Spectrum Newsletter: Spring 2010 by Physics & Astronomy: University of Utah

Spectrum

The University of Utah

115 South 1400 East, 201 JFB Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0830 www.physics.utah.edu

Newsletter for friends and alumni of

INSIDE:

Department of Physics & Astronomy

Beloved Professors Retire Profs Rudolph & Williams Retire

Celebrating two highly valued teachers, colleagues and friends.

After more than 70 years of collective service to the University, Professors Sid Rudolph and George Williams retired this spring. They were honored for their service and achievements to the department on February 24, 2010.

Awards, Promotions Sid Rudolph joined the department in 1981 and after a brief hiatus, came back in 1983. At the time, & Recognition 2010 Graduation Faculty Farewells Alumni Spotlight

CALENDAR

GradSAC News

August 21, 2010 Common Exam August 23, 2010 Fall Semester Begins

FIRST Robotics Competition

August 25, 2010 Here We Go Again BBQ

BOSS Conference

September 30, 2010 Labor Day Holiday

Crocker Donation & New College of Science Building

September 30, 2010 Employee Appreciation Day Oc tober 11-16, 2010 College of Science Alumni Day All alumni invited! Oc tober 11-16, 2010 Fall Break

Off-The-Wall Demonstrations

SPECTRUM Volume 2, Issue 1 Spring 2010

the department was engaged in the development of new curriculum involving desktop computers, which intrigued Rudolph. Since then he has been deeply involved in undergraduate curriculum and taught many undergraduate courses, including the lower division labs, algebra and calculus-based physics and introductory astronomy courses. He was also heavily involved in the ACCESS Program for Women in Science and Mathematics, as an instructor for 19 years, as well as serving as director for ten years. Professors Sid Rudolph (left) and George Williams (right) He admits that teaching has always been his passion. “What we do in the classroom can have an effect in ways we cannot foresee”. Rudolph received the Students’ Choice Award as well as the University Distinguished Teaching award in 2001.

Having previously worked in New Jersey at Bell Telephone

Laboratories, and Stanford University, coming to the University of Utah in fall of 1964, was exciting for George Williams. He was impressed by the growing department and enamored by the scenic Wasatch mountains and Salt Lake Valley. He started out doing research on microwave propagation in bismuth and antimony, but it was teaching that Williams most enjoyed. Williams served as Associate Chairman for the department from 1975-1983. He has taught many courses over the years, and has won several awards including the University Hatch Prize for Excellence in Teaching (2002), the University Distinguished Teaching Award (1990), and the Deseret News Outstanding Physics Teaching Award (1979). He also Emeritus professor Fritz Luty (left) congratulating Rudolph at the retirement celebration. served as a judge for the Sterling Scholar program. A physics textbook cake, presented to both professors, commemorating their dedication to teaching.

Over the next several years, both professors will still maintain a presence in the department;

training new faculty, advising students. George Williams is slated to teach again in the fall. Both professors will be warmly remembered for their years of service to the department.

Awards, Promotions & Recognition

Adam’s Off-The-Wall Demos

Students

Faculty David Ailion

International Society of Magnetic Resonance (ISMAR) Fellow 2009 This fellowship identifies the highest achievers in magnetic resonance. It carries with it an associated responsibility and advocacy for this community of science.

College Awards Awards from the College of Science given to Physics & Astronomy students: Thomas J. Parmley Scholarship

Christoph Boehme

NSF Chemistry Career Grant

Pulsed electrically detected magnetic resonance - Advancing underrepresented groups in science through breakthroughs in materials spin spectroscopy.

Kennecott Scholarship Dean’s Scholarship

Janvida Rou Jessica Johnston

Kevin Siegel, Drew Thompson, Jessica Johnston,

Jamie Rankin, Michael Bentley Goldwater Honorable Mention

Mikhail Raikh

2010 Graduate & Postdoctoral Mentor Award This award recognizes faculty who effectively serve as a teacher, advisor,, advocate, sponsor & role model to guide graduate students and postdoctoral scholars throughout their professional training in a continuing, multifaceted partnership sustained by mutual respect and concern.

Andrey Rogachev

National Science Foundation Early Career Award Quantum Tunneling in Superconducting and Ferromagnetic Nanoscale Structures .

