Asia Pacific Physics Newsletter

published by

Institute of Advanced Studies, Nanyang Technological University (IAS@NTU) and South East Asia Theoretical Physics Association (SEATPA)

World Scientificsupported by

Volume 3 • Number 2

Asia PacificPhysics Newsletter

APPN 2014 August

Nobel Laureate CN Yang Meets with Students June 2014

Nobel Laureate Roy Glauber on Physics and his personal experience.

“Seeking the Light in a Cavity” in conversation with Nobel Laureate Serge Haroche

Ken Wilson — The Early Years

Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics – Its Past and the Present

worldscinet.com/appn

Kavli Institute for Astronomyand Astrophysics @ Peking University

ii Asia Pacific Physics Newsletter

10 to 12 November 2014Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Exceptional Symmetries and Emerging Spacetime

International Workshop on

We welcome all interested participants to register. For more information, please visit IAS website at http://www.ntu.edu.sg/ias

Axel KLEINSCHMIDT Albert-Einstein-Institute Bengt NILSSON Chalmers Univ. of Tech Pierre RAMOND Univ. of Florida Malcolm PERRY DAMTP, Cambridge

Henning SAMTLEBEN Ecole Normale Supérieure, Lyon

Peter WEST King’s College, London Bernard de WIT Utrecht Univ. Barton ZWIEBACH MIT, Cambridge

In superstring theory and in supergravity theories, the U duality is a different kind of symmetry from the standard ones used in particle physics. In the case of N=8 supergravity, this symmetry is the exceptional group E7(7) and it plays a remarkable rôle which is still not fully understood. There are indications that even larger exceptional symmetries could be fundamental in our understanding of the fundamental theories. The exceptional symmetries are also connected in a significant way to the spacetime symmetries. In this workshop, these issues will be penetrated and discussed by some of the leaders in this field.

ORGANISERSLars BRINK Chalmers Univ. of Tech

Kok Khoo PHUA Institute of Advanced Studies, NTU Marc HENNEAUX Univ. Libre de Bruxelles Hermann NICOLAI Albert-Einstein-Institute Leong Chuan KWEK Institute of Advanced Studies, NTU Hwee Boon LOW Institute of Advanced Studies, NTU

INVITED SPEAKERSEric BERGSHOEFF Univ. of Groningen Martin CEDERWALL Chalmers Univ. of Tech. Geoffrey COMPÈRE Univ. Libre de Bruxelles

Hadi GODAZGAR DAMTP, Cambridge Mahdi GODAZGAR DAMTP, Cambridge Chris HULL Imperial College, London Bernard JULIA Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris

Renata KALLOSH Stanford Univ. Sung-Soo KIM KIAS, Seoul

SPECIAL SPEAKERFrançois ENGLERT Nobel Laureate in Physics, 2013 Univ. Libre de Bruxelles

Institute of Advanced Studies

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3August 2014 • Volume 3 • Number 2 A publication of the IAS@NTU Singapore and SEATPA

Asia Pacific Physics Newsletter publishes articles reporting frontier discoveries in physics, research highlights, and news to facilitate interaction, collaboration and cooperation among physicists in Asia Pacific physics community.

Editor-in-ChiefKok Khoo Phua

Associate Editor-in-ChiefSwee Cheng Lim

SEATPA CommitteeChristopher C Bernido Phil Chan Leong Chuan KwekChoy Heng LaiSwee Cheng LimRen Bao Liu Hwee Boon LowAnh Ký NguyênChoo Hiap Oh Kok Khoo PhuaRoh Suan TungPreecha Yupapin Hishamuddin Zainuddin Freddy Zen

Editorial TeamYu SongHan Sun

Graphic DesignersChuan Ming Loo

Asia PacificPhysics Newsletter

EDITORIAL

PEOPLEA Conversation with Professor CN Yang

Nobel Laureate Roy Glauber on Physics and his personal experience

Detection of Gravitational Waves — Meet the Pioneer

“Seeking the Light in a Cavity” in conversation with Nobel Laureate Serge Haroche

NEWSPaul Chu, Anthony Leggett and Warren Pickett in Iran

Will We Ever… Detect Other Universes

Why do Girls not do Physics A-level? IOP to Investigate

Bill Gates in Seoul National University (SNU) — The Voice of Innovation

Sow Chorng Haur Appointed as New Head of Physics Department, National University of Singapore

Doctor Who Meets Professor Heisenberg

Scientists and Students from Hong Kong Join a Top Particle Physics Experiment

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RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTSHighlights from the Asia Pacific Region

ARTICLESKen Wilson—The Early YearsRoman Jackiw

The Quantum IndianFeng Da Hsuan

The World Wide Web’s 25th AnniversaryMarina Giampietro

RESEARCH INSTITUTES AND LABORATORIESKavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at Peking University

Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics — Its Past and the Present Raman Research Institute

Tsinghua Center for Astrophysics and The Dark Universe

BOOKS

CONFERENCE CALENDARUpcoming Conferences in the Asia Pacific Region

JOBS

SOCIETIESList of Physical Societies in the Asia Pacific Region

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Asia Pacific Physics Newsletter (APPN) is published jointly by Institute of Advanced Studies, Nanyang Technological University (IAS@NTU) and South East Asia Theoretical Physics Association (SEATPA)

IAS@NTU and SEATPAAddress: 60 Nanyang View #02-18Singapore 639673Tel: +65 6513 7660Fax: +65 6794 4941seatpa.orgntu.edu.sg/ias

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Electronic editionAPPN is also available online at:worldscinet.com/appn

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AuthorsAPPN welcomes articles with general interests to the physics community. To recommend or contribute news, articles, history, book reviews, please write to: [email protected]

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Print ISSN: 2251-158XOnline ISSN: 2251-1598

MICA (P) 216/07/2012

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Erratum:Asia Pacific Physics Newsletter, Volume 3 Number 1, Page 39 “Notes on the Writing of Scientific English for Japanese Physicists” by Professor Anthony Leggett (Nobel Laureate in Physics 2003) is a reproduced from Nihon Butsuri Gakkai-shi, vol. 21, 790 (1966), the membership magazine of the Physical Society of Japan.

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EDITORIAL

3August 2014, Volume 3 No 2

Greetings from the Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS) at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore!

In every issue of the Asia Pacific Physics Newsletter (APPN) we seek to bring to you articles reporting the latest discoveries, research highlights and headline news in the field of Physics. This issue, once again, is packed with interesting insights into the lives of pioneers like Professor CN Yang (Nobel Laureate for Physics,1957), Professor Roy Glauber (Nobel Laureate for Physics, 2005) and Professor Serge Haroche (Nobel Laureate for Physics,2012).

We have also included in the “People” section an interview with Chao-Lin Kuo, a forerunner in the detection of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation.

To keep you up-to-date with top news from the Asia-Pacific Region, our ‘News’ section includes the efforts of Professor Paul Chu and Professor Anthony Leggett in their venture to improve the US-Iran relations and their success in breaking through the boundaries through scientific collaboration. Other news reports cover investigations into gender partiality in physics, Bill Gates lectured at Seoul National University, the research group from Hong Kong involved in the CERN experiment, to name a few.

Scientific research is ever-evolving and to keep abreast with all the happenings, we bring you the regional highlights and also information on some of the research institutes and Laboratories from India and China. I would like to express my very great appreciations to Charling Tao, Luis Ho, Amit Ghosh and Debarshini Chakraborty for accepting our invitation to introduce their institutions to our readers.

We hope you find this issue informative and enjoyable. We welcome reader’s feedback and comments.

Editor in Chief

Kok Khoo PhuaPresident, South East Asia Theoretical Physics AssociationDirector, Institute of Advanced Studies, Nanyang Technological University

PEOPLE

4 Asia Pacific Physics Newsletter

We had the good fortune to join in an informal discussion with the distinguished Professor of Physics who won Nobel Prize in 1957, Prof Yang Chen Ning (CN Yang).

We first started off with the question on how he chose his PhD supervisor and how he chose problems to work on in the beginning of his career. The journey began with guidance from his mathematically-trained father, and with advice from some good teachers in Tsinghua University, he went for graduate studies in the United States. He mentioned that both luck and ability play important roles in his journey. He was a theorist graduate student, so back then his ability was prized in his group who were mostly experimentalists (he had originally wanted to do experimental work). His supervisor

(Edward Teller), whom he was introduced to by Enrico Fermi, managed to push him towards a theoretical path due to their earlier work together. He originally wanted to work with the biggest names of the day, but his supervisor who eventually became famous had helped him to reach where he is today.

Regarding how one should choose one’s supervisors, he strongly emphasized the fact that there are two groups of supervisors and students: supervisors who want you to be very independent and exploratory (as seen in the American system), and those who would give you much advice and guidance (he gave the Chinese system as an example). There are also two types of students in this field: those who thrive

A Conversation with Professor CN Yang

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under much guidance, and those who thrive when they are let loose. Which system is good depends on your character, interest and inclinations. Both have pros and cons — for example, being let loose may end up losing the focus often required for in-depth study, while too much guidance narrows your perception and creativity at times.

He stressed the fact that we should strive to find some-thing that interests us instead of simply following what our supervisors are doing. In his opinion, our early education (right from primary school till high school) should give us some clues about our inclinations even if we may not know the exact thing we want — realizing that inclination and push towards it is one important step in doing any research or embarking on similar journeys. Doing what interests us most in this sort of work is more important and more likely to end up doing something worthwhile. At the undergraduate level we probably do not know enough – but knowing your tendencies and inclinations is often enough to guide you.

This is especially so in this generation when he was asked about the state of theoretical science today and how science today may be different from science in the past. In the past, there were possibilities for graduates to easily go very deep in one field of study, but that was also because there were fewer problems to tackle in the past. Now physics as a field of study has become much broader and thinner, and mastering one sub-field is itself much more difficult than it was back then. In a sense, doing theoretical investigations and science in general was “easier” back then when it came to scope and depth, though choices were not that many. In comparison, the broadening of physics today has made it difficult to master the subject, but at the same time it has opened up

He stressed the fact that we should strive to find something that interests us instead of simply following what our supervisors are doing. In his opinion, our early education (right from primary school till high school) should give us some clues about our inclinations even if we may not know the exact thing we want — realizing that inclination and push towards it is one important step in doing any research or embarking on similar journeys.

many more doors for investigation. Problems abound and the technologies are much better.

The examples he gave was the development of hearing aids and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Both were sort of developed in the distant past, but only in recent years were they developed to the extent they are today. Hearing aids can be seen to have much improved, not from similar constructions but from a very distinct line of research in acoustics. MRI grew out of a simple understanding of nuclear magnetic resonance in chemistry with an ingenious twist on the homogeneity of the magnetic field generated. These indicate that even the field of medical physics has so much more lines of attack for people to study and pursue, and this richness was not nearly present in such amount back in the past. So, is this good or bad, he asked. In the end, it depends on how you look at it: one thing that is clear is that the whole environment of science in its present form is very different from that in the past.

Erickson Tjoa

Year 1 CN Yang Scholar from Physics with Second Major in Mathematical Sciences

Hear what the other CN Yang Scholars say:

During the discussion session, Professor CN Yang shared with us his own research experience. Through a series of interesting and thought-provoking stories, we are enlight-ened by his unique philosophy of life and research work. I was particularly amazed by one story about his refusing

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Prof CN Yang was received by Li Junru, a Year 1 CN Yang Scholar from Aerospace Engineering.

Hearing aids can be seen to have much improved, not from similar constructions but from a very distinct line of research in acoustics. MRI grew out of a simple understanding of nuclear magnetic resonance in chemistry with an ingenious twist on the homogeneity of the magnetic field generated.

to publish a paper because he was not satisfied with the precision of the calculation even though his mentor had encouraged him to publish it. What I learnt from this is to always be prudent about the results so as to maintain a high standard for our work. I believe the success of Professor CN Yang is partly based on this.

Li Junru

Year 1 CN Yang Scholar from Aerospace Engineering

When asked how he goes about identifying important or worthwhile research topics, Professor Yang replied that all of us sort of know. That is to say, we all know from young and from years of education, what interests us. And he feels that it is by cultivating this interest that interesting and important discoveries are made. He gave an example of a professor at Beijing University whose childhood interest

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was to collect stamps. But he realised that there are many types of stamps in the world, and if he just tried collecting all of them, it is unlikely to result in anything worthwhile.So he started to focus his energy on collecting just one type of stamps - stamps about science. After he retired from his professorship at Beijing University, he published a book with photographs of all the stamps about science he collected and this book later won an award, and now the professor had moved on to stamps about mathematics. Professor Yang gave this as an example of how an interest cultivated and developed can result in something valuable.

Ng Chyi Huey

Year 1 CN Yang Scholar from Mechanical Engineering with Business Minor

During the discussion, Professor CN Yang mentioned the difference between the state of the theoretical sciences then and now: back in his time, technology was not well-developed and thus limited the choices of problems scientists could investigate while currently, supercomputers and the like give modern theoretical scientists a plethora of direc-tions to venture into. As such, he encouraged us to not be afraid of the prospect of working in the field of theoretical sciences because its range of development, contrary to what most may think, is indeed extremely large. As a student aspiring to be a theoretical physicist, on the one hand, I feel motivated to continue pursuing my dream. On the other hand, I also come to deeply admire the power of pure thought and logical reasoning that has allowed Professor CN Yang, despite the lack of modern research technology in his days, to come up with brilliant ideas that are still relevant, if not

Prof CN Yang was received by Li Junru (Year 1 CN Yang Scholar from Aerospace Engineering, right) and Lim Min (Year 1 CN Yang Scholar from Mathematical Sciences, left).

Prof CN Yang arrived at SBS Classroom 3, the venue for informal discussion with CN Yang Scholars.

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Informal discussions with Prof CN Yang: See SooTeck (Year 3, Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, middle) and Li Junru (Year 1, Aerospace Engineering, right).

of utmost importance, nowadays in understanding how the world works.

Duong NghiepKhoan

Year 1 CN Yang Scholar from Physics with Second Major in Mathematical Sciences

The informal discussion sessions with Professor CN Yang centered mainly on the topic of postgraduate studies. He responded to questions from fellow CN Yang Scholars by sharing his experience as a postgraduate student. He high-lighted the difficulties that he faced in his early postgraduate days including not being able to work under Enrico Fermi on his sensitive work because of nationality restrictions and his unsuccessful attempts at experimental physics. There were a few light hearted moments when Prof Yang shared about his mistakes in doing hands-on work during his days as an experimental physicist. He mentioned a few

instances in which he refused to publish his results despite encouragement from his supervisor, Edward Teller, high-lighting the difference in accuracy requirements between him and Teller. When asked for advice for choosing research topics, he replied that knowledge of the field, cognizance of ongoing researches and recognition of one’s interests and capabilities are crucial in selecting the right topics. Prof Yang also commented on the difference in the research landscape during his days and now: physics in his days was concentrated in a few topics while it has become much more diverse today and both scenarios have their own pros and cons for researchers.

Yap Jian Beng

Year 1 CN Yang Scholar from Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Prof Yang also commented on the difference in the research landscape between his days and now, saying that Physics in his days was concentrated on a few topics while it has become much more diverse today and both scenarios have their own pros and cons for researchers.

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Group photo with Prof CN Yang and CN Yang Scholars.(Front row from left: Yap Jian Beng, Ng Chyi Huey, Eu Shu Tian, Prof CN Yang, Lee Bei Shi, Lim Min, Lionel Ho Jia Xuen, Tan Young Kiat Zenn; Second row from left: Lee Kelvin, See Soo Teck, Li Junru, Yang Yi, Jin Wei, Duong Nghiep Khoan, Erickson Tjoa, Smrithi Keerthivarman, Tong Ka Wai)

Informal discussions between Prof CN Yang and CN Yang Scholars.

Reproduced with permission from Institute of Advanced Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

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Could you suggest a way that Singapore can improve its position as a leader in physics on the world stage?

Singapore is an attractive place. One effective idea would be to hold a couple of significant meetings here, and you’d find that many people would be happy to stay or even come back!

What unsolved mystery in physics strikes you as particu-larly at odds with our current physical understanding?

We don’t have much understanding of what makes up the elementary particles themselves and keeps them around and restricts their variety. A couple of hints are in string theory, but I cannot help feeling that it is still a very ambiguous

Nobel Laureate Roy Glauberon Physics and his personal experience

framework and leaves a lot of room. Nature has restricted the variety of particles that we have, and why it is so is still unclear.

What are your thoughts on the far future of science and technology?

I pray that there is a far future. Our recent nuclear past has created a serious danger, which is in the hands of fools, and you cannot exclude that possibility — terrible things might happen. We have not safely guarded our future at all, and what has been accomplished by the weapons we have developed has left us with a serious threat for the future.

Michael GoodInstitute of Advanced Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Roy Jay Glauber, Lee Kong Chian Distinguished Professor; Mallinckrodt Professor

of Physics, Harvard University.

Professor Glabuer was awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contribu-

tion to the quantum theory of optical coherence. He was invited to Singapore

by Institute of Advanced Studies@ Nanyang Technological University in 2014.

During his stay in Singapore, he gave several talks to the local physics community

members and the general public. In one of his public lectures on “Some Recollec-

tions of Los Alamos — and the Nuclear Era”, he shared his personal experiences,

feelings, and interpretations, regarding wartime science. The editorial team of

Asia Pacific Physics Newsletter interviewed Professor Glauber at the Centre for

Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore on 6 May 2014.

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As a student of Schwinger, can you briefly mention one valuable lesson you learned from him? Anything in general you’d like to share about your experience as a student of Schwinger?

Schwinger was extraordinary as a formalist. Given a theory in existence that required development in formal terms, Schwinger was the best we have ever had in doing that sort of things. There was a period of several years after the Second World War that whatever progress was being made first by Schwinger through his extraordinary ability to extend the range of things we could compute by building out the formulism in a way that made it accessible to many. His lectures were very well attended and clear enough that the next steps in progress which had already been taken by Schwinger were made also by people in his class and some of them even published first! But Feynman was different, and had extraordinary bits of insight that at first, really didn’t seem to fit into the picture. After time, they mostly did and it would often require others to bring them into the picture. The formal theory of the S-matrix in quantum electrodynamics is an example of that; it was successfully developed by Dyson by constructing it from many of the pieces that Feynman created but did not formally put together.

As a physicist, what are your thoughts on religion and science? Do you believe in God?

Speaking frankly, I think the truth is, I don’t. If I do, it is so distant and ridiculously unlike conventional religions that no such devout individual would ever recognize it. I do consider an important role for religions in the history of the organization of people, but I don’t think they have told us much about the world we observe, and we are much more careful about how we record the physical world and we do that in ways never done before.

As a male physicist, what are your thoughts on the gender distribution in physics? Should the distribution be more evenly divided?

To the extent that women can do the same things and perhaps better, I have not the faintest objection to the pres-ence of women in physics. It is more convivial when they participate. However, whether they want to participate is a different question. Many do, but quite a few don’t. Somehow or another, the roles in life are given unequally to the two genders; many women that I know who are very effective in science do not have children and would not, whereas many of those who have children, have quite a difficult time of it.

As a Nobel Laureate, what are your opinions on scientific accolades? What is your opinion about the Nobel Prize and its impact on advancing science?

I would assume that there are some measures that the Nobel Prize has helped advance science, but there are many ways it has not! Many people are sensitive to the praise of others. If a young person who is very sensitive to this sort of thing, happens to receive the prize, in my experience that it is just about the end of his career. I can give examples but I would prefer not to try in this case! For one thing, people come to you with invitations that you can accept or refuse, and many who reject praise can often continue their careers; but I would say that those who are very accepting of the praise have been the most part disappeared from our firmament. What impact has opportunity had on your own success? How much of a role does luck and circumstance play in scientific success?

I wouldn’t deny that some people have luck by receiving a particular appointment which is unique and gives them control of enormous experimental facilities. It is necessary but not sufficient to have luck. Curiosity has a great deal more to do with success than luck in science. Many people would associate satisfying curiosity with luck, so the confusion is easily made.

From left to right: Michael Good; Roy Jay Glauber and Atholie Kerner Rosett @ Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore

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Is there any way that Singapore can improve its position as a leader in physics on the world stage?

Curiosity-based research. This is a broad question, but scientists need to be able to work freely. It is important to avoid goal-oriented research at the expense of prioritizing curiosity. One never knows the application of fundamental research. Historical examples from big developments in technology have come from basic research. Significant technological developments start with curiosity-based research. It’s true in physics and biology. In addition, creative development cannot be limited to just hard science. The study of the Humanities helps develop creativity. It helps to have curiosity-based research with a diversity of topics, and learning for the sake of learning.

“Seeking the Light in a Cavity” in conversation with

Nobel Laureate Serge Haroche

Michael GoodInstitute of Advanced Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Quek Wei LiangSchool of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Can you reveal, in layman terms, a little about any recent exciting ideas you’ve had?

Detecting light usually destroys it. It has been exciting to look at light as an object of investigation rather than simply a carrier of information. Manipulation of light in a non-destructive way has been fruitful and very exciting.

What unsolved mystery in physics strikes you as particu-larly at odds with our current physical understanding?

Dark energy. What is the nature of this substance? Cosmo-logical mysteries are some of the biggest, and they are connected to particle physics. So this connection between the very small and very big is one of the big mysteries that I hope may see some progress. It’s my hope that we have new ideas in this direction.

Serge Haroche, Chair in Quantum Physics at the College de France.

Professor Haroche was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize for Physics for "ground-

breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of

individual quantum systems". On 22 April 2013, the first day of the Berge Fest

Conference, Professor Haroche delivered a talk on “Controlling photons in cavi-

ties”. He reviewed recent experiments in Cavity QED in which his group count

trapped microwave photons non-destructively and used quantum feedback

methods to stabilize the photon number to a preset value. Further developments

of these experiments were also discussed in his talk. The editorial team of Asia

Pacific Physics Newsletter interviewed Professor Haroche during the Berge Fest

Conference on 24 April 2014. For more information of the Berge Fest Conference,

please visit http://bergefest.quantumlah.org/

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What are your thoughts on the far future of science and technology?

I have mixed feelings about the future. The intelligence of humanity gives me hope. Understanding has been obtained in areas which may escape direct observation. The human mind has a lot of power, yet; we obey the laws of biological evolution. The high rate of change and the transformation of the planet give rise to challenges such as global climate change, limited resource expenditures and so on. It is my hope that the human mind will be able to avoid these types of catastrophes. Humans are changing the environment much faster than ever before, and we will have to adapt to the new environment. It is hard to adjust to big changes, and this is worrisome. Medium or long term problem resolution is often at odds with a short term agenda.

As a physicist, what are your thoughts on religion and science? Do you believe in God?

Not a hard question for me, I don’t believe in God. I also think science and religion should not be mixed. They are two different aspects of the human mind which have no direct connection, and I do not like to mix the two. That being said, I would never try to use my expertise to try to disprove the existence of God. This would be a naïve undertaking and would never convince believers. On the other hand, I don’t think religion can explain the physical world or give

explanation to physical phenomena. These are two separate realms, science and morals, that are not directly related to each other. Science is concerned with objective truth. Ethical values, much like beauty, arise from different parts of the brain. Scientists find the facts and society determines which parts of science should be developed according to ethical values.

As a male physicist, what are your thoughts on the gender distribution in physics? Should the distribution be more evenly divided?

There are fewer women in physics than men. The reason is unclear. Competition is very hard, and maybe, male students are more willing to enter into the risk, and expose themselves to the competition. I see no difference in skills or intelligence; the women who succeed are very good. Maybe it is related to how girls are raised, and parental expectation. Of course it will be better to have a bigger pool of creativity and intel-ligence, which involves the inclusion of women. It’s true at all levels. One of the big tragedies in humanity is that all over the world, many women are discriminated against and not given the same opportunity as men. In many countries this is a big problem, where societies are cutting themselves off from their own supply of talent. Cultures should develop ways to let girls understand they can be successful in science. Humanity is losing out on valuable discoveries by neglecting the female population in science.

Professor Serge Haroche and Dr. Michael Good @The Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium, University Town, National University of Singapore

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As a Nobel Laureate, what are your opinions on scientific accolades? What is your opinion about the Nobel Prize and its impact on advancing science? This is with regards to the association of challenging authority correlated with science and bestowing authority by scientific awards.

I have experienced this myself, and suspect that this ques-tion wouldn’t be asked of me if I’d not won the Nobel Prize. I have seen how this prize changes the lives of people who receive it. Its importance may be too big. I have to try to avoid answering questions asked of me that are outside my expertise. The prize gives me a kind of access to the media which allows me to give more weight to my opinions in areas which they may not deserve. As a scientist I have a word or two to say about scientific issues, but politics and religion topics are generally off limits.

Broadly, there is a degree of randomness to the Nobel Prize. The rules have been kept the same for over a hundred years, despite the change from a relatively small community of scientists to a very large community. Being so rare makes it a big event, which is good, and has a positive impact on how the public sees science. On the other hand, there are many good scientists all over the world and since only three may be awarded the prize each year, it is to some extent a lottery. There are many who deserve it as much as those who have it, yet, they will never get it.

As a protégé to a Nobel Laureate, what impact has opportunity had on your own success? How much of a role does luck and circumstance play in scientific progress and being successful?

I have been very privy to much opportunity and favour-able circumstances. Where you are trained, the spirit that surrounds you, helps. A family of scientific Nobel Prizes helps. It’s striking how common this is among the people who have won the prize.

Regarding luck: All our research was based on the ability to build photon boxes which would keep the light for a very long time. Had that lifetime been just a factor of 10 shorter, we would not have seen what we have seen. This factor of 10 was not granted from the start. The big reward was obtaining this cavity. A question of luck was present that the experiment worked.

Do you have any remarks on the disproportionate amount of Jewish Nobel Laureates?

This is an issue that is difficult to describe objectively. I think part of it may be due to the way of traditional learning for

children, insistence on reading and learning. To survive, Jews had to adapt to difficult circumstances and to mix into other cultures and collect the positive aspects of different cultures. Perhaps this is part of the explanation for the figures.

In your view, what are the most exciting quantum Zeno back actions? What surprising laboratory demonstration would freeze both the evolution of a quantum system and the attention of your colleagues?

The quantum Zeno is just the manifestation of when you observe a quantum system you modify its evolution. Saying it this way is more mundane. We are not so much interested in freezing the evolution but forbidding the system to reach certain boundaries. We force the system to follow a given evolution. We hope this leads to some interesting directions.

According to philosopher Isaian Berlin, there are two types of researchers, the fox and the hedgehog. The fox knows many things, whereas the hedgehog knows one big thing; do you think you are more of the fox type or the hedgehog type?

Hedgehog. You don’t have to know everything about every-thing. You just have to know one thing that others don’t know. This relieves you from the notion that you have to know everything before doing something new.

How do you approach a question?

It is a mixture of many approaches. One important part is to learn what other people have done. Read papers and under-stand the steps. Ideas will come if you attend conferences, workshops, and lectures but the greatest return on effort is probably learning from what people have done before.

What is your daily routine?

I work during the day. I have realized that when I work late at night, I have difficulty going to sleep. So at the end of the day I like to do something that has nothing to do with work: reading, watching a movie; or a TV series, something that is distracting. I need a good sleep, otherwise the next day I’m destroyed and can’t do anything useful!

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Detection of Gravitational Waves — Meet the Pioneer

You are a co-leader of the BICEP2 experiment with which primordial gravitational waves have now been detected in all likelihood. This discovery comes almost 100 years after Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves. How do you feel about becoming a part of the history of physics?

I read about scientific breakthroughs like this in history books but I am completely dumbfounded to actually be part of one. This whole thing — from big ideas to big discoveries — is truly a great triumph of the power of reason, cutting edge technology and collective wisdom. I am privileged to be part of a very talented team. There is also an extra sense of satisfaction for me personally, because the polarization sensitive detectors that I spent three years developing ended up playing a key role in this measurement. I am also very happy that my group developed a novel analysis method that greatly enhanced the significance of the detection.

The detection of primordial gravitational waves proves the theory of cosmological inflation beyond any reason-able doubt. This would lead to a ‘spring cleaning’ in theoretical physics, making a large number of alternative and competing theories redundant. Have you always been convinced that cosmological inflation did take place and that primordial gravitational waves can be detected?

Perhaps the 'correct' answer for an experimentalist like me should have been more neutral. But let me give you a straight answer instead — yes. Unlike many experimentalists, I have never tried to be agnostic about various theories. I rely strongly on my hunch in deciding research directions. I read Alan Guth's popular book "The Inflationary Universe" and his seminal 1981 paper when I was a graduate student, and I became quite convinced. Over the years, the high degree of spatial flatness, the acoustic peaks in the CMB temperature and polarization spectra, all strongly suggested something like inflation happened. That conviction drove me to search for B-mode polarization. I am glad that it appears to have paid off.

Did you go to the South Pole yourself during the opera-tion of the BICEP2 telescope? What is daily life like there?

Yes. I have been to South Pole many times over the past 15 years to study the cosmic microwave background. The US National Science Foundation has provided excellent logistic supports for scientists there. Nowadays there is a large science station where you eat and sleep. It comes with a cafeteria, a library, a green house and even a full basketball court. Still, we walk a mile in the cold to get to our telescopes.

In your own words, how did the idea to “cold-call” Andrei Linde and to make a Youtube video of the moment develop?

In retrospect, I realized that we had done something remark-able. But it was really Bjorn Carey, Stanford's science writer, who came up with the idea. We wanted to quote Andrei Linde in the press release and invite him to the event at Harvard, so we needed to tell him one week in advance. Bjorn wanted to capture the process on video. Now I am glad that I had agreed to it. It had two millions views in less than a week. Many people know '5-sigma' means 'clear as day' because of that video.

Now that your search for primordial gravitational waves has ended successfully, what will you turn to next? What are your next research goals?

First and foremost, we want to confirm the signal at multiple frequencies to verify its cosmological origin. I expect that to happen in less than a year, using data we are collecting with the Keck Array. After that, we want to measure the amplitude and angular distribution with better precision to test various models of inflation. BICEP3, a much more powerful experi-ment than BICEP2, is in excellent position to do that starting 2015. There are also ambitious plans to survey the whole sky to the similar depth as BICEP2. BICEP2's discovery is just the beginning of a very exciting era of 'tensor cosmology'.

Chao-Lin KuoDepartment of Physics, Stanford

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In 2013, the Islamic Republic of Iran, for the first time since its government replaced the Shah’s government after the Iranian Revolution in 1979, came to the fore-

front of the international community to negotiate a deal- a deal that would limit its nuclear weapon stockpiles which it has kept hidden from the world even in the face of political isolation.

For the past 35 years, the US-Iran political relations have been strained, preventing either nation from reaching any mutually constructive resolution and has kept Iranian intellectuals, who are shielded from Western ideologies, from engaging in academic exchanges with the rest of the world. Though many of Iran’s scientists and professors graduated from Western universities and their faculty and students are able to visit the US after going through harsh immigration barriers, international collaboration in the Iranian science scene has been minimal. After its massive military spending hike during the Iran–Iraq War in 1988, Iran’s crippled economy has had little to spare for scientific research, receiving low priority and few resources. The

Paul Chu, Anthony Leggett and Warren Pickett in IranBreaking Boundaries and Stigma: Scientific Collaboration in Iran

Iranian Sanctions Act of 2010 has made it not only impossible for Iranian institutions and their limited funds to purchase state-of-the-art equipment but also extremely difficult for their scientists to submit their work to Western publications.

Paranoia and hate-fuelled rhetoric without accurate information have warped both Western and Iranian depic-tions of one another, stopping governments and individuals from venturing into international partnerships, especially concerning science. It is no secret that science, in particular physics, lies at the heart of nuclear reactions powerful enough to devastate a country for decades. However, a group of American scientists have travelled to Iran in an effort of ‘science diplomacy’ in recognition of a genuine desire to work together with similar minds. They were met with the same enthusiasm, both sides eager to improve relations and promote rational, scientific thinking.

In the wake of the US-Iran Nuclear Deal, sanctions have been temporarily alleviated, setting the climate for a new era where the international community can benefit from another breed of scientists that are yet to reap its full potential.

