THE FUTURE OF PARTICLE PHYSICS

DAVID GROSS, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

CONTEXTURAL OBJECTS

CHARLES GWATHMEY

NON LINEAR DYNAMICS OF WORLD MAPS

MITCHELL FEIGENBAUM, ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY

VORTEX LATTICES IN SUPERCONDUCTORS

DAVID HUSE, BELL LABORATORIES

QUANTUM CHAOS; UNIVERSAL AND SPECIFIC FEATURES OF COMPLEX
QUANTUM SYSTEMS

BORIS ALTSHULER, NEC

COMPOSITE FERMIONS EXAMINED WITH SURFACE ACOUSTIC WAVES

ROBERT WILLETT, AT&T BELL

QUANTUM INFORMATION TRANSMISSION

CHARLES BENNETT, IBM

NO COLLOQUIUM---THANKSGIVING

EXACT RESULTS IN FOUR DIMENSIONAL FIELD THEORY

NATHAN SEIBERG, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

THE ANGULAR POWER SPECTRUM OF THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND

LYMAN PAGE, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

GOALS AND PLANS FOR THE NEXT LINEAR COLLIDER

DAVID BURKE, SLAC

ALPHA MAGNETIC SPECTROMETER (AMS) FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL STUDY OF ANTIMATTER, MATTER AND MISSING MATTER ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ALPHA

S.C. TING, MIT

Abstract: The existence (or absence) of antimatter is closely connected with the foundation of the theories of elementary particle physics, CP-violation, baryon number non conservation, Grand Unified Theory (GUT), etc... To search for antimatter in space with a sensitivity of 10^4 to 10^5 better than the current limits, we plan to install a large acceptance (~lm^2sr) magnetic spectrometer in space, on the international space station Alpha, with a new type of permanent Nd-Fe-B magnet and precision instrumentation. AMS will be the first large acceptance magnetic spectrometer in space. It will also provide a sensitive search for dark matter as well as for cosmic ray study.

COSMOLOGY AT THE CROSSROADS

PAUL STEINHARDT, U PENN

DUALITY, SPACETIME AND QUANTUM MECHANICS

EDWARD WITTEN, I.A.S.

THE DYNAMICS OF ``NEUROBIOLOGICAL'' COMPUTATION

J. HOPFIELD, CALTECH

PHYSICS OF GRANULAR MEDIA

HANS J. HERRMANN, LAB HYDRODYNAMIQUE PHYSIQUE, ESPCI (PARIS)

INFORMATION, ENZYMES AND THE ORIGIN OF LIFE

JACK W. SZOSTAK, DEPT. OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOPSITAL (BOSTON)

THE PHYSICS OF DANCE

KENNETH LAWS, DICKINSON COLLEGE

ABSTRACT: Dance provides an intriguing opportunity to apply the laws of classical mechanics to interesting phenomena, rich in variety and beauty. Understanding the applicable physical principles adds to the viewer's appreciation of physics and the dance; and it can improve the dancer's technique. A dancer will demonstrate a sequence of classical ballet movements, which are then analyzed by the speaker. Torques, balance, rotational inertia, and the body's trajectory (real and apparent) are related to basic principles. Some illusions are demonstrated in which the dancer appears to violate physical law. When the earlier dance sequence is repeated, the dancer's movements can be seen with a new perspective, blending science and art and enriching both.

*Note--The Physics Department Tea will start at 3:50 pm.

HOW DO THREE-DIMENSIONAL DENDRITIC CRYSTALS FORM? A MIRACULOUS PATH TO A QUANTITATIVE ANSWER

ALAIN KARMA, NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

HALF-INTEGER FLUX-QUANTUM EFFECT AND PAIRING SYMMETRY IN HIGH TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTORS

C. C. TSUEI, IBM

TIME'S ARROW AND BOLTZMANN'S ENTROPY

JOEL LEBOWITZ, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

e⁺ e^- PAIR CREATION BY LASER LIGHT

KIRK MCDONALD, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF CARBON NANOTUBES

THOMAS EBBESEN, NECI AND U STRASBOURG

PROBING THE UNKNOWNS OF SONOLUMINESCENCE

SETH PUTTERMAN, UCLA

A DIALOGUE ON THE SOKAL AFFAIR

ALAN SOKAL, PHYSICS DEPT., NYU and NORTON WISE, HISTORY DEPT., PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

SMOOTH DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS AND NONEQUILIBRIUM STATISTICAL MECHANICS

DAVID RUELLE, IHES (Bures-sur-Yvette)

MEASURING THE UNIVERSE WITH SUPERNOVAE

ROBERT KIRSHNER, CENTER FOR ASTROPHYSICS, HARVARD UNIVERSITY

EVIDENCE FOR THE OBSERVATION OF A GLUEBALL

DON WEINGARTEN, IBM RESEARCH

DYNAMICAL TRIANGULATIONS AND THREE DIMENSIONAL SCANNING

ALEXANDER MIGDAL, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

KINEMATICS OF PROTOGALAXIES AT z > 3

ARTHUR WOLFE, UCSD

ATOMS BEHAVE AS WAVES; BOSE-EINSTEIN CONDENSATION AND THE ATOM LASER

WOLFGANG KETTERLE, M.I.T.

QUANTUM HALL EDGE STATES AS ONE-DIMENSIONAL METALS

B. HALPERIN, HARVARD UNIVERSITY AND IAS

HOW WELL DO WE KNOW THE FINE STRUCTURE CONSTANT? (HIGH PRECISION TEST OF QUANTUM MECHANICS)

T. KINOSHITA, CORNELL UNIVERSITY

TOP MATTERS

CHRIS QUIGG, FERMILAB

IMAGING HOLES IN THE CMB AND DETERMINING THE HUBBLE CONSTANT: INTERFEROMETRIC OBSERVATIONS OF THE SUNYAEV-ZELDOVICH EFFECT

JOHN CARLSTROM, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

SEMICONDUCTOR NANOCRYSTALLITES BUILDING BLOCKS FOR QUANTUM DOT STRUCTURES

MOUNGI BAWENDI, MIT

SUPER KAMIOKANDE; THE NEUTRINO DETECTOR WITH VASTLY IMPROVED CAPABILLITIES, AND ITS GOALS

HENRY W. SOBEL

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT IRVINE

NOVEL SPIN EXCITATIONS IN COPPER OXIDES

BERNARD KEIMER, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

NANOMETERS AND PICONEWTONS; USING OPTICAL TWEEZERS TO SUDY BIOLOGICAL MOTORS

S. BLOCK, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

M. MEZARD, ENS - PARIS

STATISTICAL PHYSICS OF BURGERS' TURBULENCE

LANDAU; THE PHYSICIST AND THE MAN

VITALY GINZBURG, LEBEDEV INSTITUTE, RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

DINO DYNAMICS

NATHAN MYHRVOLD, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, EXECUATIAVE COMMITTEE, MICROSOFT CORPORATION

``The Physical Review and Physics Research Publication: Where We Were and Where We're Going"

MARTIN BLUME, BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LAB and EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY

RECENT PROGRESS AND NEW DIRECTIONS AT PPPL

ROBERT GOLDSTON, DIRECTOR, PRINCETON PLASMA PHYSICS LAB

"THINGS THAT ALMOST DON'T HAPPEN; K+ pi+ nu nu AS A TEST OF THE STANDARD MODEL"