Dave Kieda & Stephan LeBohec MRI-R2 Consortium:

Development of Improved Instrumentation for the VERITAS Gamma-Ray Observatory.

John Lupton & Eugene Mishchenko

Scialog Grant: Solar Energy Conversion Nanoplasmonic focusing of light fields to amplify nonlinear optical effects in composite photovoltaics.

Crockett Scholarship

Jamie Rankin Michael Bentley,

Jessica Johnston, Jonathan Ng Crocker Science House Scholars Laurel Hales, Zachary Matheson, Jonathan Ng, Jamie Rankin, Drew Thompson

Department Awards Outstanding Graduate Student Jon Paul Johnson Outstanding Teaching Assistants Doug Baird, Kip VanSchooten, David Waters Outstanding Research Award Tho Nguyen Outstanding Graduating Seniors Tyler Bradshaw, Nelson Diamond Outstanding Undergraduates Daniel Filler, Laurel Hales Hiatt Scholarships Tobin Bennion, Jonathan Ng Department Scholarships Elena Duryusheva, Jessica Johnston, Jamie Rankin, Matthew Stanford

Promotions Clayton Williams & Christoph Boehme

MRI-R2 Consortium:

Development of a Low Temperature Single Spin Tunneling Force Microscope.

Spectrum - Spring 2010

Christoph Boehme - Associate Professor+tenure, Associate Chair Stephan LeBohec - Associate Professor+tenure John Lupton - Full Professor Eugene Mishchenko - Full Professor

In each newsletter, Adam Beehler, Lecture Demonstration Specialist, explains one of his demonstrations. Adam recently authored two articles, published in The Physics Teacher: •“Demonstrating the photoelectric effect using household items” (Vol. 48, 348. 2010) •“Demonstrating spectral band absorption with Adam Beehler a neodymium light bulb” (Vol. 48, 206. 2010) Lecture Demonstration Specialist

beehler@physics.utah.edu

Fun With Magnets

you have ever played with magnets, then you know that they attract iron (or steel, which contains iron). Iron is one Ioff the most common ferromagnetic materials. Most people are aware of this and delight in having various objects

“stick” to magnets. Just think of all the objects we use every day that involve magnets. I would like to feature two objects that are not normally thought about as magnetic – paper currency and Total cereal. he United States Treasury uses “magnetic ink” to print its currency. Magnetic ink is basically just T printer ink toner with iron oxide particles mixed into it. This is just one of the many counterfeiting

defenses in place. Granted, we usually do not notice or think of our paper money as being magnetic; however, with a strong magnet (like a neodymium iron boron magnet) you too can verify this at home. Dangle a bill or flop it on a table and bring your strong magnet right up against an area on the bill with a lot of ink. You should see the bill slightly attract to the magnet. You will not get the same reaction as when you bring a magnet near an iron nail, but you will nonetheless verify that our money does indeed contain iron. If you fold and tape a bill so that the ink sections are all together, then your magnet might even hold it up. otal cereal claims it provides 100% of our recommended daily allowance of iron. Did you ever wonder how much T that is or what this iron looks like in our cereal? Well, now’s your chance! All that iron makes the flakes magnetic.

Here are a few ways to verify this. Sufficiently crush up many flakes and rub your strong magnet around in the crumbs. After removing the magnet, you should see tiny bits “stuck” to it. This is due to the iron in the cereal. But maybe you are thinking, “Ah, this is just attracting due to electrostatic forces.” Well, do it again and convince yourself. Or better yet, float some flakes on the surface of water and bring a strong magnet very near one of those flakes. You should see the flake attract to the magnet. As you slowly move the magnet around, the flake should follow you (until it gets too soggy and sinks). Try attracting different sized flakes.

f course my favorite thing to do with Total cereal is to make a slurry out of it and pull those tiny little pieces of O iron right out of the cereal. One easy way to do this is to use a blender to mix, say, a cup or two of cereal with a cup or two of warm water (warm, so that it will not take as long to mix). Mix for awhile, but then wait many minutes for the water to soak into the cereal, then keep mixing some more. This will result in a much finer slurry. I put the slurry in a re-sealable bag and very slowly slide my strong magnet around the outside of the bag. While the magnet is pressing into the bag, any free iron particles should slowly move to the magnet. If you are careful not to come out of contact with the bag, then you can accumulate more and more iron as you slowly slide around. When you think you have enough, slowly slide the magnet up out of the slurry so that you can see the iron. Pretty cool, huh?! (Before you ask, yes, this is safe to digest.) Try investigating other cereals and foods, and have fun with magnets!