Right to left: Nasim Akhavan.Warren Pickett,Mohammad Akhavan (above), Jill Pickett (below), Farzaneh Akhavan, May Chu, Anthony Leggett, Yasaman Akhavan and Paul Chu

Right to left: Paul Chu, Mohammad Akhavan , Anthony Leggett and Warren Pickett.

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August 2014, Volume 3 No 2 17

We think of our Universe as everything there ever was, is, and will be.

But according to some researchers, there might not just be many universes, but an infinite number of them. This notion of multiple universes — sometimes dubbed the multiverse for short — isn’t some crazy idea concocted by bored physicists. While the science is undeni-ably speculative, they emerge from fairly well-grounded theories. And recent discoveries have made headlines for supporting the idea. There’s a lot that physicists don’t yet know, but the existence of the multiverse is possible, and some might say probable.

Yet if there really were other realms outside our own, how would we even know? Will we ever be able to detect another universe?

“I do think you can find smoking-gun evidence for things outside of [our Universe],” says Anthony Aguirre, a physicist at the University of California, Santa Cruz. After all, not being able to directly see or hold an atom didn’t preclude physicists from confirming their existence.

Perhaps the most plausible type of multiverse is a natural consequence of a theory called inflation. The Universe expanded rapidly after the big bang, and it continues to do so today. But according to inflation, the Universe grew exponentially fast in the first moments of its existence, an instant of faster-than-light expansion.

Physicist Alan Guth proposed this radical idea in 1980 to explain several features of the Universe: why it looks the

Will We Ever… Detect Other Universes?

Is there anything outside

our Universe? Many

physicists think it’s possible,

says Marcus Woo, but could

we one day know for sure?

same in every direction, for instance. Since then, physicists such as Andrei Linde have further developed the theory, which has been supported by observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) — the leftover glow of the Big Bang that fills the sky.

A few weeks ago, physicists behind the Bicep2 experi-ment made headlines for detecting a strong signature of inflation — ripples in the spacetime fabric of the cosmos called gravitational waves. The pattern in the sky they saw was precisely what the inflation theorists predicted.

What’s this got to do with the multiverse? No one knows exactly how inflation occurred, but some of the simplest, most reasonable ideas suggest that random quantum fluctua-tions in the early Universe caused inflation to stop in some regions but not in others. Inflation would thus be eternal.

The Bicep2 telescope in Antarctica, which detected the first evidence of gravitational waves generated 13.8 billion years ago when the Universe first started to expand. (PA)

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In places where inflation ceased, pocket universes would form, where atoms, stars, and even planets could assemble. Our Universe would just be one of these myriad pocket universes.

Although inflation is widely accepted, eternal inflation remains more speculative. “I’m personally skeptical of this story,” says physicist Sean Carroll of the California Institute of Technology. Still, he says, it is plausible.

According to some theories, each pocket universe could take on the form of a bubble, producing a multiverse that’s like infinite foam, in which each bubble is a universe with its own versions of the laws of physics. And because the possibilities are literally endless, some universes would be alternate realities in which you’re a movie star or where dolphins rule the Earth.

These bubble universes are all connected, but in between them, eternal inflation is still stretching spacetime faster than the speed of light. So unless you can move faster than light, which Einstein said was impossible, you can’t hop from one bubble to another.

But even if you could, such a journey would be rough. “You also have to survive the inflation in between that would want to inflate every atom in your body,” Aguirre says. “It’s not very practical.”

Maybe the safest and best way to see another bubble universe is if one happens to bump into our own, which Aguirre says could leave an imprint in the cosmic microwave background. How likely is such a scenario and what would this cosmic bruise look like? It depends on the true nature of inflation, he says, which is just something no one fully understands yet.

For Carroll, bumping into a bubble universe doesn’t seem likely. “This is unlikely to be true, because it either never happened or it would’ve been bloody obvious and we would’ve noticed it a long time ago.”

Another possibility is that a nudge from a neighbouring universe would cause galaxies near the bump to move in a distinct direction compared to the rest of our Universe. Some astronomers claimed they’ve observed this so-called dark flow, but most scientists remain sceptical.

“My sense is that it’s fairly unlikely,” Aguirre says. If another universe could induce a dark flow, it would’ve left a noticeable and telltale mark on the CMB, which astronomers simply haven’t seen. Other than cosmic bubble bumps and dark flows, he says, there aren’t many well-developed ideas as to how to detect other universes in the inflationary multiverse.

Another type of multiverse arises from what’s called the Many Worlds interpretation of quantum physics. According

to this theory, every possible outcome in the Universe exists simultaneously in other universes. For example, you can look and find that your desk lamp is on. But at the same time, there’s a separate, parallel reality where you find that the lamp is off.

Like the inflationary multiverse, the Many Worlds multiverse implies alternate realities. One big difference, however, is that the parallel universes of the Many Worlds theory aren’t in any physical place, but instead coexist with ours in a separate, abstract part of reality.

Scientists may simply never find direct signs of any kind of multiverse, Carroll says. For some naysayers, that means these theories are not scientific. But that misses the point, he says. “Our job as physicists is to believe what our equations tell us.” In other words, by pursuing the maths, theorists may help us discover indirect signs of the multiverse. And eventually, enough of this indirect evidence could have been assembled to suggest that the multiverse is overwhelmingly likely.

Given the staggering implications that this would entail — an infinite number of close-copies of you and the Earth — it could well be a difficult thing for many people to accept. At least in our Universe.

Bubble-like universes may be connected, but traversing them would be pretty much impossible (Getty Images)

According to the Many Worlds theory, there are multiple versions of you spawned every moment, living in myriad universes side-by-side (Thinkstock)

Reproduced with permission from BBC website

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Why do Girls not do Physics A-level? IOP to Investigate

More students are studying A-level physics but only a small proportion are girls

A research project into why girls drop physics after GCSE has been announced by the Institute of Physics (IOP).

Specialists will work in 20 schools in England to establish how best to encourage more girls to study physics at A-level. The IOP says girls make up only 20% of students taking physics A-level.

IOP president Frances Saunders said study was “a real opportunity to find the solution to the chronic problem of too few girls studying physics”. Dr Saunders said choosing to drop the subject too early “seriously limits girls’ choice of future careers”.

‘Stereotyping’

The two-year pilot project will begin in September in schools in Yorkshire, the North-East, Midlands and East of England.

Physics specialists will look at factors that discourage girls from studying A-level in the subject, including attitudes towards physics, teachers’ classroom practice, and gender stereotyping across schools as a whole.They will also “trial a series of intensive interventions” to overcome these, says the IOP.

Project manager Clare Thomson said girls did just as well as boys in GCSE maths and physics, but only a minority chose to continue the subject beyond the age of 16.

Previous initiatives have succeeded in boosting overall numbers of A-level physics students but the proportion who are girls has stuck at about 20% for 20 years, said Ms Thomson.

“This gives us an opportunity to try some different ideas. We will look at the whole school culture around gender and gender stereotyping and how that limits choices for both girls and boys - both subject choices and career choices.”

She said the aim was to build girls’ confidence and resil-ience so that the “hardness” of the subject “doesn’t become a barrier”. “We will be working with girls directly and helping them to think that physics is a subject that they can do and be good at.”

The researchers will also work with physics teachers on issues such as whether single or mixed groups work best in terms of building girls’ confidence in the subject.

‘Love with physics’

The Department for Education has announced funding for the project as part of the Stimulating Physics Network, which already works in 400 schools to boost overall numbers taking the subject.

Education Minister Elizabeth Truss said: “The Institute of Physics has found that the difference between pupils falling in or out of love with physics is the teaching they receive.

“Inspirational teaching, challenging stereotypes and getting young people excited about the huge potential of science is the best way to get more pupils studying it and going on to enjoy the higher wages these skills command.”

David Hermitt, head teacher of a specialist engineering academy in Cheshire, said ambitious girls aiming at medicine as a career often dropped physics at A-level because they deemed biology and chemistry more important for their university applications.

Mr Hermitt, head of Congleton High School, said he wanted to encourage more of his female students to continue with physics at A-level and consider engineering as a career as an alternative. He added that it was impor-tant for schools to have female physics teachers as role models.

The IOP is also running a similar project in six Thames Valley schools with funding from the Drayson Foundation.

Reproduced with permission from BBC website

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worldwide. At the same time many people advise that the Korean education system needs to judge success in a wider range beyond test scores. In particular, there must be an emphasis on creativity among graduate students. Naturally, the subject of Bill’s dropping out of Harvard was brought up, an act unthinkable for Korean society, especially for Korean parents.

With an honest laugh, Bill started, “My parents at first weren’t super happy. But it was a very unique opportunity. We wanted to be the first to get out there and write software. And I didn’t have time to finish my degree so I dropped out and started Microsoft.” His easy relating of the experience made dropping out of university seem natural. But he added, “I don’t recommend that path. It’s possible that it’s the right thing to do. But it’s better for it to be the exception, rather than the rule. In most cases, there is nothing so urgent that needs to get done.”

Bill continued by talking about the phenomenal transfor-mation Korea has gone through from being an aid receiving to a generous aid-donor country. He mentioned how in the past it was more convenient for Korea to follow the formula of other countries such as Japan and the United States. But now, since Korea’s institutions and companies have evolved to a world-class level, there seems to be no one to follow. To

On a lazy Sunday, the weather at Seoul National University (SNU) is warm and the bright yellow characteristic of the guenari (forsythia) creates a welcoming atmosphere. Add that to the presence of Bill Gates and students studying for their midterm exams are sure to leave the library, which is exactly what happened on Sunday, April 21 at SNU.

Founder of Microsoft and extraordi-nary philanthropist, Mr. Gates arrived on campus to give a lecture to students and professors on various topics. The dialogue, a once in a lifetime opportunity for students to meet Mr. Gates, proved to be exclusive. Out of over 1,700 registrants, only 300 were chosen to attend the event, which was conducted by the dean of SNU’s College of Engineering LEE Woo-il.

Dean Lee began by noting that the world’s richest man “would like to be addressed as simply, Bill”. This helped release the tense atmosphere caused by the presence of such a high-profile figure. Dean Lee went on to ask Bill about his visit to Korea. What brought him here?

Bill divulged, “I’m excited to be here. I haven’t actually been to Korea in five years. This time my focus is more related to the Foundation work, and the work of a startup company looking for nuclear energy called TerraPower.” Bill’s high interest in renewable and atomic energy combined with his concerns about global warming was fitting with the university, as SNU is known for its prestigious and thorough research on atomic energy.

But the main topic of the dialogue was innovation and “creative economy”. As Dean Lee explained, “creative economy” is a term used by the newly elected president of Korea, president Park, referring to a method for new economic growth. This entails the convergence between technology and industry as well as culture, in order to stimulate creativity. Furthermore Dean Lee expounded, Korea’s production skills are now outdated, and the need to “create” is imperative.

These are one of the toughest challenges for educational institutions like SNU, but also the biggest opportunities. The nation is praised for having the “brightest” students

Bill Gates in Seoul National University (SNU) — The Voice of Innovation

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stating, “One thing that has helped me is continuing to study things even after I left the full-time educational environment [With the technological innova-tions occurring]. It’s an unbe-lievable time to maintain that ongoing curiosity throughout your 20s, 30s and even later.” With a reassuring smile, Bill nodded, “Being young is a great thing for being creative.”

meet this challenge, Bill pressed on about the need to innovate. “You want to have the ability to take risks and innovate… I think creativity comes partly from having a breadth of knowledge. You don’t want to just learn one area of study. Be very broad and think through — try to under-stand, what are the problems that need to be solved?”

As the session came to a close, the 57-year old business mogul seemed more like an uncle, giving advice for his nephews at a family dinner. He encouraged students to take the best advantage of their youth,

Prof Sow Chorng Haur received a B.Sc. Degree (1st Class) in Physics from the National

University of Singapore (NUS) in 1991. After spending two more years in NUS for research, he received a M.Sc. degree in Physics. He then went on to The University of Chicago and completed his PhD degree in 1998. During the period in 1999–2000, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Bell Laboratory, Lucent Technologies. He returned and joined the Department of Physics, NUS in 2001. He is now a Professor with the Department of Physics. He has authored and co-authored many papers in the field of nanoscience and nanomaterials. See more at: http://www.physics.nus.edu.sg/staff/sowch.html

Professor Sow has always been passionate on teaching. He has the ability to relate abstract physics concepts to simple everyday phenomena by bringing the “Mobile Physics Laboratory” to lecture theatres. He can effectively use the engaging and interactive demonstration materials, anima-tions, video clips and IT to help students in understanding

Sow Chorng Haur Appointed as New Head of Physics Department, National University of Singapore.

difficult-to-visualise concepts. He creates design and demonstration tools to enhance students’ understanding of the topics discussed.

His current research interests are:

• Studies of Nanostructured Functional Materials and their Unique Physical Properties

Synthesis of a wide variety of nanoscale materials and their hybrids. Self-assembly and assisted assembly of nanowires and their hybrid into controlled 3D nano-structure. Application of nanostructured materials as field emitter, photo-sensor, transistor and etc. Studies of the electrical, optical and mechanical properties of nanostructured materials.

• Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene Develop a laser pruning method to create unique 2D and

3D structure made of carbon nanotubes or graphene or graphene oxide. Study of Field Emission properties of Unique Carbon Nanotube Arrays Large Area Patterning of Carbon Nanotube Arrays. Studies of micro-devices made of Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene.

Reproduced with permission from Seoul National University

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Lead author and PhD student Martin Ringbauer, from UQ’s School of Mathematics and Physics, said the study used photons — single particles of light — to

simulate quantum particles travelling through time and study their behaviour, possibly revealing bizarre aspects of modern physics.

“The question of time travel features at the interface between two of our most successful yet incompatible physical theories — Einstein’s general relativity and quantum mechanics,” Mr Ringbauer said.

“Einstein’s theory describes the world at the very large scale of stars and galaxies, while quantum mechanics is an excellent description of the world at the very small scale of atoms and molecules.”

Einstein’s theory suggests the possibility of travelling backwards in time by following a space-time path that returns to the starting point in space, but at an earlier time — a closed timelike curve.

This possibility has puzzled physicists and philosophers alike since it was discovered by Kurt Gödel in 1949, as it seems to cause paradoxes in the classical world, such as the grandparents paradox, where a time traveller could prevent their grandparents from meeting, thus preventing the time traveller’s birth.

This would make it impossible for the time traveller to have set out in the first place.

UQ Physics Professor Tim Ralph said it was predicted in 1991 that time travel in the quantum world could avoid such paradoxes.

“The properties of quantum particles are ‘fuzzy’ or uncertain to start with, so this gives them enough wiggle room to avoid inconsistent time travel situations,” he said.

Professor Ralph said there was no evidence that nature behaved in ways other than standard quantum mechanics predicted,but this had not been tested in regimes where extreme effects of general relativity played a role, such as near a black hole.

Fig. 1: Space-time structure exhibiting closed paths in space (horizontal) and time (vertical). A quantum particle travels through a wormhole back in time and returns to the same location in space and time. Photo courtesy: Martin Ringbauer.

Doctor Who Meets Professor HeisenbergMr Martin Ringbauer1,2, Professor Tim Ralph2 and Professor Andrew White1,2

1 Centre for Engineered Quantum Systems, School of Mathematics and Physics, University of Queensland, Australia2 Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology, School of Mathematics and Physics,

University of Queensland, Australia

“Our study provides insights into where and how nature might behave differently from what our theories predict.”

Examples of the intriguing possibilities in the presence of closed timelike curves include the violation of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, cracking of quantum cryptography and perfect cloning of quantum states.

Published in Nature Communications, the paper “Experi-mental Simulation of Closed Timelike Curves” includes Dr Matthew Broome, Dr Casey Myers, Professor Andrew White and Professor Timothy Ralph, all from The University of Queensland. http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140619/ncomms5145/full/ncomms5145.html.

The work was supported by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems and Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology.

Reproduced with permission from University of Queensland website

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Scientists and Students from Hong Kong Join a Top Particle Physics Experiment

A team of physicists from Hong Kong has now formally joined one of the most prestigious physics experiments in the world. Following a unanimous

vote of approval today by its Collaboration Board, ATLAS has admitted the Hong Kong team as a member. The ATLAS Collaboration operates one of the largest particle detectors in the world, located at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s highest energy particle accelerator at CERN, Switzerland. In 2012, the ATLAS team — along with the CMS Collaboration — co-discovered the Higgs boson, or so-called ‘God Particle’. The gigantic but sensitive and precise ATLAS detector, together with the unprecedentedly high collision energy and luminosity of the LHC, make it possible to search for fundamentally new physics, such as dark matter, hidden extra dimensions, and supersymmetry — a proposed symmetry among elementary particles. The LHC is currently undergoing an upgrade, targeting a substantial increase in beam energy and intensity in a year’s time. It is widely expected that the discovery of the Higgs boson is only the beginning of an era of new breakthroughs in fundamental physics. All these exciting opportunities are now opened up to scientists and students from Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong team is led by Professor Ming-chung Chu of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), with members also from The University of Hong Kong (HKU)

and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Other than Professor Chu, the Hong Kong team comprises Assistant Professor Luis Flores Castillo (CUHK), Research Assistant Professor Kirill Prokofiev (HKUST) who will assume the position in September, Assistant Professor Yanjun Tu (HKU) who will assume the position in September, four graduate students and two Research Assistants. Four undergraduate students from the three institutes are also working at CERN this summer. More graduate students and postdoctoral fellows will be recruited to the team shortly.

“It’s intoxicating to be working at CERN, interacting with top scientists from all over the globe, and building the largest experiment in the world”, said Shing Chau Leung, a graduate student in the team who worked at CERN for a summer two years ago when he was an undergraduate student.

The Hong Kong team has recently secured a grant of HK$8.66M from the Research Grants Council to support its research activities at ATLAS, which include both hardware and software works on the muon detecting system and analysis of data to look for new physics. The Hong Kong team had already spent one year working on simulation and testing of hardware, in collaboration with the ATLAS groups at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Lawrence

Part of the Hong Kong team in front of the ATLAS detector. From right to left: Professor Ming- chung Chu, Research Assistant Yat Long Chan, MPhil student Ka Ming Tsui, undergraduate students Yun Sang Chow, Pok Ho Tam, On Yu Dung, and PhD student Haonan Lu.

Front view of the ATLAS detector. Photo courtesy: CERN

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Berkeley National Laboratory in the US. These works have already produced two internal ATLAS technical papers and one talk to other ATLAS members. “We work hard to demonstrate that we are a worthy addition to the collabora-tion”, said Professor Luis Flores Castillo of CUHK.

The Hong Kong team operates under the umbrella of the Joint Consortium for Fundamental Physics, formed in 2013 by physicists in the three universities, alongside the elementary particle physics theory and astrophysics and cosmology groups. A theory project led by Professor Gary Shiu of HKUST, complementary to the experimental one, also won support of HK$8.6M from the Research Grants Council. “By bringing colleagues working in fundamental physics together, we enhance the strengths of each other and achieve the critical mass required for this very competitive field”, said Professor Kwong Sang Cheng, Head of Physics Department, HKU.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity opening up to us! The ATLAS science programme is full of discovery potential, and we will be working together with leading experts from 177 institutes in 38 countries. I am thrilled to be a part of this noble quest to search for the fundamental laws governing the universe and the fundamental constituents of matter!” commented Professor Chu.

Upper panel: The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is located in a tunnel about 100m underground, show as a ring of 27km perimeter near Lake Geneva (in the background). The locations of the two large general purpose detectors ATLAS and CMS are also shown (not to scale). Lower panel: The ATLAS detector is a gigantic structure 44m by 25m in size, 7,000 tons in weight, consisting of many sub-detectors for various particles produced in the particle collisions in the LHC. Photos courtesy: CERN.

Reproduced with permission from the University of Hong Kong website


RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

Viewing the Rotation of Molecular Motors at High PressureMolecular motors are nanometer-sized mechanoenzymes that work in living cells. Many motors convert chemical energy into work through their cyclic conformational changes that are coupled with nucleotide hydrolysis. The energy conversion efficiency of molecular motors is in general high. Despite extensive studies on this topic, detailed mechanism of chemomechanical coupling from molecular point of view still remains elusive. One remarkable feature that discriminates the molecular motor proteins from human-made machines is that molecular motors work in aqueous solution, interacting with many water molecules. One of the key approaches to address the molecular mecha-nism of the molecular motors is to understand the role of the intermolecular interaction with surrounding water molecules by modulating the interaction with water molecules.

Application of pressure is one of the powerful methods to enable the modulation of protein hydration. In general, the application of pressure of several hundred MPa does not seriously affect primary and secondary structures, but it does increase the structural fluctuation of protein molecules. It also weakens protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions in solutions. These pressure-induced effects are thought to be caused by enhancement of the clustering of water molecules around hydrophobic and hydrophilic residues on the protein surface. This means that applied pressure enables modula-tions of the structure and function of protein molecules, without requiring the use of any chemical materials other than water molecules. In previous studies, we constructed a high–pressure microscope that enables us to acquire high–resolution microscopic images, regardless of applied pressures [1] (Fig. 1a). The developed system allowed us to monitor the sliding motion of single microtubules driven by multiple kinesin motors at high–pressure [2].

Here, we extended the developed system to perform single-molecule rotation assays of F1–ATPase under various pressures [3]. F1–ATPase is the world-smallest rotary motor that rotates the rotary shaft counterclockwise 120º against the surrounding stator ring upon hydrolysis of one ATP molecule [4]. We attached a bead to the rotary shaft of single F1–ATPase molecules, and then monitored the rotation of the bead under high–pressure (Fig. 1b). Although, even at

140 MPa, F1–ATPase actively rotated, the rotational rate was decreased with increased pressure. Conformational stability and rotational torque were not affected by pres-sure. Systematic analysis showed that ATP–binding and post–ATP–binding steps are pressure–sensitive reactions, and the others are insensitive. The activation volumes were determined from the pressure dependence of the rotational rate constants to 100 and 88 Å3 for ATP–binding and post–ATP–binding steps, respectively. The results indicate that these steps might involve the dehydration of about 3 water molecules. More detailed mechanisms would be elucidated by comparisons with molecular dynamics simulations that include water molecules. The present technique could be extended to study the other molecular machines. It could elucidate the mechanism how molecular machines work in collaboration with water molecules.

[1] M. Nishiyama and Y. Sowa, Biophys J. 102, 1872–1880 (2013).[2] M. Nishiyama et al., Biophys J. 96, 1142–1150 (2009).[3] D. Okuno et al., Biophys J. 105, 1635–1642 (2013).[4] R. Yasuda et al., Cell 93, 1117–1124 (1998).

D. Okuno, M. Nishiyama and H. Noji‘Single-Molecule Analysis of the Rotation of F1-ATPase under High Hydrostatic Pressure’, Biophys J. 105, 1635–1642 (2013)

Fig. 1. Single-molecule measurement of the rotation of F1-ATPase. (a) High-pressure microscope (b) Time courses of the rotation of F1-ATPase at 2 mM ATP, at 0.1 (blue) and 140 MPa (red). Inset shows the experimental system.

Highlights from the Asia Pacific Region

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RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS


Electro-Optical Switching of Graphene-Oxide Liquid Crystals With an Extremely Large Kerr CoefficientGraphene-Oxide (GO) has attracted increasing attention due to recent eye-catching findings. GO can be chemically reduced into reduced GO (rGO) with comparable conduc-tivity to graphene through various processes. The relevant method is cost-effective and facile to be adopted in solution process for flexible electronics [1, 2]. Further, other unique properties of GO itself have been revealed[3,4]. One of the interesting findings is the lyotropic liquid crystalline behaviour in a quite low concentration of aqueous GO dispersion. According to Onsager’ theory, colloid of large anisotropic particles exhibits liquid crystalline phase and so, aqueous GO dispersion with an extremely large aspect ratio is a very optimum material for the lyotropic assembly. Liquid crystalline behaviour may open new opportunity for GO materials in optical applications, because usual liquid crystal is well known for electro-optical switching. However, Kim et al. reported that electrical switching of GO dispersion was not achievable due to electrophoretic migration of GO flake and electrolysis of water [5], and it was regarded as an inevitable drawback of GO materials.

In our recent publication [6], we overcame the problem using several different techniques. Application of high frequency AC field with 10 kHz prevented the migration of GO flake. We also found that the weak response of GO dispersion to external field is due to the inter-flake frictional effect, which can be significantly reduced by decreasing the concentration of GO in the dispersion. As a result, we did not need to apply high field to switch the GO dispersion cell, and the electrolysis issue was avoided by applying low voltage.

We measured the field induced birefringence of GO dispersion with varying concentration as shown in Fig. 1. As the applied voltage increases, the optical transmission under crossed polarizers increases with no threshold voltage

and it saturates at different voltage and at different optical transmission depending on GO concentration. In high GO concentration when the dispersion exhibits nematic phase, the cell was almost unresponsive to electric field. To evaluate the optical Kerr coefficient accurately, we used a curette cell which has a uniform electric field within the cell and a long beam path, as shown in Fig. 2. As indicated in Fig. 2, the maximum optical Kerr coefficient has the order of 10-5 mV-2, which is approximately three orders magnitude higher than those of any other liquid crystal, and is the highest in Kerr materials reported so far, to our knowledge. The extremely large Kerr coefficient is ascribed to the high aspect ratio of the GO and the stable electrical double layer on GO basal plane. Additionally, nematic interflake interaction increases the Kerr coefficient as well. We demonstrated an electro-optic device driven in three orders magnitude smaller voltage application than that of usual LCD (Fig. 3) and a wide size of well aligned nematic GO. Thus, our study will be very useful for switching device of GO dispersion and for achieving wide uniform GO alignment and arbitrary shaped GO alignment.

00.5

11.5

22.5

33.5

44.5

0 5 10 15 20

Δn(×

10-5

)

Electric Field (V/mm)

0.01 vol%

0.03 vol%

0.06 vol%

0.11 vol%

0.22 vol%

0.28 vol%

0.56 vol%

Fig. 1. Fiend-induced birefringence for varying GO concentrations

Fig. 2. The optical Kerr coefficient depending on concentration and the cell configuration used

a b

ON stateOFF state

Cell type C

c

Fig. 3. The electro-optic device using a GO dispersion

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

0 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16 0.2

Ker

r Coe

ff. (�

10-5

m/V

2 )

Concentration (vol%)

Exp_CuvetteExp_Cell Type BOnsager-Straley ModelNo Inter-flake Interaction

CIB_E CBN_E 1 cm1 cm

Ker

r Coe

ff. (×

10-5 m

/V2 )


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[1] S. Pei, H. M. Cheng, The reduction of graphene oxide, Cabon, 2012, 50, 3210-3228

[2] Y. Zhu , S. Murali , W. Cai , X. Li , J. W. Suk , J. R. Potts, R. S. Ruoff, Graphene and Graphene Oxide: Synthesis, Properties, and Applications, Adv. Mater. 2010, 22, 3906–3924

[3] Z. Xu and C. Gao, Graphene chiral liquid crystals and macroscopic assembled fibres, Nature communications, 2011, 2, 571.

[4] D. A. Dikin, S. Stankovich, E. J. Zimney, R. D. Piner, G. H. B. Dommett, G. Evmenenko, S. B. T. Nguyen, R. S. Ruoff, Prepara-tion and characterization of graphene oxide paper, NATURE, 2007, 448, 457-460

[5] E. Kim, T. H. Han, S. H. Lee, J. Y. Kim, C. W. Ahn, J. M. Yun, S. O. Kim. Graphene Oxide Liquid Crystals, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 3043 –3047

[6] T. Z. Shen, S. H. Hong, J. K. Song, Electro-optical switching of graphene oxide liquid crystals with an extremely large Kerr coefficient, Nat. Mater., 2014, 13, 394-399

Tian-Zi Shen, Seung-Ho Hong and Jang-Kun Song‘Electro-optical switching of graphene oxide liquid crystals with an extremely large kerr coefficient’. Nature Materials 13, 394–399 (2014)

Effects of Rotational-Symmetry Breaking on Physisorption of Ortho- and Para-H2 on Ag(111)Any molecules rotate freely in free space. In proximity to surfaces, on the other hand, the surface–molecule interac-tion influences the rotational motion, and the rotational symmetry is broken in general. Whereas heavier molecules stop rotating on surfaces with the molecular axis fixed with respect to the surface, the lightest molecule of H2 retains its rotational motion, which is of quantum-mechanical origin. Under the anisotropic part of the surface potential that breaks the rotational symmetry, the originally degenerate rotational levels in the isolated states are split within a first-order perturbation, where H2 behaves as a nearly-free rotator due to the rotational quantum effect. Since the nuclear-spin triplet (ortho-H2) and singlet (para-H2) states take only odd and even rotational quantum numbers J, respectively, a crucial consequence due to the rotational-symmetry breaking for H2 appears in the dependence of physisorption properties on the nuclear-spin state including the physisorption energy and rotational partition function.

With thermal desorption in combination with the quantum-state-resolved detection (please also see, for example, Fig. 2(b) of [T. Sugimoto and K. Fukutani, Nature Physics. 7, 307 (2011).]), we demonstrated that not only the adsorption enthalpy but also the adsorption entropy is significantly different between the nuclear-spin isomers of ortho-H2 and para-H2 physisorbed on Ag(111). This is

clearly shown to be a manifestation of the symmetry breaking due to the presence of a surface on the quantum rotator of the H2 molecule. Our careful analysis of the enthalpy and entropy difference between the two isomers unambiguously showed that the anisotropic potential of H2 prefers perpen-dicular orientation ( 2

~V ~-5 meV) on Ag(111), which is in agreement with recent ab initio calculations, yet at variance with traditional physisorption theory. In the anisotropic potential of -5 meV, almost all ortho-H2 (J = 1) exists in the M = 0 state (M is the z component of J) and its molecular axis distribution is out-of plane, whereas the molecular axis of para-H2 (J = 0) remains isotropically distributed due to the rotational quantum effect. Here we note that the Pauli repulsion prefers parallel orientation, and that perpendicular orientation preference should originate from the van der Waals (vdW) attractive interaction. Since the conventional theory predicts much smaller anisotropy for the pure vdW interaction, the present result of -5 meV suggests essential importance of partial hybridization interaction with the antibonding molecular orbital even in this extremely weakly physisorbed system. Considering that the weak hybridization with the unoccupied orbital would not be limited to H2, the term ‘physisorption’ so far used for weakly adsorbed system may well be rephrased as ‘chemicalphysisorption’.

A key point of the method established in the present study is the determination of both the magnitude and sign of the anisotropic potential from the rotational-state-selective TPD, which originates from the degeneracy of the rotational state of physisorbed ortho-H2 (J = 1) in the anisotropic potential: M = 0 is one-fold, and M =± 1 is two-fold degenerate. The ensemble measurement shown here is non-invasive to the adsorbed system and powerful in that it directly reflects the degeneracy of the physisorbed state, which can be easily and versatilly applicable to any surfaces including metals, insulators, and magnetic materials.

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T. Sugimoto and K. FukutaniEffects of Rotational-Symmetry Breaking on Physisorp-tion of Ortho- and Para-H2 on Ag(111), Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 146101 (2014)

Anisotropic Weyl Fermions from Quasiparticle Excitation Spectrum of a 3D Fulde-Ferrell SuperfluidWeyl fermions were first proposed for describing massless chiral Dirac fermions such as neutrinos in particle physics in 1929. Despite much effort, these fermions have not yet been observed in experiments (neutrinos have mass). Recently, it has been found that the band touching points of single particle energy dispersion in certain solid state materials (named Weyl semimetals) can be described by chiral Weyl equations, thus is equivalent to Weyl fermions. Around these points, the energy dispersions are linear. These points have to appear in pairs with opposite topological invariances and can only be destroyed by merging two points together in sharp contrast to two dimensional Dirac fermions (e.g. graphene) which can be destroyed by breaking time-reversal or spatial inversion symmetries.