PETER MEYERS, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

HP GAS IMAGING

G. ALLAN JOHNSON, DUKE MEDICAL CENTER

PHYSICS CHANGES KNOWN, UNPROFITABLE OIL DEPOSITS INTO COMMERICAL OIL WELLS

MARTIN G. LULING, SCHLUMBERGER-DOLL RESEARCH

"JOSEPHSON EFFECTS IN SUPERFLUID He3 WEAK LINKS; QUANTUM MECHANICS YOU CAN HEAR"

RICHARD PACKARD, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY

"SUPERNATURAL INFLATION"

LISA RANDALL, MIT

OBSERVING THE FASTEST MOVING STARS IN OUR GALAXY: EVIDENCE OF A MASSIVE CENTRAL BLACKHOLE

ANDREA GHEZ, UCLA

"IN HOT PURSUIT OF DARK MATTER"

MICHAEL TURNER, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO & FERMILAB

"CYGNUS X-3; A TURBO-CHARGED SWAN"

JOCELYN BELL BURNELL, THE OPEN UNIVERSITY, U.K.

CP VIOLATION AND RARE DECAYS

A.J.STEWART SMITH, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

"SO WHAT ARE COMPOSITE FERMIONS ANYWAY?"

HORST STORMER, BELL LABS / LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES

"ADVENTURES IN SILICONE VALLEY'

ROBERT AUSTIN, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

``INFLATIONARY COSMOLOGY; FROM THEORY TO OBSERVATION AND BACK"

KATHERINE FREESE, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

``ALMOST ABSOLUTE ZERO; THE STORY OF LASER COOLING AND TRAPPING"

WILLIAM PHILLIPS, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY

``FLIGHT CONTROL IN FRUIT FLIES; DOES THE TAIL WAG THE DOG?"

MICHAEL DICKINSON, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY

``PHYSICS AND CRIME''

DONALD KERR, Assistant Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation -- Laboratory Division

"UNEXPECTED CONDUCTING PHASE IN TWO DIMENSIONS"

MYRIAM SARACHIK, CUNY

"BUCKYTUBES; NEW TOYS (AND MORE) FOR PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY"

CHARLES M. LIEBER, HARVARD UNIVERSITY

"PHYSICS OF CLIMATE"

RICHARD LINDZEN, MIT

"EXPLORING SUPERCONDUCTORS WITH A SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPE"

OYSTEIN FISCHER, UNIVERSITY OF GENEVA

"THE NEUTRINO-ANOMALIES AND THE NEUTRINO OSCILLATION MAGNETIC DETECTOR"

SANJIB MISHRA, HARVARD UNIVERSITY

in honor of the retirement of Sam B. Treiman

Room A10 at 4:00pm (tea in A10 lobby at 3:30)

Val Fitch, "The Origins of Particle Physics"

Frank Wilczek, "From Symmetry to Dynamics and Back"

Curtis Callan, moderator

OCEAN CIRCULATION, THE ACHILLES HEEL OF THE EARTH'S CLIMATE SYSTEM

WALLACE BROECKER, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

SPIN-ORBIT INTERACTION OF A PHOTON; MUTUAL INFLUENCE OF POLARIZATION AND PROPAGATION

BORIS ZEL'DOVICH, UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA

UNIVERSAL SCALING LAWS IN BIOLOGY: THE PHYSICS OF THE CARDIOVASCULAR, RESPIRATORY AND PLANT VASCULAR SYSTEMS

GEOFFREY WEST, LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LAB

PUZZLES OF THE STRONG INTERACTIONS

Nathan Isgur, Jefferson Laboratory

New Tricks for an Old Dog: Celestial Mechanics in New Planetary Systems

Scott Tremaine, Princeton University

Measurements of Omega and Lambda From 42 High-Redshift Supernovae: Is the Universe Really Accelerating?

Saul Perlmutter, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Discovery of Anapole Moment--Electromagnetic Multipole Violating Fundamental Symmetries

Victor Flambaum, University of South Wales, Sidney, Australia

The COBE Search for the Cosmic Infrared Background

Michael Hauser, Space Telescope Science Institute

Quantum Computation and Communication--The Promise, the Problems, and the Plumbing

Harry Jeffrey Kimble, Cal Tech

Opportunities for Physicists in Biology

Dr. Lee Hartwell, Director, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA.

Recent Progress in String Theory

Joseph Polchinski, University of California, Santa Barbara

Atoms for Lithography and Lithography for Atoms

Mara Prentiss, Harvard University

Observation of Neutrino Oscillations... First Indication of Physics Beyond the Standard Model?

Lawrence Sulak, Boston University

"Wavelets and New Applications"

Ingrid Daubechies, Princeton University

"Observations of the Epoch of Galaxy Formation"

Charles Steidel, California Institute of Technology

Penrose Tiles and Quasicrystals, Revisted

Paul Steinhardt, Princeton University

Probing Subatomic Matter With Polarized Electrons

Krishna Kumar, Princeton University

Nanostructure Evolution and Electromigration on Silicon: Experimental Applications of Length-Scaling Predictions

Ellen D. Williams, University of Maryland

"The Physics Studio at Rensselaer: Creaating a New Learning Environment for Introductory Physics"

Jack M. Wilson, Professor of Physics and Acting Provost, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

"The Experimental Study of Extra Dimensions"

Michael Peskin, SLAC, Stanford University

"Bose-Einstein Condensation and Light Speeds of 38 Miles/Hour"

Lene Hau, Rowland Institute

"Quasicondensation in Two-Dimensional Bose Gas"

Yuri Kagan, Kurchatov Institute, Moscow

"Chasing Gamma-Ray Bursts Across the Electromagnetic Spectrum"

Stephen Thorsett, Princeton University

"The Physics of Quarks at Big Bang Temperatures and Neutron Star Densities"

Krishna Rajagopal, MIT

"A Few Men and Moments From a Life in Physics"

John Wheeler, Princeton University

"Nuclear Stockpile Stewardship: Science and Politics in the Clinton Presidency"

Victor H. Reis, SAIC

"Measuring the Anisotropy in the Cosmic Microwave Background--Current Status and Future Prospects"

Lyman Page, Princeton University

"Telling Matter From Antimatter"

Bruce Winstein, Princeton University

"Sensors, Amplifiers and Clocks: From Molecular to Modular Biology"

Stanislas Leibler, Princeton University

"The End of the World! (Not)"

Frank Wilczek, Institute for Advanced Study

"Precision Spectroscopy of Tritium Beta Decay and an Upper Limit for the Neutrino Mass"

Ernst Otten, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet, Mainz

"Turbulence Experiments in Flatland"

Maarten Rutgers, Ohio State University

"The Highest Energy Cosmic Rays"

Angela Olinto, University of Chicago

"New Perspectives on Strong Magnetism in Neutron Stars"

Christopher Thompson, University of North Carolina

"The Theory of More Than Everything"

Shamit Kachru, Stanford University

"Carbon Nanotubes -- A (Nearly) Ideal 1D Conductor"

Paul L. McEuen, LBNL

"The Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Results"

Jillian R. Knapp, Princeton University

"The Shape of Gravity With Extra Dimensions"

Lisa Randall, Princeton University

"A Massive Black Hole in the Center of the Milky Way"

Reinhard Genzel, Max-Planack Insitut fur Extraterrestrische Physik

Jadwin Hall A-10, 8:00p.m.

