NOTE: LINK HAS BECOME BROKEN DUE TO WEBSITE REDESIGN Prof. Henry Everitt, adjunct professor of physics and electrical and computer engineering at Duke, is featured on the website of the National Defense Education Program as part of a series of articles about scientists who work in defense laboratories. The goal of the articles is to inspire students to pursue degrees and careers in science and engineering. Everitt grew up near the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, and now works… read more about Henry Everitt Featured on Website of National Defense Education Program »
After 25 years at Duke, Prof. John Thomas will be moving his research program to the physics department at North Carolina State University. "For me, this will be an exciting new challenge and an opportunity to join a new community," Thomas says. "While I look forward to expanding my work and making new friends, I will miss many of you who have been my friends and encouraged me for so many years." read more about John Thomas moving to NC State »
Following the successful workshop on “Partonic Transverse Momentum in Hadrons: Quark Spin-Orbit Correlations and Quark-Gluon Interactions,” which was held March 12-13, 2010 at Duke, Prof. Haiyan Gao and workshop participants published a whitepaper titled “Transverse-momentum-dependent parton distribution/fragmentation functions at an electron-ion collider” in European Physics Journal A. read more about Prof. Gao and Others Publish Whitepaper »
Prof. Patrick Charbonneau published a paper in the December 10, 2010 issue of Physical Review Letters titled “Reentrant and Isostructural Transitions in a Cluster-Crystal Former.” A summary of the paper is available on the Duke Research blog. (NOTE: LINK HAS BROKEN DURING WEBSITE REDESIGN.) read more about Charbonneau Publishes Paper in Physical Review Letters »
Jing Wang, Yunhui Zhu, Rui Zhang, and Prof. Daniel Gauthier have published a paper titled “FSBS resonances observed in a standard highly-nonlinear fiber” in the online journal Optics Express. Zhang explains, “We presented observations of forward stimulated Brillouin scattering (FSBS) in a standard highly-nonlinear fiber and observed multiple radially-guided acoustic resonances. FSBS occurs when two co-propagating optical beams interacts with transverse acoustic waves trapped in the… read more about Optics Group Publishes Paper in Optics Express »
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - email update from Prof. Werner Tornow I arrived in Tokyo on Monday, March 14, three days after Friday's devastating earthquake and ensuing tsunami. During my 10 years plus travel to Japan I never went through immigration and customs at Tokyo-Narita airport as fast as this time, because there were only a handful of non-Japanese on my Delta flight from Atlanta. However, for the first time I had to wait much longer than usual to get on a bus to Tokyo's Haneda airport… read more about Update from Werner Tornow, who is working at KamLAND in Japan »
Many Duke professors and graduate students will be presenting papers at the American Physical Society meeting March 21-25, 2011, in Dallas, Texas. Click the links below to see the full list of presenters and talks. Note: We only included those authors with a Duke affiliation. MARCH 21 Joshua Dijksman Khan Academy: TheWorld’s Free Virtual School http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/MAR11/Event/136506 Huaixiu Zheng, Harold Baranger and Dan Gauthier Quantum Transport of Strongly Correlated Photons in… read more about Duke at the American Physical Society meeting »
A short video called "Jams in the Hopper" showcases the research of Junyao Tang, a graduate student in Prof. Bob Behringer's lab. Tang uses a two-dimensional simulated grain hopper to study how particles interact when they jam up in the mouth of a hopper. Jams are a big problem in industries that use hoppers to to move grains, berries, coffee beans, or other large particles. Behringer says, "The goal is to understand the nature of the flow, including the flow… read more about Behringer Lab’s Work Featured in Video »
Kyozi Kawasaki, winner of the Boltzmann Medal in 2001, earned his PhD in physics at Duke in 1959. The Boltzmann Medal is awarded by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics Commission on Statistical Physics (C3) every three years at the International Conference on Statistical Physics (STATPHYS). According to C3, Kawasaki received the Boltzmann Medal for “his contribution to our understanding of dynamic phenomena in condensed matter systems, in particular the mode-coupling theory of fluids near… read more about Boltzmann Medal Winner Kyozi Kawasaki Earned PhD at Duke »
At right: The researchers and developers of the Duke FEL and HIGS, including physicists, graduate students, engineers, technicians, and administrative staff. The group is inside the booster synchrotron, a full-energy injector into the storage ring. The synchrotron was the major addition to the accelerator facility constructed as part of the recent upgrade completed in 2007. The recently upgraded HIGS facility on Duke’s campus has become the world’s most powerful Compton gamma-ray source. HIGS—the “high intensity… read more about HIGS Attracts Worldwide Attention for its Gamma Rays »