The Fulde-Ferrell (FF) superconductor, of which Cooper pairs possess finite center-of-mass momenta, was proposed to be the ground state of a superconductor subject to large Zeeman fields over 50 years ago. However, this elusive state has not been observed conclusively in experiments due to its extremely small parameter regions. Interestingly, a spin-orbit coupling and in-plane Zeeman fields are capable of enhancing the FF superfluids, which dominate the phase diagram. In experiments, the SO coupling and Zeeman field have been created by Raman coupling between atomic hyperfine states and the strength of the Zeeman field may be tuned by the detuning and intensity of Raman lasers. These FF states can support Majorana fermions in 1D and 2D. However, whether such FF superfluids can support Weyl fermion excitations has not been explored.

In this letter, we have studied a 3D Fermi gas with Rashba spin-orbit coupling and in-plane and out-of-plane Zeeman fields. Using mean-field Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations, we have found band touching points in suitable parameter regions between particle and hole branches in the quasiparticle excitation spectrum of a FF superfluid, which possess non-zero topological invariances and anisotropic linear dispersions along all three different directions (shown in Fig. 1(b)), indicating the existence of anisotropic Weyl fermion excitations. The FF superfluids supporting Weyl

fermion excitations can be divided into two groups: the gapped FF state (tFF) and gapless FF state (gapless-tFF) as shown in Fig.1 (a), based on whether the minimum of the particle branch of the quasiparticle spectrum except Weyl points is larger than zero. More interestingly, the properties of these Weyl fermions, including their number and position, creation and annihilation, and anisotropy, can be controlled by varying Zeeman fields and interaction strength between atoms.

Finally, we have studied the signature of anisotropic Weyl fermion excitations in the speeds of sound of the FF fermionic superfluids and found anisotropic sound speeds with a minimum at the topological phase transition point, reflecting the existence of Weyl fermion excitations in a FF superfluid. The sound speeds are measurable in experiments.

Fig.1 (a) Mean-field phase diagrams of 3D spin-orbit coupled Fermi gases. (b) Quasiparticle excitations spectrum around a Weyl point.

Yong Xu, Ruilin Chu, and Chuanwei ZhangAnisotropic Weyl Fermions from Quasiparticle Excitation Spectrum of a 3D Fulde-Ferrell Superfluid , Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 136402 (2014)

Is Emergent Universe a consequence of Particle Creation Process?The proposed cosmological scenarios to overcome the chal-lenging issue: the initial singularity (Big Bang) of standard cosmology can be classified as bouncing universes or emergent universes. The present article focuses on the second choice which arises due to the search for singularity free solutions in the context of classical general relativity. Briefly, an emergent universe is a model universe in which there is no time-like singularity, ever existing and having almost static behavior in the infinite past (t → − ∞). Also, emergent universe scenario can be considered as an extended modern version of the original Lemaitre—Eddington universe.

The article deals with universe as a non-equilibrium


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thermodynamical system with dissipative phenomena due to particle creation. Both first and second order deviations from equilibrium configuration are taken into account and emergent universe solutions are examined in both the cases. Spatially flat Friedmann—Robertson—Walker model of the universe is chosen as an open thermodynamical system which is non-equilibrium in nature due to particle creation mechanism.

The Einstein field equations are and , where the cosmic

fluid is characterized by the energy—momentum tensor

Further, the thermodynamical system is chosen (for simplicity) as an adiabatic (i.e., isentropic) system, where, entropy per particle is constant. As a consequence, using Gibbs’ equation

where positivity of the particle creation parameter Γ (i.e., Γ > 0) indicates creation of particles while there is annihila-tion of particles for Γ < 0. The above equation shows that for isentropic thermodynamical process a perfect fluid with particle creation phenomena is equivalent to a dissipative fluid.

In first order non-equilibrium thermodynamical theory, the entropy flow vector is chosen due to Echart while for second order theory (introducing relaxation time) the entropy flow vector due to Israel–Stewart is considered. The dissipative (bulk) pressure (п) is chosen appropriately (in both the cases) so that the second law of thermodynamics is satisfied. In first order theory, п is no longer a dynamical variable while in second order theory п is a dynamical variable with causal evolution equation. For simplicity, the chemical potential is chosen to be zero in first order theory and particle production rate is assumed to be constant for the second order theory and as a result, in both the theory, the cosmological evolution is described by similar type of differential equation. The solution shows

(i) a → a0, H →0 as t →-∞ (a is the scale factor and H is the Hubble parameter)

(ii) a a0, H 0 for t << t0

(iii) a exp[H0(t-t0)], H H0 for t >> t0

Thus particle production process gives rise to a

cosmological solution that describes a scenario of emergent universe. Finally, it should be noted that the present model of emergent scenario with constant particle creation rate has the basic features of steady state theory of Fred Hoyle, Burbidge and Narlikar.

Subenoy ChakrabortyIs Emergent Universe a consequence of Particle Creation Process, Phys. Lett. B, 732, 81-84

Branching Ratios and CP Violation Study in Bs→PT DecaysHadronic B meson decays are important for studies of CP violation, CKM angle determination, and both weak and strong dynamics. Two-body hadronic B meson decays involving a light tensor menson (T ) in the final state have attracted great theoretical interest [1, 2], since the two B factories measured some of them [3, 4]. Recently, the LHCb collaboration began to publish data of Bs decays [5]. Although no Bs decay channels involving tensor meson have been discovered, we expect observation in the near future. Therefore a theoretical study of the Bs → P T decays is neccesary to provide experiments some hints, where P stands for a light pseudoscalar meson.

For the first time, we study the Bs → P T processes in the perturbative QCD approach [6, 7]. Based on the transverse momentum dependent factorization [8], a decay amplitude can be factorized into the Wilson coef-ficients, the perturbatively calculable hard kernel and the nonperturbative wave functions of the mesons. Since a tensor meson cannot be produced via a vector or axial vector current, the naive factorization hypothesis does not apply to modes involving a tensor mesons being emitted from the weak vertex. Thus the so-called non-factorizable diagrams and annihilation type diagrams are important for this kind of decays. The annihilation amplitudes are only calculable by the perturbative QCD approach.

All the 23 decay channels and their charge conjugate modes are studied with branching ratios and CP asym-metry parameters predicted, most of which can be confronted with the ongoing LHCb and future Belle II experiments. The numerical results reveal some decay modes with branching ratios reaching O(10−6 ) or even O(10−5 ), for example,

,

,

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,

,

and .

The CP-violation effects in the and decays are found to be considerable. When the decay modes and are compared to their U-spin pairs and , considerable U-spin symmetry breaking is predicted, where the U-spin transformation is the quark transformation d←→s.

[1] H. -Y. Cheng and K. -C. Yang, Phys. Rev. D 83, 034001 (2011). [2] Z. -T. Zou, X. Yu and C. -D. Lu, Phys. Rev. D 86, 094015 (2012).

[3] A. Garmash et al. [Belle Collaboration], Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 251803 (2006). [4] B. Aubert et al. [BaBar Collaboration], Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 201802 (2006). [5] R. Aaij et al. [LHCb Collaboration], Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 101803 (2012).

[6] Y. Y. Keum, H. n. Li and A. I. Sanda, Phys. Lett. B 504, 6 (2001); Phys. Rev. D 63, 054008 (2001).

[7] C. -D. Lu, K. Ukai and M. -Z. Yang, Phys. Rev. D 63, 074009 (2001); C. -D. Lu and M. -Z. Yang, Eur. Phys. J. C 23, 275 (2002).

[8] C. -H. V. Chang and H. -n. Li, Phys. Rev. D 55, 5577 (1997).

Qin Qin, Zhi-Tian Zou, Xin Yu, Hsiang-nan Li and Cai-Dian Lu,‘Perturbative QCD study of Bs decays to a pseudoscalar meson and a tensor meson,’ Phys. Lett. B 732, 36 (2014)

Nested Fermi Surface Starts to Play a Role in Optical PhenomenaInteractions between matter and electromagnetic fields lie as one of the most fundamental basis of our physical world. During the last a few years, the technique becomes more mature that one can put a Bose-Einstein condensate of atoms inside a high quality cavity. This opens up a new direction of studying interaction between coherent matter wave and coherent light field.

This coherent coupling leads to an effective long-range interaction between atoms mediated by the cavity electro-magnetic fields. Such a mediated interaction has given rise to the intriguing superradiance transition recently observed in a Bose-Einstein condensate of bosonic atoms trapped inside a cavity [1]. Across this transition bosons are self-organized into a state with both density order and superfluid order. A roton-like excitation has also been observed, which is softened as approaching the transition [2].

Our study [3], as well as other two works [4,5] published back-to-back with our paper, theoretically generalizes this phase transition to fermion case. The key point is to bring out novel physics in the fermion case comparing to bosons. Because bosons and fermions obey different quantum statis-tics, at the lowest temperature bosons all condense in the zero-momentum state while fermions occupy a Fermi sea. Hence, for boson case, density does not play an important role in this transition. While for fermions, at different density, the shape of Fermi surface is different. At certain density, the Fermi surface shape can display a peculiar property called “Fermi surface nesting”, which means, when a fermion at Fermi surface is scattered by a momentum Q, the final momentum is still nearby the Fermi surface. That is to say, an excitation with momentum Q will not cause any energy or cause very little energy. When this nesting momentum Q marches the momentum of cavity light, the coupling between fermion atoms and cavity light will reach a maximum, yielding a small threshold for superradiant transition.

Fermi surface nesting is an important concept in condensed matter physics, for instance, in the high-Tc superconductivity and strongly correlated materials. This work shows that Fermi surface nesting can also play an important role in optical phenomena. This work also suggests a new interesting research topic of fermions in a cavity. We expect more interesting phenomena to be found by including interactions between fermions and by including quantum fluctuations of the cavity field. Hopefully these theoretical studies will also stimulate more experimental efforts along this direction. So far experimentalists have only placed BEC inside a cavity, but there is no essential technique difficulty for performing a similar experiment with degenerate Fermi gas. These studies will definitely motive them to do so.

[1] K. Baumann, C. Guerlin, F. Brennecke, and T. Esslinger, Nature (London) 464, 1301 (2010).

[2] R. Mottl, F. Brennecke, K. Baumann, R. Landig, T. Donner, and T. Esslinger, Science 336, 1570 (2012).

[3] Yu Chen, Zhenhua Yu and Hui Zhai, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 143004 (2014)

[4] J. Keeling, M. J. Bhaseen, and B. D. Simons, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 143002 (2014)

[5] Francesco Piazza and Philipp Strack, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 143003 (2014)

Yu Chen, Zhenhua Yu and Hui Zhai‘Superradiance of Degenerate Fermi Gases in a Cavity’, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 148004 (2014)


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Local PT Symmetry Violates the No-Signaling PrincipleThe Hamiltonian is one of the most fundamental objects in quantum theory. It is used to describe the total energy of a physical system and governs the system’s time evolution, and thus it is postulated to be Hermitian for having real energy and for conserving probability. A possible extension of this postulate, called Parity-Time (PT) symmetry, would require the Hamiltonian to have spatial- and time-reversal symmetry only, rather than the more restrictive Hermitian symmetry. This model was proposed in 1998 and stimulated much research to extend the fundamentals of quantum theory. Besides developing fundamental theory, PT symmetric theory also inspires a lot of research in classical optics. However, if such an extension is truly fundamental, some predictions of this theory would be extremely powerful, such as shortcuts in the evolution between two states or discrimination of two non-orthogonal states. Yi-Chan Lee from National Tsing-Hua University in Hsinchu City, Taiwan, and colleagues examine this new extension of quantum theory in the context of other physics principles, and show that the “local” form of PT symmetric theory would cause information transmission faster than light and thus is fundamentally flawed (or else special relativity is flawed, a highly unlikely proposition).

In their paper, they follow two implicit assumptions in PT symmetry theory, describing how it locally exists and how to consider the description of quantum states in this theory. They put these assumptions into a composite system which is considered often in quantum information science. In this composite system, Alice and Bob share a pair of maximally entangled spins. They find that Alice could send information to Bob with a speed faster than light by choosing adequate local operations and measurements. To avoid this issue, one has to insist the same symmetry in local operations and measurements. Nevertheless, according to other research the authors point out these restrictions would make PT symmetry theory only an effective version of quantum theory rather than a fundamentally new theory. Based on their result they believe that PT symmetry theory either reduces to another version of standard quantum theory or is likely false as a fundamental theory.

Yi-Chan Lee, et al.‘Local PT Symmetry Violates the No-Signaling Principle’, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 130404 (2014)

Efficient Sorting of Optical Vortices by Orbital-to-Spin Angular Momentum Coupling EffectThe spin and orbital angular momentum (OAM) are two independent degrees of freedom of the single photons, and each can be exploited for encoding information in both the classical and quantum regimes. Beyond the 2-dimensional thinking with photon spin, the significance of photon OAM lies in its potential in realizing a high-dimensional Hilbert space, as the OAM number carried by twisted photons, ℓ, can theoretically take any integers.

Fig. 1. Experimental results of sorting a mixture of multiple OAM. The top and bottom panels are the petal-like flower patterns recorded at different output ports of the interferometer.

The efficient sorting of OAM plays a fundamental role in a variety of applications with twisted photons. Recently, a research group led by Prof. Lixiang Chen from Xiamen University in China devised and demonstrated a new experi-ment of mimicking Faraday rotation to sort the photon OAM efficiently. Their scheme was based on the orbital-to-spin angular momentum coupling effect induced by a modified Mach-Zehnder interferometer. Discovered by Michael Faraday in 1845, the well-known Faraday effect describes a rotation of polarization caused by the interaction of light with a magnetic field in a chiral material. In contrast, Lixiang Chen and coworkers were able to rotate the polarization of the incoming photons according to individual OAM. The rotation angle was simply proportional to the input OAM number ℓ, namely, θ = ℓ, where α described the relative orientation of a pair of Dove prisms embedded in their interferometer. Based on this ingeniously designed sorter, they have demonstrated the separation of both a single OAM and a mixture of multiple OAM, and the characteristic single bright rings and petal-like flowers have been observed, respectively. Furthermore, they have succeeded in sorting

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the optical vortices of noninteger topological charges for the first time.

Their scheme can be effectively utilized to create the single-photon hybrid entanglement when working at the photon-count level, as was shown using an electron-multiplying CCD camera. Besides, because of the angular momentum coupling effect, their scheme holds promise for polarization and OAM multiplexing and demultiplexing in the high-capacity optical communication, and for two-photon hyperentanglement analysis in the quantum information science.

W. Zhang, Q. Qi, J. Zhou and L. Chen‘Mimicking Faraday rotation to sort the orbital angular momentum of light’, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 153601 (2014)

Measurement-based Noiseless Amplification for Quantum CommunicationProtecting quantum information against decoherence is the fundamental task that stands between present day researchers and the creation of large scale quantum networks. Establishing entanglement, or more exotic correlations such as Bell non-locality or EPR steering between various nodes enables a host of quantum information applications including teleportation and ultra-secure communication. Unfortunately, the powerful yet fragile nature of quantum correlations renders them unsuitable for long range direct transmission. Furthermore, it has long been known that the standard communication solution — an amplifier — is also precluded by fundamental quantum limits, with any attempt at amplification inevitably introducing noise. This has prompted a recently flurry of interest in non-deterministic devices that avoid this penalty, at the price of sometimes failing altogether.

Although promising, experimental demonstrations of noiseless amplifiers are extremely challenging and have been of a small scale to date. Furthermore they scale unfavourably in terms of the tradeoff between the success probability and the amplification gain. One of the most immediate applica-tions of such devices would be for secure communication via quantum key distribution, and it is in this context that two independent papers recently proposed an alternative protocol based upon conditionally filtering measurement outcomes to “virtually” implement a noiseless amplification opera-tion. Chrzanowski et al. illustrate the value of this approach by experimentally demonstrating a measurement-based

noiseless linear amplifier (MB-NLA) applied to an entangled two-mode squeezed vacuum state distributed through a wide range of channels, with all the necessary reconfigura-tion taking place in software rather than hardware. In the absence of decoherence they demonstrate a significant distillation in the output entangled correlations as well as the output steering violation with a much improved success probability. In the presence of moderate loss, the researchers also demonstrate the recovery of an EPR violation after it was originally destroyed during transmission. Most dramatically, the true value of these protocols for combatting extremely high loss is demonstrated. After transmission through up to 99% loss, the amplified correlations are shown to surpass those of even an infinitely squeezed, maximally entangled state, sent through the same channel (see Fig.1). Finally, a proof-of-principle demonstration of continuous variable quantum key distribution is undertaken, which shows that appropriate amplification can allow the generation of a secure key in an otherwise insecure regime. Beyond the results already demonstrated, the success of this protocol indicates that combining sophisticated conditional filtering with high efficiency homodyne detection could be a promising avenue for future improvements to quantum network and repeater architectures.

Fig. 1. Improvement in the inseparability criterion of the two-mode EPR state for a series of lossy channels. For each transmissivity, a series of post-selection corresponding to an NLA gain (specified by the legend) are applied. The boundary of the shaded area describes the theoretical inseparability of a perfect EPR state – infinitely squeezed - subject to the same channel transmissivity. Post-selection allows access to an entangled resource beyond that accessible with even perfect initial resource. The solid lines represent theoretical inseparability of our input state, with an applied post-selection filter of a defined gain (g = 1; 1:1; : : : 1:5) as a function of the channel transmission.

Helen M. Chrzanowski, et al.‘Measurement-based noiseless amplification for quantum communication’, Nature Photonics, 8, 333–338 (2014)


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Multiple Triaxial Bands and Abnormal Signature Inversion in ASSignature inversion describes the situation in which states associated with the unfavored signature lies lower in energy at the lowest rotational frequencies. This phenomenon has become a hot topic in the study of two-quasiparticle rotational bands in odd-odd nuclei in the A∼80, A∼130 and A∼160 regions. It was suggested that the signature inversion might be the fingerprint for a triaxial shape in nuclei [1]. In the A∼80 region, several Ge, Se isotopes are experimentally claimed to possess triaxial deformed shapes in the ground states [2, 3]. Odd-odd nucleus 74As, in the vicinity of doubly-even Ge and Se isotopes, is an excellent candidate for studying triaxial shape and the signature inversion.

Fig. 1. Level scheme of 74As established in the present work.

In our study, the high-spin states in 74As were populated via the 70Zn (7Li, 3n) 74As reaction at a bombarding energy of 30MeV. The 7Li beam was provided by the HI-13 tandem accelerator of the China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE). In-beam γ-rays were detected by twelve Compton suppressed HPGe detectors and two planar HPGe detectors. A total of 9.2×107 t events were recorded and sorted into Eγ – Eγ

Eγ – Eγ matrices for subsequent off-line analysis. Based on the coincidences with the known γ-rays, the determinations of relative intensities and DCO ratios of new-found γ-rays and the systematics of Arsenic isotopes, the level scheme of 74As has been significantly extended by adding 45 γ-rays and 27 levels (as shown in Fig.1).

The signature inversion observed in the yrast band attracted our great attentions. Because it is contrary to the systematic signature inversions observed in the A∼80, A∼130 and A∼160 regions that the favored branch is favorable in energy at low spins and becomes higher at high spins. In order to explain this phenomenon, the Cranked Nilsson-Strutinsky(CNS) model calculations were applied. The results showed that there was an stable triaxial deforma-tion around g~40° in a large range of rotational frequency and the crossing of the ν [422]±5/2 signature partner orbitals caused by the interaction between unpaired ν[422]+5/2 and ν[413]-7/2 orbitals might be responsible for the observed signature inversion in the yrast band. This consequence will provide a useful basis to understand the signature inversion phenomenon.

[1] R. Bengtsson, et al., Nucl. Phys. A 415 (1984) 189[2] W.-T. Chou, et al., Phys. Rev. C 47 (1993) 157.[3] W. Andrejtscheff, P. Petkov, Phys. Lett. B 329 (1994) 1

Shi-Peng Hu, et al.‘Multiple triaxial bands and abnormal signature inversion in 7433As,’ Phys Lett. B 732, 59–64 (2014).

Organic Spintronics Breaking ThroughA spin current is a flow of electrons’ angular momentum, and plays dominant roles in transmitting, processing, and storing information in the next generation spintronics devices [1].

Recently, tremendous studies have largely contributed to revolutionize the conventional spintronics in wider ranges of metals, semiconductors and insulators. Until now, it has been known that the spin current is carried by either conduction electrons or magnons, but it has not been studied in organic semiconductors.

Over the past 10 years since the first demonstration of organic spin valve [2], research on organic spintronics has devoted much effort to understand spin relaxation in organic materials. Because organic materials are essentially composed by weak spin-orbit atoms like carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, robust spin transport with coexistence of long spin diffusion length and spin lifetime can be expected [3]. However, there are considerable debates to understand physics behind spin relaxation mechanism, in particular at near room temperature region.

Here, we have successfully demonstrated that a novel spin injection/detection methodology utilizing a ferromagnet/organic semiconductor/nonmagnetic spin-sink trilayer architecture, by which the spin current is dynamically

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pumped out of the ferromagnetic layer by exciting ferro-magnetic resonance, and is detected in the nonmagnetic spin-sink layer by its inverse spin Hall effect [4] (see Fig. 1A). We summarize our key experimental observations; Firstly, from a series of control experiments, the pure spin current injection and transport in organic semiconductor have been unambiguously justified. Secondly, the injected spins undergo Hanle precession by an external magnetic field, which has been a missing part in the organic spintronics field for many years [5]. Thirdly, the relationship between spin and charge transport are fully linked at near room temperature region, which allows us to draw an important spin relaxation mechanism.

From the observed temperature dependence of spin and charge transports, while the charge carrier mobility strongly depends on temperature as following the activation decay, the spin diffusion length is temperature independent. Consequently, the spin lifetime determined from the kinetic equation increases with decreasing temperature, approaching tens of milliseconds (see Fig. 1B). This strongly suggests that in a trap limited hopping transport system one still expects the spin relaxation time to increase with decreasing temperature since the spins are protected from spin-flip scattering while they reside in the trap states. Spins can only be flipped while the charge carriers are moving in between two trapping events.

In this structure we observed the transport of a pure spin current through a semiconducting polymer and demonstrated the coexistence of a spin diffusion length of 150 – 200 nm and an unexceptionally long spin relaxation time on the order of a millisecond at room temperature. It can be concluded that the spin orbit interaction is the dominant spin relaxation mechanism at higher temperatures, and it is

found that improvements in hopping mobility will not neces-sarily directly result in increases of spin diffusion length, in contrast to many other organic devices. A new molecular design approach for tuning molecular packing and the strength of spin orbit coupling is needed to further lengthen spin diffusion lengths and spin relaxation times. An intrinsic “low-mobility” may not be an inherent disadvantage.

[1] Maekawa, S., Valenzuela, S., Saitoh, E. & Kimura, T. Spin Current, vol. 17 (OUP Oxford, 2012).

[2] Xiong, Z., Wu, D., Vardeny, Z. & Shi, J. Giant magnetoresistance in organic spin-valves. Nature 427, (2004) 821–824.

[3] Dediu, V. A., Hueso, L. E., Bergenti, I. & Taliani, C. Spin routes in organic semiconductors. Nature Mater. 8, (2009) 707–716.

[4] Saitoh, E., Ueda, M., Miyajima, H. & Tatara, G. Conversion of spin current into charge current at room temperature: Inverse spin-Hall effect. Applied Physics Letters 88, (2006) 182509–182509.

[5] Sanvito, S. & Dediu, V. A. Spintronics: News from the organic arena. Nature Nanotechnology 7, (2012) 696–697.

Shun Watanabe, et al.‘Polaron Spin Current Transport in Organic Semiconductors’, Nature Physics 10, 308-313 (2014)

Skewon Field and Cosmic Wave PropagationThe concept of metric in Minkowski’s spacetime formulation of special relativity together with the proposal of Einstein Equivalence Principle (EEP) facilitated the genesis of general relativity. While metric field is the basic dynamical entity of gravity in general relativity (GR), EEP dictates the coupling of gravity to matter. In putting Maxwell equations into a form compatible with general relativity, Einstein noticed that the equations can be formulated in a form that is independent of the metric gravitational potential in 1916 shortly after his completion of general relativity.

Maxwell equations in terms of field strength Fkl (E, B) and excitation Hij (D, H) do not need metric as primitive concept. Field strength Fkl (E, B) and excitation Hij (D, H) can both be independently defined operationally [1]. To complete this set of equations, one needs the constitutive relation between the excitation and the field both in macroscopic electrodynamics and in spacetime theory of gravity:

Hij = (1/2) χijkl Fkl. (1)

When EEP is observed, this fundamental spacetime tensor density is induced by the metric gij of the form

Fig. 1. A. Schematic illustrations of the ferromagnet/organic semicon-ductor/spin-sink trilayer device. H and M(t) denote the external magnetic field and dynamical magnetization, respectively. EISHE, js, and σ denote the electric field due to the spin-charge conversion, the flow direction of the spin current, and the spin-polarization vector of the spin current, respectively. B. Temperature dependences of the spin diffusion length and spin lifetime.


RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

χijkl = (1/2) (−g)1/2 (gik gjl − gil gkj), (g ≡ (det gij)−(1/2)) (2)

Thus the Maxwell equations can be derived from a Lagrangian density. In local inertial frame, the spacetime tensor has the special relativity form (1/2) (ηik ηjl − ηil ηkj) with ηil the Minkowski metric. To study the empirical foundation of EEP it is crucial to explore how the experiments/observa-tions constrain the general spacetime tensor χijkl to the GR/metric form. The issue is how to derive the metric from the constitutive tensor empirically.

Since both Hij and Fkl are antisymmetric, χijkl must be antisymmetric in i and j as well as k and l. Hence the consti-tutive tensor density χijkl has 36 independent components, and can be decomposed to principal part (P), axion part (Ax) and Hehl-Obukhov-Rubilar skewon part (Sk) [1]. The skewon (Sk)χijkl part is antisymmetric in the exchange of index pair ij and kl. It satisfies a traceless condition, and has 15 independent components. The principal part and the axion (pseudoscalar) part constitute the parts that are symmetric in the exchange of index pair ij and kl. Together they have 21 independent components. Axion (pseudoscalar field) part is totally antisymmetric in all 4 indices and can be expressed as φ eijkl with φ a pseudoscalar field. The principal part then have 20 degrees of freedom.

EEP implies that photons with the same initial position and direction follow the same world line independent of energy (frequency) and polarization, i.e., no birefringence or rotation. This is observed to high precision for no bire-fringence and constrained for no polarization rotation. In constraining the general spacetime tensor from experiments and observations, we notice that EEP is already well-tested and can only be violated weakly. Hence, one can start with (2) adding a small general χ(1)ijkl to look for constraints first. In the skewonless case, we derived in early 1980’s that the no-birefringence condition for the constitutive tensor χijkl to be

χijkl = ½ (−h)1/2[hik hjl − hil hkj]ψ + φeijkl, (3)

where the light cone metric hik can be expressed in terms of

χijkl and Minkowski metric [2]. More recently, equation (3) has also been proved without weak-field approximation for non-briefringent medium in the skewonless case [3]. Polari-zation measurements of electromagnetic waves from pulsars and cosmologically distant astrophysical sources in various directions yield stringent constraints agreeing with (3) down to 2×10-32 fractionally [4]. Thus with no birefringence in

astrophysical and cosmological propagation empirically, we arrive at metric plus dilation (ψ) and axion (φ).

Constraint of the light cone metric hil to matter metric gil up to a scalar factor can be obtained from Hughes-Drever-type experiments and constraint on the dilaton ψ to 1 (constant) from Eötvös-type experiments to high precision [2].

The observational constraints on Cosmic Polarization Rotation (CPR) due to pseudoscalar–photon interaction (axion field) come from the polarization observations of radio galaxies [5] and of the cosmic microwave background CMB) [4]. New constraints on CPR from the SPTpol [6] and BICEP2 [7] CMB B-mode polarization are reported recently [8].

Skewon materials exist in macroscopic electrodynamics. In the present paper, we study the signatures and constraints on the skewon part of the general spacetime tensor from experiments and observations. From the dispersion relation, we show that no dissipation/amplification in propagation implies that the additional skewon field must be of Type II. For Type I skewon field, the dissipation/amplification in propagation is proportional to the frequency and the CMB spectrum would deviate from Planck spectrum. From the high precision agreement of the CMB spectrum to 2.755 K Planck spectrum [9], the Type I cosmic skewon field is constrained to less than a few parts of 10−35. We notice that generic Type II skewon field can be constructed from antisymmetric part of an asymmetric metric and is allowed. Like the axion case, the type II skewon field may worth further study in view of the important issues of dark matter, dark energy and inflation dynamics.

In summary, nonbirefringence and nondissipation/nonamplification lead to a unique light cone with a dilaton degree of freedom, an axion degree of freedom and 6 Type II skewon degree of freedom. Hughes-Drever-type experi-ments pin down the light cone to be identical with the cone of limiting velocity of matter to high precision. Eötvös-type experiments constrain the dilaton ψ to be 1 (constant) to high precision. Cosmic axion are lightly constrained and need more observations to find its signature or to constrain it better. Type II Hehl-Obukhov-Rubilar skewons deserve more studies theoretically and experimentally.

[1] See, e.g., F. W. Hehl and Yu. N. Obukhov, Foundations of Classical Electrodynamics: Charge, Flux, and Metric (Birkhäuser: Boston, MA, 2003).

[2] W.-T. Ni, Equivalence Principles, Their Empirical Foundations, and the Role of Precision Experiments to Test Them, in Proceed-ings of the 1983 International School and Symposium on Precision

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS


Measurement and Gravity Experiment, Taiwan, 1983, ed. by W.-T. Ni (Published by National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, 1983) pp. 491-517; W.-T. Ni, Equivalence Principles and Precision Experiments, in Precision Measurement and Funda-mental Constants II, ed. by B. N. Taylor and W. D. Phillips, Natl. Bur. Stand. (U S) Spec. Publ. 617 (1984) pp. 647-651; W.-T. Ni, Timing Observations of the Pulsar Propagations in the Galactic Gravitational Field as Precision Tests of the Einstein Eruivalence Principle, in Proceedings of the Second Asian-Pacific Regional Meeting of the International Astronomical Union on Astronomy, Bandung, Indonesia – 24 to29 August 1981, ed. by B. Hidayat and M. W. Feast (Published by Tira Pustaka, Jakarta, Indonesia, 1984) pp. 441-448.

[3] C. A. Favaro and L. Bergamin, Annalen der Physik 523 (2011) 383-401; Lämmerzahl and F. W. Hehl, Phys. Rev. D 70 (2004) 105022.

[4] For a review, see W.-T. Ni, Reports on Progress in Physics 73 (2010) 056901.

[5] See, e.g., S. di Serego Alighieri, in From Varying Couplings to Fundamental Physics, C. Martins and P. Molaro (eds.), ASSP, Springer (2011), p. 139.

[6] D. Hanson, et al. (SPTpol Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 111(2013) 141301.

[7] P.A.R. Ade, et al. (BICEP2 Collaboration), BICEP2 I: Detection of B-mode Polarization at Degree Angular Scales, arXiv:1403.3985.

[8] S. di Serego Alighieri, W.-T. Ni, W.-P. Pan, New Constraints on Cosmic Polarization Rotation from B-Mode Polarization in CMB, arXiv:1404.1701.

[9] D. J. Fixsen, Astrophys. J. 707 (2009) 916.

Wei-Tou Ni‘Skewon field and cosmic wave propagation’, Phys. Lett. A 378 (2014) 1217-1223

Chiral Spin Liquid in a Frustrated Anisotropic Kagome Heisenberg ModelTopological order, an exotic state of matter that hosts frac-tionalized quasiparticles with anyonic braiding statistics, is one of the core topics in modern condensed matter physics. Quantum spin liquid is a prominent example of topological order, which is thought to exist in some frustrated magnets.

Among various types of spin liquid, Kalmeyer−Laughlin chiral spin liquid is special for its spontaneously time-reversal symmetry (TRS) breaking and emergent semionic fractional statistics. Besides the fundamental interest, Kalmeyer−Laughlin chiral spin liquid is considered as the parent state of an exotic type of superconductivity — anyon superconductor. Such fascinating state has been sought for more than twenty years. A fundamental theoretical question that has remained open is whether Kalmeyer−Laughlin chiral spin liquid can exist in a realistic system where time-reversal symmetry is breaking spontaneously.

