newsmakers
IN THE NEWS

 

Fall 2011

Summer 2011

Spring 2011

  • Dr. Hendrik Weimer receives the CO.CO.MAT dissertation prize for his outstanding works in the area of many-body phenomena in strongly interacting Rydberg gases. These works provide a bridge between atomic physics of single Rydberg atoms and condensed matter physics for the description of many-body systems, and additionally show important applications within quantum information technology. His proposal for a quantum simulator using Rydberg atoms is a milestone in the emulation and realization of quantum systems with complex many-body interactions.

Spring 2010

  • Seth Rittenhouse and Hossein Sadeghpour's recently publish work in Phys. Rev. Letters, was featured in an article Science News, "A giant proposal for a new type of molecule". Links to the online article can be found here (http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/59987/title/A_giant_proposal_for_a_new_type_of_molecule)

 

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  • Former ITAMP Postdoc, Thomas Pohl will receive the Gustav-Hertz-Award 2010 for young physicists. The citation of the award reads, "For the theoretical description of the formation of anti-hydrogen in high magnetic fields and the associated creation of the basis for future experiments with antihydrogen in the ground state" The 31-year-old scientist was honored for his theoretical work on the generation of anti-hydrogen. This artificially produced element is the counterpart of the naturally occurring hydrogen. It consists of anti-matter, namely, from a negatively charged anti-proton and a positively charged positron. The interest in anti-hydrogen stems from the fact that it is possible to verify fundamental theories of physics using such man-made atoms.

     The production of anti-hydrogen is technically complex. Thomas Pohl has focused on this process, which is complex even from a theoretical point of view. The starting point of his investigations is an "ultracold plasma." This is a gas-like, extremely cold mixture of anti-protons and positrons, which may generate anti-hydrogen atoms by recombination (association). In this context, Pohl succeeded, for example, in theoretically understaning and re-interpreting the speed measured in experiments with anti-hydrogen atoms. To keep the neutral anti-hydrogen atoms as motionless and localized as possible is difficult but necessary for experiments on "CPT violation." It involves the review of one of the fundamental theories of physics. Thus a precise knowledge of the velocity of the anti-atoms is important.

     The award will be presented in March 2010 during the DPG meeting in Hanover. Previous prize winners (in AMO) include, Dierter Wintgen (1993), Wolfgang Ketterle (1997)

 
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  • ITAMP's postdoc, Seth Rittenhouse makes the cover of Physics Today -- March 2010 Volume 63, Issue 3, with an illustration representing one view of a wavefunction for a collision between two weakly bound dimers composed of fermionic atoms. The calculations underlying the figure are at the forefront of theoretical work that explores universal properties in few-body systems—that is, features that are independent of the details of particle interactions. Chris Greene’s article, beginning on page 40, surveys universal physics in few-body systems, from a startling prediction offered in 1970 to recent theoretical and experimental advances. (Courtesy of Seth Rittenhouse.) View the pdf of the cover here

Fall 2009

  • MS-NBC.com reported on Randall Hulet's presentation at ITAMP's Oct workshop, “Efimov States in Molecules and Nuclei: Theoretical Methods and New Experiments” (co-sponsored with Sapienza University of Roma and the Lincei Academy, Corsini Palace, Rome ITALY) “When physicist Vitaly Efimov heard his theory had finally been proven, he ran up to…<Randall Hulet>… who had verified it and gave him a high five.” http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34445895/ns/technology_and_science-science
  • On Tuesday Nov. 3, 2009, Prof. Edward Gerjuoy, U. of Pittsburgh, a Ph.D. student of Oppenheimer's in Berkeley, California during the period August 1938 to January 1942, gave a talk on his recollections of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer, who was born on April 22, 1904, was celebrated in a June, 2004 Los Alamos Symposium. Gerjuoy, concentrated on conveying a portrait of Oppenheimer as creator and inspiration of probably the most important pre-war United States school of theoretical physics. During a portion of this period (the 1940 academic year) Julian Schwinger, who shared the 1965 Nobel Prize for the development of the modern formulation of quantum electrodynamics and deservedly has been termed a genius, was employed as what today would be termed Oppenheimer's post doc. Therefore, especially because Schwinger now seems almost forgotten, although he died only fifteen years ago (on July 16, 1994), Gerjuoy also recalled some of Schwinger's interactions with Oppenheimer and Oppenheimer's students, in an attempt to convey some comprehension of Schwinger's astonishing theoretical physics talents. Video of this talk can be found here.
  • Director News:  In July 2009, Dr. Kate Kirby, former ITAMP Director became the Executive Director of the American Physical Society. Kate has been a recognized leader of ITAMP and AMO community for many years. Replacing her will be an extremely challenging task. Mikhail Lukin and Hossein Sadeghpour have assumed the roles of Director and Deputy Director, respectively.