"The Sociology of Science Illustrated by the Laser"

Charles H. Townes, University of California at Berkeley

"Diversity in Young Neutron Stars"

Vicky Kaspi, M.I.T.

Jadwin A-10 at 4:30 p.m.

Steven Gubser, Princeton University

``An Introduction to AdS/CFT''

Abstract:

The AdS/CFT correspondence is a relation between four-dimensional gauge theory and five dimensional gravity. I will explain the motivations for AdS/CFT, some of its successes, and its prospects for connecting to real-world QCD.

Jadwin Hall A-10 at 4:30 pm

"Protein Polymerization, Force Generation, and Self-Organization in Cell Locomotion"

Julie Theriot, Stanford University

Abstract

The shape of eukaryotic cells is primarily determined by the organization of filamentous protein polymers, collectively called the "cytoskeleton". Actin is the most abundant of the cytoskeletal proteins, a small globular protein that can self-assemble to form helical filaments thousands of subunits in length. Polymerizing networks of actin filaments are capable of exerting significant mechanical forces, used by many eukaryotic cells to change shape or to move. Certain intracellular bacterial pathogens, including Listeria monocytogenes, have developed the ability to induce the polymerization of host cell actin filaments on their surface and to harness the resulting force for efficient intra- and intercellular movement. Several physical models have been proposed that describe how polymerizing actin filaments may exert a pushing force on a load such as a bacterium. Some of these models require that the load be free to diffuse so that polymerization can "ratchet" the load's Brownian motion. We have found that the diffusion coefficient of bacteria in host fibroblasts lacking intermediate filaments is more than two-fold greater than in wild-type cells, but the rate of actin-based bacterial motility is unchanged, ruling out this class of models. Other models, including the "elastic Brownian ratchet" model where actin filament bending is required, and models relying on elastic deformations of the actin gel, are consistent with our observations. For L. monocytogenes, nucleation of host cell actin filaments is indirectly catalyzed by the bacterial surface protein ActA. ActA is expressed asymmetrically on the bacterial surface, enabling unidirectional movement. Polystyrene microspheres uniformly coated with ActA are, under certain conditions, able to spontaneously break symmetry and initiate unidirectional movement. The ability to break symmetry is influenced by particle size, ActA protein density, and actin concentration. We have developed a simple stochastic theory where each actin filament is modeled as an elastic Brownian ratchet that quantitatively accounts for the observed symmetry-breaking behavior. The presence of the bead effectively couples the polymerization of different filament tips, such that small stochastic fluctuations to be amplified and symmetry-breaking can readily occur for the system as a whole. This type of symmetry-breaking is predicted to occur only for protein polymers that have a significant subunit off-rate, such as the cytoskeletal polymers actin and tubulin.

Jadwin Hall A-10 at 4:30 p.m.

"Single Electron Transfer in Tunnel Junction Circuits"

Michel H. Devoret

Yale University and CEA-Saclay, France

ABSTRACT:

Although the charge of the electron was measured by Millikan as early as 1911, the granularity of electricity does not usually show up in the macroscopic quantities such current and voltage, which describe the state of an electric circuit. This is not just a matter of the number of electrons being very large in typical devices. Charge flow in a metal or a semiconductor is a continuous process because conduction electrons are delocalized throughout the metal and form a quantum fluid which can be displaced by an arbitrary small amount.

There exists now solid-state devices displaying directly charge quantization at the level of macroscopic currents and voltages. These so-called single-electron devices are based on the combination of the Coulomb interaction between electrons and their passage by quantum tunnelling through an insulating barrier. The specific effects resulting from the combination of these two fundamental ingredients are best demonstrated in the basic building block of single electron devices called the single electron box. In the superconducting version of the single electron box, Cooper pairs replace electrons. The presence or absence of a single Cooper pair in the box implements a quantum bit which can be manipulated coherently.

By combining several electron boxes together, one can fabricate a "single electron pump" which can be described as a short of single electron shift-register. Experiments have demonstrated that using this device, electrons can be clocked one-by-one with an accuracy of $10^8$. This metrologically precise pumping effect provides a new way of measuring the electron charge and may eventually contribute to a redefinition of the kilogram.

"Ultraviolet Singularities and Infrared Physics in String Theory"

Eva Silverstein

SLAC, Stanford University

ABSTRACT:

Curvature singularities in a spacetime signal the breakdown of general relativity in the vicinity of the singularity, and correspondingly provide a regime where stringy and/or quantum physics dominates. We will discuss various systems where a string theoretic analysis has led to a new understanding of singularities. Perhaps the most dramatic example involves black hole physics. There are other examples where the singularities are not shrouded by an event horizon. These systems have the fascinating property that divergences in scattering amplitudes associated with the singularity can be understood as arising from light degrees of freedom which emerge as the system approaches the singular geometry. In some such systems, the singularity can mediate interesting topology-changing transitions, including ones where the chirality of the four-dimensional spectrum can change. Finally, we discuss a new class of singularities which are currently being investigated, some of which are of potential interest for understanding the cosmological term in the low-energy effective Lagrangian.

>

Jadwin Hall A-10 at 4:30 p.m.

"Understanding or Memorization: Are We Teaching the Right Thing?"

Eric Mazur, Harvard University

Abstract:

Education is more than just transfer of information, yet that is what is mostly done in large introductory courses -- instructors present material (even though this material might be readily available in printed form) and for students the main purpose of lectures is to take down as many notes as they can. Few students have the ability, motivation, and discipline to synthesize all the information delivered to them. Yet synthesis is perhaps the most important -- and most elusive -- aspect of education. Students get frustrated because they are unable to grasp simple concepts. Instructors get frustrated because they don't know how to help their students grasp the material.

The problem has a relatively simple solution: shift the focus in lectures from delivering information to synthesizing information. This requires students to take more responsibility for obtaining the information in the first place, but this is a process that they are quite good at anyway. With examples from my own discipline (physics), I will illustrate how I discovered rampant problems in my own lectures and how I have begun to remedy the problem.

``Cosmology: Lessons From the Past, Thoughts for the Future"

P. James E. Peebles, Princeton University

"Frustration, Degeneracy and Quantum Dynamics"

Shivaji Sondhi, Princeton University

4:30 p.m. , Jadwin A10

"Domain Wall World(s)"

Mirjam Cvetic, University of Pennsylvania

4:30 p.m., Jadwin A10

"Climate Paradoxes: Why is the Atmosphere Not Warming?"