For the first time, by using the density matrix renor-malization group, Yin-Chen He and Yan Chen from Fudan University, and D. N. Sheng from California State University at Northridge numerically show that Kalmeyer−Laughlin chiral spin liquid is the ground state of a frustrated aniso-tropic kagome Heisenberg model, which has the common two spin exchange interactions and time-reversal symmetry. Various solid evidences have been provided to support the emergence of Kalmeyer−Laughlin chiral spin liquid with time-reversal symmetry spontaneously breaking. They demonstrate that the chiral spin liquid is characterized by the presence of finite scalar chirality order, a large energy gap, and the emergence of the spinon quasiparticles obeys the semionic fractional statistics. Their work, which shows that the chiral spin liquid can be stabilized in the nearest neighbor kagome Heisenberg model by adding short-range interactions, will provide a new pathway of searching Kalmeyer−Laughlin chiral spin liquid and anyon supercon-ductor for both theorists and experimentalists in frustrated magnets like Herbertsmithite ZnCu3(OH)6Cl2.

Yin-Chen He, D. N. Sheng, Yan Chen‘Chiral Spin Liquid in a Frustrated Anisotropic Kagome Heisenberg Model’, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 137202 (2014),

New Printing

John S Bell on the Foundations of Quantum Mechanicsedited by M Bell (CERN), K Gottfried (Cornell ) & M Veltman (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor)

This book is the most complete collection of John S Bell’s research papers, review articles and lecture notes on the foundations of quantum mechanics. Some of this material has hitherto been difficult to access. The book also appears in a paperback edition, aimed at students and young researchers.

248pp Aug 2001978-981-02-4687-7 US$50 £33978-981-02-4688-4(pbk) US$24 £16

37

ARTICLES

August 2014, Volume 3 No 2

1

Ken Wilson The Early Years∗

R. JackiwDepartment of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Ken Wilson’s lifetime achievements in fundamental theo-

retical physics are well known and are well documented

in this memorial volume. Therefore, there is no purpose in

my adding yet another appreciation of his seminal work.

Rather, I shall describe Ken and some of his activities at

the beginning of his career, when he was junior faculty at

Cornell and I was his student — one of two in the first

cohort of PhDs that he mentored. (The other was Gerald

Estberg, long time faculty and now retired at the University

of San Diego.)

I entered Cornell’s physics PhD program, hoping to

study with Hans Bethe. But he decided to leave elementary

particle physics and remain with nuclear physics. Another

eminent theorist, specializing in S-matrix/Regge theory,

left Ithaca for the West Coast. Consequently a position was

offered to Ken, and in 1963 he accepted, partially “because

Cornell was a good university, was out in the country and

[had] a good folk dancing group.”1 We graduate students

were not familiar with his work because none was pub-

lished. Evidently he got the job solely on his reputation

among senior colleagues as a brilliantly unique quantum

field theorist. Perhaps this disappointed some, who wished

to follow the then-dominant S-matrix approach. But I was

delighted, because my ambition was to master quantum

field theory.

We were bemused by Ken’s dedicated work habits: One

could find him in office most of the time; otherwise he

resided in a motel room. We were again bemused two

years later when he won tenure after two publications. He

attended our parties and other informal gatherings. His

interactions were marked by very deliberate responses to

conversational gambits. One frequently had to wait some

moments before he responded; when an answer came it

was complete — there was nothing more to say.

Ken’s teaching style was methodical, addressing com-

plicated matters in simple but opinionated fashion. He

described his approach as

“. . .not trying to state the final word on the phys-

ically (sic) meaning of quantum fields. Rather,

I . . . present [an] intuitive understanding of the

∗This article will also appear in a memorial volume for Kenneth G.Wilson, edited by B. E. Baaquie, K. Huang and K. K. Phua, to bepublished by World Scientific Publishing Company, 2014.

. . . so-called ‘asymptotic condition’. Rather than

go through the formal mathematics involved in

this work, I . . . replace the rigorous but formal

approach by an intuitive hypothesis used in an

intuitive way, to obtain the same results. The

value . . . is that it is obtained without . . . introduc-

ing ideas which are physically misleading and

mathematically absurd. (‘interaction representa-

tion’ and the ‘adiabatic hypothesis’)”2

This attitude led to a clear but leisurely course presen-

tation. By the end of the first semester of quantum field

theory, we managed to quantize the free scalar field and

discuss interactions, with no Feynman diagram in sight.

I presented myself to Ken and he agreed to direct my

thesis research. He suggested that I study the renormaliza-

tion group by reading the Gell-Mann–Low paper3 and the

Bogoliubov–Shirkov4 text. Evidently already in 1963 Ken

was thinking about the renormalization group. This choice

came as a surprise to me because prevailing sentiment at

that time maintained that nothing physically interesting

can be gotten by renormalization group arguments, espe-

cially by techniques employed in the Soviet school.5

In fact Ken was an aficionado of the renormalization

group from very early days. Already in his 1961 PhD

thesis, he used that formalism to solve the Low equation.

The thesis also exhibits Ken’s reliance on numerical, com-

puter assisted calculations — another feature of his mature

work.6

When I was ready to begin research, Ken suggested

that I use renormalization group methods to determine

the large momentum behavior of the vertex (3-point) func-

tion in spinor electrodynamics. We hoped that rederiving

known partial results would check the new approach, and

that new results would demonstrate the power of the

renormalization group in new settings. Let me explain.

The vertex function, depicted in Fig. 1, describes the

propagation of an off mass-shell electron (solid lines) with

the emission of an off mass-shell photon (dashed line). The

4-momenta are, respectively p, q and k = p − q. The on shell

electron mass is m; the photon carries an infrared regulator

mass µ.

Γα(p, q) is a 4 × 4 matrix, but the leading term may be

isolated as Γα(p, q) = γαΓ(p2, q2, k2)+· · · . The task is to study

Ken Wilson — The Early Years*

R. JackiwDepartment of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

38

ARTICLES

Asia Pacific Physics Newsletter

2

Vertex (3-point) function.

Γ for large k2. The answer, far off mass-shell, |k2| ≫ |p2|,|q2| ≫ m2, was found by Sudakov:7

Γ(p2, q2, k2) ∼ exp[

−α

2πln∣

∣

∣

∣

p2

k2

∣

∣

∣

∣ln∣

∣

∣

∣

q2

k2

∣

∣

∣

∣

]

(Sudakov) .

Rederiving this with the help of the renormalization

group would validate that technique, and then the on

mass-shell formula for Γ(m2, m2, k2) could also be found.

Unfortunately I did not succeed. I could not find a de-

fensible renormalization group argument for determining

the large k2 asymptote of Γ(p2, q2, k2) off or on mass-shell.

After some futile struggle with the problem, I reported my

failure to Ken. I was afraid that he would lose interest, once

the renormalization group was abandoned.

Fortunately he was open to other methods. After a few

days he told me to take a different, eikonal-type approach:

In a Feynman diagram expansion of Γα(p, q), a generic

propagator should be decomposed as

1

r2 −M2 + iε=

1

2wr

{ 1

r0 − wr + iε+

1

−r0 −wr + iε

}

,

wr =√

r2 +M2 ,

Decomposition of Feynman propagator .

Further analysis for large momenta shows that only one

of the two terms in the decomposition dominates. With

this observation it becomes possible to sum all rele − vant

graphs. The Sudakov formula is reproduced and the on

mass-shell asymptote is found:8

Γ(m2, m2, k2) ∼ exp−{ α

4πln2 k2

µ2

}

(on mass-shell) ,

m2= p2 , q2 ≪ |k2| .

Note that the on mass-shell formula is not merely Su-

dakov’s expression eva − luated at p2= q2

= m2; numerical

factors differ. (With the advent of Effective Field Theory, a

combination of eikonal and renormalization group meth-

ods can achieve both on shell and off shell results.9)

While I was completing my research, there appeared a

paper by S. Weinberg,10 in which he proposed modified

Feynman rules for calculating amplitudes in the infinite

momentum frame. These are very similar to Ken’s sugges-

tion. When I went to inform Ken, he had already seen the

paper, and with a smile called my attention to it. Never

did he claim any priority in this matter — the subject

simply was outside his interest, yet he could make a crucial

contribution.

Ken was very supportive in my career. Upon my grad-

uation he (and Bethe) secured for me a Harvard Junior

Fellowship. It gave me great pleasure that he too held

one, just before me. One time when I saw him, he was

revising a paper on his short distance expansion — a

technique with which he hoped to analyze the behav-

ior of quantum fields, but had not yet come to fruition.

I asked him how long would he remain with the sub-

ject without establishing useful results. He answered that

he wouldn’t give up for a decade. But he didn’t have

to wait that long. In 1969 he published the first of his

renowned papers, “Non-Lagrangian Models of Current

Algebra.” In it he announced a new approach to quantum

field theory:

“What is proposed here is a new language for

describing the short-distance behavior of fields

in strong interactions. One talks about operator-

product expansions for products of operators

near the same point, instead of equal-time com-

mutators. One discusses the dimension of an op-

erator instead of how it is formed from products

of canonical fields. Analyses of divergences in

radiative corrections, etc., are carried out in posi-

tion space rather than momentum space. Further-

more, one has qualitative rules for the strength

of SU(3) × SU(3)-symmetry-violating corrections

at short distances . . . the hypotheses of this paper

have the elegance of simplicity, once one is used

to the language.”11

He worked out several illustrative examples of physical

processes by his methods. Most pleasing to me is the fact

that he devoted a long discussion to the chiral anomaly,

which appeared the same year.12,13

The Boston Joint Theoretical Physics Seminar met on

Wednesdays. The day before Thanksgiving might have

been sparsely attended; but this was not so, because the

perennial speaker was Ken, who would be coming to

visit his Boston area family for the holiday. As the years

progressed, the audiences grew larger and larger, and the

largest room had to be used.

39

ARTICLES


3

References

[1] K. G. Wilson, Nobel Lectures in Physics, 1981–1990, ed. G. Ek-spong (World Scientific, Singapore, 1993).

[2] K. G. Wilson, Quantum field theory class notes, Cornell (1963).[3] M. Gell-Mann and F. E. Low, Phys. Rev. 95, 1300 (1954).[4] N. N. Bogoliubov and D. V. Shirkov, Introduction to the Theory

of Quantized Fields (Interscience, New York, 1959).[5] K. Huang and F. E. Low, Sov. Phys. JETP 19, 579 (1964).

[6] K. G. Wilson, Caltech Ph.D. thesis (1961).[7] V. V. Sudakov, Sov. Phys. JETP 3, 65 (1956).[8] R. Jackiw, Ann. Phys. (N.Y.) 48, 292 (1968).

[9] I. Stewart and J. Thaler, private communication.[10] S. Weinberg, Phys. Rev. 150, 1313 (1966).[11] K. G. Wilson, Phys. Rev. 179, 1499 (1969).[12] J. S. Bell and R. Jackiw, Il Nuovo Cimento A 60, 47 (1969).[13] S. L. Adler, Phys. Rev. 177, 2426 (1969).

Memorial Volume of Ken Wilson

by: Belal E Baaquie (National University of Singapore), Kerson Huang (MIT), Michael E Peskin (Stanford) & K K Phua (Nanyang Technological University)

“Kenneth Wilson was a brilliant and creative contributor to the work on renormalization groups and phase transitions. He applied his multifaceted genius to condensed matter physics as well as nuclear and elementary particle physics.”

Murray Gell-MannNobel Laureate

List of contributors:

Alexander Zamolodchikov, Alexander Polyakov, Anthony Zee, Belal E B a a q u i e , D av i d G ro s s , E r i k Ve r l i n d e , F ra n z We g n e r, H . R . Krishnamurthy, Hao Bailin, John Schwarz, Kerson Huang, Michael E Peskin, Michael Fisher, Murray Gell-Mann, N. David Mermin, Ramanurti Shankar, Roman Jackiw, Stanislaw Glazek, Steven Weinberg, Tohru Eguchi, Xiang Tao

The purpose of bringing out this volume is to commemorate the memory of Ken Wilson and to preserve the legacy of his ground-breaking advances. This volume brings together a collection of articles written by colleagues of Ken Wilson as well as fellow physicists and scholars — some of who knew him personally and others who are knowledgeable about his sterling contributions to the foundations of theoretical physics.

400pp Dec 2014978-981-4619-21-9 US$88 £58978-981-4619-22-6(pbk) US$38 £25

Ken Wilson Memorial Volume Renormalization, Lattice Gauge Theory, the Operator Product Expansion and Quantum Fields

Reproduced with permission from World Scientific Publishing Co.

40

ARTICLES


The Quantum IndiansFeng, Da-HsuanNational Tsing Hua University, Taiwan

In the beginning of the 21st century, India unveiled a movie entitled “Three Idiots”. The theme of the movie is to depict the challenges that young Indian people are

facing while pursuing advanced engineering education. By watching this movie, one can be impressed by the rise of India’s science and technology.

This morning, a friend of mine introduced me to a Youtube video entitled “The Quantum Indians”. In 40 minutes, this short video introduced another three Indians. They were Bose, Raman and Saha, three world-class physicists in the first half of the 20th century. As the video lamented, even in their beloved native land, they seemed to have been forgotten.

Indeed, in the first half of the 20th century when Western scientists were pursing with absolute vigor the dynamics of the microworld (what is called quantum mechanics today), these three Indian scientists, working under enormous difficulties and shortages, produced earth-shaking results. Bose put forward the Boson statistics, clarifying that half of the elementary particles in the universe would have these

characteristics. Raman of course is the father of optical spectroscopy. Saha is a giant in astrophysics.

These three Indians giants stood shoulder to shoulder with their counterparts in the Western world. It clearly shows that the rise of India’s science and technology today is absolutely not an accident.

It is worth underscoring that Raman who received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1930 was the first Asian to do so. He was ahead of the second Asian, Yukawa from Japan, with that accolade by 19 years, and the third and fourth Asians, T. D. Lee and C. N. Yang from China by 27 years.

In my days of physics research, there were few days where “bosons” were not in my mind. Also, during that period, I have listened to hundreds of seminars that were related to Raman Effect. Moreover, the first seminar I delivered in India was at Calcutta’s Shah Institute of Nuclear Physics.

Yes, I watched this video with mixed feelings!

The youtube link for the aforementioned video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQC8o1KdX7s

Da Hsuan Feng was born in New Delhi, India. His mother and father were a musician and a journalist, respectively. In the early 1950’s, his family moved to Singapore.

In 1968, Feng received a B.A. in physics from Drew University, and in 1972, he received a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of Minnesota. Since 1976, he became a faculty member in the physics department of Drexel University in Philadelphia. From 1990–2000, he became the M. Russell Wehr Chair Professor of Physics of Drexel University. From 1998–2000, he became the Vice President of Science Applications Inter-national Corporation (SAIC.) His portfolio included affairs in the four States in northeast United States: New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware. From 2001–2007, Feng assumed the position as Vice President for Research and Economic Development of the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD.) In 2007, Feng was one of the founding members

of the powerful Advisory Board of the Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics of China’s Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, Hubei Province. In 2009, in recognition of his contribution to the development of science and technology of the province of Hubei, Feng was awarded the Chime-Bell Award (編鐘獎.)

From 2005–2007, Feng became an independent Board member of Cellstar. In 2007, he also became a Technical Advisory Board member of Aurora Technologies Corporation of Massachusetts, United States. In 2010, Malaysia’s Universiti Teknologi Petronas appointed Feng as its Academic Advisory Committee member. In 2007–January 31, 2011, Feng was Senior Executive Vice President of National Cheng Kung University. Currently, he is the Senior Vice President of Global Strategy, Develop-ment and Evaluation of National Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu, Taiwan.

41

ARTICLES


Résumé

25ème anniversaire du World Wide WebVingt-cinq ans après avoir proposé le projet qui est devenu leWorld Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee veut attirer l’attention sur certaines questions qui se posent dans ce domaine, telles que la liberté, l’accessibilité et la protection de la vie privée. Le CERN a soutenu le lancement de sa campagne sur son site web, en publiant les articles d’opinion reproduits ici.

In March 1989 at CERN, Tim Berners-Lee submitted his proposal to develop a radical new way of linking and sharing information over the internet. The document was entitled “Information Management: A Proposal” (CERN Courier May 2009 p24). And so the web was born. Now, Berners-Lee, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the World Wide Web Foundation are launching a series of initiatives to mark the 25th anniversary of the original proposal, and to raise awareness of themes linked to the web, such as freedom, accessibility and privacy.

Twenty-five years to the day after he submitted his proposal, on 12 March Berners-Lee, together with the Web Foundation, launched the “Web We Want” campaign. The aim is to promote a global dialogue and changes in public policy to ensure that the web remains an open, free and accessible medium, so that everyone around the world can participate in the free flow of knowledge, ideas and creativity online.

Berners-Lee announced the campaign at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on 10 December — Human Rights Day 2013 — during a series of conversations on a variety of issues in human rights, which were held in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Office of the High Commis-sioner for Human Rights. There he set out the principles that inspired the movement for a free flow of information, such as affordable access, protection of privacy, freedom of expression, and neutral networks that do not discriminate against content or user.

The World Wide Web’s 25th Anniversary

Fittingly, the campaign is using the web to pass on the message, and it has already seen significant mobilization on social media with half a billion people worldwide hearing Berners-Lee’s call for a digital bill of rights in every country. CERN promoted the launch of the campaign on its website with a series of opinion pieces from early contributors and enthusiasts of the World Wide Web, which are republished here.

For more about Web@25 and the “Web We Want” campaign, visit www.webat25.org and webwewant.org.

On the open internet and the free web

The internet created platform and opportunity for people to communicate, to collaborate and to share at unprecedented scale and speed. The creation of the World Wide Web opened up these possibilities to the world, enabling individuals to participate and play their own creative role in the sharing of all human achievements.

This has enabled interactions between all sorts of people — from all sorts of domains, including business, government and scientific communities — for all manner of activities like never before in human history. The web has evolved from simple information sharing to transacting business through socializing and more recently collaborative problem solving in citizen cyber science. In these ways it harnesses the capabilities of humanity to do what we do best — share, learn, collaborate and innovate.

However, with this capability comes considerable respon-sibility. Basic human rights, including the right to freedom of expression and the protection of privacy, all need to be

Twenty-five years ago, a proposal first laid out the principles of what was to become the World Wide Web.

David Foster

Marina GiampietroCERN, Switzerland

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balanced and preserved so that this incredible resource can be a safe and exciting place for creativity, for people of all ages and interests. The accessibility and openness of the internet are crucial to enabling new ideas to flourish and compete with long-standing traditions, and to ensure that the evolution of the web continues to proceed at a pace limited only by our ideas.

This responsibility rests with all of us — whether politi-cians, lawmakers, scientists or citizens — to ensure that the incredible progress we have made in the last 25 years, starting with the work of a few, and now capturing the innovations of many, can continue in an open, trusted, safe, free and fair way.

• David Foster, Deputy Head of CERN’s IT department.

Minimizing the muddle

Reams of material have been written about where, why and when the World Wide Web was born, but what about its conception? Gestation was rather like that of an elephant — difficult to know it had started and taking almost two years to complete. In fact, I think the title of Tim Berners-Lee’s bookWeaving the Web, published in 1999 with Tim dubbed the inventor, is a better metaphor. When do

a spider’s first few threads become a web? And when, if ever, is the job finished?

In 1984, Tim was recruited by CERN’s Data and Docu-ments (DD) division and he elected to join the Read-Out Architecture (RA) section in the On-Line Computing (OC) group. I was the RA section leader and Tim worked with (and without!) me for the next six years. Mike Sendall, the OC group leader, agreed our work plans and held our purse strings.

At the time, CERN hosted lots of small and medium-sized experiments using a variety of mini-computers, personal computers, operating systems, programming languages and network links. Back at the ranch, the OC group was endeav-ouring to provide data-acquisition systems, the software used by equipment closely connected to the detectors, for as many experiments as possible. The conundrum, as in other areas, was how to embrace heterogeneity without having squads of workers generating exclusive solutions to intrinsically identical problems for bewildered users. Just the kind of anarchic jumble that Tim found challenging.

Several of us believed that standardization, where apt,

Peggie Rimmer

reduced waste and frustration. But the s-word was anathema in some corners of CERN, on the grounds that it stifled creativity, and we evangelists incurred the wrath of a few mandarins. Yet conformity seemed to rankle less when it came to electronics. Commercial companies were already competitively producing computer interfacing hardware that conformed to ANSI/IEEE international standards.

Hurrah! If you know the hardware you’re going to get, you can prescribe how to handle it. I had worked with the NIM (US)/ESONE (Europe) group that defined standard software routines for CAMAC interfacing and was on the committee developing hardware and software standards for the speedier FASTBUS system. Tim arrived as we were dotting the Is and crossing the Ts of the FASTBUS routines.

He was obviously a smart young man (smart-clever rather than smart-sartorial!), full of fizz and, as a bonus, entirely likeable. When he presented his ideas in our section meet-ings, few of us if any could understand what he was talking about. His brain would overtake his voice, and holding up signs saying “Tim, slow down” rarely had the desired effect. We sometimes asked him to put things in writing, which didn’t necessarily help either. One of his erstwhile colleagues recalls “we knew it was probably exciting, maybe even important, but that it could take hours to figure out”. Listening to one of Tim’s presentations today, one can still detect the run-away style, even after his training in public speaking. However, I remember an occasion when his delivery was impeccable, in a play performed by the Geneva English Drama Society!

Tim’s main activity in the RA section was his Remote Procedure Call RPC, whereby a program on one computer could transparently access procedures, routines, on other computers, even if they used different operating systems and programming languages, and whatever the network connecting them. He wasn’t too pleased when I asked him to specify the FORTRAN binding for FASTBUS routines, that is to define precisely the properties of the routines’ parameters as seen from within a FORTRAN program. Only later did he appreciate the value of that unwelcome task, when preparing the standards that would underpin the first two Ws of WWW. He knew that the job, however tedious, had to be done and done well, with the devil lurking in the nit-picking details.

Come 1990, another CERN reshuffle and Tim stayed behind in the new Computing and Networks (CN) division, while the rest of us went off to Electronics and Computing for Physics (ECP). Shortly afterwards I drifted away from ECP, but I will always retain happy memories of the 1980s and the pleasure of having Tim in our section. He was not

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the only singular character in that multifaceted team, but with his congenial personality he could work with anyone. At least I don’t recall having to field any complaints, apart from “what on earth is Tim proposing?” Well, now we know.

• Peggie Rimmer, Tim Berners-Lee’s supervisor from 1984 to 1990.

Good old Bitnet, and the rise of the World Wide Web

Although I presented my PhD thesis a mere 17 years ago, the last back-up of my thesis, programs and data was saved on a 7-inch magnetic tape reel. This of course meant that I did my graduate studies at the time when the word “network” was most often used in the plural. Each and every network was

endowed with its own set of applications and accessibility for e-mail, document exchange, remote interactivity and even chatting.

Yes, computer-mediated social interaction came long before the World Wide Web. In the late 1980s, connectivity exploded at universities and research laboratories around the world. One noticeable side product was that young academics started dating each other from across the globe!

All of this was a heterogeneous mess, of course. But at the same time, it was pleasurably low level, and it was awesome. You knew what was happening behind the scenes when retrieving data and documents, you knew the hops that your “Relay” instant messaging made on the Bitnet, because you simply had to know. Data, documents, social interaction – it was all there. It was cool and in some ways efficient, but not practical, and it scaled very poorly.

And so the World Wide Web arrived on the internet. With the web came an immediate sense of need: you needed a fancy personal homepage, complete with graphical interface and colour. The personal homepage was quickly perceived as a way of asserting one’s very existence. I was on a text-based, black-on-orange remote terminal, and I still remember putting together my first homepage late at night in early 1993, while one of the graphical stations was free in the research group.

The web was practical and universal, and the other networks quickly withered away in a form of Darwinian

Richard Jacobsson

selection. The web quickly drove the quest for desktop computer stations with screens with graphics capability. I still opted for size and sharpness, staying with black and white for several years, while all of my colleagues seemed to be rubbing their sandy eyes after only a few hours of 15-inch colour experience.

The web brought a singular revolution that quickly changed every aspect of our screen work: a global, all-topic search possibility. Computer code, a formula, a result, a cooking recipe, a person, a phone number — everything was at hand in little more than an instant, with no physical displacement. We immediately started setting up analysis team pages to share progress more efficiently. I was in the DELPHI experiment Team 5, the “Higgs hunters” team. It was mostly pages with some expert documentation and links to plots, programs and data, but we also all invented countless ways to make information on the web dynamic. It took time and pain before it deserved the word interactive.

Today I sometimes have the impression that no devel-opment is ever made without constantly interrogating the web for advice, before even thinking through the problem: “Someone will surely have solved the problem in a better way, no?” is an all-too-common approach.

In those early days I rarely discussed my networked profession and life with friends and family – the web was just a new tool of my trade. After another long stay at CERN in 1993–1994, I went back to Stockholm in February 1994. Sitting quietly reading on the subway, it was with an indescribable surprise and awe for what was to come that I discovered an http address on a regular advertisement! Within months, commercial web addresses were all over our billboards in Sweden.

Back then, the good old Bitnet chat had a rule. The Dutch Master Operators insisted that “Relay is a ‘privilege’, NOT a right, and Relay abuse will NOT be tolerated!” I often wish the web had it too, including commercial boundaries under the same heading.

• Richard Jacobsson, senior physicist on the LHCb experiment.

Not at all vague and much more than exciting

In 1989, when Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web at CERN, I was responsible for the laboratory’s multi-protocol e-mail gateway. I remember discussing with Tim naming conventions for applications, and configuration rules for the first mailing lists that he requested to allow pioneer websites to discuss World Wide Web code.

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We attended technical meetings sponsored by the European Commission — myself for e-mail standardiza-tion, and Tim for the Informa-tion Services Working Group (WG) — where he presented his code, and some Scandina-vian universities even showed an interest in installing it.

Tim conceived, wrote and presented the web as an open, distributed, networked medium. He believed that the web should be accessible by everyone, everywhere — embracing from the first web conference at CERN in 1994 development for people with disabilities or a sub-optimal network infra-structure. He presented the web — in his proposal to CERN in March 1989 — as a platform for scientific collaboration, and 20 years later reinforced this commitment, announcing http://webscience.orgas a home for scientists online.

And Tim Berners-Lee continues to strive for a free, open web today. Setting up the World Wide Web Foundation was just one of the many steps he took to maintain this ideal. On 12 May last year, at the United Nations in Geneva, Tim announced the Web We Want campaign, which will form the centre of the debate around today’s information-surveillance methods.

As a CERN scientist, I share Tim’s ideas for an open, collaborative web. I believe that CERN’s software develop-ment based on web standards should be linked to the relevant working groups in the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) — the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web.

Up until 1998, in the Web Office at CERN, we were still able to count all the world’s web servers. We still thought we could keep track of the web’s expansion. Apache put an end to this, as starting one’s own web server became so

Maria Dimou

easy. But we were still writing search algorithms of our own, with integrated dictionaries for natural language searches, with help from technical students. We enjoyed, at the time, a certain pluralism, because we had multiple commercial or public-domain products to compare and evaluate, search engines, web calendars and editing tools. We didn’t use “Google” as a synonym for “search”.

The explosion of websites around the turn of the century highlighted the importance of identifying trustworthy infor-mation online. At CERN, we understand that presence on the web doesn’t necessarily make information valid – it must be recent and from a trusted source. Sophisticated algorithms are developed to promote web content by devious means, such as clever use of metadata to “arrange” the importance of search results, spread false rumours, manipulate public opinion. Browsing today requires a discerning eye and a knack for research.

Today, CERN software developers write grid middleware, data-management software, collaborative tools, repositories for data-preservation projects and web-based applications. They use, among other standards, the http protocol. A collaboration with relevant W3C working groups would lead to technical benefits in these times when resources are limited and the web has become much more than a docu-ment repository.

The web has changed human society more radically than Gutenberg’s printing press. It is a valuable platform for education and free exchange of ideas. But it can also be a tool for propaganda and surveillance.

Now more than ever, we at CERN should keep in touch with the evolution of the web: after all, it changed the world as we know it at the end of the 1980s — it could do so again.

• Maria Dimou, CERN computer scientist and early web contributor.

Cold Atoms – Vol 2

The Quantum World of Ultra-Cold Atoms and Light Book 1: Foundations of Quantum Opticsby Crispin Gardiner (University of Otago) & Peter Zoller (University of Innsbruck)

The Quantum World of Ultra-Cold Atoms and Light is a trilogy, which presents the quantum optics way of thinking and its applications to quantum devices. This book — Foundations of Quantum Optics — provides an introductory text on the theoretical techniques of quantum optics, containing the elements of what one needs to teach, learn, and “think” about quantum optics. There is a particular emphasis on the classical and quantum stochastic methods which have come to dominate the field.

328pp Mar 2014978-1-78326-460-5 US$128 £84978-1-78326-461-2(pbk) US$64 £42

RESEARCH INSTITUTES AND LABS


The Kavli Foundation (http://www.kavli-foundation.org) is a US-based private philanthropic organization “dedicated to

advancing science for the benefit of humanity, promoting public understanding of scientific research, and supporting scientists and their work.” It supports four major areas of basic research, astrophysics, nanoscience, neuroscience, and theoretical physics, through a network of 17 institutes worldwide. Every two years, it awards the prestigious Kavli Prize to “recognize scientists for their seminal advances in astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience.”

In the area of astrophysics, the Kavli Foundation has established research institutes at six leading universities, including Stanford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Chicago, Cambridge University, University of Tokyo, and Peking University (PKU) in China. Founded in 2006 and in full operation in 2008, the Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics (KIAA; http://kiaa.pku.edu.cn) at PKU is designed to be an international center of excellence to promote basic astrophysical research. Its members have access to a variety of domestic and inter-national observing facilities and computational resources. KIAA’s programs are focused in four major areas of research: • Observational cosmology, galaxy formation and evolu-

tion• Interstellar medium, star formation, stellar and planet

systems• Gravitational physics and high-energy phenomena• Computational astrophysics (N-body, hydrodynamics,

and MHD simulations)With English as its working language, KIAA is developing

an intellectual environment for scientific exchange. In partnership with the National Astronomical Observatories and other astronomical centers and universities in China,

Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at Peking University: An International Center for Excellence in China

KIAA is engaged in theoretical and observational initiatives, development and utilization of facilities, and training of students and postdocs. Currently, the institute, in conjunc-tion with the Department of Astronomy, has a total of about 25 faculty, 12 postdoctoral fellows, 45 graduate students, and 120 undergraduates. It also regularly hosts a number of international visiting scholars.

KIAA regularly sponsors thematic workshops, confer-ences, and special-topic training programs. KIAA is establishing exchange and visiting programs with other Kavli institutes and a network of universities and astronomy centers worldwide. The Institute is under the leadership of its new Director, Luis C. Ho, formerly a Staff Astronomer at the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Pasadena, California, USA. Ho was educated at Harvard University and University of California at Berkeley, and he is a world expert on supermassive black holes and active galaxies. Under his leadership, Ho wishes not only to build a first-rate astrophysics institute in China, but he is also very interested in working with other universities and institutes throughout greater Asia who share the same vision for the future.