You can also view this demo, and a complete materials list, online at www.physics.utah.edu/~beehler/newsletterdemos/demos.html

Spectrum - Spring 2010

News

Awards, Promotions & Recognition

Gary & Ann Crocker Donate $10 Million Toward New Home for College of Science at University of Utah

2009-2010 Graduates Graduation and commencement exercises for the University of Utah took place on May 7, 2010. The Department of Physics & Astronomy congratulates all of its graduates and welcomes them to our alumni family!

Baccalaureates The University of Utah announced Gary L. and Ann S. Crocker donated $10 million to help renovate the historic George Thomas Building after the Utah Museum of Natural History moves out of it. The remodeled facility on the university ’s Presidents Circle will transform the building into a state -of-the art center for scientific research and teaching. It will house the Center for Cell and Genome Science, modern classrooms and laboratories for innovative and interdisciplinary science and math education, and College of Science headquarters. The Crocker donation is the lead gift for a $75 million project that is expected to begin construction in 2012. The new facility will be named the Gary L. and Ann S. Crocker Science Center at the George Thomas Building. When completed in 2014, the sciences and the arts will frame the university ’s stately main entryway, with the new Crocker Science Center on the south side of Presidents Circle opposite the newly renovated David P. Gardner Hall, which houses the School of Music. The Thomas building was dedicated in 1935 as the university ’s library and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The building currently houses the Utah Museum of Natural History, which will be moving to a new building near Red Butte Canyon. “In this time -honored building, we will create an exceptional facility that trains generations of students to think scientifically and mathematically, imparting skills for the 21st century,” said Pierre V. Sokolsky, dean of the College of Science. “ We deeply appreciate the Crockers’ generous gift that both advances the university ’s core mission of instruction and helps Utah remain at the forefront of scientific research.” The extensive College of Science renovation will retain the structure’s facade and notable architectural elements from the original library, such as the grand central stairway and vaulted reading room that now displays full-size dinosaur skeletons. The building will undergo a seismic upgrade as well.

Seth Allen Δ Robyn Anderson Caitlin Bean Daniel Blatter Tyler Bradshaw §, Nathan Cannon* Nicholas Dana Nelson Diamond Tyler Dietrick Jeffery Healey Joshua Jarman Ronaldo Jones Derek Kanuho Stephan Larson Jon Paul Lundquist ∞ Zachary Morrill Joel Nelson

Michael Newbold ∞ Cheryl Nielson David Page Anthony Paxton Nicholas Ramsrud Mauricio Rascon David Rearick Lee Richardson Alec Runyon ‡ Christian Sampson Colby Seegmiller Matthew Swan Eric Swenson Jeremy Thomas Fei Tang ∞ S. Brock Westlund Michael Wright

Masters of Science

Doctors of Philosophy

Aaron Allen Yuting Hu Josh Kaggie Donghyun Kim Zayd Ma Matt Wood Shangduan Wu

Aaron Ballard Adam Blake Olga Brusova Jon-Paul Johnson Ben Mangum Sanjeev Singh Nick Todd Famin Chen Jason Mendes Xianfeng Shi

* Cum Laude ‡ Magna Cum Laude § Summa Cum Laude Δ Awarded Bachelor of Ar ts degree ∞ Accepted into depar tment grad school

New Award

Graduate Student Recruitment Initiative

The new science center will have four purposes, said Sokolsky. The research component will draw on faculty from all four departments in the college (biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics and astronomy) to study the basic machiner y of living cells. The educational component will provide undergraduate students abundant laboratory opportunities, smaller classrooms and regular interaction with faculty. A commercial “incubator ” will bring scientists in the college together with those in industry to develop ideas with commercial potential. And the building will serve as headquarters for the college.

The Department of Physics & Astronomy will award a $250 bonus to any graduate student or post-doc who successfully recruits a new student to the Ph.D program. All current Ph.D graduates and post-docs are eligible.