Fred Singer, University of Virginia and President, Science and Environmental Policy Project

4:30 p.m., Jadwin A10

"Probing a Bose-Einstein Condensate by Molecular Spectroscopy"

Randy Hulet, Rice University

4:30 p.m., Jadwin A10

"The Casimir Effect: New Interpretation and New Variants"

Shmuel Nussinov, Tel Aviv University

4:30 p.m., Jadwin A10

(Electrically) Shocking Observations About DNA

Lydia L. Sohn, Princton University

4:30 p.m. , Jadwin A10

"Results From the BABAR Experiment"

Patricia Burchat, SLAC, Stanford University

4:30 p.m., Jadwin A10

``Imaging Coherent Electron Flow"

Robert M. Westervelt, Harvard University

4:30 p.m. , Jadwin A10

"Proximity Induced and Intrinsic Superconductivity in Carbone Nanotubes"

Helene Bouchiat, Univ. Paris-Sud, Orsay

4:30 p.m. , Jadwin A10

``Tokamak Fusion; Does It Have a Path?"

Leonid E. Zakharov

PPPL, Princeton University

4:30 p.m. , Jadwin A10

"How a Small Brain Makes Sense: Motion Estimation in the Blowfly Visual System"

Rob de Ruyter van Steveninck

NEC Research Institute

4:30 p.m. in Jadwin A10

"Chance and Design in Astrophysics"

Bernard E. Burke, M.I.T.

4:30 p.m. in Jadwin A10

``From 10^(-24) eV to 1 TeV: Search for New Sources of CP Violation With Electric Dipole Moments"

Michael Romalis, University of Washington

4:30 p.m. , Jadwin A10

"Electron Interactions in Mesoscopic Metal Wires--A New Twist to an Old Story"

Normman O. Birge, Michigan State University

Co-sponsored by Program on Nuclear Policy Alternatives

of the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin A10

"Playing With Dragons: Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Security"

Ernie Moniz, M.I.T.

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin A10

"From Gravity to Gauge Theory via D-Branes"

Igor Klebanov, Princeton University

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin A10

"Higgs on the Horizon"

Christopher Tully, Princeton University

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin A10

"Gamma-Ray Bursts: The Brightest Explosions in the Universe"

Shri Kulkarni, California Institute of Technology

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin A10

"Generalized Crumpling"

Thomas A. Witten, University of Chicago

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin A10

"DNA Nanotechnology"

Nadrian C. Seeman, New York University

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin A10

"Atom Interferometry With Ultra-Cold Atoms"

Mark Kasevich, Yale University

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin A10

"The Deep Underground Sky: Underground Science in the 21st Century"

Marvin Marshak, University of Minnesota

Jadwin A10 4:30 p.m.

Maxwell and Schrodinger: How Maxwell's Electromagnetic Theory May Help Us to Understand Quantum Physics

Freeman Dyson, Institute for Advanced Study

Jadwin A10 at 4:30 p.m.

The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory: Solving the Solar Neutrino Problem

Art McDonald, Queen's University, Ontario, Canada

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin A10

"Local Probes of Two Dimensional Electron Systems"

Amir Yacoby, Weizman Institute

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin A10

"Gauge Fields and Space-Time"

Alexander Polyakaov, Princeton University

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin A10

"Statistical Mechanics in Modeling of Genetic Networks"

Boris I. Shraiman, Lucent Technologies, Bell Labs

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin A10

"Solar Neutrinos in the SNO and BOREXINO Era"

John N. Bahcall, Institute for Advanced Study

4:30 pm - Jadwin Hall A10

"Fissile Materials"

Harold A. Feiveson, Princeton University

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin A10

Observation of CP Violation in B Meson Decay

Daniel Marlow, Princeton University

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin A10

"Quantum Information: Computation at the Atomic Scale"

Issac Chuang, MIT

"Entropy and information: From randomness to relevance"

William Bialek, Princeton University

Abstract: In statistical mechanics, entropy measures the disorder or randomness of a system. But 50 years ago Shannon proved that entropy is the unique measure of available information in a signal. Superficial paradoxes (how can a more random text be more informative?) can be resolved, but there are real questions about how to measure the relevance or usefulness of information in this statistical approach; these questions are especially important when we try to think about information processing in biological systems. I think we now know how to formalize the intuitive idea of "relevant information," and this has led to some surprising connections among ideas in statistical physics, dynamical systems, and learning theory. I'll review this theoretical progress, point to some open questions, and raise the possibility of testing these ideas in experiments on learning and adaptation in humans and other animals.

"Exploring the electronic 'nanoscape' of high-Tc superconductivity"

J.C. Seamus Davis, Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley

Abstract: Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is used to explore the wavefunctions and energy-levels of local electronic states in the cuprate high-Tc superconductors. These states exist because of interactions between the superconducting electrons and nanoscale perturbations such as impurity atoms and vortex cores. The observations reveal the beauty and complexity of the atomic-scale electronic structure in these materials. They also shed new light on the identities of both the electronic ground-state, and the competing electronic ordered-states, in the cuprate high-Tc superconductors. This project was carried out in collaboration with J. Hoffman, K. M. Lang and V. Madhavan, (Berkeley), E. W. Hudson (NIST/MIT) S. H. Pan (Boston University), H. Eisaki and S. Uchida (Tokyo University).

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin Hall A10

"Fine-Tuning Electronic States in Carbon Nanotubes"

Prof. Ali Yazdani, Dept. of Physics, University of Illinois, Urbana

http://www.physics.uiuc.edu/People/Faculty/profiles/Yazdani/peapods.html

Tea in Jadwin Hall 218 at 4 p.m.

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin Hall A10

"Maxwell in Chains"

Prof. Martin Zirnbauer, U of Kolon (Germany)

Tea in Jadwin Hall 218 at 4 p.m.

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin A10

"HIGH ENERGY NEUTRINO ASTRONOMY: RESULTS FROM THE SOUTH POLE"

Prof. Francis Halzen

Dept. of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison

AMANDA

ICECUBE

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin A10

"Askaryan's Excess, or Tuning in to Cosmogenic Neutrinos"

Prof. Peter Gorham

Dept. of Physics, University of Hawaii at Manoa & JPL/Caltech

Gorham's Homepage

Title: "Using Optical Tweezers to Study Biological Motors"

Speaker: Steven M. Block

Professor, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Professor, Dept. of Applied Physics, Senior Fellow, Institute for International Studies, Stanford University

Lecture Abstract: Laser-based gradient force optical traps, or "optical tweezers," have revolutionized experimental biophysics. When combined with precision optical measurements of position ("nanometry"), optical tweezers make it possible to study the motions of individual proteins and biomolecular complexes in real time. This talk will focus on recent experimental advances in optical trapping technology, and its application to single-molecule studies of kinesin, a motor protein that moves along microtubules in cells.

The Block Lab Block's Home Page

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin A10

"Quantum Coherence Effects From QED to DNA"

Marlan O. Scully, Texas A&M University, Max-Planck-Institut fur Quantenoptik

Abstract

In thermodynamic equilibrium, there is no phase coherence between the individual electrons, atoms and molecules. However, in recent quantum optical experiments involving quantum coherence many interesting and counterintuitive results have been observed, for example: lasing without inversion, ultra-slow light having group velocity less than 10 m/sec, and suppression of spontaneous emission. These results will be reviewed.

Promising new proposals involving quantum coherence will be presented, for example:

B7 Freezing light via hot atoms1

B7 Time reversing the quantum state of light2

B7 Rapid identification of bacterial spores3

(1) Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 628 (2001)

(2) Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 103601 (2002)

(3) T.B.P.

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall at 4 p.m.

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin A10

"All Optical Networks--Reality or a Research Director's Delusion?""