Luis C. HoDirector, University Chair ProfessorKavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at Peking UniversityChina



“An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man” are perhaps the most appropriate words that can be said about Professor Meghnad Saha

and Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP). Prior to the independence of the country Prof. Saha was working very closely with Jawaharlal Nehru and Subash Chandra Bose in framing the national science and planning policy. He was probably the first person in the country to have foreseen the immense potential of nuclear science for the betterment of Indian society. So by 1940, he introduced nuclear physics as part of the university physics curriculum in the University of Calcutta. With supports from Nehru, he received a generous fund from the Dorabji Tata Trust for the procurement and construction of a cyclotron in 1941. After the World War II and followed by the independence of the country in 1947, Prof. Saha realised that nuclear physics had grown to such an extent that to take part in research a separate institution with a close link to the universities was necessary. Thus, the foundation stone of SINP (the then INP, the Institute of Nuclear Physics) was laid down in 1949 and the institute was formally inaugurated on 11 January 1950, by Madame Irene Joliot Curie. Right from its inception, Prof. Saha initiated research in various disciplines of science ranging from astrophysics, plasma physics, physics of materials and biophysics, in the newly born institute and realising the importance of education, he introduced a post-M.Sc. programme, a pre-Ph.D. course, the first of its kind in the country, to bridge the gap between the university curriculum and research. The institute was renamed as SINP after his untimely demise in 1956.

In 1951, SINP became an autonomous institution with its own constitution and governing council. The major financial support came from the Government of India. It was around the same period that the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, was founded in 1945 and the Depart-ment of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India, was

Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics — Its Past and the PresentAmit GhoshTheory Division, Saha Institute of Nuclear PhysicsIndia

formed in 1954. In 1954, with active supports from Prof. Homi Jehangir Bhabha, SINP received a generous grant from DAE. It is worth noting that although Prof. Saha and Bhabha had many differences of opinions in planning and practise of nuclear physics in the country, they always worked together in matters of Govt. supports for scientific research. At present, SINP is fully funded by DAE. About 100 faculty members, 250 Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows are now engaged in research in SINP. The disciplines where researches are being conducted now are theoretical physics, nuclear physics, high energy physics experiments, condensed matter physics, surface physics and nano-sciences, plasma physics and biophysical sciences.

Prof. Saha put his ideas into practice with phenomenal success. He showed amazing courage and confidence in initiating indigenous fabrication of two sophisticated instru-ments — a cyclotron and an electron microscope, both firsts in the country. While the cyclotron was being built, a number of smaller equipments like Geiger–Müller counter, cloud chamber, etc. along with the necessary electronics, were also being built, ushering in an era of nuclear physics experiments in the institute. In 1952, a beta-gamma ray spectroscopic facility was set up, followed by a Cockroft–Walton accelerator based neutron generator facility in 1957. A number of specific facilities like scattering chambers, multi-wire proportional counters, vacuum instruments and spectrometers were also built and continuously upgraded to suit specific experiments at the cyclotron.

Keeping this history in mind, basic researches in a variety of fields in physical and biophysical sciences are being conducted now in the institute. The major goal of SINP has always been to create on one hand an academic ambiance and opportunity comparable to any international institute of basic research in the world and on the other hand to produce high quality research scholars and scientists — an integral part of the human resource development in a developing



country like India. Currently, the institute plans to take long strides in four major areas of modern science: theoretical physics, accelerator based sciences, material and biophysical sciences. Below, we give a brief sketch of its past achievements and future plan in each area.

Theoretical Physics

Being the first major nuclear physics institute in the country, SINP played a pioneering role in nuclear physics research in India. A first detailed study of the inelastic scattering processes was carried out in the late 50’s under the leadership of Prof. M. K. Banerjee and his collaborators. The first shell model calculations were done for the reaction matrix and the wave functions. In the 70’s, collective vibrational states of spherical nuclei were calculated and the random phase approximation was used to calculate the collective states of deformed nuclei.

In the early 90’s, theoretical nuclear physics research was slightly tilted towards astrophysics. A burst of neutrino preheating the supernovae core and dissociating nuclei, ahead of a hydrodynamic shock was proposed in core bounce supernovae. Landau–Fermi liquid theory was used to propose an equation of state for the possible strange quark stars. In late 90’s, the interest was further tilted towards the study of hot and dense nuclear matter. Using relativistic Hartree theory, the effect of strong magnetic fields was studied in dense nuclear matter. It was immediately applied to study the quark-hadron phase transition in a neutron rich star. Also Thomas–Fermi theory at finite temperature was applied to study caloric curves in finite nuclei.

Nuclear astrophysics and the physics of quark-gluon plasma became important research areas in the 90’s. The institute played a major role in applying nuclear and particle physics concepts to these areas. Temperature dependence of hadron decay widths and masses were studied in the framework of effective Lagrangians. Heavy quarks, while propagating through a medium of quark-gluon plasma, undergo a radiative energy loss. It was established that such a radiative energy loss is higher than the collisional energy loss. Later, it was found that for a charm quark, in the energy range of 5–10 GeV, the collisional and radiative energy losses are comparable. Thermodynamics of the Polyakov–Nambu–Jona–Lasinio model was studied and susceptibilities and the speed sound were calculated. Recently, these studies are being applied to explain the jet quenching at RHIC.

The first set of solar neutrino (SNO) data, both for

charged and neutral current events, were analysed to find out neutrino masses and mixing. The same group analysed the KamLAND data also. R-parity violation in some supersymmetric models were used to generate neutrino masses and magnetic moments from the recent data of neutrino masses and mixing. It was shown that the R-parity violating supersymmetric models can be made consistent with the super-Kamiokande data. R-parity violating models were also studied in analysing the direct CP-violation in B-decays. Recently, QCD corrections due to unparticles were calculated to study the effect of peculiar propagators of scalar and tensor unparticle operators. The light front QCD was studied elaborately in the institute. The helicity operator in light front QCD was studied in detail to analyse the role of orbital angular momentum in deep inelastic scattering.

The institute has a large group in quantum field theories. A series of work in constraint systems, especially systems with second class constraints, was carried out here. Since 1990, a small group in the institute started working in black hole physics. In early 2000, the group was expanded to work in string theory and quantum gravity. In the 90’s, semiclassical entropy of stringy black holes was calculated. It was also suggested that the entropy of an extremal black hole may be different from a non-extremal counterpart. It was proposed that depending on whether the extremal limit is taken before or after quantisation, the entropy of extremal black holes may be different. Near-horizon properties of a black hole were studied using scalar fields. It was proposed that the near-horizon geom-etry may show a 2d conformal symmetry. Furthermore, canonical ensembles were used to study thermal instability of black holes. In recent years, CRAY supercomputers have been installed and are operational for large scale simula-tion studies to embark upon theoretical research in high and medium energy physics, astrophysics and nonlinear dynamical systems like QCD, quark gluon plasma, lattice gauge theories and neutrino physics. String theories do not usually possess a de-Sitter like vacuum. However, dynamical compactifications were used to show that in presence of higher form field strengths certain string/M theory may give rise to accelerating cosmological solu-tions. Loop quantum gravity models were used to calculate the entropy of black holes and its quantum corrections. It was shown that a certain distribution of spins, and not a single spin, dominates the configurations that contribute to the maximum number of states in the entropy. Recently, it has been suggested that Hawking temperature can be obtained using tunnelling formulation.



Since the early 80’s, mathematical physics is an impor-tant area of research in the institute. The coherent states for charged bosons were first constructed. Nonlinear models, such as nonlinear sigma models in 1+1 dimen-sions, 1-d interacting Bose gas, sine-Gordon models, nonlinear Schrödinger equations, etc. were studied and their integrability was examined under various conditions. Exact solutions were also obtained in a variety of nonlinear models. Non-commutative geometric models were also studied, such as non-commutative oscillators. Magnet-ised plasmas were studied under minimum dissipation. Exact solutions of nonlinear dispersive waves have been obtained in magnetised plasmas.

Research in atomic and molecular systems in SINP dates back as early as the 70’s. Pioneering work was done for open shell atomic and molecular systems by constructing a non-perturbative many body Hamiltonian. This method has been applied to calculate ionisation potential and exci-tation energies. Theoretical calculations, simulations and modelling are integral ingredients of research in solid state physics. At present, active research is being carried out in different areas of condensed matter, statistical physics. Studies on the effect of strongly anisotropic harmonic trap on the dynamics of bosons and fermions moving in an optical lattice are underway. Studies in the supersolidity of hard core bosons coupled to optical phonons are also being carried out. A microscopic mechanism has been presented for supersolidity or the homogeneous coexist-ence of charge density wave state (an example of DLRO) and superfluidity/superconductivity (a realisation of ODLRO). Attention has been focused on nanosciences studying electron and spin transport through nanoscale systems, persistent current through mesoscopic rings, behaviour of Dirac fermions in graphene in presence of electron-electron interaction, etc. Development of tech-niques in solving a class of non-equilibrium models has taken place; the method when applied to several driven diffusive systems reveals interesting spatial correlations. It has been showed that random walk in a bounded domain can produce regular patterns and the nontrivial distribution of returning walkers on the repeated pattern is caused by hidden nonlinearity. Inspired by the physics of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), a simplified coupled Burger-like model in one dimension (1d) has been proposed to describe 1d-MHD. Studies in semiclassical RRTN (Random Resistor cum Tunnelling-bond Network) model continued including (i) nonlinear response, (ii) breakdown, (iii) two early power law dynamics and (iv) very strong memory (associated hysteresis). Kinetic

exchange models of markets to social opinion formation have been proposed. Simple statistical models such as an ideal gas were proposed for closed economic systems, like trade markets. It was shown that such systems self-organises to a critical Pareto distribution. SINP has pioneered in taking initiative to work in Econophysics, a relatively new area which deals with problems like the global wealth distributions, understanding the dynamics of stock markets, etc. Quantum annealing has been used to study classical spin glass systems. A fibre bundle model for different load redistribution mechanisms was reviewed as a tool for understanding fatigue and creep of materials. Some relevance of these phenomena was also explained in problems of network failure, traffic jams and earthquake dynamics. In the 90’s, extended electronic states were studied in one dimensional disordered and quasi-periodic lattice systems using real space renormalisation group. A significant contribution was made in the field of dynamic hysteresis from the institute. Response of an Ising system was studied in presence of oscillating and pulsed external fields.

A wide range of theoretical analyses were made of the Hahn spin echo and its extension to multipulse sequences, the effect of quadrupole interactions on the echo signals, quadrupole spin relaxation effects and chemical shifts in solids. Different theoretical formalisms were developed at the institute during this period such as Green function methods on spin-lattice interactions in ferromagnets. In quantum chemistry, non-perturbative diagrammatic many body theories for open-shell atoms and molecules were developed to calculate the correlation energy and related properties in spite of the meager computational resources available in those days. Structural phase transi-tions were also an active area of research in the solid state research, with studies on the effects on the atomic substitutions as well as on the pressure effects on the different properties.

Accelerators Based Sciences

Accelerator based research in nuclear science was initiated in the country at SINP. Back in 1941, Prof. Saha modelled the first cyclotron in India after the 38 inch cyclotron of Berkeley, in consultation with Prof. E. O. Lawrence. Its fabrication was completed by 1953. Many major components of the cyclotron which were not available during the World War II, were designed and fabricated in the institute. The first internal stable beam of proton (50 Ampere) was obtained in 1959 and the external proton beam (4 MeV, 0.05 micro Ampere)



was obtained in 1965. The accelerator was subsequently used in many experiments in nuclear physics in early sixties to early seventies. Bombarding various targets with the 3–4 MeV internal proton beam several isotopes were produced for spectroscopic research in several nuclei, like 51-Mn, 85-Y, 96-Tc, 97-Rh, 103-Ag, etc. The external beam was used primarily in experiments on Coulomb excitation of low lying levels and (p,n,gamma) reactions. During the same period in a parallel investigation a time resolution of 135 ps was achieved for 60-Co with plastic phosphor, which was the best reported time resolution at that time. A low pressure counter controlled cloud chamber was built in the laboratory and was used to study the alpha-groups of 241-Am and of thermal neutron induced fission in Uranium. Apart from the cyclotron laboratory, two other facilities viz., the beta-gamma spectroscopy laboratory and the 14 MeV neutron generator laboratory were created to carry out experimental nuclear physics research work.

SINP has a long history of carrying out research based on locally developed equipments. In the beta-gamma spectroscopy laboratory that started in 1952, the emphasis was on the fabrication of good quality NaI(Tl) gamma-ray detectors in the initial stage, as those detectors were not commercially available at that time. Good quality NaI(Tl) crystals were grown and fairly stable performance of gamma-ray detectors were obtained. It was only in 1954 that the first commercially available NaI(Tl) detectors were purchased by the laboratory. On top of these detectors all electronic equipment, viz., high voltage supply, linear amplifiers, scalars, pulse-height analyser, slow-fast coincidence circuits, etc. were designed and fabricated in the laboratory. The first significant contribution in gamma-ray spectroscopy was by S. Chatterjee and A. K. Saha, who for the first time showed in 1953 the importance of finite solid angle in gamma-gamma angular correlation experiments. Along with the gamma-ray work, some complementary spectroscopic studies using beta-ray spectrometer were also initiated in the early 50’s. In 1953, Profs. M. K. Banerjee and A. K. Saha showed the remarkable improvement in energy resolution in a lens type beta-ray spectrometer by placing a continuous baffle system at the intermediate image position. Following this idea, a short-lens beta-ray spectrometer with a continuous baffle system was designed, built and made operational to carry out precision measurements of beta-spectrum and internal conversion coefficients. Later, a state-of-the-art beta-ray spectrometer with good energy resolution and large transmission was purchased from Sweden. This instrument became an important tool for spectroscopic research on a large number of nuclei. With the introduction of high

resolution Ge(Li) gamma detectors in 1966 the gamma-ray spectroscopy received a boost and very precise data were obtained for many nuclei and the investigations on the level schemes were carried out for difficult and complicated decay schemes. An important contribution was the measurement of electric monopole transition matrix elements in the beta and gamma vibrational bands in 152-Sm. Another very significant and novel contribution was the measurement of K-capture rates using summing technique in a single Ge(Li) detector.

In 14 MeV neutron generator laboratory, a 200 keV Cockroft-Walton generator was built during 1956–1958. It is one of the first of its kind in India. The 14 MeV neutrons were made available from 1960 onwards. One of the early experiments was to study of (n,alpha) reactions on light target nuclei using alpha-sensitive nuclear emulsion plates as detectors. Also a large number of short lived radioactive nuclei were produced to study their spectroscopic proper-ties, like spins, energies, branching ratios and life times of excited states.

The experience gathered during 1950–1970 became useful for commissioning of the variable energy cyclotron (VEC) at VECC, Kolkata, in early 1980’s. A significant number of user facilities for the cyclotron beam hall were designed, developed and commissioned by SINP staffs, which are still being successfully used by the nuclear science community to carry out experiments. A number of nuclear physicists at SINP undertook nuclear spectroscopy work as well as nuclear reaction work using the 30–40 MeV alpha beams from the cyclotron. Using alpha beams several gamma-spectroscopy work were done to study the structures of various nuclei.

Experimental nuclear physics research entered a new phase in 1990 with the availability of medium energy heavy ion beams from the BARC-TIFR pelletron, Mumbai and the Inter University Accelerator Centre (IUAC) pelletron, New Delhi. Several gamma spectroscopy work related to the study of nuclear structures, nuclear fusions, fissions and breakups, have been carried out and are still being done by the SINP nuclear physics group at these two centres. The Indian National Gamma Array (INGA) has actually been a fruit of this collaboration. Using the heavy ion beams and gas detectors developed in SINP important work have been done to study the fission fragment angular distributions, mass distributions and anisotropies in several reactions. Experiments have also been done using heavy ion beams from the 3 MV pelletron at the Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar. Several experimental work in plasma physics centring around the Tokamak ion plasma storage ring (a facility installed in SINP) and the linear magnetised plasma



machine have also been done. Starting from early nineties, several national and inter-

national collaborations have been initiated in experimental nuclear physics, neutrino physics, dark matter search, etc. SINP participated in a major way at CERN in experiments involving relativistic heavy ion collisions to explore the nature of phase transition in nuclear matter at extreme temperatures and densities. Scientists of SINP were involved in the development of detectors (the second tracking station of the Di-Muon spectrometer) for the ALICE experiment at LHC. MANAS, a specific VLSI chip, has been designed at SINP and fabricated in collaboration with semiconductor complex, Chandigarh; it is being used in ALICE. Scientists from SINP are actively engaged in two international collabo-rations, ALICE and CMS experiments, in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN.

A major developmental project called MEGHNAD (Multi-Element Gamma Heavy ion and Neutron Detector) was initiated in 2002. Currently, nuclear physicists are actively participating in setting up of a new facility, called FRENA (Facility for Research in Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics) for research in nuclear sstrophysics for which the components of the 3 MV tandem accelerator have arrived. Theoretical research, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry and various other development activities are also being pursued.

Condensed Matter Physics and Material Sciences

SINP has a long history of research in experimental solid state physics and materials sciences. Under the inspiration of Prof. Saha, the solid state physics research was started in the 50’s with the construction of a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrometer. Its fabrication stimulated several activities, such as the phenomenology of the NMR and a verity of theoretical investigations in atomic and molecular quantum mechanics. A wide range of spectroscopic tools such as Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance (NQR) and an Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectrometer were fabricated in the 60’s. In 1963, a microwave spectrometer was built for molecular studies, which incorporated technical enhancements such as radio-frequency microwave and microwave-microwave double resonance facilities in the 80’s. In 80’s, studies on transport and magnetism gave birth to facilities studying the scaling behaviour of nonlinear conductance of composites and disordered materials and flux-type magnetometer. A Mossbauer spectroscopy instrument was also setup in the institute to study different properties of solids. In the 90’s, an infrared microwave

spectrometer was set up using a locally built carbon dioxide laser. A millimetre wave spectrometer was also built. After setting up a low temperature laboratory, the research was extended to study the transport and magnetic properties of solids. Study of the scaling behaviour of the composites and disordered materials by experimental techniques as well as by theoretical calculations were also done in the institute. Since the discovery of the high temperature superconductors, the institute initiated a serious programme of studying these materials both theoretically and experimentally.

Several important developments were made in fifties and sixties in research on charged particles and their interac-tions with matter, laying the foundation for the current surface physics and nanoscience activities. As regards mass spectrometry and ion-matter interaction studies, in 1955 a low resolution 180-degree focusing mass spectrometer was developed and used for isotope separation, followed by setting up of an electromagnetic isotope separator of the Bernas type in 1966, which was conceived to be a source of well-defined ion beams for studying solid surfaces and atomic collisions, which initiated a lot of activities of fabrica-tion of different kinds of ion sources. The other important instruments developed at that time were a bi-directional focusing mass spectrometer and a secondary ion mass spectrometer with a quadrupole mass filter, which were used in several work on secondary ion-mass spectrometry in the institute. Many stable isotopes enriched with the isotope separator were used as targets in the cyclotron beam and the resultant isotopes were studied by standard methods of nuclear beta gamma-ray spectroscopy.

In experimental condensed matter physics, many advanced equipments like measurement systems for thermoelectric power, specific heat for the investigation of superconducting oxides, high Curie temperature interme-tallic alloys, 9 Tesla superconducting magnet for transport studies, high-intensity (18 KW) X-ray diffraction facility with temperature variation of 10K–1700K etc., are being installed. We have a big group working in solid state NMR, which uses the 7T NMR magnet system. Their research topics include magnetisation and 63-Cu NMR studies on granular FeCu alloys, 75-As NMR study of oriented CeFeAsO and CeFeAsO_0.84F_0.16, 11-B and 195-Pt NMR study of heavy fermion compound CePt_2B_2C, effect of interfacial Hydrogen bonding on the freezing/melting behaviour of nanoconfined liquids, 27-Al and 63-Cu NMR studies on intermetallic Kondo compound CeCu_3Al_2, etc. The critical behaviour of La_[1-x]Sr_xCoO_3 (0.21 < x < 0.33) single crystals has been investigated from the bulk magnetic measurements in order to shed light on the



nature of magnetisation. Studies of critical current density of PrFeAsO_[0.60]F_[0.12], observation of large MR in PrFeAsO, are some of the work based on superconducting materials. New intermetallic alloys of RT_XSn_2 have also been studied.

A large group of scientists is now engaged in research in diverse but interrelated areas of surfaces and interfaces of low dimensional materials. The main activities are the develop-ment of new physical and chemical methods of growing nano-particles with tunable morphology and optical/mechanical properties, growth of semiconductor quantum structures, electronic, magnetic and defect structure characterisations of surfaces and applications to micronano technology. In addition, people are involved in fabricating decorated and modified surfaces as growth templates through medium and low energy ion bombardment, growth of magnetic and photonic structures through nano-manipulation and self-assembly, the development of polymer-based photovoltaic and other molecular electronic systems and the study of their morphology-transport-electronic structure correla-tions. Thin films and nanomaterials from various sources such as semiconductors, metals and polymers are being synthesised using various sophisticated techniques such as DC/RF magnetron sputtering, Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE), Metal Organic Vapour Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE), ion-implantation, nanocluster deposition, etc. along with simple chemical and self-assembled routes. Versatile microscopic and spectroscopic methods are being employed to study the structure and range of physical properties of the grown materials. Efforts are made being to correlate the structure with the novel properties of the surfaces and nanomaterials for the purpose of basic understanding and control over their material properties. Following are the glimpses of some current activities: structural evolution during controlled degradation of ultrathin polymer films; spin vortices in Gd-based Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) films; iron sulphide formation in the ferric stearate LB films; hydrophobic to hydrophilic transition of HF-treated Si surface during LB film deposition; magnetic properties of Co(2+)-doped TiO2 nanoparticles; anomalous magnetic behaviour of CuO nanoparticles; thermal fragmentation of nano-sized silver clusters; Ar+- induced nanocavities/bubbles in silicon; photoluminescence of ion-beam synthesised Ge/Si core/shell nanocrystals; resistivity of polymer nanowires; temperature/substrate effect on ZnO nanorod flower structures in modi-fied chemical vapour condensation growth; MBE growth of Si/Ge superlattice and Si1-x Gex alloy structures; nonlinear optical behaviour of ion-beam synthesised metal-glass/sapphire nanocomposites; angle-resolved photoemission

spectroscopic studies of surface electronic structures of low-dimensional systems; magnetic domain structures studies of antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic surfaces and interfaces using synchrotron based XMCD-XMLD spectromicroscopic methods, etc.

In SINP, we also focus on the supramolecular interactions which form a crucial link between morphology, structure and bonding in complex molecular systems. The hierarchy of structures and, consequently, the dynamics of such systems are governed by relative strengths of different supramolecular forces active in them. Another class of supramolecular forces emerge in fluids, especially polymers that lead to spontaneous one-dimensional ordering and other granular behaviour.

Studies in ion-matter interaction took a new turn in 1996 when a bombardment-induced light emission spectrometer was built and set up. In 2000, a new 200 KeV isotope separator and an ion-implanter were set up in SINP. In recent years, several systematic ion-surface interaction studies including controlled nano-ripple formation on semiconductor surfaces are being carried out. Several new facilities are being developed for growing nano-structured semiconductor materials and their advanced characterisa-tion. SINP has taken the responsibility of developing two beam-lines for X-ray scattering technique, one in Photon Factory (PF) synchrotron, Japan and the other in INDUS-2 synchrotron, Indore. The Indian beam-line at photon factory, Japan, is being used by several institutions across the globe for material research using X-ray diffraction techniques. Recently, we have established an INDIA-DESY collaboration under which a substantial amount of beam time will be avail-able to the Indian scientists to perform the state-of-the-art experiments at the new German high-energy synchrotron PETRA. SINP is a nodal centre for collaboration with DESY in the field of nanoscience. In this regard, an agreement has been signed between SINP and DESY.

Biophysical Sciences

At a time Prof. Saha included biophysics as a research component of the institute, the rest of the world was just taking first few steps to explain biological problems using the methods of Physics; the structure of DNA was yet to be discovered. With the able leadership of Prof. N. N. Dasgupta, an electron microscope was fabricated and made operational — it is the first and perhaps the only of its kind in India. Over the next twenty five years it created a spur of activities, resulted in several publications in leading journals including Nature, Science, Journal of Molecular Biology, Virology, etc.



Work was done on electron microscopic characterisation of infectious microorganisms and different cellular and macromolecular architectures. The technique of ultra-thin sectioning, developed in the early 50’s, made the identifica-tion and characterisation of several microorganisms possible at the ultra-structural level. In those early years, biophysicists of the institute unravelled the conformational intricacies of denatured E. coli DNA, nucleoproteins, ribosomes, coliphage T7, serum albumins, human hemoglobins and its complexes, etc.

The early 60’s witnessed the emergence of an inde-pendent genre of research in radiation biology. Diseases found in Indian populace were studied using radioactive tracers to (a) differentiate human breast tumours and measure the life span of leukemic leucocytes, (b) detect altered thyroid functions and (c) investigate the level of the drug uptake in tissues of leprosy patients. Studies aimed at understanding DNA damage and repair, mostly in E. coli and Yeast, culminated in significant results in the field. Important contributions were made towards measuring sensitivity of E. coli to beta-ray exposure and non-conservation of tracer uptake in growing yeast DNA. In the early 60’s, investigations in molecular genetics were centred around a virus, phi-X 174, with studies on the molecular mechanism of mutation, genetic recombination and repair of genetic defects. Scientists worked on the influence of the viral genome on E. coli RNA synthesis and photodynamic inactivation of the virus in terms of alteration of antigenic determinants and blockage of its intracellular replication.

In 1959, intensive research using X-ray crystallography was initiated. The molecules of interest were amino acids and their derivatives, metal complexes like Copper Iminidiacetate Dihydrate and drug molecules like Salicy-laldehyde Thiosemicarbazone. Later a protein chemistry laboratory was founded to augment macromolecular crystallography. The structural biology initiative took a leap forward when the 3D structure of a Chymotrypsin inhibitor protein came out after about 30 years since its inception. The research gathered momentum as radiobiol-ogists and geneticists joined hands and the self-sufficient mammalian cell culture laboratory was established in early 1976, one among the firsts in the country. Hamster cells were grown in culture to study the growth, repair and mutations induced in them by drugs and radiations. Meanwhile, progress was made in radiation research and biological spectroscopy. Liposomes were adopted as membrane model to study lipid peroxidation and the effects of UV and sunlight were measured in liposomal

membrane. Important contributions were made using fluorescence spectroscopy to decipher the interactions of bio-active plant flavonoids like quercetin, flavon or 3-hydroxy flavone in different cellular environments.

In the 90’s, several important work were done in genetics and mutational studies of various neurodegen-erative diseases, e.g., spinocerebellar ataxia, Huntington’s disease and myotonic dystrophy in Indian patients. Studies on the analysis of triplet repeats in the genomic DNA led to molecular diagnosis of myotonic dystrophy and Huntington’s diseases. Analysis of Y-chromosomal DNA polymorphism revealed gene flow across ethnic boundaries in India. More scientists got involved in the characterisation of abnormalities associated with human diseases, e.g., neurodegenerative disease, blood related disorders and infectious diseases. The urge was strongly felt that a more concerted and holistic approach towards the field of human health and disease would be fruitful and beneficial. It was thus the Institute ventured into the field of structural genomics in human health and disease at the turn of the century.

Consequently, the genomics and proteomics lab were established and the researchers started working on mass screening of clinical samples like blood, cerebrospinal fluid and related tissues from patients. Going beyond macromolecules, the programme has now standardised cellular imaging techniques helping scientists to peek and record events inside a cell in real time. Over the last decade, the structural genomics project started yielding dividends. Novel proteins like HYPK, HIP-I and HIPPI were characterised thoroughly and were shown to be crucial in regulating expressions of toxic Huntingtin protein in Huntington’s disease. Signalling in leukemic stem cells was studied in detail and the cross-talk among different signalling proteins revealed the path of leukemia progression.

Acknowledgments

I thank some colleagues in the institute, Profs. Anjali Mukherjee, Krishnakumar S. R. Menon, and Debashish Mukherjee, for sharing their notes with me in the respective disciplines, Prof. Parthasarathi Mitra and our Director, Prof. Bikas Kanti Chakrabarti, for their inputs and suggestions.

References

This is a list of some notable work done from the Institute. The list is prepared using the ISI Web of Science Database



on the merit of citations these work have received. Obviously, only a small subset is given here and several important ones had to be left out. However, their omission is solely due to the constraint on the size of the article.

1. Occurrence of stripping nuclei of neon in primary cosmic rays, Saha, M.N., Nature 167, (1951) 476.

2. Direct interaction theory of inelastic scattering, M.K. Banerjee, C.A. Levinson, Ann. Phys. 2, (1957) 499.

3. Direct interaction theory of inelastic scattering 3. numerical calculations, Levinson C.A.; Banerjee M.K.; Ann. Phys. 3, (1958) 67-90.

4. A shell model calculation with reaction matrix, M.K. Banerjee, B. Dutta-Roy, Ann. Phys. 7, (1959) 484.

5. Transformation of muons into electrons, G. Feinberg, P. Kabir, Steven Weinberg, Phys. Rev. Lett. 3 (1959) 527-530.

6. Exchange effects in stripping reactions, M.A. Nagrajan, M.K. Banerjee, Nucl. Phys. 17, (1960) 341.

7. Radiation Sensitivity of Escherichia coli to beta-Rays in Dry and Wet Condition. SB Bhattacharjee, NN Das gupta. Nature 191, (1961) 1015 – 1017.

8. Interaction of phosphotungstate with haemoglobin. AB Sanyal, P. Ganguly and NN Das Gupta, J. Mol. Biol. 8, (1964) 325-332

9. Electron microscopic studies on the serum albumin molecules, Chatterjee AN, SN Chatterjee. J. Mol. Biol 11, (1965) 432-437.

10. Non-conservation of H3 -Thymidine Label in the DNA of Growing Yeast Cells. Sarkar, SK; Poddar, RK. Nature 207, Issue 4996, (1965) 550-551.

11. Electron microscopic studies on denatured DNA from Escherichia coli, NN Das Gupta, M. Sarkar and DN Misra. J. Mol. Biol. 15, (1966) 619–623.

12. Two- and four-quasiparticle states in spherical vibra-tional nuclei, M.K. Pal, Y.K. Gambhir, and Ram Raj, Phys. Rev. 155, (1967) 1144-1155.

13. Influence of the viral genome on ribonucleic acid synthesis in Escherichia coli infected with bacterio-phage [phi] X174. SR Palchoudhury and RK Poddar, Journal of Molecular Biology, 1968.

14. Photodynamic inactivation of antigenic determinants of single-stranded DNA bacteriophage varphi X174, NC Khan, RK Poddar. Journal of virology, 1974.

15. Correlation problem in open-shell atoms and mole-cules - non-perturbative linked cluster formulation, D. Mukherjee, R. K. Moitra, and A. Mukhopadhyay, Molecular Physics 30, (1975) 1861-1888.

16. Non-perturbative open-shell theory for atomic and

molecular systems - application to transbutadiene, D. Mukherjee, R. K. Moitra, and A. Mukhopadhyay, Pramana 4, (1975) 247-263.

17. Charged bosons and coherent state, Bhaumik, D; Bhaumik, K, and B. Duttaroy, Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and General 9, (1976)1507-1512.

18. Applications of a non-perturbative many-body formalism to general open-shell atomic and molecular problems — calculation of ground and lowest pi-pistar singlet and triplet energies and 1st ionization-potential of trans-butadiene, D. Mukherjee, R. K. Moitra, and A. Mukhopadhyay, Molecular Physics 33, (1977) 955-969.

19. Low-energy and high-energy collective states of deformed-nuclei, Zawischa, D; Speth, J; Pal, D, Nuclear Physics A 311, (1978) 445-476.

20. Crystal and molecular-structure of copper iminodi-acetate dihydrate, Podder, A; Dattagupta, JK; Saha, NN; et al., Acta Crystallographica Section B: Structural Science 35 , (1979) 53-56.

21. Non-perturbative open-shell theory for ionization-potential and excitation-energies using hf ground-state as the vacuum, Mukhopadhyay, A; Moitra, RK; Mukherjee, D, Journal of Physics B: Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics 12, (1979) 1-18.

22. Ultraviolet-induced and sunlight-induced lipid-peroxidation in liposomal membrane, by: Mandal, TK; Chatterjee, SN, Radiation Research 83, (1980) 290-302.

23. Liposomes as membrane model for study of lipid-peroxidation, Chatterjee, SN; Agarwal, S, Free Radical Biology and Medicine 4, (1988) 51-72.