“ The University of Utah is one of the world’s great centers for science and technology,” said Gary Crocker. “Ann and I feel strongly that we must protect and enhance this irreplaceable asset to our state by offering students the very best laboratories and facilities. The future of Utah’s wealth and job creation will be determined by the way we educate scientists, foster cutting-edge research and produce intellectual property.”

For information & complete guidelines, contact Jackie Hadley at 801-581-6861 jackie@physics.utah.edu.

Crocker is a member of the College of Science Hall of Fame and has a long history of service to the university as trustee and as a member of both the University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics Board of Trustees and University of Utah Research Foundation Board. He currently chairs the College of Science external advisory board. His previous donations include funding the Crocker Science House on Officers Circle in Fort Douglas and the Crocker Science Internship Scholarship. Crocker has twice been named Utah Entrepreneur of the Year.

Spectrum - Spring 2010

News & Events

BOSS Collaboration

Department Says Farewell to Two Professors

by Adam Bolton - Assistant Professor, Utah BOSS Conference Chairman

The department bid farewell to Professors Frank van den Bosch and Dane McCamey, who both left the University in June 2010 to pursue other academic opportunities. Van den Bosch accepted a position as an Assistant Professor in Astronomy at Yale University, and McCamey became a Discovery Fellow of the Australian Research Council at the University of Sydney, Australia.

Frank van den Bosch joined the department

in January 2009 from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy. His research in theoretical Astrophysics focused on the various theoretical aspects of cosmology, large scale structure, and galaxy formation. Van den Bosch was very active in his 18-month tenure; he taught Extragalactic Astronomy & Cosmology, published 27 papers, gave multiple scientific presentations across the country, served on the Department Policy Board, the Intellectual Explorations Committee for the College of Science, and the Organizing Committee for SNOWPAC/ SNOWCLUSTER 2010. He also recently published his third book, Galaxy Formation and Evolution, along with collaborators Hojun Mo and Simon White.

Dane

McCamey, whose academic background is physics-based, was hired at the University in 2007 as a post doctoral associate working with Professor Christoph Boehme, doing research in Spintronics. He was promoted to Research Assistant Professor in July 2009. In his time at the university, he received the Outstanding Postdoctoral Researcher award, published multiple papers, book chapters, and gave many invited talks. His research was also featured in Scientific American magazine and the MIT Technology Review. McCamey, along with Boehme, and other collaborators, was awarded a patent in 2009 for developing a method for the generation of nuclear hyperantipolarization in solids without the use of high magnetic fields or magnetic resonant excitation.

Alumni SPOTLIGHT Frank Wanlass BS’57, PhD’62 National Inventors Hall of Fame

Frank Wanlass invented the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), the technology employed in most modern microchips. Wanlass joined Fairchild Semiconductor in 1962 as a newly minted Ph.D. from the University of Utah. Wanlass wanted to use Fairchild’s planar manufacturing process to improve the stability of silicon field-effect transistors by joining p-channel and n-channel transistors. Wanlass had to overcome several technical hurdles, not the least of which was that the particular n-channel metal oxide field effect transistors that he needed did not yet exist. After some deft physics, Wanlass built his circuit. In standby, Wanlass’s demonstration CMOS drew six times less power than the day’s state-of-the-art bipolar circuits. Because of their low power requirements, CMOS chips are well suited to battery-powered devices: the digital watch was one of the first products to make use of CMOS technology. The CMOS soon found wide application in the many other electronic products developed in the 1970s. CMOS chips are now part of nearly every electronic device, calculators and high-speed computers alike. Since leaving Fairchild in 1964, he has been involved in several start-up ventures, including Four Phase, Zytrex, and Standard Microsystems. (Photo credit: National Inventors Hall of Fame, www.invent.org/2009induction/1_3_09_induction_wanlass.asp)

•••••

We love to hear from our alumni. If you are an alumni and would like to be considered for our Alumni Spotlight section, please contact us at newsletter@physics.utah.edu.