William F. Brinkman

Lucent Technologies, and Princeton. University (Physics Dept.)

Abstract

The concept of an optical layer in telecommunication networks was put forward in the early nineties. Yet today it has not become a reality. This talk will review what is meant by an optical layer and what transmission and switching characteristics are needed. I will then discuss the progress made toward satisfying these needs, the interesting physics problems involved and the challenges remaining to enable a true optical layer.

William F. Brinkman Home Page

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall at 4 p.m.

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin A10

"National Missile Defense-- Why, How, and Whether?"

Richard L. Garwin

IBM Fellow Emeritus, IBM Research Division, and also Adjunct Professor of Physics at Columbia University, Philip D. Reed Senior Fellow for Science and Technology at the Council on Foreign Relations, New York

Abstract:

The Bush Administration is steaming ahead with the deployment of the Clinton-designed mid-course hit-to-kill intercept system for national missile defense. This has serious disabilities against even the simplest strategic ballistic missiles. What is the threat to the United States from such missiles, in context? Is NMD a rational response, considering the always limited resources of the U.S. government? What are the other threats and needs? If protection is demanded against potential emerging missile states, what are the options? Answers to these questions will be provided in the talk and some are already available at the author's web site:

Richard L. Garwin

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall at 4 p.m.

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin A10

"The Future of the Physical Sciences: A View from Washington"

Robert Eisenstein

National Science Foundation (NSF), Washington, D.C.

Abstract

Fed largely by information technology and other advances in analysis and instrumentation, the physical sciences are advancing at an incredible rate. I will present a broad overview of the NSF's portfolio of science and education in these areas, and discuss briefly the funding prospects for future years. I look forward to a lively participation by the audience.

Robert Eisenstein

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall at 4 p.m.

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin A10

"LIGO and the Search for Gravitational Waves"

BARRY C. BARISH High Energy Physics, California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

ABSTRACT

Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves in 1916 as a consequence of the general theory of relativity. In his theory, changes in the shape of concentrations of mass (or energy) warp space-time, causing distortions that propagate through the Universe at the speed of light. However, no direct detection of such waves has yet been made some 85 years later. A new generation of detectors based on interferometric techniques promises sensitivities that will be capable of detection from a variety of catastrophic events, such as the gravitational collapse of stars or the coalescence of compact binary systems. The most ambitious project to search for such sources is the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO), which has been constructed and is now in the commissioning and initial data taking stage. The status of the commissioning and the performance of the interferometers, as well as an early look at LIGO data will be presented.

Barry C. Barish Web Page

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall at 4 p.m.

4:30 p.m. - Jadwin A10

"Neutron Interferometry"

Samuel A. Werner, NIST

Tea in Room 218 at 4 p.m.

Abstract:

Quantum interference of deBroglie matter waves is one of the most startling and fundamental aspects of quantum mechanics. In this talk I will give a pedagogical and historic overview of the wide variety of neutron interferometry experiments, including gravitationally induced quantum interference, Aharonov-Bohm topological effects, Berry=92s phas= e experiments, precision scattering length measurements, and the effect of the Earth=92s rotation on the neutron=92s phase (Sagnac effect).

Many of these experiments are summarized in the book Neutron Interferometry by H. Rauch and S.A.Werner, Oxford University Press (2000). This work has been supported by the National Science Foundation

http://www.missouri.edu/~physwww/html/werner.html

Title: "A SECOND LOOK AT THE SECOND LAW"

Speaker: Elliott Lieb

Professor of Physics, Princeton University

Lecture Abstract:

The essence of the second law of thermodynamics is the statement that all adiabatic processes (slow or violent, reversible or not) can be quantified by a unique entropy function, S, on the equilibrium states of all macroscopic systems, whose increase is a necessary and sufficient condition for such a process to occur. It is one of the few really fundamental physical laws in the sense that no deviation, however tiny, is permitted and its consequences are far reaching. Since the entropy principle is independent of any statistical mechanical model, it ought to be derivable from a few logical principles without recourse to Carnot cycles, ideal gases and other assumptions about such things as 'heat', 'hot' and 'cold', 'temperature', 'reversible processes', etc. Indeed, temperature is a consequence of entropy rather than the other way around. In this lecture the foundations of the subject and the construction of entropy from a few simple, physical principles will be presented. (Physics Today 53, p.32 (April 2000) and Physics Reports 310, p.1 (1999).)

Elliott Lieb

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Hosts: Shivaji Sondhi

Title: "Search For Corrections To Newton's Gravity At Sub-Mm Scales"

Speaker: Aharon Kapitulnik

Professor of Applied Physics and Physics, Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University

Lecture Abstract:

Recent theories propose deviations from Newton's law of gravity due to the existence of extra dimensions perhaps as large as a millimeter, which have gone unnoticed because only gravity can propagate in them. The possible signals include observation of a transition in gravitational force from the inverse square law to an inverse fourth-power law, and new attractive or repulsive forces anywhere between one and a million times stronger than gravity operative at sub-millimeter scales. To test for these proposals we constructed an apparatus consisting of a highly sensitive cantilever system that is able to explore new regions in the interaction-strength vs. length-scale phase space. In this talk we will report on results of the first generation of this experiment.

Aharon Kapitulnik

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Hosts: Boris Altshuler and Shivaji Sondhi

Title: "Magnetic Trapping of Molecules, Neutrons, and Exotic Atoms"

Speaker: John Doyle

Professor, Dept. of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Lecture Abstract: Magnetic Trapping of neutral particles is a powerful technique used to gently but firmly hold neutrons, atoms and molecules. Once trapped, particles can be further cooled and/or be used for tests of the Standard Model, creation of quantum degenerate gases and studies of ultracold collisions. We have developed the technique of buffer-gas cooling and loading of atoms and molecules into magnetic traps and a separate technique of superthermal loading of neutrons into a magnetic trap. Buffer-gas cooling relies solely on elastic collisions (thermalization) of the species-to-be-trapped with a cryogenically cooled helium gas and so is independent of any particular energy level pattern. This makes the cooling technique general and potentially applicable to any paramagentic species. Using buffer-gas loading, paramagnetic atoms (europium and chromium) as well as a molecule (calcium monohydride) were trapped at temperatures around 300 mK. The numbers of the trapped species (about $10^{12}$ atoms and $10^{8}$ molecules) were limited mainly by the production method, which was laser ablation of suitable solid precursors. In separate experiments, ultracold neutrons were loaded via phonon scattering in superfluid helium. Further studies of neutron beta decay are proceeding with the goal of a greatly improved neutron lifetime measurement. The methods and main results will be presented in this talk.

John Doyle

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Hosts: Will Happer and Mike Romalis

Speaker: Sally Dawson

Physics Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY

"Physics at a Linear Collider"

Abstract

One of the outstanding problems of elementary particle physics is the origin of mass. High energy proton-proton and electron- positron colliders can probe this question in complementary ways. I discuss the physics case for a linear electron-positron collider and explain how it can illuminate our understanding of particle masses.

