and out of the classroom with faculty, Shushok said. “They really are grassroots,” Shushok said of the ELGs. Dr. Jeffrey Olafsen, an Associate Professor of Physics who will be directing the Computational Learning ELG (recently renamed “Envisioning Information”), said the group's focus will be on the numerical analysis and graphical representation of data. Olafsen said they will look at “What makes a graph a good graph? Why does USA Today show graphs that have absolutely nothing to do with anything but people think they mean something because they use cute colors?” Based upon feedback obtained through the review process, the updated name and description of the Engaged Learning Group are presented here: Envisioning Information The advent of the personal computer has changed the manner in which information is collected, analyzed, and presented in both print media, such as newspapers and magazines, and electronic formats, such as television and the Internet. The computer, as a tool for both the collection and the presentation of information, has also become a part of nearly every academic discipline on the modern college campus. The effective presentation of information has the potential to affect public opinion as powerfully as the misrepresentation of the same information. In this ELG, we will discuss the analysis, representation, and delivery of information in both written and electronic formats as applied to a wide variety of statistical, observational, and empirically measured data. The goal of the course is to prepare students to effectively present graphical information in other courses, undergraduate research, and their eventual careers. Software for the course will be provided to the participants. Other course activities will include guest speakers, a series of video lectures on probability and statistics, community-building social events, and opportunities to engage in undergraduate research. The ELGs are designed for entering freshman students, will run for four consecutive semesters with the same 49 students in each group, and the 147 students will live together in Kokernot residence hall, which was renovated during summer 2008 exclusively for the participants. Updates: During the spring semester, it because clear that there were manpower issues associated with offering the ELG. The decision was made to postpone the offering of the ELG for another year. There have already been substantial changes since then. Drs. Linda J. Olafsen and Jeffrey S. Olafsen applied for supplemental funding to the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) program. The proposal, if successful, will allow us to address support of the ELG through stipends for two graduate student teaching assistants. Meanwhile, the ELG is being updated and will be resubmitted for this year’s competition and, hopefully, selection as an ELG for the 2009-2010 academic year. Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Page 33 A Devotional “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” Psalm 46:1 In his book, Michael Faraday: Sandemanian and Scientist, Geoffrey Cantor argues convincingly that Faraday’s many successes in the scientific community were the result of his active Christian faith, lived in fellowship with a small group of believers in Europe known as Glasites or Sandemanians. Influenced by the writings of John Glas and his son-in-law, Robert Sandeman, the little known group had no small effect on the Second Great Awakening religious revival that occurred in America in the 1800’s. Throughout Faraday’s life, it would be God speaking through the holy scriptures that would give balance and direction to all of his endeavors. Witnesses to his last few days on earth reported that it was not to his many achievements in science that the venerable old man would draw comfort, but to the profound, ancient words of the Psalmist who wrote: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” (Ps 46:1) These words, along with Psalm 23, were frequently on his lips, right up to the end of his life. In his conclusion, Cantor sums up Faraday’s attitude toward life in the scientist’s own words: “the natural works of God can never by any possibility come into contradiction with the higher things that belong to our future existence, and must with everything concerning Him, ever glorify the Father.” The Editor would like to thank Ed Schaub for providing this year’s Newsletter Devotional. Homecoming Events We do hope that all our of alumni and friends will plan on attending the following events associated with Homecoming at Baylor University on October 31 and November 1, 2008: Friday, October 31: The next time you visit the department, you’ll find we’ve added several bulletin boards to the research hallway so that guides and visitors may learn more about the research that is currently being pursued within the department. • 3:00 - 3:30 Informal Meet-N-Greet with our speaker, John Alred, Physics Conference Room • 3:30 - 4:30 Special Colloquium: Homecoming Speaker, John Alred, NASA Johnson Space Ctr • 4:30 - 5:30 Reception in honor of John Alred, BSB Tower Room E.301 Saturday, November 1: • Homecoming Breakfast, 8:30 a.m. (30 minutes before the parade reaches campus). • Note on the Breakfast: If the parade schedule is moved up to accommodate a changed game time for football, the breakfast will also be moved up to 8:00 a.m. as well. Transitions As a department and family, we know both the joys of welcoming new members to our circle and the bittersweet partings that life brings to us as well. In the last year, we had to say