24. Structure of salicylaldehyde thiosemicarbazone, Chattopadhyay, D; Mazumdar, SK; Banerjee, T; et al., Acta Crystallographica Section C: Crystal Structure Communications 44, (1988) 1025-1028.

25. Sherrington-kirkpatrick model in a transverse field - absence of replica symmetry-breaking due to quantum fluctuations, Ray, P; Chakrabarti, BK; Chakrabarti, A, Phys. Rev. B 39, (1989) 11828-11832.

26. Strange quark matter and the mechanism of confine-ment, Chakrabarty, S; Raha, S; Sinha, B, Phys. Lett. B 229 (1989) 112-116.

27. Thermostatic properties of finite and infinite nuclear systems, Bandyopadhyay, D; Samanta, C; Samaddar, SK; et al., Nuclear Physics A 511, (1990)1-28.

28. Excess conductivity and thermally activated dissi-pation studies in bi2sr2ca1cu2ox single-crystals, Mandal, P; Poddar, A; Das, AN; et al., Physica C 169,



(1990) 43-49.29. New results on systems with 2nd-class constraints,

Mitra, P; Rajaraman, R, Annals of Physics 203, (1990) 137-156.

30. Equation of state of strange quark matter and strange star, Chakrabarty, S, Phys. Rev. D 43, (1991) 627-630.

31. Influence of different micellar environments on the excited-state proton-transfer luminescence of 3-hydroxyflavone, Sarkar, M; Sengupta, PK, Chemical Physics Letters 179, (1991) 68-72.

32. Variation of tc and transport-properties with carrier concentration in y-doped and pb-doped bi-based superconductors, Mandal, P; Poddar, A; Ghosh, B; et al., Phys. Rev. B 43, (1991) 13102-13111.

33. Nonlinear i-v-characteristics near the percolation-threshold, Chakrabarty, RK; Bardhan, KK; Basu, A, Phys. Rev. B 44, (1991) 6773-6779.

34. Role of magnesium-ion in the interaction between chromomycin-a3 and dna - binding of chromomycin-a3-mg2+ complexes with DNA, Aich, P; Sen, R; Dasgupta, D, Biochemistry 31, (1992) 2988-2997.

35. Thermoelectr ic-power of the BI2SR2CA1-XYXCU2O8+Y(X=0-1.0) System, Mandal, Jb; Keshri, S; Mandal, P; et al., Phys. Rev. B 46, (1992) 11840-11846.

36. Synthesis and Structural Studies of Tetraaquacopper(Ii) Diaquabis(Malonato)Cuprate(Ii), Chattopadhyay, D; Chattopadhyay, Sk; Lowe, Pr; et al., Journal of the Chemical Society-Dalton Transactions 6 (1993) 913-916.

37. Extended states in one-dimensional lattices — appli-cation to the quasi-periodic copper-mean chain, Sil, S; Karmakar, Sn; Moitra, Rk; et al., Phys. Rev. B 48, (1993) 4192-419.

38. Successive equilibration in quark-gluon plasma, Alam, Je; Raha, S; Sinha, B, Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, (1994) 1895-1898.

39. Single photons from s+au collisions at the cern super proton synchrotron and the quark-hadron phase-transition, Srivastava, Dk; Sinha, B, Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, (1994) 2421-2424.

40. Entropy in dilatonic black-hole backgrouND, Ghosh, A; Mitra, P, Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, (1994) 2521-2523.

41. Role of magnesium-ion in mithramycin dna interac-tion - binding of mithramycin mg2+ complexes with DNA, Aich, P; Dasgupta, D, Biochemistry 34, (1995) 1376-1385.

42. Role of a new-type of correlated disorder in extended electronic states in the thue-morse lattice, Chakrabarti,

A; Karmakar, Sn; Moitra, Rk, Phys. Rev. Lett. 74, (1995) 1403-1406.

43. REsponse of ising systems to oscillating and pulsed fields - hysteresis, ac, and pulse susceptibility, Acha-ryya, M; Chakrabarti, Bk, Phys. Rev. B 52, (1995) 6550-6568.

44. Entropy for extremal reissner-nordstrom black-holes, Ghosh, A; Mitra, P, Phys. Lett. B 357, (1995) 295-299.

45. Conducting composites of polypyrrole and polyani-line—A review, Bhattacharya, A; De, A, Progress In Solid State Chemistry 24, (1996) 141-181.

46. A new conduct ing nanocomposite - PP y-zirconium(IV) oxide, Bhattacharya, A; Ganguly, KM; De, A; et al., Materials Research Bulletin 31, (1996) 527-530.

47. Electromagnetic probes of quark gluon plasma, Alam, J; Raha, S; Sinha, B, Physics Reports-Review Section of Physics Letters 273, (1996) 243-362.

48. Static and dynamic response of cluster glass in La0.5Sr0.5CoO3, Mukherjee, S; Ranganathan, R; Anilkumar, PS; et al., Phys. Rev. B 54, (1996) 9267-9274.

49. Determination of small fluctuations in electron density profiles of thin films: Layer formation in a polystyrene film, Sanyal, MK; Basu, JK; Datta, A; et al., Europhysics Letters 36, (1996) 265-270.

50. Understanding the area proposal for extremal black hole entropy, Ghosh, A; Mitra, P, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, (1997) 1858-1860.

51. Dense nuclear matter in a strong magnetic field, Chakrabarty, S; Bandyopadhyay, D; Pal, S, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, (1997) 2898-2901.

52. Identification of membrane spanning beta strands in bacterial porins, Gromiha, MM; Majumdar, R; Ponnuswamy, PK, Protein Engineering 10, (1997) 497-500.

53. Quantizing magnetic field and Quark-Hadron phase transition in a neutron star, Bandyopadhyay, D; Chakrabarty, S; Pal, S, Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, (1997) 2176-2179.

54. Transport properties of Ce-doped RMnO3 (R = La, Pr, and Nd) manganites, Mandal, P; Das, S, Phys. Rev. B 56, (1997) 15073-15080.

55. Metal nanoclusters in glasses as non-linear photonic materials, Chakraborty, P, Journal Of Materials Science 33, (1998) 2235-2249.

56. Radiative energy-loss of heavy quarks in a quark-gluon plasma, Mustafa, MG; Pal, D; Srivastava, DK; et al., Phys. Lett. B 428, (1998) 234-240.



57. Studies on the genotoxicity of endosulfan in bacterial systems, Chaudhuri, K; Selvaraj, S; Pal, AK, Muta-tion Research-Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis 439, (1999) 63-67.

58. Co-59 NMR studies of metallic NaCo2O4, By: Ray, R; Ghoshray, A; Ghoshray, K; et al., Phys. Rev. B 59, (1999) 9454-9461.

59. Dynamic transitions and hysteresis, Chakrabarti, BK; Acharyya, M, Reviews Of Modern Physics 71, (1999) 847-859.

60. R-parity-violating trilinear couplings and recent neutrino data, Rakshit, S; Bhattacharyya, G; Raychaudhuri, A, Phys. Rev. D 59, (1999) 091701.

61. Excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) and charge transfer (CT) fluorescence probe for model membranes, Dennison, Sm; Guharay, J; Sengupta, Pk, Spectrochimica Acta Part A—Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 55, (1999) 1127-1132.

62. Growth mechanism of Langmuir-Blodgett films, Basu, JK; Hazra, S; Sanyal, MK, Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, (1999) 4675-4678.

63. Neutrino mass and magnetic moment in supersym-metry without R-parity in the light of recent data, Bhattacharyya, G; Klapdor-Kleingrothaus, HV; Pas, H, Physics Letters B 463, (1999) 77-82.

64. Polypyrrole-ferric oxide conducting nanocomposites I. Synthesis and characterization, By: Gangopadhyay, R; De, A, European Polymer Journal 35, (1999) 1985-1992.

65. pp -> pK(+) Lambda reaction in an effective Lagran-gian model, Shyam, R, Physical Review C 60, (1999) 055213.

66. Transport and magnetic properties of laser ablated La0.7Ce0.3MnO3 films on LaAlO3, Raychaudhuri, P; Mukherjee, S; Nigam, AK; et al. Journal of Applied Physics 86, (1999) 5718-5725.

67. Conducting polymer nanocomposites: A brief over-view, Gangopadhyay, R; De, A, Chemistry Of Materials 12 (2000) 608-622.

68. Radiation and industrial polymers, By: Bhattacharya, A Progress In Polymer Science 25, (2000) 371-401.

69. Analysis of CAG repeats in SCA1, SCA2, SCA3, SCA6, SCA7 and DRPLA loci in spinocerebellar ataxia patients and distribution of CAG repeats at the SCA1, SCA2 and SCA6 loci in nine ethnic popula-tions of eastern India, Basu, P; Chattopadhyay, B; Gangopadhaya, PK; et al. Human Genetics 106, (2000) 597-604.

70. Temperature and doping dependence of the

thermopower in LaMnO3, Mandal, P, Physical Review B 61, (2000) 14675-14680.

71. Statistical mechanics of money: how saving propensity affects its distribution, Chakraborti, A; Chakrabarti, BK, European Physical Journal B 17, (2000) 167-170.

72. Polymorphic bcc to fcc transformation of nanocrys-talline niobium studied by positron annihilation, Chattopadhyay, PP; Nambissan, PMG; Pabi, SK; et al. Physical Review B 63, (2001) 054107.

73. Photons from Pb-Pb collisions at ultrarelativistic energies, Alam, JE; Sarkar, S; Hatsuda, T; et al. Physical Review C 63, (2001) 021901.

74. Near-horizon conformal structure of black holes, Birmingham, D; Gupta, KS; Sen, S, Physics Letters B 505, (2001) 191-196.

75. Protein-flavonol interaction: Fluorescence spectro-scopic study, Guharay, J; Sengupta, B; Sengupta, PK, Proteins-Structure Function and Bioinformatics 43, (2001) 75-81.

76. Conducting polymer composites: novel materials for gas sensing, Gangopadhyay, R; De, A. Sensors and Actuators B-Chemical 77, (2001) 326-329.

77. Polyaniline-poly (vinyl alcohol) conducting composite: material with easy processability and novel application potential, Gangopadhyay, R; De, A; Ghosh, G. Synthetic Metals 123, (2001) 21-31.

78. Radiation of single photons from Pb+Pb collisions at relativistic energies and the quark-hadron phase transition, Srivastava, DK; Sinha, B. Physical Review C 64, (2001) 034902.

79. Impact of the first SNO results on neutrino mass and mixing, Bandyopadhyay, A; Choubey, S; Goswami, S; et al. Physics Letters B 519, (2001) 83-92.

80. Third family of superdense stars in the presence of antikaon condensates, Banik, S; Bandyopadhyay, D Physical Review C 64, (2001) 055805.

81. Further evidence for the conformal structure of a Schwarzschild black hole in an algebraic approach, Gupta, KS; Sen, S Physics Letters B 526 , (2002) 121-126.

82. Experimental evidence of core modi cation in the near drip-line nucleus O-23, Kanungo, R; Chiba, M; Iwasa, N; et al. Physical Review Letters 88, (2002) 142502.

83. Ordering and growth of Langmuir-Blodgett films: X-ray scattering studies, Basu, JK; Sanyal, MK. Physics Reports-Review Section of Physics Letters 363, (2002) 1-84.

84. A n o m a l y i n c l u s t e r g l a s s b e h a v i o u r o f Co0.2Zn0.8Fe2O4 spinel oxide, Bhowmik, RN;



Ranganathan, R. Journal Of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 248, (2002) 101-111.

85. Dynamic critical behavior of failure and plastic defor-mation in the random fiber bundle model, Pradhan, S; Bhattacharyya, P; Chakrabarti, BK. Physical Review E 66, (2002) 016116.

86. Noncommutative oscillators and the commutative limit, Muthukumar, B; Mitra, P. Physical Review D 66, (2002) 027701.

87. Implications of the first neutral current data from SNO for solar neutrino oscillation, Bandyopadhyay, A; Choubey, S; Goswami, S; et al. Physics Letters B 540, (2002) 14-19.

88. The interaction of quercetin with human serum albumin: a fluorescence spectroscopic study, Sengupta, B; Sengupta, PK. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 299, (2002) 400-403.

89. Binding of quercetin with human serum albumin: A critical spectroscopic study, Sengupta, B; Sengupta, PK. Biopolymers 72, (2003) 427-434.

90. The Solar neutrino problem after the first results from KamLAND, Abhijit Bandyopadhyay, Sandhya Choubey, Raj Gandhi, Srubabati Goswami, D.P. Roy, Phys. Lett. B 559, (2003) 121-130.

91. Coulomb breakup of the neutron-rich isotopes C-15 and C-17, Pramanik, UD; Aumann, T; Boretzky, K; et al. Physics Letters B 551, (2003) 63-70.

92. The DRAGON facility for nuclear astrophysics at TRIUMF-ISAC: design, construction and operation, Hutcheon, DA; Bishop, S; Buchniann, L; et al. Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated Equipment 498, (2003) 190-210.

93. Small-world properties of the Indian railway network, Sen, P; Dasgupta, S; Chatterjee, A; et al. Physical Review E 67, (2003) 036106.

94. Na-21(p,gamma)Mg-22 reaction and oxygen-neon novae, Bishop, S; Azuma, RE; Buchmann, L; et al. Physical Review Letters 90, (2003) 162501.

95. Structural investigation of keV Ar-ion-induced surface ripples in Si by cross-sectional transmis-sion electron microscopy, Chini, TK; Okuyama, F; Tanemura, M; et al. PHYSICAL REVIEW B 67 Issue: 20 Article Number: 205403

96. A library of IR bands of nucleic acids in solution, Banyay, M; Sarkar, M; Graslund, A. Biophysical Chemistry 104, (2003) 477-488.

97. Transport, magnetic, and structural properties of La1-xMxMnO3 (M=Ba, Sr, Ca) for 0 <= x <= 0.20,

Mandal, P; Ghosh, B. Physical Review B 68, (2003) 014422.

98. Volume collapse in LaMnO3 caused by an orbital order-disorder transition, Chatterji, T; Fauth, F; Ouladdiaf, B; et al. Physical Review B 68, (2003) 052406.

99. Effect of particle size on the magnetic and transport properties of La0.875Sr0.125MnO3, Dutta, A; Gayathri, N; Ranganathan, R. Physical Review B 68, (2003) 054432.

100. Accelerating cosmologies from M/String theory compactifications, Roy, S. Physics Letters B 567, (2003) 322-329.

101. Ethnic India: A genomic view, with special reference to peopling and structure, Basu, A; Mukherjee, N; Roy, S; et al. Genome Research 13, (2003) 2277-2290.

102. Lipopolysaccharides of Vibrio cholerae I. Physical and chemical characterization, Chattejee, SN; Chaudhuri, K. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta-Molecular Basis of Disease 1639, (2003) 65-79.

103. Involvement of the Akt/PKB signaling pathway with disease processes, Sen, P; Mukherjee, S; Ray, D; et al. Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry 253, (2003) 241-246.

104. Constraints on neutrino oscillation parameters from the SNO salt phase data, Bandyopadhyay, A; Choubey, S; Goswami, S; et al. Physics Letters B 583, (2004) 134-148.

105. Pareto law in a kinetic model of market with random saving propensity, Chatterjee, A; Chakrabarti, BK; Manna, SS. Physica A-Statistical Mechanics and Its Applications 335, (2004) 155-163.

106. Universal canonical black hole entropy, Chatterjee, A; Majumdar, P. Physical Review Letters 92, (2004) 141301.

107. Optical spectroscopic and TEM studies of catanionic micelles of CTAB/SDS and their interaction with a NSAID, Chakraborty, H; Sarkar, M. Langmuir 20, (2004) 3551-3558.

108. The Na-21(p,gamma)Mg-22 reaction from E-cm=200 to 1103 keV in novae and x-ray bursts, D’Auria, JM; Azuma, RE; Bishop, S; et al. Physical Review C 69, (2004) 065803

109. Investigations on the binding and antioxidant properties of the plant flavonoid fisetin in model biomembranes, Sengupta, B; Banerjee, A; Sengupta, PK. Febs Letters 570 , (2004) 77-81.

110. Characterization and dielectric properties of polyaniline-TiO2 nanocomposites, Dey, A; De, S; De,



A; et al. Nanotechnology 15, (2004) 1277-1283.111. Association of a common variant of the CASP8 gene

with reduced risk of breast cancer, MacPherson, G; Healey, CS; Teare, MD; et al. Jnci-Journal Of The National Cancer Institute 96, (2004) 1866-1869.

112. Quenching of hadron spectra due to the collisional energy loss of partons in the quark-gluon plasma, By: Mustafa, MG; Thoma, MH. Acta Physica Hungarica A-Heavy Ion Physics 22, (2005) 93-102.

113. Magnetic properties of alpha-Fe2O3 nanoparticle synthesized by a new hydrothermal method, By: Giri, S; Samanta, S; Maji, S; et al. Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 285 , (2005) 296-302.

114. Log correction to the black hole area law, By: Ghosh, A; Mitra, P. Physical Review D 71, (2005) 027502.

115. Update of the solar neutrino oscillation analysis with the 766 Ty KamLAND spectrum, By: Bandyopadhyay, A; Choubey, S; Goswami, S; et al. Physics Letters B 608, (2005) 115-129.

116. The effect of Fe substitution on magnetic and transport properties of LaMnO3, By: De, K; Ray, R; Panda, RN; et al. Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 288, (2005) 339-346.

117. Conducting polymer gel: formation of a novel semi-IPN from polyaniline and crosslinked poly (2-acrylamido-2-methyl propanesulphonicacid), Siddhanta, SK; Gangopadhyay, R. Polymer 46, (2005) 2993-3000.

118. Next-to-leading order QCD corrections to the Drell-Yan cross section in models of TeV-scale gravity, By: Mathews, P; Ravindran, V; Sridhar, K; et al. Nuclear Physics B 713, (2005) 333-377.

119. An improved estimate of black hole entropy in the quantum geometry approach, Ghosh, A; Mitra, P. Physics Letters B 616 , (2005) 114-117.

120. Energy loss of charm quarks in the quark-gluon plasma: Collisional vs radiative losses, Mustafa, MG. Physical Review C 72, (2005) 014905.

121. Alpha decay half-lives of new superheavy elements, Chowdhury, PR; Samanta, C; Basu, DN. Physical Review C 73, (2006) 014612.

122. Extracellular biosynthesis of magnetite using fungi, Bharde, A; Rautaray, D; Bansal, V; et al. Small 2, (2006) 135-141.

123. Effects of self-consistency violation in Hartree-Fock RPA calculations for nuclear giant resonances revis-ited, By: Sil, T; Shlomo, S; Agrawal, BK; et al. Physical Review C 73, (2006) 034316.

124. Inhibition of telomerase activity and induction of

apoptosis by curcurnin in K-562 cells, Chakraborty, S; Ghosh, U; Bhattacharyya, NP; et al. Mutation Research-Fundamental and Molecular Mechanisms Of Mutagenesis 596, (2006) 81-90.

125. Sodium antimony gluconate induces generation of reactive oxygen species and nitric oxide via phos-phoinositide 3-kinase and mitogen-activated protein kinase activation in Leishmania donovani-infected macrophages, Basu, JM; Mookerjee, A; Sen, P; et al. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 50, (2006) 1788-1797.

126. Susceptibilities and speed of sound from the Polyakov-Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model, Ghosh, Sanjay K.; Mukherjee, Tamal K.; Mustafa, Munshi G.; et al. Physical Review D 73, (2006) 114007.

127. A(4) symmetry and prediction of Ue(3) in a modi-fied Altarelli-Feruglio model, Adhikary, Biswajit; Brahmachari, Biswajoy; Ghosal, Ambar; et al. Physics Letters B 638, (2006) 345-349.

128. ALICE: Physics Performance Report, Volume II, Alessandro, B.; Antinori, F.; Belikov, J. A.; et al. Group Author(s): ALICE Collaboration Journal of Physics G-Nuclear and Particle Physics 32, (2006) 1295-2040.

129. Tunneling conductance of graphene NIS junctions, Bhattacharjee, Subhro; Sengupta, K. Physical Review Letters 97, (2006) 217001.

130. Sub-barrier Coulomb excitation of Sn-110 and its implications for the Sn-100 shell closure, Cederkaell, J.; Ekstrom, A.; Fahlander, C.; et al. Physical Review Letters 98, (2007) 172501.

131. Deregulation and cross talk among Sonic hedgehog, Wnt, Hox and Notch signaling in chronic myeloid leukemia progression, Sengupta, A.; Banerjee, D.; Chandra, S.; et al. Leukemia 21, (2007) 949-955.

132. Thermodynamics of the Polyakov-Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model with nonzero baryon and isospin chemical potentials, Mukherjee, Swagato; Mustafa, Munshi G.; Ray, Rajarshi. Physical Review D 75, (2007) 094015.

133. Hawking temperature from tunnelling formalism, Mitra, P. Physics Letters B 648, (2007) 240-242.

134. Interaction of flavonoids with red blood cell membrane lipids and proteins: Antioxidant and antihemolytic effects, Chaudhuri, Sudip; Banerjee, Anwesha; Basu, Kaushik; et al. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 41, (2007) 42-48.

135. Systematic investigation of the drip-line nuclei Li-11 and Be-14 and their unbound subsystems Li-10 and Be-13, Simon, H.; Meister, M.; Aumann, T.; et al.



Nuclear Physics A 791, (2007) 267-302.136. Giant magnetocaloric effect in antiferromagnetic

ErRu2Si2 compound, Samanta, Tapas; Das, I.; Banerjee, S. Applied Physics Letters 91, (2007) 152506.

137. Enhancement of ferromagnetism upon thermal annealing in pure ZnO, Banerjee, S.; Mandal, M.; Gayathri, N.; et al. Applied Physics Letters 91, (2007) 182501.

138. Kinetic exchange models for income and wealth distri-butions, Chatterjee, A.; Chakrabarti, B. K. European Physical Journal B 60, (2007) 135-149.

139. k-Minkowski spacetime and the star product realiza-tions, Meljanac, S.; Samsarov, A.; Stojic, M.; et al. European Physical Journal C 53, (2008) 295-309

140. Tuning Kondo physics in graphene with gate voltage, Sengupta, K.; Baskaran, G. Physical Review B 77, (2008) 045417.

141. Influence of Mn doping on the microstructure and optical property of ZnO, Senthilkumaar, S.; Rajendran, K.; Banerjee, S.; et al. Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing 11, (2008) 6-12.

142. Radiative and collisional jet energy loss in the quark-gluon plasma at the BNL relativistic heavy ion collider, Qin, Guang-You; Ruppert, Joerg; Gale, Charles; et al. Physical Review Letters 100, (2008) 072301.

143. Exact results for quench dynamics and defect produc-tion in a two-dimensional model, Sengupta, K.; Sen, Diptiman; Mondal, Shreyoshi. Physical Review Letters 100, (2008) 077204.

144. Twisted statistics in kappa-Minkowski spacetime, Govindarajan, T. R.; Gupta, Kumar S.; Harikumar, E.; et al. Physical Review D 77, (2008) 105010.

145. Colloquium: Quantum annealing and analog quantum computation, Das, Amab; Chakrabarti, Bikas K. Reviews of Modern Physics 80, (2008) 1061-1081.

146. Defect production in nonlinear quench across a quantum critical point, Sen, Diptiman; Sengupta, K.; Mondal, Shreyoshi. Physical Review Letters 101, (2008) 016806.

147. The ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC, Aamodt, K.; Quintana, A. Abrahantes; Achenbach, R.; et al. Journal of Instrumentation 3, (2008) S08002.

148. Interaction of BSA with proflavin: A spectroscopic approach, Chakraborty, Brotati; Basu, Samita Journal Of Luminescence 129, (2009) 34-39.

149. First proton-proton collisions at the LHC as observed with the ALICE detector: measurement of the charged-particle pseudorapidity density at root s=900

GeV, Aamodt, K.; Abel, N.; Abeysekara, U.; et al. Group Author(s): ALICE Collaboration, European Physical Journal C 65, (2010) 111-125.

150. Failure processes in elastic fiber bundles, Pradhan, Srutarshi; Hansen, Alex; Chakrabarti, Bikas K. Reviews Of Modern Physics 82, (2010) 499-555.

151. Production and Decay of Element 114: High Cross Sections and the New Nucleus (277)Hs, Duellmann, Ch. E.; Schaedel, M.; Yakushev, A.; et al. Physical Review Letters 104, (2010) 252701.

152. Charged-particle multiplicity measurement in proton-proton collisions at root s=0.9 and 2.36 TeV with ALICE at LHC, Aamodt, K.; Abel, N.; Abeysekara, U.; et al. Group Author(s): ALICE Collaboration, European Physical Journal C 68, (2010) 89-108

153. Charged-particle multiplicity measurement in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV with ALICE at LHC, Aamodt, K.; Abel, N.; Abeysekara, U.; et al. European Physical Journal C 68, (2010) 345-354.

154. Transverse momentum spectra of charged particles in proton-proton collisions at root s=900 GeV with ALICE at the LHC, Aamodt, K.; Abel, N.; Abeysekara, U.; et al. Group Author(s): ALICE Collaboration. Physics Letters B 693, (2010) 53-68.

155. Charged-Particle Multiplicity Density at Midrapidity in Central Pb-Pb Collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV, Aamodt, K.; Abelev, B.; Abrahantes Quintana, A.; et al. Group Author(s): ALICE Collaboration. Physical Review Letters 105, (2010) 252301.

156. Elliptic Flow of Charged Particles in Pb-Pb Colli-sions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV, Aamodt, K.; Abelev, B.; Abrahantes Quintana, A.; et al. Group Author(s): ALICE Collaboration. Physical Review Letters 105, (2010) 252302

157. Centrality Dependence of the Charged-Particle Multiplicity Density at Midrapidity in Pb-Pb Colli-sions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV, Aamodt, K.; Quintana, A. Abrahantes; Adamova, D.; et al. Group Author(s): ALICE Collaboration. Physical Review Letters 106 , (2011) 032301

158. Suppression of charged particle production at large transverse momentum in central Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV, Aamodt, K.; Abrahantes Quintana, A.; Adamova, D.; et al. Group Author(s): ALICE Collaboration. Physics Letters B 696, (2011) 30-39.

159. Two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S=2.76 TeV, Aamodt, K.; Abrahantes Quintana, A.; Adamova, D.; et al. Group



Author(s): ALICE Collaboration. Physics Letters B 696, (2011) 328-337.

160. Higher Harmonic Anisotropic Flow Measurements of Charged Particles in Pb-Pb Collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV, Aamodt, K.; Abelev, B.; Abrahantes Quintana, A.; et al. Group Author(s): ALICE Collabo-ration. Physical Review Letters 107, (2011) 032301.

162. Indications of Suppression of Excited Upsilon States in Pb-Pb Collisions at root(NN)-N-s=2.76 TeV, Chatrchyan, S.; Khachatryan, V.; Sirunyan, A. M.; et al. Group Author(s): CMS Collaboration. Physical Review Letters 107, (2011) 052302.

163. Search for resonances in the dijet mass spectrum from 7 TeV pp collisions at CMS, Chatrchyan, S.; Khacha-tryan, V.; Sirunyan, A. M.; et al. Group Author(s): CMS Collaboration. Physics Letters B 704, (2011) 123-142.

164. Search for Supersymmetry at the LHC in Events with Jets and Missing Transverse Energy, Chatrchyan, S.; Khachatryan, V.; Sirunyan, A. M.; et al. Group Author(s): CMS Collaboration. Physical Review Letters 107, (2011) 221804.

165. Harmonic decomposition of two particle angular correlations in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV, Aamodt, K.; Abelev, B.; Abrahantes Quintana, A.; et al. Group Author(s): ALICE Collaboration. Physics Letters B 708, (2012) 249-264.

166. Study of high-p(T) charged particle suppression in PbPb compared to pp collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV, Chatrchyan, S.; Khachatryan, V.; Sirunyan, A. M.; et al. Group Author(s): Collaboration, C European Physical Journal C 72, (2012) 1945.

167. Combined results of searches for the standard model

Higgs boson in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV, Chatrchyan, S.; Khachatryan, V.; Sirunyan, A. M.; et al. Group Author(s): CMS Collaboration. Physics Letters B 710, (2012) 26-48.

168. Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV, Chatrchyan, S.; Khachatryan, V.; Sirunyan, A. M.; et al. Group Author(s): CMS Collaboration. Physics Letters B 710, (2012) 403-425.

169. Constraints on low-mass WIMP interactions on F-19 from PICASSO, Archambault, S.; Behnke, E.; Bhat-tacharjee, P.; et al. Physics Letters B 711, (2012) 153-161.

170. Search for neutral Higgs bosons decaying to tau pairs in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV, Chatrchyan, S.; Khacha-tryan, V.; Sirunyan, A. M.; et al. Group Author(s): CMS Collaboration. Physics Letters B 713, (2012) 68-90.

171. Search for narrow resonances in dilepton mass spectra in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV CMS Collaboration, Chatrchyan, S.; Khachatryan, V.; Sirunyan, A. M.; et al. Group Author(s): CMS Collaboration. Physics Letters B 714, (2012) 158-179.

172. J/psi Suppression at Forward Rapidity in Pb-Pb Colli-sions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV, Abelev, B.; Adam, J.; Adamova, D.; et al. Group Author(s): ALICE Collabora-tion. Physical Review Letters 109, (2012) 072301.

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Advanced Quantum Mechanics 2nd Editionby Freeman Dyson (IAS, Princeton)

“The fame of these lectures as well as of this author, together with the enduring interest in their contents attested by this transcription, obviously classify the book as of great interest to students and researchers willing to hear a presentation of quantum electrodynamics from one of the founding fathers.”

Zentralblatt MATH

316pp Nov 2011978-981-4383-40-0 US$98 £65978-981-4383-41-7(pbk) US$42 £28



The Raman Research Institute (RRI) is an autonomous research institute engaged in research on the basic sciences. It is an institute that stands apart from other

research institutes in India because of its rich history.The Institute was founded in 1948 by Indian physicist

and Nobel Laureate, Prof. C. V. Raman, to continue his research work after his retirement as Director of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). While still the Director of IISc, in 1934, Prof. Raman had founded the Indian Academy of Sciences that attracted some of the most talented young scientists of the time who were publishing their research work in internationally reputed journals of physics and chemistry. That same year, the Maharajah of Mysore gifted the Academy 11 acres of land in the north of Bangalore and a few years later when Raman proposed that an independent research institute be built on that land, an agreement with the Academy was signed. The new centre for research was first named ‘Institute of Research in Physics’ in 1941 and later renamed in 1943, after its founder, as the Raman Research Institute. Following the creation of RRI, Raman, serving as the first Director of the Institute, gifted various movable and immovable properties to the Academy for the use and benefit of the Institute and until his death in 1970, worked tirelessly for the growth and development of RRI.

After Raman’s demise in November 1970, the Academy created a public charitable trust, the Raman Research Institute Trust. All lands, buildings, deposits, securities, bank deposits, moneys, laboratories, instruments, and all other movable and immovable properties so far held by the Academy for RRI were transferred to the RRI trust. The RRI trust was assigned the responsibility to maintain, conduct and sustain the smooth functioning of the RRI.

In 1972, the Institute started receiving funds from the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India, which has, since then, been its primary funding source. The same year, Venkatraman Radhakrishnan was invited to be the Director of RRI. He not only fulfilled

Raman’s vision of building an observatory at RRI but also helped create a strong Astronomy and Astrophysics group whose research work today is highly regarded throughout the world. Apart from the Astronomy and Astrophysics group, historically, Liquid Crystals was the other thrust area of research at RRI.

Today, the constant growth and reinvention of RRI has led to the establishment of two new groups — Theoretical Physics and Light and Matter Physics, while the Liquid Crystals group has been rechristened as Soft Condensed Matter group to convey more accurately the diverse research activities of its members. Along with the Astronomy and Astrophysics research group, RRI now has four main extremely dynamic research groups with an ever increasing faculty strength, scientific staff and students, all pursuing active research inspired by the example set by the founder, Sir C. V. Raman.