Sally Dawson Web Page

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Hosts: Daniel Marlow

SPEAKER:

David Awschalom

Dept. of Physics, UCSB, Santa Barbara, CA

TITLE:

"Manipulating Quantum Information with Semiconductor Spintronics"

ABSTRACT:

There is a growing interest in the use of electronic and nuclear spins in semiconductor nanostructures as a medium for the manipulation and storage of classical and quantum information. Spin-based electronics offer remarkable opportunities for exploiting the robustness of quantum spin states by combining standard electronics with spin-dependent effects that arise from the interactions between electrons, nuclei, and magnetic fields. Here we provide an overview of recent developments in coherent electronic spin dynamics in semiconductors and quantum structures, including a discussion of temporally- and spatially-resolved magneto-optical measurements that reveal an interesting interplay between electronic and nuclear spins. These experiments explore the electronic, photonic, and magnetic control of electron and nuclear spins in a variety of nanostructures and focus on investigating the underlying physics for quantum information processing in the solid state.

David Awschalom: Web Page

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Host: Paul Chaikin

SPEAKER

Jorge L. Sarmiento

Professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (Biogeochemistry)

AOS Program, Princeton University, Sayre Hall, Forrestal Campus

TITLE

Sinks for Anthropogenic Carbon

ABSTRACT

After thousands of years of near steady concentrations, fossil fuel burning and deforestation have pushed atmospheric CO2 to levels that are higher than at any time in the past 20 million years. If our use of fossil fuels were to continue unchecked, it is likely that atmospheric CO2 would climb to almost seven times its pre-industrial concentration before dropping back to two times pre-industrial over thousands of years. While we know that the carbon reservoirs in the ocean and land have absorbed a significant amount of the anthropogenic carbon in the last century, we are just beginning to understand how their behavior might change as atmospheric CO2 concentrations rise and climate warms. An important clue to how carbon sinks will change in the future lies in our understanding of how CO2 changed during the last ice age.

Jorge L. Sarmiento: Web Page

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Host: Will Happer

Speaker: Leonard Susskind

Professor of Physics, Stanford University, CA

Title: Paradigms Lost, Paradigms Regained

Abstract: The most basic assumptions of 20th century physics are giving way to a revolutionary new view of spacetime. The idea of an invariant event is being replaced by a much more observer dependent concept; Black Hole Complementarity, in which different observers can radically disagree not just about the coordinates of events but the invariant relationship between events. The old paradigm that underlies all high energy phyiscs, high energy "equals" small distance, is being reversed by a new concept called "The Infrared/Ultraviolet connection that becomes operative at the Planck scale: the higher the energy the larger the distance that is probed. Finally, the usual assumptions of field theory that the degrees of freedom of a region of space are distributed over the volume has been drastically changed by the Holographic Principle. The H.P. states that the degrees of freedom are in one to one correspondence with Planck sized cells distributed over the bounding area of the region.

The implications for high energy physics and cosmology will be touched on.

Leonard

Susskind: Web Page

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Host: Chiara Nappi

SPEAKER:

Patrick A. Lee

Department of Physics, MIT, Cambridge, MA

TITLE:

"High Tc Superconductors 16 Years Later: A Status Report"

ABSTRACT:

A rich and detailed array of experimental facts has been established through the intensive research effort on the high Tc materials. There is an emerging consensus that the key physics is the doping of a Mott insulator and that the low doping regime is highly unconventional. I shall argue that evidence points to a competing state lurking in the background. I shall discuss candidates for this competing state including the one I favor, which involves orbital currents. Experiments designed to identify the culprit will be discussed.

Patrick A. Lee: Web Page

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Host: Shivaji Sondhi

Title: "Zero-dimensional Fermi-liquid"

Speaker: Boris Altshuler

Professor of Physics, Princeton University

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Hosts: Shivaji Sondhi

Title: "Critical Casimir Effects"

Speaker: Moses Chan

Professor, Dept. of Physics, Penn State University, University Park, PA

Abstract: It is predicted that long-ranged order parameter fluctuations near a fluid's critical point will mediate a force between the two interfaces confining the fluid. This force is an analog of the Casimir force in electromagnetism, a force between two metal plates that is mediated by the confined quantum zero-point fluctuations. Measurements of the dielectric constant of helium films adsorbed on cu electrodes show existence of the critical Casmir force near the superfluid transition in He-4 and near the tricritical point in He-3-He-4 mixtures. In pure He-4, the force is attractive but near the tricirtical point the force appears to be repulsive. The change in the sign is thought to be related to the different boundary conditions of the order parameter.

Moses Chan

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Hosts: Shivaji Sondhi

"Wrestling with the Question: How Come Existence?"

Speaker: John Archibald Wheeler

Professor of Physics, Emeritus, Princeton University, Co-worker with Niels Bohr on nuclear fission, inventor of positronium, father of the Black Hole, recipient of the 2003 Einstein Prize of the American Physical Society, the acceptance speech for which is the topic of this Special Colloquium

Einstein Prize

Abstract

The principle of Mach and Einstein, that inertia here arises from mass there, will soon be tested by Gravity Probe B. Does that grand principle have anything to do with the nature of spacetime itself? We now describe the world in terms of particles moving and interacting in spacetime, while spacetime expands (and may contract). But what is the origin of spacetime? In what medium does spacetime itself live and move and have its being? Is there any other answer than to say that consciousness brings all of creation into being, as surely as spacetime and matter brought conscious life into being? Is all this great world that we see around us a work of imagination?

John Archibald Wheeler

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Host: Kirk McDonald

SPECIAL JOINT COLLOQUIUM

4:30 p.m. - McDonnell A02

Title: Results from the MAP Satellite

Speaker: Lyman Page

Physics Dept., Princeton

Abstract

The MAP satellite is currently mapping the entire microwave sky to unprecedented accuracy and precision from an orbit around the second Earth-Sun Lagrange point. The primary goal is to produce high fidelity maps in five frequency bands spanning from 22 to 94 GHz in order to image the cosmic microwave background (CMB). We begin with a description of the instrument and mission, and then present results from the first data release.

Lyman Page

Introduction by: Jim Peebles

Host: David Huse

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Title: Keeping the Worst People from Getting the Worst Weapons: How is the World Doing?

Ashton Carter, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard

Dr. Carter will give a technical and policy overview of current American and international efforts to keep weapons of mass destruction, especially nuclear and biological weapons, out of the hands of the "axis of evil" and terrorists foreign and domestic. President Bush has declared that his highest priority is "keeping the world's most dangerous weapons out of the most dangerous hands," but how is he doing at counterproliferation and homeland security?

Ashton Carter

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Host: Will Happer

Title: Historical Roots of Gauge Invariance

J. David Jackson, UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

A number of reviews of gauge theories cover the period from about 1929 (Weyl's major paper on the subject) to the present day, with stress on the post-Yang-Mills epoch. Lev Okun and I address the "pre-history" of the subject, starting with Ampere, Neumann, Weber, and others, and the debates over the "correct" form of the vector potential. The story continues with Maxwell, Lorenz, Helmholtz, Clausius, and Lorentz by which time the idea of different, equivalent gauges for the potentials in classical electromagnetism had been clarified completely. We then discuss the annus mirabilus, 1926, with Fock's discovery of the phase transformation of the wave function that must accompany a gauge change of the potentials. The unfair belittlement of the contributions of Lorenz and Fock are aired. Portraits of all the "electricians" are presented as the story unfolds. [Reference: J. D. Jackson and Lev Okun, Rev, Mod.Phys. Vol. 73, 663- 680 (2001)]

J. David Jackson

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Host: Will Happer

Title: Approaches to Quark Confinement

Speaker: Edward Witten, School of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study

This colloquium will be about the problem of quark confinement, the fact that although protons, neutrons, and other strongly interacting particles are made of quarks and gluons, we never see an isolated quark (or gluon). The problem of explaining quark confinement has been with us for roughly 30 years, and while we do not have a definitive answer, a variety of old and new approaches have shed some light on the matter. Some of these will be reviewed in this talk.