During the Fall 2010 semester Prof. Joshua Socolar’s course evaluations placed him in the top 5% of all Duke University undergraduate instructors. Socolar was recognized by Deans Alvin L. Crumbliss and Lee D. Baker with the words “Professors like you enable us to build upon our academic traditions by infusing academic instruction with a sense of dynamic engagement and inspired learning. We wish you continued success.” Please congratulate Prof. Socolar when you see him next. read more about Prof. Socolar's course evaluations in top 5% »
Christopher Lester, ‘08, has received a U.S. Energy Department Graduate Fellowship to support his graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania. Lester, who is from Marietta, Georgia, is currently pursuing a PhD in high energy physics and is doing research at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland. The fellowship consists of $50,500 per year for three years to cover tuition, living expenses, research materials, and related travel. “My work at Duke really helped me obtain the DOE fellowship,”… read more about Duke Grad Receives Prestigious DOE Fellowship »
Prof. Nicolas Buchler has received the Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Research Award from the March of Dimes, which consists of $75,000 per year for two years. Buchler, who came to Duke in August 2009 with joint appointments in biology and physics, plans to use the grant to study the evolution of genes that oscillate autonomously in anticipation of periodic changes in environmental factors such as light, temperature, and availability of nutrients. Specifically, he’ll be studying the evolution of circadian… read more about Prof. Nicolas Buchler Receives Funding from March of Dimes »
Prof. Berndt Mueller was recently elected vice chair of the Division of Nuclear Physics (DNP) of the American Physical Society. As such, he is in line to become chair-elect, chair, and past chair of the DNP. The DNP awards prizes for research, plans an annual conference, and promotes the work of APS nuclear physicists. The DNP also works to educate the public and politicians about nuclear physics. read more about Prof. Mueller Is Vice Chair of APS’s Division of Nuclear Physics »
Submitted by Josh Albert. In May, 2010, the whole Duke Neutrino Group was in Japan for the Super-Kamiokande collaboration meeting. This was Ashley's first trip there (she's an undergrad). We presented our results at the meeting, and after the meeting, Ashley and I took a short vacation in Tokyo. View photos of Josh's latest trip here, read about his first trip here and view those photos here. read more about Duke Neutrino Group in Japan »
Submitted by Ashley Jones. The Southeast Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics was held January 14-17 on the campus of North Carolina State University. It was a time for young women in the field to come together to share their knowledge and learn about their opportunities for the future. It was geared specifically towards women in an effort to reach out to females in a male-dominated field. Participants shared their research in oral presentations as well as a poster session. They sat in… read more about Undergrad Ashley Jones attends SCUWP »
Third-year graduate student Chris Coleman-Smith spent five weeks in India during the months of December and January using a $3,000 grant from the American Physical Society and the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum. Coleman-Smith says, “I applied because one of my collaborators works in India and I’ve always wanted to go from a fairly young age.” He spent the first week in Goa at the International Conference on Physics and Astrophysics of Quark Gluon Plasma, where he gave a paper titled “Implementing… read more about Coleman-Smith Gets Grant for Travel to India »
A contingent of Duke physicists traveled to Baton Rouge in late October to attend the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society conference. Professors Kate Scholberg, Ayana Arce, and John Thomas gave invited talks, and professors Roxanne Springer and Anton Tonchev organized sessions. Graduate student Taritree Wongjirad presented a poster, as did undergrads Ashley Jones, Farzan Beroz, and Wes Johnson.… read more about Profs and Students Travel to SESAPS Conference in Louisiana »
NOTE: LINKS HAVE BROKEN DUE TO WEBSITE REDESIGN This month we are featuring the home page of Duke graduate student Junyao Tang. His page is a collection of his professional work at Duke and beyond, and also hosts a few areas about his life as a graduate student at Duke. read more about Website of the Month - Junyao Tang »
Prof. Ashutosh Kotwal has been named co-leader of one of the international research groups on the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, along with Fabienne Ledroit of France. The group Kotwal is co-leading consists of about 80 scientists who are using ATLAS to look for evidence of new “boson” particles, whose existence would indicate new forces. The ATLAS experiment is one of the four main experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Switzerland. Altogether, about 2,500 physicists are… read more about Ashutosh Kotwal named co-leader of research group on ATLAS »