Spectrum - Spring 2010

GradSAC News by Zayd Ma - GSAC Chairman

The Graduate Student Advisory Council (GSAC) has made and plans to continue making some changes to create a more interactive and cohesive environment for graduate students in the Department. First, Graduate Student Seminars were instituted last year and have been popular and well received. These seminars are an opportunity for graduate students to give a talk in a low stress environment to an audience of fellow students as well as inform the student body about current work around the department. The graduate students have heard talks from William Baker, Nick Borys, Zayd Ma, Monica Allen, Ben Mangum, and Dustin Winslow. The year with conclude with Rob Roundy and we have students lined up for fall already. The website underwent substantial overhaul last year and our Co-Chair Elect, Mark Limes, has volunteered to further update the website this summer. www.physics.utah.edu/gsac The GSAC has increased usage of available ASUU (Associated Students of the University of Utah) funds and helped fund four students to various conferences. In addition several request for travel grants have been placed for summer travel. Lastly, we are considering ideas to increase casual student-faculty interaction and graduate student cohesion for the coming year. Zayd Ma, Kipp van Schooten, Mark Limes

As part of the U’s institutional participation in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III), the Department hosted the first meeting of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) collaboration on 8-10 March 2010 in downtown Salt Lake City. BOSS is a cornerstone of the SDSS-III, and is using the 2.5-meter SDSS telescope to measure the three-dimensional distribution of 1.5 million luminous galaxies over roughly one half trillion cubic light years: the largest volume ever mapped by any astronomical survey. Approximately 80 scientists attended the Salt Lake City meeting, representing collaborating institutions throughout the US, as well as in Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, and the UK. The meeting provided the first chance for all BOSS scientists to work together with data from the survey in hand, and played an essential role in solidifying the collaboration and planning the many scientific projects that are now being carried out using BOSS observations.

University Hosts FIRST Robotics Competition 2009 - Inducted into Nat’l Inventors Hall of Fame 1991 - Received IEEE Solid-State Circuits Award 1967 Received patent for CMOS technology (US patent 3,356,858)

1962 - Graduated with Ph.D from Univ. of Utah Phi Beta Kappa member Thesis: “Gas-Solid Interactions“ Committee: Henry Eyring, Thomas Parmley, Peter Gibbs, Gale Dick, David Wend & Eliot Chamberlin

1957 - Received Bachelors in Physics from Univ. of Utah

The Department of Physics and Astronomy sponsored the FIRST Robotics team from West High School (Team 3006, Red Rock Robotics). The FIRST Robotics league (www.usfirst.org) involves high school students who work in teams to design, build, and compete robots to address specific challenges each year. The Department has sponsored this program in an effort to increase high school student interest in science, engineering, technology, and the importance of team-led organization for complex problem solving. The Department of Physics and Astronomy sponsors the West High team during the six-week build season as well as during the competition season and offseason. West High students have taken machine shop and programming courses in the Department, and use labs and the machine shop in the JFB building for building and testing the robot. During 2010, the West High students also built a `test arena’ on the NROTC gun deck, which was used by numerous Utah schools to ‘field test’, their robotic designs with actual competition. In early March, the University hosted the 2010 FIRST Robotics Utah Regional Competition, involving students from 33 high schools in Utah, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. The teams and their robots squared off at the Huntsman Center, in round robin games of robotic soccer. In the 2010 Utah regionals, the West High Team received the `Engineering Inspirational Award’ for their robot design, and also competed at the National Championships in Atlanta, GA (April 2010).

Spectrum - Spring 2010

News & Events

BOSS Collaboration

Department Says Farewell to Two Professors

by Adam Bolton - Assistant Professor, Utah BOSS Conference Chairman

Frank van den Bosch joined the department

Dane

Alumni SPOTLIGHT Frank Wanlass BS’57, PhD’62 National Inventors Hall of Fame

•••••

We love to hear from our alumni. If you are an alumni and would like to be considered for our Alumni Spotlight section, please contact us at newsletter@physics.utah.edu.