Edward Witten

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Host: Kirk McDonald

Title: Life at terawatts/cm^2: non-linear Optical Microscopy of living tissue

Winfried Denk, Department of Biomedical Optics, Max Planck Institute

Using visible and near visible electromagnetic radiation (light) is virtually the only way to obtain high resolution images of living biological specimens. While the resolution of optical microscopy has reached its 'wave' limit almost 150 years ago many technological improvements have extended its reach considerably. Among those improvements are the development of pulsed lasers that make non-linear optical easily phenomena accessible and non-linear optical microscopy possible. Damage to biological specimens is, somewhat unexpectedly, reduced in many cases by using two-photon rather than one-photon excitation of fluorescence. The reason is that excitation is largely confined to near the focus which, particularly in scattering tissue, allows enormous increases in the fluorescence collection efficiency without any loss of resolution. This property in conjunction with fluorescent indicators allows the direct observation of biochemical computation in dendritic processes of neurons that are still inside intact (and highly scattering) brain tissue. The localization of excitation also permits measurements in the retina without stimulating the highly light sensitive photoreceptor cells.

Winfried Denk

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Host: David Huse

Title: First Results of The DEIMOS/DEEP2 Redshift Survey on the Keck Telescope

Speaker: Marc Davis, UC Berkeley

The DEIMOS spectrograph was installed and commissioned on the Keck-II telescope in the first half of 2002. Science observations for the DEEP2 redshift survey began in July, and thus far we have collected spectra for some 8000 galaxies at z~1. Over the course of three years we plan to observe some 60,000 high redshift galaxies with high spectral resolution.This talk will summarize the instrument and the current state of the reduced data. This large sample of high redshift galaxies will be useful for a host of studies of the evolution of the properties of galaxies and of large scale structure, as well as several unique cosmological probes. I will describe methods for constraining the equation of state of the dark energy, for which we should have powerful results once the observations are complete in 2005.

Marc Davis

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Host: Paul Steinhardt

Title: Frequency Control and Analysis in the Violin

Speaker: Bill Atwood, UC Santa Cruz

While the violin has been around for several hundreds of years, our understanding of how it works is still evolving. The character of violin sound is controlled by its frequency content, i.e., the harmonic content (or in musical terminology-the overtones). Both the player as well as the way in which the violin was made effect this frequency content. Both of these aspects will be examined. Research into how whole body vibrational modes can be manipulated by the violin maker during fabrication will be discussed. Examples of resulting violin sound will be demonstrated.

Bill Atwood

Host: Kirk McDonald

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Speaker: Simon White

International Max-Planck Research School on Astrophysics at the University of Munich

Sackler Lecture Series

Title: The Formation and Evolution of Galaxy Clusters

Abstract: Galaxy clusters are the most massive quasi-equilibrium structures in the present Universe. Recent microwave background data have established the initial conditions for cluster formation with considerable precision, but later evolution involves the complex and nonlinear interplay of a wide range of astrophysical processes. I will illustrate this using a variety of supercomputer simulations. The dark matter distribution within clusters is highly structured. The intergalactic gas in clusters is turbulent and far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Cluster magnetic fields are tangled. The assembly of clusters and of many cluster galaxies is recent. Nevertheless, protogalactic star formation in cluster regions began early and could plausibly ionize enough material at high redshift to account for the electron scattering optical depth measured by WMAP.

Simon White

Host: Paul Steinhardt

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Speaker: Michael Dine, UCSC

Title: "Bringing String Theory into Contact With Experiment"

Abstract:

String theory bears a striking resemblance to the real world. But making precise predictions for future experiments is surprisingly difficult. In this talk, I will explain the difficulties, and outline the approaches which are being pursued to developing a string phenomenology. I will also describe some of the insights which string theory has already provided into long-standing puzzles of particle physics.

Michael Dine

Host: Chiara Nappi

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Title: "Is science policy able to help science?"

Speaker: Edouard Brézin, Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris

"The time scale of government policies, and the general lack of understanding of the internal logic of science, are not necessarily compatible with the true needs of science. Indeed, working scientists keep pointing out that discoveries, or major breakthroughs, are never planned for or included in research proposals. In this context, is there any need for and any efficient way of defining a science policy? The speaker does not pretend that he has a definite answer to this question but will offer observations based on his experience. In addition the talk will briefly review some growing differences in the international appreciation of the role of research in our societies."

Edouard Brezin is Professor of Physics at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris. He is a theoretical and mathematical physicist who has made many important contributions to our understanding of critical phenomena (phase transitions) in condensed matter, quantum field theory, and string theory. Prof. Brezin has also for many years been deeply involved in science policy in France. In particular, from 1992 to 2000, he was the scientific head of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, an agency which plays in France a role analogous to that of the NSF in the United States. Prof. Brezin has kindly agreed to share with us his unique perspective on how government policy can help (or hinder) the progress of science.

Host: Curt Callan

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Title: The hottest stuff on earth: What we are seeing at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider

Speaker: Barbara Jacak

Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, SUNY, Stony Brook, NY

Abstract:

Heating nuclear matter to high energy density can recreate the conditions which existed immediately following the Big Bang. This kind of matter is expected to be a plasma of quarks and gluons, which are not confined into hadrons as they are in the everyday world. RHIC collides heavy ions at high energy to allow study of this kind of matter in the laboratory. Thousands of particles are created and undergo an explosive expansion, as we surmise the early universe did. The collisions appear to rapidly approach thermal equilibrium, and the hot matter absorbs considerable energy from particles which traverse it.

Host: Dan Marlow / Kirk McDonald

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Speaker: John G. Learned

Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Manoa

Title: "News on Nus: A Neutrino Universe"

Abstract: In this talk we will review the exciting recent developments in the study of neutrinos, from the observation of neutrino mass and mixing on earth and from the sun, to progress in the beginning of extra-solar neutrino astronomy. In particle physics the surprising nature of neutrinos has begun a major redirection of thinking and of research goals. The role of neutrinos in the universe as we currently understand the situation will be summarized. We will recall motivations for undertaking high energy neutrino astronomy, and take a rapid tour of the dozen or so projects underway around the world.

John G. Learned

Host: Kirk McDonald

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m

Title: "Biological Physics: Frontier or Wilderness?"

Speaker: Robert Austin

Physics Dept., Princeton University

Abstract:

Biological physics has become a very "hot" area of late. I'll take this opportunity at somewhat past the midpoint of my career to review where I have been when it wasn't so hot, the present state of affairs as I see it and where I think the field is moving. I'll try to address the subject from a physics perspective, that is, from general principles.