To give a more detailed picture of the research currently underway at RRI, let us look individually at the research interests of the four different groups.

Members of the Astrophysics and Astronomy (A&A) group at RRI are currently engaged in research on astrophys-ical problems like Development of Cosmological models, Hydrodynamic studies on Galaxies and their surroundings, Gravitational Dynamics, Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence etc. While Pulsars, Radio Galaxies, X-ray Binaries, Halo and Relic Radio Sources, are being studied through observational data culled from not only national but also international observatories so as to verify existing theoretical models and also spawn new theoretical questions to be answered. RRI is also involved in the design and development of several telescopes across the world. For instance, RRI has built a Decametre Wave Radio Telescope at Gauribadanur around 100 km north of Bangalore along with Indian Institute of Astrophysics. The Ooty Radio Telescope operated by Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) has been modernised by reconfigurable digital receivers designed and

Debarshini ChakrabortyRaman Research InstituteIndia

The Raman Research Institute



built at RRI. The receivers in the 20cm wavelength band and specialized pulsar receivers for the Giant Metre Wave Radio Telescope operated by TIFR were also

designed and built at RRI. That apart, RRI has partici-pated in international collaborations to build a radio telescope in Mauritius, has placed receivers atop the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia and is a part of the an international collaboration that has commissioned success-fully the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) radio telescope in Australia.

Members of the Light and Matter Physics (LAMP) group at RRI are pursuing research in an area of light-matter interaction which is a combination of Atomic, Molecular and Optical (AMO) physics on one hand, and intense laser field studies of plasmas on the other. Light and matter interac-tions are being investigated by this group using experiments, numerical and theoretical analysis. The interactions are studied at very high temperatures, room temperature and at extremely low temperatures attained through laser cooling methods. Various forms of laser sources are used in these studies ranging from very narrow line-width lasers with hundreds of milliwatts of power to very high intensity pulsed lasers with pulse durations as low as a few hundred femtoseconds. The questions at hand are the quantum and classical aspects of matter, their interactions with light and the quantum nature of light itself. In particular, the research stresses on demonstration of quantum logic using ultra-cold atoms loaded in optical lattices and various nano-traps, investigation of transport and localization properties of light in various random media, ultra-fast laser induced plasmas from solid targets, non-linear optical properties of nano-materials, laser cooling and trapping of atoms, molecular spectroscopy, cold collisions, ion trapping, atoms in cavities,

response of cooled atoms to external fields, quantum optics with neutral atoms and non-classical light sources, quantum walk of light etc. Currently, quantum logical gates are being designed by tailoring the internal degrees of freedom of quantum optical tools in external potentials.

The soft condensed matter group (SCM), or the erstwhile liquid crystals group at RRI, is engaged in active research on the synthesis, characterization and physical studies of liquid crystals, and also colloids, polymers, nano-composites, amphiphilic systems, complex fluids, and exciting new areas of biological physics and surface physics. Examples of research on Liquid Crystals being conducted at RRI include synthesis and characterization of liquid crystals of various morphologies, phenomenological theories of liquid crystals, their phase transitions, instabilities, topological defects and pattern formation under shear flow or an external electric field, and Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) and their intrica-cies. That apart, aging dynamics and relaxation time studies of colloidal systems, X-ray diffraction and polarizing light microscopy of the novel phases being induced by different types of counterions on regular ionic surfactants and also DNA-surfactant complexes, temperature-concentration phase diagrams, magnetic susceptibility studies of micellar solutions and other such investigations into the soft solid-like nature of amphiphilic surfactants in aqueous solutions, free energy studies of the complex tent-like structures and chiral sperulites formed by polyethylene crystallites etc. are underway. In the field of biophysics, in-vitro single molecule dynamics, protein-membrane interactions and stem cell differentiation and patterning are some of the areas of interest to this group. Novel experiments are being designed to provide a quantitative study of a variety of simplified cell systems in collaborations with biologists and theoretical physicists.

The theoretical Physics (TP) group pursues research in the following four major areas – statistical physics, soft matter physics (including physics in biology), gravitation and general relativity and foundations of quantum mechanics. Within statistical physics, the research interests mainly lie in the areas of mesoscopic physics and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics together with biophysics and soft condensed matter. While within general relativity, the problems currently being explored include gravitational waves and quantum gravity. Furthering our theoretical understanding of heat and electron transfer processes in mesoscopic systems, non- equilibrium statistical mechanics in issues pertaining to jamming of granular matter and onset of shear waves in bacterial bath, and the equilibrium and dynamical properties of polymers etc. are some of the goals

Murchison Widefield Array tile close up. Photo courtesy: Curtin University.



of the TP group. Also in the realm of biological physics, prob-lems such as vesicle formation and their transport in cells, mitochondrial distribution dynamics and DNA stretching and twisting are being addressed. Whereas, within general relativity, scientists at RRI are carrying out research from two distinct viewpoints, Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG) and Causal Set Theory (CST). LQG is a method where standard Hamiltonian ways of quantization are applied to the classical gravitational field without resorting to perturbation theory. The consequent absence of a spatial geometry in LQG has been addressed through some new ideas and tools by the TP group, while the absence of a background time and an overall recovery of the space-time continuum in the classical limit are the two issues being looked into currently. CST on the other hand, is a method in which the space-time continuum is replaced by a discrete substructure that is a locally finite, partially ordered set called the Causal Set. Classical stochastic growth processes, causal set topology, toy models for quantum causal set dynamics and construc-tion of a consistent quantum theory of multiple causal sets forming a more inclusive space-time continuum, are being looked into using a CST approach. As an example of the multi-faceted research being carried out by the TP group, notably, we have a research problem that explores in detail the

analogy between quantum gravity effects that cost too high an energy and are thus unfeasible to test out in a standard laboratory, with the fluctuating surface tension of micron sized fluid membranes. The TP group at RRI also examines gravitational wave detection using space based gravity-wave detectors like LISA where research is underway to take into account the entire waveform thus ensuring improved angular resolution for super massive black hole binaries. Research is also being carried out on the physical applications of the Ricci flow in general relativity, Ricci flow being a heat equation for metrics and smoothens out geometries and also wipes out memory of initial conditions.

In future years RRI plans to expand its expertise in diverse areas of physics broadly classifiable into the four existing groups, both from an experimental and theoretical point of view. Also RRI plans to develop further collaborations and interaction, not only within the institute but also with experts outside, so as to keep up the momentum the research here has attained through the combined efforts of all the four groups described above. This vision together with the stellar research already being conducted at RRI is expected to attract talented young scientists, both faculty and students, within its folds, thus ensuring that the journey on the path set by the founder, Sir C.V. Raman, continues unencumbered.

Outrigger tile at night (30 sec exposure, full moon). Photo courtesy: Pete Wheeler, ICRAR.



Charling TaoCenter for Particle Physics of Marseilles/IN2P3/Centre national de la recherche scientifique,Marseille,France,Tsinghua Center for Astrophysics (THCA), Tsinghua University, Beijing, ChinaE-mail: [email protected]

Tsinghua Center for Astrophysics and The Dark Universe

Introduction

The Tsinghua Center for Astrophysics (THCA) was founded in 2001 by Prof. Li Tipei and Shang Rencheng. A distin-guishing characteristic of THCA’s astrophysics program is its emphasis on space X-ray and gamma-ray instrumenta-tion, by taking advantage of Tsinghua’s strong programs on nuclear physics, nuclear engineering, space and aeronautics engineering, as well as electronics and information tech-nology. The main research directions in THCA include high energy astrophysics and cosmology with space and ground observations in X-rays and gamma-rays, and more recently in optical wavelengths, radio-astronomy, gravitational waves, dark matter and dark energy analyses and projects.

The first years of THCA activities have been detailed in Prof. Zhang Shuang Nan’s presentation1 at COSPA in 2009. For details, please also refer to the Center website: http://www.thca.tsinghua.edu.cn/en.

The following sections describe the activities in which we are involved with our students, postdocs and collabora-tors. We have entered an era of multi-probes and multi-wavelengths databases and analysis, which explains why we need to be involved and have access to not only one project, but many complementary ones in order to understand the physics of astronomical objects, and the evolution of the universe better.

Our activities cover a wide variety of topics and tech-niques, although not all aspects of astrophysics. Astrophysics and cosmology are offering a rich domain for discoveries: not only new celestial objects but also and maybe more

importantly (at least for the physicist I am) fundamental physics questions.

Teaching science through astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology is a pleasure, and is rewarding. Students in Tsinghua are enthusiastic and challenging.

We are a small center, with only a few people so far, but Tsinghua University leadership has promised to help with the development of astrophysics and cosmology.

High Energy Astrophysics in THCA

For more details, please consult the website http://heat.tsinghua.edu.cn.

Fig.1. High precision ground test stand for HXMT, designed and built in Tsinghua.



HXMT (Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope)HXMT, jointly developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and THCA, is a high-energy X-ray telescope with electronic system, anti-coincidence system and collimator. HXMT should be China’s first independently developed space astronomy satellite, using original direct demodula-tion imaging method to achieve wide-band X-ray (1-250 keV) high resolution imaging surveys, and study black hole binaries, and other celestial bodies. In April 2008, HXMT completed the project feasibility assessment. In October 2010, the State Council approved the HXMT project which is funded through the 12th 5-year plan. Launch is foreseen for 2015.

Technical developmentsTHCA is also involved in developing innovative techniques of X-ray polarization measurements and sub-arcsecond angular resolution X-ray imaging, for the next generation space astronomy missions. X-ray polarization can help us understand the magnetic fields, emission mechanism, and geometry of the source. However, due to its short wavelength, detecting X-ray polarization effectively has always been a challenge in astrophysics, until recently with the advent of novel gaseous track detectors. THCA is a member of the X-ray Timing and Polarization (XTP) project and will build the polarimeter for XTP. Prof. Feng Hua also proposed a small satellite concept, the Lightweight Asymmetry and Magnetism Probe (LAMP), for soft X-ray polarization near 250 eV.

Fig.2. http : //heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/objects/heapow/archive/active-galaxies/m87rings.html.

Fig.3. Evidence for 2 intermediate-mass black holes in M82http : //chandra.harvard.edu/press/10releases/press042910.html.

Note that Tsinghua University is, to my knowledge, the only university in the world which has the capability to launch its own small satellites, so we are learning how to use this potential for astrophysics.

THCA analysis of X-ray dataA number of interesting results have been obtained by THCA researchers. Two examples:1. The discovery of a three ring structure around the jet of

M87 was reported by HEASARC picture of the week2 (cf. Fig. 2).

2. With three joint observations of the M82 galaxy using NASA’s Chandra telescope and the European XMM-Newton telescope, strong evidence was found in 2010 for two candidate intermediate-mass black holes3,4 (NASA news in Fig. 3).

Optical Astrophysics in THCA

THCA faculty and students are heavily involved in data analysis and improving observation techniques.

A 40 cm small telescopeA 40 cm small telescope has been installed in 2001 in Tsinghua Observatory, for pedagogical purpose. This allows practice of observation on campus for students and helps popularize astronomy.

An 80 cm reflector telescopeAn 80 cm reflector telescope was installed in 2003 in Hebei Xinglong, an ongoing cooperation with the National Astronomical Observatory. Tsinghua University – National



Fig. 4. A view of Tsinghua Observatory

Fig. 6. (a) The first AST3 during tests in Xuyu Observatory; (b) The 4 astronomers arriving in Dome A to install the first AST3 telescope.

Observatory Telescope (TNT), began observations in 2004. Wang Xiaofeng and his students used the telescope to carry out a supernova Sky Survey. They found a number of new supernovae (Sne), such as 2005mc, 2005md, 2005mf, and 2007G. Other transient celestial discoveries and studies besides supernovae, include gamma-ray burst afterglow, active galactic nuclei (cf. Zhang Youhong et al.), etc.

AST3 in Dome ATHCA is actively involved in the construction of the National Antarctic Astronomical Observatory. THCA contributes to the three 50 cm (effective aperture) telescopes of the Schmidt telescope array (AST3). As a member of the Antarctic Astronomy Center, THCA also participates in the common management of the telescope. The center will use the Antarctica telescopes to carry out time domain astronomy

Fig. 5. A view of Tsinghua Observatory

(in particular supernovae, for which THCA is coordinator). The project is part of an international collaboration where American, Australian and Chinese scientists successfully measured the site parameters relevant for astronomical observations. The first AST3 telescope was installed in Dome A, Antarctica during the winter 2011–2012 traverse. Cf. http://aag.bao.ac.cn

KDUSTThe Antarctic Observatory medium-term plan is to install a 2.5 m optical/infrared wide field of view survey telescope, to study Dark Energy. THCA will also actively promote and participate in the project. Cf. http://aag.bao.ac.cn.

Supernova Research in THCA

The Supernova (SN) science is now well-known for its cosmology impact: The 2011 Nobel Prize underlined the fundamental contribution of SN Type Ia (SNIa) surveys to the discovery of the mysterious Dark Energy.

(a)

(b)



C. Tao was a member of SNLS,5 a SNIa systematic rolling search, of which measurements confirmed with more than 500 SNIa observed today, the reality of the acceleration of the Universe hinted by the 2 pioneering teams.

The “2-sigma” effect back in 1998 is now clearly confirmed. The combined SN results6 (with the assumption of a flat universe and a choice of nearby SN results) sets tight constraints on the Dark Energy equation of state.

SNLS reached the systematics floor with existing methodology, which means that in order to improve on cosmology with SNIa, we need to improve on calibrations, understanding of SNIa evolution and host galaxy extinctions, SNIa standardization techniques, and distance measurement methods.

THCA has joined the SNFactory7 effort to measure the spectral series of nearby SNIa and their environment in order to find new ideas for improving SNIa constraints on cosmological parameters. SNFactory aims at providing the reference anchor and database for cosmological studies of SNIa.

C. Tao is also the co-lead of the supernova and transient working group of the Euclid project.14 She is a member of LSST, and SDSS4-eboss, and is active in the Antarctica (AST3, KDUST) projects. Wang Xiaofeng is leading a multi-telescope project in China for transient searches.

One path for improving the contribution of SNIa is to study alternative standardization methods.

Wang Xiaofeng proposed a type of correction based on the color parameter;10 he found an average extragalactic dust absorption coefficient Rv= AV/[(E(B-V)]=2.3 (AV for the amount of extinction, E(B-V) is the color parameter), which is different from the Milky Way dust (Rv = 3.1), for the sample of SNIa he used. This result is disputed, the latest results with

SNFactory data by Nicolas Chotard (a postdoc in THCA and Lyon) indicates an intermediate value, Rv = 2.8 ± 0.3, which is closer and compatible with the Milky Way value.11

Wang Xiaofeng also proposed a classification of SNIa based on their expansion velocity.12 This spectral classifica-tion reveals differences between the two classes of SNIa and the intrinsic dispersion within each class being reduced by roughly 50% (i.e., from 9% to 6%). This study also helps to understand the differences in the explosion physics of the progenitor star. The research published on Science Express,13 indicates that the class with relatively higher ejecta velocity is found to be associated with more metal-rich and perhaps younger stellar systems than the class with lower velocity.

AGN/Quasars as cosmological probes at high redshifts?

SNIa are irreplaceable probes today to study the evolution of the universe. But they are not observed beyond redshift of 2. GRB and AGN/quasars are potential candidates for substituing SNIa. Reverberation Mapping (RM) of AGN and Super Eddington AGNs are quite promising methods which need further study with more data. A THCA group is involved in the RM campaign of 849 AGN/quasars with SDSS BOSS ancillary program enriched with Bok and CFHT photometry which was concluded in July 2014, and will bring at least one order of magnitude more statistics. Those studies will be continued with eBOSS and other projects (EUCLID?, ...)

Large-Scale Structures in THCA

With the publication in December 2013 of the SDSS-BOSS

Fig. 7. Hubble diagramme (left) and constraints on the DE equation of state (right) (from Conley et al.6).



results, Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) have over-come SNIa as the best single probe for constraining the DE parameters. SNIa remains a very important geometric probe for global fitting. Together with BAO, it allows a test of General Relativity by comparing the results from luminosity distances with angular diameter distances. The SDSS4-eBOSS programme will improve on the SDSS3-BOSS studies with an emphasis on the yet not well measured emission-line galaxies at intermediate redshifts (0.5 to 2). THCA students will be involved with the AGN/Quasar RM studies, but also on understanding the galaxy multi-point correlation func-tions and their impact on cosmology.

Studies on gravitational lensing in THCA

A very important and promising probe for constraining Dark Energy and other cosmological parameters in the next few years is through gravitational lensing (weak, strong and flexion), which give estimates of total masses, in contrast to the more biased mass estimates from optical or IR and X ray surveys. The first CFHT and COSMOS results with cosmic shear are promising, but a number of systematic issues need to be solved. The work of Sun Lei, former student of C. Tao and now postdoc in THCA, shows how the impact of catastrophic redshifts can be reduced by sufficient spec-troscopic calibrations of the photometric redshifts.15 Many other systematics are/will limit the lensing results, and we are studying these effects.

Gravitation lensing is a powerful tool for other sciences: Shan HuanYuan, a postdoc in THCA, was the first to find clusters with weak lensing from the public CFHT W1, 64 sq deg data.16

We have extended this work to the CFHT/Stripe82 region.17 In the future, EUCLID, LSST, KDUST, China 2m space telescope should provide data for continuing these studies which might provide independent constraints to the determination of cosmological parameters.

Future gravitational lensing observations will also provide the matter power spectrum at small scales, which should be different for Cold Dark Matter (CDM) of GeV mass or Warm DM (WDM) of keV mass. Whether DM is cold or warm is a hot topic, which has important incidence on the many direct and indirect searches for DM (cf. C.Tao’s review18). We are currently studying how trustworthy present evidence for WDM is, and if we can confidently continue and develop our programs to search for GeV cold DM.

Dark Matter searches in Tsinghua

The possibility of an underground tunnel under Jinping Mountain was the culminating point of a >20 years search for a good location of an underground laboratory in China. Thanks to the Ertan hydroelectric power company, China’s first extremely deep underground laboratory, the China Jinping Underground Laboratory (CJPL), was opened and put into operation in Yalongjiang Jinping Hydropower Station in Sichuan province on December 12, 2010. CJPL is located 2,400 meters below the surface and is the deepest lab in the world covered by rocks.19

The Jinping laboratory hosts two DM experiments: CDEX20 with sub-keV Germanium detectors, and PANDAX lead by Shanghai Jiaotong University with liquid xenon.22

The recent results by the CDEX team lead by the Tsinghua University the Engineering Physics department, set the best

Fig. 8. Weak Lensing detected cluster maps of W1 from Shan et al.16



world limits obtained with germanium detectors21.THCA is involved in the background neutron measure-

ments for the Jinping site with a new concept of spherical detector,? and is preparing next generation DM experiments with directional Time Projection Chambers, of which ulti-mate size will be the irreducible solar neutrino contribution to the DM signal.

Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)

Last but certainly not least of all cosmological probes comes the CMB. Prof. Li Tipei and Liu Hao discovered a serious systematic analysis error in the published results of the WMAP satellite microwave background temperature maps.23 An independent WMAP data analysis software system has been developed and published.24,25 There are significant differences with the WMAP official temperature map. Errors in WMAP data processing have been identified and correc-tions have been proposed.26 Independent checks support Li and Liu’s conclusions.

The recent results of BICEP2 have raised hopes that the gravity waves predicted by inflationary modes could be detected in the large-scale CMB B- polarisation. The observed signal could, however, be due to a larger amount of dust polarization than expected, which would make life more challenging for the observers. C. Tao, post-doc Sun Lei and students are studying different projects in which Chinese groups could be involved.

Gravitational waves

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) is one of the three highest precision gravitational wave detection collaboration in the world. Tsinghua Univer-sity LIGO group developed an interdisciplinary platform for the collaboration, with cyberinfrastructure, data grids and mass data management with advanced computing technology to support the LIGO data analysis. The quality of the work has been recognized by the international collabo-ration. The board meeting in September 2010 accepted Tsinghua University as a member of the LIGO and advanced LIGO scientific collaboration. Advanced LIGO is hoping to discover gravitational waves for the centennial celebration of General Relativity. For details, please consult the website http://www.ligo.org.cn/.

FAST and SKA

Prof. Lou Yuqing and Hu Jian participate in the science team of the Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST)28, a radio telescope under construction located in a natural basin in Guizhou Province, southwest China. Construction should be complete by 2016. It will be the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope and three times more sensitive than the Arecibo Observatory, before the Square Kilometer Area (SKA) project comes to life.

Tsinghua University Prof. Wang Lijun and his team are participating in the SKA design of a distribution system for the time and frequency/phase reference signals to each of the stations of the SKA.

They have demonstrated an accurate time and frequency dissemination system via an 80 km communication fiber link between Tsinghua University and the National Institute of Metrology of China. Using a 9.1 GHz microwave modulation and a timing signal carried by two continuous-wave lasers, transferred in the same 80 km urban fiber link, frequency transfer stability at the level of 510-19/day is achieved. Reliable time synchronization at the 50 ps precision was demonstrated and will be improved for the SKA project to reach sub ps levels.

The synchronization of time and frequency between remote locations is crucial for many important applications of frequency standards in modern astronomy. Conventional time and frequency dissemination systems often use satellite links, and normally give frequency transfer stability on the order of 10–15/day with time transfer precision of about a nanosecond. With significant progresses on the stability of atomic frequency standards, conventional methods can no

Fig. 9. In Oct. 2010, the journal of the Royal Astronomical Association of England News and Reviews on Astronomy & Geophysics published an article giving detailed comments about Li and Liu questioning about the present WMAP cosmology, the picture is the cover of that issue of the journal.



longer fulfill the much higher requirements of frequency comparison and time synchronization. Owing to their properties of low attenuation, high reliability and continuous availability, ubiquitous fiber communication networks have become an attractive option for long distance dissemination of time and frequency signals.

New developments in spectrographs for astronomy

Prof. Yang Huaidong is a collaborator from the Tsinghua University Department of Precision Instruments and Mechanics, who is interested in developing new spectro-graphs for astronomy. He has visited for one year the Caltech IRIS team on the Thirty Meter Telescope project in 2012 and is currently designing an Integer Field Unit Spectrograph for a Chinese telescope.

Conclusions

THCA pays special attention to interdisciplinary research across the boundaries of astronomy, physics, cosmology, instrumentation, computational science, nuclear engi-neering, space and aeronautics engineering.

THCA welcomes academic visitors, excellent applicants for faculty positions at all levels, and excellent students (with training in the fields of astronomy, astrophysics, physics, and engineering in many disciplines) for graduate studies.

For further information about THCA, and for faculty opening applications and graduate studies at THCA, please contact THCA’s academic secretary: Dr. Guo-Qing Liu at [email protected].

Acknowledgements

THCA research is supported by the Ministry of Education, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and China’s National Space Agency, and Tsinghua University. We are especially grateful to IHEP and NAOC for long term support of various forms including academic collaborations and providing direct funds.

Appendix A. THCA members and research interests

THCA faculty and students come from the Department of Physics, Department of Engineering Physics, and the Information Technology Research Institute.• Li Tipei, professor, founding Director THCA,

academician: high-energy astrophysics, cosmology• Shang Rencheng, THCA Deputy Director: nuclear

physics, space astronomical instruments• Feng Hua, Professor, THCA Deputy Director: high-

energy astrophysics, space astronomical instruments• Lou Yuqing, Yangtze Distinguished Professor: Theoretical

Astrophysics (celestial magnetic fluid, accretion and outflow)

• Cao Junwei, professor, IT, gravitational wave astronomy Eric Lebigot, Researcher, IT and IN2P3 France

• Zhang Youhong, associate professor: High Energy Astrophysics

• Wang Xiaofeng, professor, Optical Astronomy (super-nova)

• Hu Jian, Tenure track assistant professor: Theoretical Astrophysics

• Zhou Jianfeng, research associate: Virtual Observatory item Charling Tao, THCA Director, astroparticle and cosmologyWe have developed close ties with other Tsinghua Univer-

sity Departments, in particular the department of Precision Instruments and Mechanics (Wang Lijun, Yang HuaiDong and their collaborators).

Doug Lin, Andre Tilquin, Ueli Pen, Richard Lieu, Paolo Mazzali, Elena Pian, Shude Mao, Hu Zhan, Yue Qian are regular visitors to THCA and/or give lectures to our students. Our program of guest lecturers and visitors is expanding and helps gives the best learning opportunities to our students.

THCA is also a major partner in the sino-french labora-tories of particle physics (FCPPL) and astrophysics.

References

1. S. N. Zhang, AAPPS Bulletin, Vol. 19, No. 2 (2009)2. H. Feng, S. N. Zhang, Y. Q. Lou and T. P. Li, X-ray

three-ring structure around the M87 galaxy in the core region of the Virgo cluster, Astrophys. J., 607, L95(2004)

3. H. Feng and P. Kaaret, Identification of the X-ray Thermal Dominant State in an Ultraluminous X-ray Source in M82, Astrophys. J., 712: L169-L173 (2010)

4. H. Feng, F. Rao and P. Kaaret, Discovery of Millihertz X-Ray Oscillations in a Transient Ultraluminous X-Ray Source in M82, Astrophys. J., 710: L137-L141 (2010)

5. Astier et al., The Supernova Legacy Survey: measure-ment of OmegaM, OmegaL and w from the first year data set, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 447, Issue 1, pp.31-48 (2006)



6. Conley et al. Supernova Constraints and Systematic Uncertainties from the First Three Years of the Supernova Legacy Survey, the Astrophysical Journal Supplement, Volume 192, Issue 1, article id. 1 (2011)

7. http://snfactory.lbl.gov/8. http://www.lsst.org/9. http://www.sdss.org/10. X. Wang et al., A Novel Color Parameter as a Lumi-

nosity Calibrator for Type Ia Supernovae, Astrophy. J., 620: L87-L90 (2005)

11. N. Chotard et al., The reddening law of Type Ia Super-novae: separating intrinsic variability from dust using equivalent widths. Arxiv 1103.5300, Astronomy and Astro- physics, Volume 529, id.L4 (2011)

12. X. Wang et al. Improved Distances to Type Ia Super-novae with Two Spectroscopic Subclasses., Astrophys. J., 699: L139-L143 (2009)

13. X. Wang et al., Evidence for Two Distinct Popula-tions of Type Ia Supernovae, Science 340, 170 (2013), arXiv:1303.2601

14. R. Laureijs et al., Euclid Definition Study Report, arXiv:1110.3193 (2011)

15. L. Sun, Z. Fan, C.Tao et al., Catastrophic Photo-z Errors and the Dark Energy Pa- rameter Estimates with Cosmic Shear, Astrophysical Journal, Volume 699, Issue 2, pp. 958-967 (2009).

16. H. Y. Shan, J. P. Kneib, C. Tao et al., Weak Lensing Measurement of Galaxy Clusters in the CFHTLS-Wide Survey, The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 748, Issue 1, article id. 56 (2012)

17. H. Y. Shan et al., Weak lensing mass map and peak

statistics in CFHT/Stripe82 survey, to be published in MNRAS, arXiv:1311.1319 (2014)

18. C.Tao, Astrophysical constraints on Dark Matter, EAS Publications Series, Volume 53, pp.97-104 (2012)

19. K. J. Kang et al., Status and prospects of a deep underground laboratory in China, Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Volume 203, Issue 1, pp. 012028 (2010).

20. Q. Yue and H. T. Wong, Dark Matter Search with sub-keV Germanium Detectors at the China Jinping Underground Laboratory, arxiv 1201.5373 (2012)

21. Q. Yue et al., Limits on light WIMPs from the CDEX-1 experiment with a p-type point-contact germanium detector at the China Jingping Underground Labora-tory, arXiv:1404.4946 (2014)

22. http://pandax.physics.sjtu.edu.cn/23. H. Liu and T. P. Li, Systematic distortion in CMB maps,

Sci China G: Phy Mech Astron, 52: 804-808 (2009)24. H. Liu and T. P. Li, Improved CMBmap from WMAP

data, arXiv:0907.2731 (2009)25. H. Liu and T. P. Li, Inconsistence between WMAP data

and released map, Chinese Sci Bull, 55:907-909 (2010)26. H. Liu and T.P. Li, Pseudo-dipole signal removal from

WMAP data, Chinese Sci Bull 55(3): 1-5 (2010)27. B. Wang, C. Gao, W.L. Chen, J.W. Zhang, Y.Y. Feng,

T.C. Li, and L.J. Wang. A 10-18/day Fiber-Based RF Frequency Dissemination Chain, in CLEO: 2012 (Optical Society of America, Washington, DC, 2012), CTh4A.3.

28. http://fast.bao.ac.cn/en/29. https://www.skatelescope.org/

50 Years of Quarks by Harald Fritzsch (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich) & Murray Gell-Mann (Santa Fe Institute)

On the 50th anniversary of the quark model, this invaluable volume looks back at the developments and achievements in the elementary particle physics that eventuated from that beautiful model. Written by an international team of distinguished physicists, each of whom have made major developments in the field, the volume provides an essential overview of the present state to the academics and researchers.

Contributors include 3 Nobel laureates, S. L. Glashow, Y. Nambu, M. Kobayashi, and other renowned physicists: H. Fritzsch, G. Zweig, S. Adler, I. Antoniadis, W. Bardeen, S. Brodsky, R. Crewther, C. Dominguez, J. Ellis, R. Field, U. Heinz, D. Horn, G. Kane, M. Karliner, H. Leutwyler, S. Meshkov, R. Mohapatra, L. Okun, W. Plessas, P. Ramond, F. Ravndal, M. Shifman, S. L. Wu, Z. Z. Xing, and T. M. Yan.

500pp Jan 2015978-981-4618-09-0 US$118 £78 978-981-4618-10-6(pbk) US$48 £32 978-981-4618-11-3(ebook) US$153 £101

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4D Visualization of Matter Author: Ahmed H ZewailISBN: 978-1-78326-504-6 (hardcover)ISBN: 978-1-78326-505-3 (softcover)360pp Oct 2014

Ever since the beginning of mankind's efforts to pursue scientific inquiry into the laws of nature, visualization of the very distant and the very small has been paramount. The examples are numerous. A century ago, the atom appeared mysterious, a “raisin or plum pie of no structure,” until it was visualized on the appropriate length and time scales. Similarly, with telescopic observations, a central dogma of the cosmos was changed and complexity yielded to simplicity of the heliocentric structure and motion in our solar system.

For matter, in over a century of developments, major advances have been made to explore the inner microscopic structures and dynamics. These advances have benefited many fields of endeavor, but visualization was incomplete; it was limited either to the 3D spatial structure or to the 1D temporal evolution. However, in systems with myriads of atoms, 4D spatiotemporal visualization is essential for dissecting their complexity. The biological world is rich with examples, and many molecular diseases cannot be fully understood without such direct visualization, as, for example, in the case of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. The same is true for phenomena in materials science, chemistry, and nanoscience.

This anthology is an account of the collected works that have emerged over the past decade from Caltech. Through recent publications, the volume provides overviews of the principles, the electron-based techniques, and the applica-tions made. Thanks to advances in imaging principles and

technology, it is now possible with 4D electron microscopy to reach ten orders of magnitude improvement in time resolution while simultaneously conserving the atomic spatial resolution in visualization. This is certainly a long way from Robert Hooke's microscopy, which was recorded in his 1665 masterpiece Micrographia.

Contents:• Prologue• Overviews• Precursors:• Ultrafast Electron Diffraction (UED)• Ultrafast Electron Crystallography (UEC)• Ultrafast Electron Microscopy (UEM):• Firsts: Principles and Potential• Techniques• Applications: Materials Science, Nanomechanical

Phenomena, Biological Imaging• Technology• Selected Highlights• Epilogue

Readership: Academics and researchers in physical chemistry, biochemistry, chemical biology, biophysics, bioengineering, imaging, structural biology, cancer research.