Spectrum - Spring 2010

GradSAC News by Zayd Ma - GSAC Chairman

1962 - Graduated with Ph.D from Univ. of Utah Phi Beta Kappa member Thesis: “Gas-Solid Interactions“ Committee: Henry Eyring, Thomas Parmley, Peter Gibbs, Gale Dick, David Wend & Eliot Chamberlin

1957 - Received Bachelors in Physics from Univ. of Utah

Spectrum - Spring 2010

News

Awards, Promotions & Recognition

Gary & Ann Crocker Donate $10 Million Toward New Home for College of Science at University of Utah

Masters of Science

Doctors of Philosophy

Aaron Allen Yuting Hu Josh Kaggie Donghyun Kim Zayd Ma Matt Wood Shangduan Wu

Aaron Ballard Adam Blake Olga Brusova Jon-Paul Johnson Ben Mangum Sanjeev Singh Nick Todd Famin Chen Jason Mendes Xianfeng Shi

* Cum Laude ‡ Magna Cum Laude § Summa Cum Laude Δ Awarded Bachelor of Ar ts degree ∞ Accepted into depar tment grad school

New Award

Graduate Student Recruitment Initiative

For information & complete guidelines, contact Jackie Hadley at 801-581-6861 jackie@physics.utah.edu.

Spectrum - Spring 2010

Awards, Promotions & Recognition

Adam’s Off-The-Wall Demos

Students

Faculty David Ailion

College Awards Awards from the College of Science given to Physics & Astronomy students: Thomas J. Parmley Scholarship

Christoph Boehme

NSF Chemistry Career Grant

Pulsed electrically detected magnetic resonance - Advancing underrepresented groups in science through breakthroughs in materials spin spectroscopy.

Kennecott Scholarship Dean’s Scholarship

Janvida Rou Jessica Johnston

Kevin Siegel, Drew Thompson, Jessica Johnston,

Jamie Rankin, Michael Bentley Goldwater Honorable Mention

Mikhail Raikh

Andrey Rogachev

National Science Foundation Early Career Award Quantum Tunneling in Superconducting and Ferromagnetic Nanoscale Structures .

Dave Kieda & Stephan LeBohec MRI-R2 Consortium:

Development of Improved Instrumentation for the VERITAS Gamma-Ray Observatory.

John Lupton & Eugene Mishchenko

Scialog Grant: Solar Energy Conversion Nanoplasmonic focusing of light fields to amplify nonlinear optical effects in composite photovoltaics.

Crockett Scholarship

Jamie Rankin Michael Bentley,

Jessica Johnston, Jonathan Ng Crocker Science House Scholars Laurel Hales, Zachary Matheson, Jonathan Ng, Jamie Rankin, Drew Thompson

Promotions Clayton Williams & Christoph Boehme

MRI-R2 Consortium:

Development of a Low Temperature Single Spin Tunneling Force Microscope.

Spectrum - Spring 2010

Christoph Boehme - Associate Professor+tenure, Associate Chair Stephan LeBohec - Associate Professor+tenure John Lupton - Full Professor Eugene Mishchenko - Full Professor

beehler@physics.utah.edu

Fun With Magnets

You can also view this demo, and a complete materials list, online at www.physics.utah.edu/~beehler/newsletterdemos/demos.html

Spectrum - Spring 2010

Spectrum

The University of Utah

115 South 1400 East, 201 JFB Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0830 www.physics.utah.edu

Newsletter for friends and alumni of

INSIDE:

Department of Physics & Astronomy

Beloved Professors Retire Profs Rudolph & Williams Retire

Celebrating two highly valued teachers, colleagues and friends.

Awards, Promotions Sid Rudolph joined the department in 1981 and after a brief hiatus, came back in 1983. At the time, & Recognition 2010 Graduation Faculty Farewells Alumni Spotlight

CALENDAR

GradSAC News

August 21, 2010 Common Exam August 23, 2010 Fall Semester Begins

FIRST Robotics Competition

August 25, 2010 Here We Go Again BBQ

BOSS Conference

September 30, 2010 Labor Day Holiday

Crocker Donation & New College of Science Building

September 30, 2010 Employee Appreciation Day Oc tober 11-16, 2010 College of Science Alumni Day All alumni invited! Oc tober 11-16, 2010 Fall Break

Off-The-Wall Demonstrations

SPECTRUM Volume 2, Issue 1 Spring 2010

Having previously worked in New Jersey at Bell Telephone

Over the next several years, both professors will still maintain a presence in the department;

training new faculty, advising students. George Williams is slated to teach again in the fall. Both professors will be warmly remembered for their years of service to the department.