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

McDonnell A-02 (note location has changed from Jadwin A10)

Title: "The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) on the International Space Station"

Speaker: Samuel C. C. Ting

MIT / CERN

Abstract:

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) is a particle physics detector scheduled to be installed on the International Space Station. The purpose of this experiment is to provide high statistics measurements of charged particles, photons and nuclei up to multi-TeV and to provide a sensitive search for cosmic antimatter (antihelium) and dark matter. A 10-day test run was carried out on the space shuttle Discovery in June 1998. The physics results of this test run and the progress on the construction of the final detector will be presented.

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Host: Stew Smith

McDonnell A-02

Title: "Xenon - the elixir for finding WIMPs?"

Speaker: Tom Shutt

Dept of Physics, Princeton University

Web Site

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Host: Frank Calaprice

McDonnell A-02

Title: "Visualizing the infection by single influenza virus and the function of single RNA enzymes"

Speaker: Xiaowei Zhuang

Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and Department of Physics, Harvard University

Abstract:

Understanding molecular mechanisms underlying biological processes is one of the major goals in modern biophysics and molecular biology. As biology gets more quantitative, this goal is becoming more accessible. However, major roadblocks still exist on the way. Among those is the difficulty that one often encounters in characterizing complex dynamics of biological processes: the existence of multiple kinetic paths and transient intermediate states makes these processes difficult to dissect by ensemble methods. To tackle this problem, my research group is developing physical techniques to monitor the behavior of individual biological molecules and particles and thus to elucidate complex dynamics beyond the limit of ensemble methods. In this talk, I will report our recent progress in the following two areas. (1) Molecular mechanisms of viral infection: our single virus-tracking experiments allow us to visualize the viral infection process in real time, dissect individual stages of the viral entry pathway, and obtain a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing the influenza infection. (2) Structural dynamics of RNA and RNP enzymes: our single-molecule studies provide critical insights into the molecular mechanisms governing RNA structural dynamics, the factors rate-limiting RNA enzymatic reactions, and the effects of protein on the structural dynamics of RNA enzymes.

http://zhuang.harvard.edu

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Host: Bill Bialek

McDonnell A-02

Title: Qubits and Cavity QED with Electrical Circuits

Speaker: Steven M. Girvin

Professor of Physics and Applied Physics, Director of Graduate Studies, Physics, Yale University

Abstract:

Recent experimental breakthroughs have led to the construction of artificial superconducting atoms: electrical circuits whose state variables (voltages and currents) are intrinsically quantum mechanical. This talk will give an introduction showing how these two-state systems can be used as quantum bits for computation and will describe an experiment now being developed at Yale to perform the analog of cavity QED measurements on these artificial atoms placed in a superconducting resonator.

Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics

Home page

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Host: Shivaji Sondhi

Title: "Searching for neutrino oscillations with MiniBooNE"

Speaker: Andrew Bazarko, Assistant Professor of Physics

Princeton University, Physics Department

Abstract:

Over the last few years we have witnessed tremendous advances in our understanding of neutrinos, in particular of neutrino oscillations -- the quantum mechanical process by which a neutrino of one type spontaneously changes into another. A world-wide program of neutrino experiments is underway to study and exploit this phenomenon. This talk will address how neutrinos change flavor and where they fit in among the elementary particles. I will focus on my work with MiniBooNE, an experiment now running at Fermilab that is searching for the appearance of electron-neutrinos in a beam of muon-neutrinos. One of the experimental features I'll discuss is how 800 tons of baby oil make a fine neutrino detector.

Web Page

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Host: Peter Meyers

McDonnell A-02

Title: "Weighing Neutron Stars, and Other Adventures in Pulsar Timing."

Speaker: David Nice, Assistant Professor of Physics, Princeton University

Abstract:

Binary millisecond pulsars are extreme objects. More massive than the sun, these neutron stars rotate hundreds of times a second and are in orbits with periods ranging from a few hours to hundreds of days. Measurements of radio signals emitted by pulsars can be used to map out the orbits with exquisite precision, and in some cases a fully relativistic model of orbital motion is needed to accurately describe the detected pulsar signals. The measurement of such relativistic phenomena constrains the masses of the pulsar and its companion star. Conventional wisdom has been that all neutron stars are very close to 1.35 times the mass of the sun (i.e., the Chandrasekhar mass), but I will argue that recent observations with the Arecibo radio telescope provide evidence that pulsars in neutron star-white dwarf binary systems are substantially heavier than this. I will also describe the first measurement of orbital decay due to gravitational radiation energy loss in a binary system with a large dipole moment. I will describe the observations, results to date, and new equipment now being commissioned which will substantially increase the precision of these experiments.

Web Page

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Host: Joseph H. Taylor

McDonnell A-02

Title: "Messengers of the Extreme Universe"

Speaker: Angela Olinto

Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics

Enrico Fermi Institute, Center for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago

Abstract: The nature and origin of the highest energy particles ever observed are still elusive. Results from the largest cosmic ray experiments are starting to probe the extremely high-energy region where a long awaited Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin feature in the spectrum is expected. Presently, the largest data set comes from the AGASA experiment that sees an intriguing excess of cosmic rays above 10^20 eV. This excess flux has spurred intense activity in models proposed to explain this puzzling excess. The recently released monocular spectrum analysis of the High Resolution Fly's Eye experiment does not confirm the excess. The discrepancy between the two experiments is within 2 - 3 sigma including possible systematic errors and should be resolved by future experiments such as the Auger Project. After reviewing the present state of the experiments and theoretical models for the highest energy cosmic rays, we will discuss future experiments and possible outcomes.

Web Site

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

McDonnell A-02

Title: "The Next Twenty Years in Particle Physics"

Speaker: Hitoshi Murayama

School of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study

Professor of Physics, University of California, Berkeley

Abstract: The particle physics is at a very exciting stage. Dark Matter, Dark Energy, Neutrino Mass, and Weak Force all suggest that TeV is the relevant energy scale of the problem. We are just about to probe this energy scale. The past two years the particle physics community went through the planning process for the next twenty years. The outcome was the realization that there are many deep scientific questions that can be addressed in the near future.

Web Page

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Host: Curt Callan

Title: "Colloidal Molecules: Packing hard spheres in 3-d for photonic crystals"

Speaker: David J. Pine

Professor & Chair of Chemical Engineering and Professor of Materials

Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara

Abstract:

We have developed a method for making new kinds of colloidal particles from colloidal aggregates. These particles can be thought of as colloidal molecules whose shape and size are precisely controlled. The aggregates form when small numbers of colloidal particles are brought together inside shrinking emulsion droplets. They form unique aggregates with reproducible structures ranging from sphere doublets, triangles, and tetrahedra (n = 2, 3, 4) to octahedra (n = 6) and more exotic forms. These aggregates correspond to densest packings according to some mathematical norm, for example, the second moment of the mass distribution or the parametric density. At present, the physics underlying the application of these mathematical norms to the packing of the colloidal clusters is poorly understood. The clusters can be fractionated to obtain highly monodisperse samples with greater than 95% purity. These colloidal molecules serve as building blocks for new kinds of colloidal crystals that are needed for various optical applications.

Web Page

Tea in Room 218 Jadwin Hall, at 4 p.m.

Host: Paul Chaikin

Title: "Fundamental physics with diatomic molecules: from CP violation to quantum compu