Duke hosted the 30th Annual Dynamic Days conference January 5th – 8th, 2011. This annual conference covers a variety of topics within nonlinear dynamics. The conference took place at The Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, NC, but was hosted by the faculty from Duke. Researchers from universities around the US and Europe were present, and many students participated as well by presenting posters in the poster sessions. You can find the complete list here. read more about Dynamic Days Conference Hosted by Duke »
Students in Prof. Moo-Young Han’s Physics 100 class last semester surprised him with a customized cake to celebrate his upcoming retirement. Han, who began as an assistant professor at Duke in 1967, is retiring March 1, 2011. Han, who discovered the color charges of quarks together with Yoichiro Nambu, excels in communicating complex physics topics to students and laypeople. He has won awards for his teaching, including the Duke General Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award in 1972. He says he… read more about Physics 100 Students Commemorate Han's Upcoming Retirement »
Prof. Patrick Charbonneau was quoted Thursday on the Duke University Research Blog in an entry entitled "Tangling the microscopic ladder." Read the article here. read more about Prof. Charbonneau quoted on Duke's Research Blog »
Prof. John Thomas celebrated his 60th birthday on December 15th. To celebrate, the students in the JETLab research group took Thomas to dinner the week prior and presented him with a very creative cake. The cake's icing illustrates elliptic flow data from the research group's original 2002 Science paper. Thomas was delighted by the gift from the students in his research group and shared images of the cake with the Duke Physics News team. For more information on Thomas' work… read more about Prof. John Thomas Celebrated His 60th Birthday »
Lecturer Robert G. Brown taught Physics 53 this fall simultaneously on campus and at Duke’s Marine Lab in Beaufort via videoconferencing. He wrote an entry on the Duke CIT (Center for Instructional Technology) blog about the experience, including lessons learned. Check it out here. This isn't the first time that a Physics instructor has connected to CIT's resources. Earlier this year Prof. Kate Scholberg participated in a CIT project that involved producing videos of her solving… read more about Website of the Month - Physics Connnects to CIT Blog »
Henry Everitt, Adjunct Professor of physics and electrical and computer engineering, has been named a Fellow of the American Physical Society for "his broad leadership in furthering quantum information science, including the effective stewardship of quantum information programs for the U.S. government and also for his own research in semiconductor optics." For the official citation notice on the APS website, follow this link. According to the APS Website: "Each nomination is evaluated by the… read more about Prof. Everitt Cited as APS Fellow »
Graduate student James Esterline co-authored a paper with Prof. Werner Tornow and co-researchers. The paper is entitled "Determination of the proton and alpha-particle light-response functions for the KamLAND, BC-501A and BC-517H liquid scintillators" and appears in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. To read the abstract click this link. Senior William Corse co-authored a paper with Prof. Werner Tornow, physics alum… read more about Student Research Updates »
Professors Ayana Arce and Mark Kruse are featured in a new series of videos called “Physics for the 21st Century” produced by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and available online. Kruse says the goal of the videos is to “share some of the excitement of what’s going on in the frontier of physics right now to high school students and teachers, and interested undergrads as well.” The videos, with accompanying transcripts and lesson plans, are available for free on the Annenberg… read more about Professors Ayana Arce and Mark Kruse Featured in Video Series »
Prof. Ronen Plesser was featured in Duke Magazine's November-December 2010 issue in an article entitled "The Science of Stargazing." You can read the feature here. There was also a similar story in Duke's employee newsletter Working @ Duke's December 2009/January 2010 issue. Read it online on page 5 here. read more about Prof. Ronen Plesser in Duke Magazine »
Chris De Pree, ’88, teaches physics and astronomy at Agnes Scott College, a women’s college in Decatur, Georgia. He also co-authors books on astronomy for the general public and does research involving massive star formation using data from the VLA (Very Large Array) radio observatory in New Mexico. After earning his undergraduate degree in physics from Duke, De Pree taught high school for several years. “I really loved teaching,” he says, “and for awhile I thought I would keep going with teaching high… read more about Teaching at a Small Liberal Arts College »