Time in Powers of Ten Natural Phenomena and Their TimescalesAuthor: Gerard 't Hooft & Stefan VandorenTranslated by: Saskia Eisberg- 't HooftISBN: 978-981-4489-80-5 (hardcover) US$78ISBN: 978-981-4489-81-2 (softcover) US$24ISBN: 978-981-4494-93-9 (ebook) US$101ISBN: 978-981-4494-92-2 (ebook - Institutions Only)232pp May 2014

BOOKS


Reviews

“The somewhat facetious narrating style and the abun-dance of illustrations are so inviting and rather addictive once you picked up the book.”

European Mathematical Society

“Pleasingly accessible volume that will give pleasure to academics, students, connoisseurs of coffee-table books and even the people who compile questions for Trivial Pursuit. Can be enjoyed as a source of scientific stories and images, as an unusual perspective on history, as a popular account of modern physics, and so on. Underneath them all is a wealth of serious science that will give readers insights into abstract fundamental ideas via concrete realities. Every science teacher would benefit from reading Time in Powers of Ten, but I hope it will have an even wider reach.”

Times Higher Education

With a Foreword by Steven WeinbergIn this richly illustrated book, Nobel Laureate Gerard 't Hooft and Theoretical Physicist Stefan Vandoren describe the enormous diversity of natural phenomena that take place at different time scales.

In the tradition of the bestseller Powers of Ten, the authors zoom in and out in time, each step with a factor of ten. Starting from one second, time scales are enlarged until processes are reached that take much longer than the age of the universe. After the largest possible eternities, the reader is treated to the shortest and fastest phenomena known. Then the authors increase with powers of ten, until again the second is reached at the end of the book.

At each time scale, interesting natural phenomena occur, spread over all scientific disciplines: orbital and rotation periods of planets and stars, decay times of elementary parti-cles and atoms, biological rhythms and evolution processes, but also the different geological time scales.

Sample Chapter(s)Foreword (53 KB)Natural Phenomena and Their Timescales (155 KB)100 = 1 (1 Second) (251 KB)10,000 seconds = 2.78 hours (297 KB)1010 seconds = 317 years (769 KB)1016 seconds = 317 million years (261 KB)The Dark Eternities 1032 seconds: to infinity and beyond Ernest Rutherford (649 KB)10-5 seconds = 10 microseconds (233 KB)

10-2 seconds = 10 milliseconds = 0.01 seconds (176 KB)

Readership: Science enthusiasts and students.

A Mind for Numbers How to excel in Math and ScienceAuthor: Barbara Oakley

Whether you are a student struggling to fulfill a math or science requirement, or you are embarking on a career change that requires a higher level of math competency, A Mind for Numbers offers the tools you need to get a better grasp of that intimidating but inescapable field. Engineering professor Barbara Oakley knows firsthand how it feels to struggle with math. She flunked her way through high school math and science courses, before enlisting in the army immediately after graduation. When she saw how her lack of mathematical and technical savvy severely limited her options—both to rise in the military and to explore other careers—she returned to school with a newfound determina-tion to re-tool her brain to master the very subjects that had given her so much trouble throughout her entire life.

In A Mind for Numbers, Dr. Oakley lets us in on the secrets to effectively learning math and science—secrets that even dedicated and successful students wish they’d known earlier. Contrary to popular belief, math requires creative, as well as analytical, thinking. Most people think that there’s only one way to do a problem, when in actuality, there are

BOOKS


often a number of different solutions—you just need the creativity to see them. For example, there are more than three hundred different known proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem. In short, studying a problem in a laser-focused way until you reach a solution is not an effective way to learn math. Rather, it involves taking the time to step away from a problem and allow the more relaxed and creative part of the brain to take over. A Mind for Numbers shows us that we all have what it takes to excel in math, and learning it is not as painful as some might think!

Reviews

“A fascinating scientific and personal exploration of the roots of evil, filled with human insight and telling detail.”

—Steven Pinkerauthor The Better Angels of Our Nature and How the Mind Works

"Riveting and disturbing…. Barbara Oakley is to be commended upon looking so hard, and so closely, at the motives, in some, that underlie acts of 'kindness' and 'altruism'—suggesting that things are not always as they appear, and the phrase 'killed with kindness' springs from the absolute bedrock of folk wisdom."

—Joyce Carol OatesNational Book Award winner

"What a wonderful book! This is one of the few books in evolutionary biology I've read in the past ten years that taught me something completely new."

—Edward O. Wilson, Pulitzer Prize Winner and Pellegrino University Research

Professor Emeritus, Harvard University

"This unique volume manages the impressive feat of pulling together the best research from psychology, genetics, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and law on well-meaning but ultimately harmful forms of self-sacri-fice. It will forever change the way you look at altruism."

—Sharon BegleyScience Editor, Newsweek, and

author of Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain

PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONFERENCE IN HONOUR OF THE 90TH BIRTHDAY OF FREEMAN DYSONNanyang Technological University, Singapore, 26 – 29 August 2013edited by K K Phua (NTU, Singapore), L C Kwek (NTU, Singapore), N P Chang (City College of New York), & A H Chan (National University of Singapore)

Contents: Is a Graviton Detectable? (F Dyson); Dark Energy and Dark Matter in a Superfluid Universe (K Huang); Tenth-order QED contribution to the electron g-2 and high precision test of Quantum Electrodynamics (T Kinoshita); The Relativity of Space-Time-Property (R Delbourgo); Overview of the study of complex shapes of fluid membranes, the Helfrich model and new applications (O Zhong-can); Freeman in 1948 (C DeWitt); “Dear Professor Dyson”: Twenty Years of Correspondence Between Freeman Dyson and Undergraduate Students (D Neuenschwander); Freeman Dyson: Some Early Recollections (M Longuet-Higgins); Carbon Humanism: Freeman Dyson and the looming battle between environmentalists and humanists (P Schewe).

Readership: Academics and students interested in high energy physics, astrophysics, cosmology, and condensed matter physics.

300pp Jul 2014 978-981-4590-10-5 US$85 £56 978-981-4590-70-9(pbk) US$44 £29

74

CONFERENCE CALENDAR


Upcoming Conferences in the Asia Pacific Region

AUGUST 201404 – 08 Aug 2014 Cosmic DustUmeda Satellite Campus of Osaka Sangyo University, Japan https://www.cps-jp.org/~dust/

10 –12 Aug 2014 Satellite conference of ICM 2014 — Mathematical Theory of Gases and Fluids and Related ApplicationsChung-Ang University, South Koreahttp://www.icm2014.org/en/program/satellite/satellites

10 – 17 Aug 2014 Physics at LHC and beyondQuy-Nhon, Vietnamhttp://events.lal.in2p3.fr/Physics-LHC-2014/

25 – 29 Aug 2014 Star Clusters and Black Holes in Galaxies across Cosmic Time (IAU Symposium No. 312)Beijing, Chinahttp://silkroad.bao.ac.cn/web/index.php/iau-symp-312

28 – 30 Aug 2014 INST2014 — International Nuclear Science and Technology Conference 2014Bangkog, Thailandhttp://www.inst-th.com

30 Aug 2015 – 04 Sep 2015 PACRIM 11 — The 11th Pacific Rim Conference on Ceramic and Glass TechnologyJeJu Island, South Koreahttp://ceramics.org/meetings/acers-meetings

SEPTEMBER 201401 – 05 Sep 2014Binary systems, their evolution and environmentsUlaan Baatar, Mongoliahttp://mongolia.csp.escience.cn/

15 Sep 2014 The Role of Hydrogen in the Evolution of Galaxies Kuching, Borneo, Malaysiahttp://astronomy.swin.edu.au/research/conferences/gas2014/index.php

15 Sep 2014The Sixth East-Asian Numerical Astrophysics MeetingSuwon, South Koreahttp://eanam6.khu.ac.kr

15 – 19 Sep 2014INTS — 26th International Conference on Nuclear Tracks in SolidsKobe, Japanhttp://www.org.kobe-u.ac.jp/icnts26/index.html

21 – 26 Sep 2014HFI/NQI 2014 Canberra — Joint International Conference on Hyperfine Interactions and Symposium on Nuclear Quadrupole Interactions 2014Canberra, Australiahttp://www.hfinqi.consec.com.au/

26 – 28 Sep 2014MRS-id Meeting 2014 — The Material Research Society of Indonesia (MRS-id) Meeting 2014Denpasar, Indonesiahttp://mrs-id.org/meetings/

OCTOBER 201409 – 12 Oct 2014HF2014 — 55th ICFA Advanced Beam Dynamics Workshop on High Luminosity Circular e+e- Colliders - Higgs FactoryBeijing, Chinahttp://hf2014.ihep.ac.cn/

20 Oct 2014 Fifth International Fermi SymposiumNagoya, Japanhttp://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/mtgs/symposia/2014/

20 – 24 Oct 2014 21st International Symposium on Spin PhysicsPeking University, Beijing, Chinahttp://www.phy.pku.edu.cn/spin2014/

NOVEMBER 201403 Nov 2014 The 6th KIAS Workshop on Cosmology and Structure FormationSeoul, South Koreahttp://home.kias.re.kr/MKG/h/cosmology2014/

18 – 19 Nov 2014 Perfik2014 — National Physics Conference 2014Kuala Lumpur, Malaysiahttp://www.utar.edu.my/perfik2014/

24 Nov 2014ISYA2014 — The 2014 International School for Young AstronomersChiang Mai, Thailandhttp://www.narit.or.th/en/index.php/isya

DECEMBER 201401 – 05 Dec 2014TCP2014 - 6th International Conference on Trapped Charged Particles and Fundamental Physics Takamatsu, Japanhttp://indico2.riken.jp/indico/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=1395

07 – 10 Dec 2014AES 2014 — 3rd Advanced Electromagnetics SymposiumHangzhou, Chinahttp://aes14.mysymposia.org

08 Dec 2014Revolution in Astronomy with ALMA -- The Third YearTokyo, Japanhttp://www.almasc2014.jp

08 – 10 Dec 2014IECBES — 2014 IEEE Conference on Biomedical Engineering and SciencesMiri, Sarawak, Malaysiahttp://www.isic2014.org

APPN CONFERENCE CALENDAR welcomes conference information in the Asia Pacific Region. To submit, send e-mail to [email protected]

JOBS


OKINAWA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY GRADUATE UNIVERSITY

Position title: Postdoctoral Position in Theoretical and Systems BiophysicsPosition Location: Japan

The Biological Physics Theory Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) is seeking a postdoctoral researcher with a strong background in physics and an interest in the living world on the systems and organism-scale. Current research includes high-resolution postural dynamics of the nematode C. Elegans but other directions and organisms are possible, including collective behavior. Familiarity with data analysis is useful although those with purely theoretical backgrounds are also encouraged to apply. Substantial resources are available for collaborative travel as well as to attend international meetings.

Compensation and Benefits: OIST is committed to attracting top quality researchers from across the world. Salary and benefits are competitive with international standards and include a housing allowance. The initial appointment is for one year with an extension of two additional years upon satisfactory progress.

Application Instructions: Please send Curriculum Vitae along with the contact details for 3 references to [email protected]. Questions can be sent to the same address.

PEKING UNIVERSITY

Position: Tenure-Track Faculty and Postdoctoral PositionsPosition Location: Beijing, China

The Center for Applied Physics and Technology (CAPT) is currently seeking exceptional candidates for tenure-track faculties at all levels, assistant professor, associate professor, full professor, and postdoctoral positions in the fields of high energy density science (physics) and scientific computing, with emphasis on the following areas.• Properties of non-ideal plasmas, especially warm dense matter, under

conditions of high energy density;

• Exploration and computational design of new materials with novel properties;

• Atomic physics with intense lasers and acceleration physics of energetic charged particles under strong fields;

• Hydrodynamic instabilities and compressible turbulence; and

• Scientific computing relevant to above subjects.

The CAPT is continuing a rapid expansion in its research and education endeavors and is dedicated to bringing together both internationally-renowned scientists and excellent young researchers to work in exciting, cutting-edge and challenging fields. Please see http://capt.pku.edu.cn.All applicants are expected to hold a PhD in a relevant discipline, an outstanding record of research achievements and the ability to work with an interdisciplinary team. Faculty candidates are expected to have significant postdoctoral experience with evidence of independent contributions and first-rate publications, and the capability of leading an independent research group. The individual’s work experience and research performance will determine the position offered.Salary is commensurate with experience and skills.Qualified applicants for “the Thousand Talents Program” or “the Thousand Youth Talents Program” will be recommended to Peking University.

Interested applicants should submit the following application materials to:Ms: Lixin Zhou, Email: [email protected], Tel: 86-10-62753944,• Curriculum Vitae with a cover letter (all applicants)

• Research Statement (faculty positions)

• Teaching Statement (faculty positions)

• 3-5 representative publications (all applicants)

• 3 letters of recommendation are required upon request (all applicants)

RAYONG ADVANCED INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Position title: Postdoctoral Researcher PositionsPosition Location: Thailand

As Thailand’s leading Energy Company, PTT Public Company Limited strongly believes that a higher-education research institute dedicated to science and technology with the missions to foster exceptional scientists and to build cutting-edge knowledge and innovation is crucial for the nation. Therefore, PTT Group has founded Rayong Institute of Science and Technology Foundation to establish Rayong Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (RAIST), the first world-class research and educational institute in science and technology in Rayong, Thailand, with the emphasis on knowledge discovery and interdisciplinary cutting-edge research. RAIST will exploit distinct and creative ideas in educational management for developing the skills of talented individuals in science and technology using these concepts: Residential research location practically trained in a real-world working environment with collaboration from nearby industries; Full-time postdoctoral system to ensure good training and research quality; Tenure-track system employed for the first time in Thailand to encourage faculty and staff to eagerly continue and actively conduct their cutting edge research at a continuously high level; Curriculum design in science, technology, energy and innovation to promote academic excellence, social responsibility, academic leadership, and international communication; Small size, Big advantage with a ratio of 1:3:5 for Professor: Postdoc: Student; and Frontier research to bring excellent ideas from the best combination of “blue sky basic research” and “consideration of use.”RAIST is scheduled to open in the year 2015. In the initial phase, RAIST will award Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in “Chemical Science and Chemical Engineering” and “Materials Sciences and Engineering” in the Institutes of “Energy Science & Engineering” and “Molecular Science & Engineering,” respectively.

QUALIFICATIONS We are seeking highly talented, innovative and enthusiastic researchers with an outstanding international scientific research record and experience in the areas of:• Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

• Physics, Applied Physics

• Materials Science & Engineering

• Energy Science & Engineering

• Molecular Science & Engineering

• Biological Science & Engineering

• Related Fields

Experience in the acquisition of third-party funding is desirable but not mandatory.

BENEFITSWe offer• Internationally competitive salary

• State of the art research facilities

JOBS


• Talented students

• Generous research funding

• Numerous benefits (infrastructure, housing, etc.)

REQUIREMENTSOutstanding candidates with a proven excellent track record in establishing high impact research in the areas described above should submit:• Curriculum Vitae

• A list of publications including a list of five self-selected "best papers" and talks'

• A description of their motivation, research plans, research experience, teaching experience and interests

• Names of three referees

The positions will remain open until filled.

CONTACT INFORMATIONCandidates should submit your application online at RAIST website http://raist.pttplc.comIf there is any question regarding the application, please contact Nuthorn ThepchatriE-mail: [email protected] PTT Group Science and Technology Institute Project555 Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, Chatuchak, BANGKOK 10900, ThailandTel: +(66)95-886-0981

NATIONAL SUN YAT-SEN UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS

Position title: Open-Rank Faculty PositionsPosition Location: Taiwan

The Department of Physics at National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, is seeking team-spirited and mission-oriented scientists of pedagogical inspiration to fill several faculty positions in the general areas of physics. The ranks are open, commensurate with experience, and the starting date is 02/01/2015. Qualifications include, among others, a Ph.D. in physics or closely-related fields, demonstrated interest in mentoring students, abilities to teach physics core courses at all levels, some lectured all in English, and capabilities to secure external funding for independent research. Some postdoctoral experience at international institutions are preferred for junior-rank applicants. Please have CV with list of publications, plan of research, and three letters of recommendation sent to Ms. Ju-Chuan Hsu at [email protected] by 09/10/14.

CENTER FOR CONDENSED MATTER SCIENCES, NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY

Position title: Faculty PositionsPosition Location: Taiwan

Center for Condensed Matter Sciences, as a premiere research center at National Taiwan University, has immediate openings for tenure-track faculty positions. Rank of faculty positions will match the candidate qualifications. Applicants with excellent credentials in cutting edge condensed matter research fields, such as

emerging materials or advanced spectroscopic and microscopic techniques, in both fundamental and applied aspects, will be considered. Applicants should send resume, publication list, research plans and three letters of recommendation to: Director, Prof. Li-Chyong Chen, Center for Condensed Matter Scienc, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan, Center Assistant: Wei-Lin Chou, Email: [email protected], Phone: (02) 3366-5201, Fax: (02) 2365-5404. Closing date for applications is Aug. 15, 2014.

CENTER FOR HIGH PRESSURE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ADVANCED RESEARCH

Position title: Postdoctoral Research Fellow PositionsPosition Location: Shanghai, China

The research groups of Multidisciplinary Researches in Extreme Conditions (MREC), at HPSTAR seek applications who are interested in condensed matter physics, materials science, physical-chemistry, geophysics and other related fields to fill multiple full-time research positions at level of postdoctoral research associate. The research interests of the research group include fundamental condensed matter physics at extreme conditions, novel structural/functional materials, superconductivity, ultrahard materials, ultrahigh static pressure technology and physics, mechanical properties of minerals in earth’s crust, mantel and core, biology at extreme conditions, and development of novel diagnostic techniques for in-situ studies at extreme conditions. Fellows will be involved in a variety of experiments using diamond anvil cells, synchrotron facilities, lab instruments, and data analysis, interpretation of data; preparation of oral and written scientific reports, composition of scientific manuscripts for submission to journals. Candidates are expected to have good experience in using diamond anvil cells and synchrotron facilities. Previous experience in high-pressure studies would be considered a strong advantage but is not required. The successful candidate is expected to be able to work independently in pursuit of his/her own, clear scientific agenda.

Minimum requirements: Fresh doctoral degree (condensed matter physics, materials science, geophysics, physical chemistry, or closely related fields) Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until all the positions are filled. We offer international competitive salary and collaborations with world leading high pressure laboratories and facilities. Complete application package including research interests, career goals, curriculum vitae and the contact informations of 2 references shall be submitted to Dr. Lin Wang (email: [email protected] ) for full consideration.

NATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY OF JAPAN (NAOJ)

Position title: Assistant Professor for Subaru TelescopePosition Location: Japan

Subaru Telescope, NAOJ operates the Subaru telescope, an optical-infrared telescope at the 4,200 m (13,460ft.) summit of Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii, for open use observations, and is also active in the research and development for its future systems. In addition, Subaru telescope is supporting Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project, which would be the next large project at NAOJ. We are seeking an assistant professor who will play a central role in a) preventing maintenance and necessary upgrading of existing instruments; b)

JOBS


commissioning newly developed instruments toward their regular operations; c) developing and promoting a future instrument plan for Subaru telescope. See below for the duties, responsibilities and qualification of the position.1. Summary of Duties and Responsibilities: The position of the Assistant Professor with the Subaru Telescope, NAOJ is based in Hilo, Hawaii, U.S.A. Primary duties and responsibilities of the incumbent is 1) to maintain and operate scientific instruments that the Subaru telescope is equipped with; 2) to develop and promote a future instrument plan for Subaru telescope to sustain during the era of The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). Details are summarized as follows:• As Deputy Chief of Instrument Division supporting Division Chief from scientific

point view, plays central roles in smooth operation and necessary upgrades of scientific instruments, and leads commissioning of newly developed instruments to start regular operation

• In order to maintain high-level of scientific competitiveness of Subaru telescope with limited resources, formulates and promotes a strategic plan of future scientific instruments for Subaru telescope, including decommission of instruments currently under operation, from a broader scientific perspective

In addition to the duties and responsibilities, the incumbent supports the daily operation of the telescope system and also is expected to be active in his/her own research activities using the Subaru Telescope. Note that the duties and responsibilities mentioned above could be reconsidered about 5 years later, depending on needs at the Subaru Telescope as well as his/her capability.

2. Qualifications: Demonstrable experiences and knowledge in the field of?instrumentation development and/or operation (not limited to ground-based telescopes, but also space telescopes and large experimental facilities). In addition, broad knowledge of astronomy and related scientific fields that is required to develop a future plan of instruments for Subaru telescope. Abilities to supervise a group of approximately ten (10) people. Abilities to interact and communicate effectively with engineering as well as scientific staffs hired locally as well as those sent from Japan. Leadership skills in multicultural work environment.

More information, including how to apply for the position, is available at http://subarutelescope.org/Announce/2013/12/05/index.html. More information on the Subaru telescope is also available at http://www.subarutelescope.org

3. Compensation: The salary for the position depends upon the applicant’s experience and qualifications. NAOJ policies determine employee benefits, including relocation costs and support.

Internal Number: 35339

APPN JOBS accepts ads from organisations and individuals. To submit, send e-mail to [email protected]

SYMMETRY AND FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS: TOM KIBBLE AT 80Imperial College London, 13 March 2013edited by Jerome Gauntlett (Imperial College London)

Tom Kibble is an inspirational theo-retical physicist who has made profound contributions to our understanding of the physical world. To celebrate his 80th birthday a one-day symposium was held on March 13, 2013 at the Blackett Labora-tory, Imperial College, London. This impor-tant volume is a com-pilation of papers based on the presentations that were given at the symposium.

Contents: Tom Kibble and the Early Universe as the Ultimate High Energy Experiment (Neil Turok); Universality of Phase Transition Dynamics: Topological Defects from Symmetry Breaking (Adolfo del Campo and Wojciech H Zurek); The Quest for the Higgs Boson at the LHC (Tejinder S Virdee); Tom Kibble: Breaking Ground and Breaking Symmetries (Steven Weinberg); Tom Kibble at 80: After Dinner Speech (Frank Close); Publication List — Tom W B Kibble. Readership: Graduate students and researchers in particle physics, cosmology, high energy physics and astrophysics.

172pp Dec 2014978-981-4583-01-5 US$58 £38 978-981-4583-85-5(pbk) US$28 £18

List of Physical Societies in the Asia Pacific Region

SOCIETIES


South East Asia Theoretical Physics Association (SEATPA)President: Phua Kok KhooAddress: Nanyang Executive Centre #02-18, 60 Nanyang View,

Singapore 639673E-mail: [email protected]://www.seatpa.org

Association of Asia Pacific Physics SocietiesPresident: Shoji NagamiyaAddress: Physical Society of Japan, 5-34-3 Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo,

105-0004, JapanE-mail: [email protected]://www.aapps.org

Australian Institute of PhysicsPresident: Dr Marc Duldig, Address: 119 Buckchurst Street, South Melbourne, Victoria 305, AustraliaE-mail: [email protected]://www.aip.org.au

Bangladesh Physical SocietyPresident: Prof. M. Ali Asgar. Address: Dhaka Dhaka 1216 Bangladesh http://www.bdphs.org

Chinese Physical SocietyPresident: Zhan WenlongAddress: Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190E-mail: [email protected]: //www.cps-net.org.cn

Physical Society of Hong KongPresident: Mao Hai XieAddress: Physical Society of Hong Kong, University of Hong Kong,

Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong E-mail: [email protected]://www.pshk.org.hk

Indian Physics AssociationPresident: Dr. S. KailasAddress: PRIP Shed, Room No. 4, B.A.R.C.,Trombay, Mumbai India 400085E-mail: [email protected] http://www.ipa1970.org.in

Indian Physical SocietyPresident: Prof. Milan K. SanyalAddress: IACS Campus, 2A&B Raja Subodh Chandra Mullick Road,

Kolkata 700032, Indiahttp://www.iacs.res.in/ips

Indonesian Physical SocietyPresident: Dr. Masno GintingAddress: d/a Pusat Penelitian Fisika LIPI, Komplek Puspiptek Serpong,

Tangerang 15314, Indonesiahttp://hfi.fisika.net

Israel Physical SocietyPresident: Prof. Yigal MeirAddress: Physics Department, Ben-Gurion University, Beer Sheva, IsraelE-mail: [email protected]://www.israelphysicalsociety.org

Physical Society of JapanPresident: Prof. Yashichiro IyeAddress: Yushima Urban Building 8F, 2-31-22 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku,

Tokyo 113-0034, Japan http://www.jps.or.jp

Japan Society of Applied PhysicsPresident: Makoto KonagaiAddress: Yushima Urban Building 7F, 2-31-22 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku,

Tokyo 113-0034, JapanE-mail: [email protected]://www.jsap.or.jp

Korean Physical SocietyPresident: Y. P. LeeAddress: The Korean Physical Society, 635-4 Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu,

Seoul 135-703, KoreaE-mail: [email protected]://www.kps.or.kr

Malaysian Institute of PhysicsPresident: Prof. Kurunathan RatnaveluAddress: Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Faculty of Science Building,

University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIAE-mail: [email protected]

Mongolian Physical SocietyPresident: Prof. Dr. Ts GantsogAddress: P.O. Box 46-337, National University of Mongolia,

210646-Ulaanbaatar, MongoliaE-mail: [email protected]

Nepal Physical SocietyPresident: Prof. Shekhar GurungAddress: Trichandra Multiple Campus, P.O.Box No. 2934, Kathmandu, NepalEmail: [email protected]://www.nps.org.np

SOCIETIES


New Zealand Institute of PhysicsPresident: Dr. Ben RuckAddress: Industrial Research Limited69 Gracefield Rd, PO Box 31-310,

Lower Hutt 5040, New ZealandE-mail: [email protected]://nzip.sbc-school.com

Pakistan Physical SocietyPresident: Dr. N. M. ButtAddress: Room No 205, Technical Block, NCP, Islamabad, Shahdra Valley Road,

Islamabad 44000, PakistanE-mail: [email protected]://pps-pak.org/

Physical Society of PhilippinesPresident: Prof. Gerardo MaxinoAddress: Philippine Physics Society, Physics Department, Maxino College,

Central Bagacay, 6200 Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, PhilippinesE-mail: [email protected]://philippinephysicssociety.org

Institute of Physics SingaporePresident: Prof. Kwek Leong ChuanAddress: Institute of Physics, National University of Singapore,

2 Science Drive 3, Singapore 117542E-mail: [email protected]://www.physics.nus.edu.sg

Physical Society of the Republic of ChinaPresident: Prof. Yee Bob HsiungAddress: Room 413, National Taiwan University, No.1 Sec. 4 Roosevelt Road,

10617 TaiwanE-mail: [email protected]://psroc.phys.ntu.edu.tw

Thai Physical SocietyPresident: Dr. AmonAddress: PO Box 217, Chiang Mai University, Muang District,

Chiang Mai 50202.E-mail: [email protected]://www.thps.org

National Committee of Russian PhysicistsPresident: Dr. Leonid V. KeldyshAddress: 119991 Moscow, Leninsky Prospekt, 32aE-mail: [email protected]://www.gpad.ac.ru

Vietnam Physical SocietyPresident: Dr. Pher Hong KhoiAddress: PO box 607, Bo Ho, Hanoi, VietnamE-mail: [email protected]://www.iop.vast.ac.vn

24 to 29 August 2014 Nanyang Technological University

Modeled after the Lindau Science Meeting which has been held in Germany for more than half a century, the Asian Science Camp will invite Nobel Laureates and world-distinguished scientists as key speakers.

The participating students are those from high schools and university (1st and 2nd year) who are selected as promising in science.

Interested students are to submit an application to the local contact person or organisation in his or her own country/region, who will initiate a local selection process.

Key Speakers

Sydney Brenner Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 2002Aaron Ciechanover Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 2004 Makoto Kobayashi Nobel Laureate in Physics, 2008Daniela Rhodes Eminent Scientist, NTU Singapore Chorng Haur Sow Eminent Scientist, NUS Singapore Akira Suzuki Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 2010 Vladimir Voevodsky Fields Medalist 2002 Jackie Ying Eminent Scientist, A*STAR SingaporeProf Ada Yonath Nobel Laureate for Chemistry, 2009and others

http://www.ntu.edu.sg/ias/asc2014

Advisory Board Co-Founders:

Masatoshi Koshiba Nobel Laureate in Physics, 2002 Yuan-Tseh Lee Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 1986

Rajagopala Chidambaram Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India Leo Esaki Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1973 Makoto Kobayashi Nobel Laureate in Physics, 2008 Dong-Pil Min Ambassador for Science and Technology Cooperathion, Republic of Korea Ryoji Noyori Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 2001 Koichi Tanaka Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 2002

International Committee

Chairman:

Ming-Juey Lin Wu Chien-Shiung Education Foundation

Tom Haruyama Kavli IPMU, University of Tokyo Zvi Patiel Israel Sci-Tech Network Kok Khoo Phua Institute of Advanced Studies, NTU Milan Sanya Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics Keon-Ho Yoo Kyung Hee University

8th Asian Science Camp with Nobel Laureates &

Eminent Scientists in Singapore

Supported by


ICCP9 aims to provide a platform for computational physicists, mathematicians, materials scientists and engineers to share their recent developments in frontiers of theory and numerical methods as well as applications in

computational physics and exchange ideas.

The conference will consist of plenary lectures, mini-symposia with invited and contributed oral presentations, and poster sessions. All researchers in computational physics, computational mathematics, computational science and applications or related disciplines are cordially invited to attend this conference.

Call for mini-symposium organizersAnyone who is interested in organizing a mini-symposium can submit a proposal to the conference chairs for consideration. The proposal should include a title, duration (minimum half day), tentative speakers (one keynote speaker for each half day session, and a good mix of invited, contributed oral and poster presentations), and estimated number of participants. We also encourage one local and one overseas organizer for each mini-symposium.

Topics to be covered• Condensed matter and material physics• Optical and Plasma Physics• Astrophysics, Nuclear and Particle Physics• Fluid Dynamics, Multiphase and complex fluids• Non-linear and Complex Systems• Biological systems• Energy and environment • Numerical methods for PDEs• Fast algorithms • Uncertainty quantification and rare events• Multiscale modeling & simulation• Density functional theory and beyond• Parallel and cloud computing• Visualization• Big Data and Data Mining• Education

Plenary SpeakersQiang DuPennsylvania State University, USA

Jisoon IhmSeoul National University, Korea

David LandauUniversity of Georgia, USA

Hua LiInstitute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics, China

Steven LouieUniversity of California at Berkeley, USA

Michele ParrinelloETH Zurich and Unverisita della Svizzera Iataliana, Switzerland

Weiqing RenNational University of Singapore, Singapore

Ulrich RüdeFriedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany

Andrew StuartUniversity of Warwick, UK

Pingwen ZhangPeking University, China

Important DatesDeadline for submitting mini-symposium proposal: 1 July 2014Acceptance of mini-symposium: 1 August 2014Online abstract submission system opens: 15 August 2014Deadline for abstract submission: 1 October 2014Abstract acceptance: 15 October 2014Early bird registration & fee payment: 31 October 2014Conference dates: 7-11 January 2015

Contact InformationYuan Ping Feng (Chair): [email protected] • Weizhu Bao (Co-chair): [email protected] Ng (Secretariat): [email protected]

www.physics.nus.edu.sg/iccp9/

ICCP9poster210x275.indd 1 15/8/14 12:20 pm

http://www.ntu.edu.sg/ias/iupap


5 to 7 November 2014 Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

The 28th IUPAP General Assembly will be a remarkable event in the more than 90 year history of IUPAP as the General Assembly has only twice previously been held in Asia, both times in Japan.

ORGANISING COMMITTEEChair

Kok Khoo PHUA Nanyang Technological University

Vice Chair

Yuan Ping FENG National University of Singapore

Other members are stated on the website.

President of IUPAP

Cecilia JARLSKOG

Past-President of IUPAP

Sukekatsu USHIODA

President Designate of IUPAP

Bruce MCKELLAR

Secretary-General

Stuart PALMER

Associate Secretary-General

Rudzani NEMUTUDI

Secretariat

Williamina LAZARO

28th General Assembly of

IUPAPInternational Union of Pure and Applied Physics

Documents

Asia Pacific Physics Newsletter