our farewells to Milton Lee Luedke, our valued friend and machinist who passed away on December 24, 2007. On Wednesday, October 1, 2008, the department held a reception to honor Dr. Bob Farmer’s many years of service to the department as a lecturer. Bob was presented at his reception with a Bluetooth accessory for his cell phone as a small token of the department’s appreciation. Page 34 Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Alumni Information Name: Amy Robertson Graduating Class: Spring 2006 Present Position: Graduate Student, U. of Washington Physics Department Comments about my work: I am currently finishing the required courses for a Ph.D. at the UW. I have officially immersed myself in the work of the Physics Education Group here and lead the Tutorial curriculum for the third quarter of the Introductory Sequence. I have also begun to lay the groundwork for what will become my dissertation(!) topic teacher and student understanding of the particulate nature of matter. My ultimate goal is to write curriculum for prospective and practicing teachers that will address this topic; this will include expanding upon existing curriculum as well as adding sections that do not yet exist! What a blessing it is! I started an 'organization' within the Physics Department that is focused on community-building through community service. Once a month, students, staff, and faculty have the opportunity to plant trees, serve in a soup kitchen, work in a shelter, etc., and it has been a huge success! In the picture on the right, myself and about ten faculty/staff/students went to a nursery to plant trees and pull weeds; this month, eighteen of us served lunch at a Men's Shelter and Women's and Children's Shelter downtown It has been such an amazing experience leading this group. I have had the opportunity to share Christ's love in a unique and dynamic way; I have watched people sincerely get to know one another; and I have been so encouraged by the ways in which we are impacting the community and building a strong and lasting reputation for our Department. I had to share my excitement with you all because I know you will be excited with me! Name: Samuel (Sam) E. Matteson Graduating Class: 1969 Present Position: Physics Professor & Interim Chair of Dept. of Speech & Hearing Sciences, University of North Texas Comments about my work: Physics has encouraged me to develop habits of mind that permit [me to find] the solutions to problems, often far afield from the discipline [of physics]. My education in our favorite science has empowered me to take a quantitative and systematic look at everything from faculty salary distributions to the optimum way to get to work to why footpaths develop on campus. Name: Charles (Chuck) E. Willingham, Jr. Graduating Class: BS degree in Mathematics and Minor in Physics in 1975 Present Positiion: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington Comments about my work: I followed my Baylor degrees with an MS in Engineering at UT Austin in 1977. I then spent 12 years at TXU Energy in Dallas, TX performing reactor physics analysis and providing reactor operations support for the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant near Fort Worth, TX. For the past 19 years, I have been working at the PNL in Richland, Washington, focusing on proliferation issues of foreign nuclear materials and international border security. I have completed over twenty publications and presentations on nuclear related topics including papers for the Nuclear Science and Engineering Journal and International Reactor Physics meetings. My wife was recently (2006) back in Waco as part of a reunion. The website at www.pnl.gov has many interesting links, including job opportunities as well as Breakthroughs, their online magazine. Articles include telling the difference between earthquakes and explosions that occur across the globe. Ursa Baylor Fall 2008 Page 35 Alumni News & Feedback What have you done with your Physics Degree? Please fill out this survey because we’d really like to know how Physics has shaped your career, so we can better communicate the options to our current and potential Physics Majors and graduates. Name: ______________________________________________________________________ Graduating Class: _______________________________________________________________ Address: _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ E-mail address: _______________________________________________________________ Phone Number(s):_______________________________________________________________ Present Position: _______________________________________________________________ Family and/or Work News: Comments about our idea of building an Astronomy Program within the Department: (please give a short answer here, or if you have more information please submit it to our newsletter at: [email protected]) Place Stamp Here Department of Physics Baylor University One Bear Place #97316 Waco, TX 76798-7316 Phone: (254) 710 - 2511 Fax: (254) 710 - 3878 [email protected] Dr. Gregory A. Benesh, Professor and Chair Department of Physics Baylor University One Bear Place #97316 Waco, TX 76798-7316 Visit us on the web ! http://www.baylor.edu/physics We’ll make it easy for you—just fold along this line! We really want to hear from you - so this is how easy we’re going to make it. Detach this last page of the newsletter, give us your most up to date contact information and news, fold along the solid line above, tape closed so the address above shows on the outside, add a stamp and drop it in the mail.