Spring 2009

  • We're delighted that Misha Lukin has been awarded the APS I. I. Rabi prize for 2009. The prize citation reads "For pioneering theoretical and experimental work at the interface between quantum optics, quantum information processing, and the quantum many body problem." More info is available at http://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/rabi.cfm. Congratulations Misha.
  • One of our alums, Andrei Derevianko (University of Nevada-Reno) has been elected as an APS Fellow. His citation reads "For elucidating the role of the Breit interaction in atomic parity non-conservation, demonstrating the importance of higher-order non-dipole corrections in low-energy photoionization, and for pioneering calculations of higher-order many-body corrections to atomic energies and matrix elements.

Fall 2008

  • December: ITAMP former postdoc, Dr. Robin Santra, has been selected as a recipient of the 2007 Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers. The award ceremonies at the White House and at DOE took place on December 19, 2008.
    Robin Santra (DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois) was recognized for his theoretical contributions to the field of atomic, molecular, and optical science in the areas of high-order harmonic generation and strong-field absorption and ionization; and for scientific mentoring of students and the public.
    The Presidential Early Career Award is the Nation’s highest honor for professionals at the outset of their independent scientific research careers. Sixty-seven total researchers were honored in a ceremony presided over by Dr. John H. Marbuger III, Science Advisor to the President and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In addition to a citation and a plaque, each winner receives up to five years of funding from their agency to advance his or her research.
    For full press releases, go to: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/12/20081219-10.html, and http://www.energy.gov/news/6815.htm

 

  • September:  Alexander Dalgarno, Phillips Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University and Senior Research Physicist at Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory celebrated his 80th Birthday at a symposium held in his honor that featured highlights of his on-going scientific legacy. Professor Dalgarno has made seminal contributions to our understanding of atomic and molecular structure and spectroscopy, and processes involving interactions of atoms and molecules with electrons, ions, and radiation.Over a span of more than five decades he has applied his deep insight regarding physics on the atomic scale to the physics of astronomical environments, as well as the atmospheres of the earth and solar system planets. 
    Dalgarno has educated and worked with literally hundreds of students, postdoctoral fellows and scientific collaborators. He has played an important leadership role in the theoretical atomic, molecular and optical physics community by creating the Institute for Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, funded by the National Science Foundation. More information about the workshop can be found on the workshop website: http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/itamp/DalgarnoSymposium.html.

Spring 2008

Fall 2007

  • Dr. Vasili Kharchenko's retrospective of the 50th anniversary of the Sputnik launch and it's impact on his generation living in Russia was published in the Opt Ed section of the Boston Globe on Oct 9, 2007. Read his article "Behind the Iron Curtain".

 

  • Dr. Peter Rabl, who has just joined ITAMP in Sep. 2007 as a Postdoctoral Fellow, was awarded the Ludwig-Boltzmann-Prize of the Austrian Physical Society (OePG). Peter Rabl received this prize in recognition of his Ph.D.-Thesis: "Towards Hybrid Quantum Processors: Interfacing Quantum Optical and Solid State Physics", which he submitted at the University of Innsbruck in October 2006. In this work Dr. Rabl studied coherent interactions between AMO and solid state based qubits in the context of new quantum computing architectures.
    The Ludwig-Boltzmann Prize is granted by the OePG every other year to a talented scientist under the age of 35 for significant contributions in the field of theoretical physics. The prize is currently endowed with a monetary sum of 2200 Euros and is considered the highest Austrian award for young physicists. The award ceremony takes place in the presence of the Austrian Minister of Science at the annual meeting of the OePG in Krems.

 

  • Dr. Ana-Maria Rey Ayala, was awarded this year's Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences prize by the Alejandro Angel Escobar Foundation in recognition of her Ph. D. Thesis titled "Ultra-cold bosonic atoms in optical lattices". This work was done during her graduate studies at the University of Maryland, College Park, and focused on the dynamics of bosonic atoms loaded in optical lattices close to the Mott Insulator transition.
    The Alejandro Angel Escobar Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental organization, devoted to the promotion of scientific investigation and social development programs in Colombia through the annual awarding of the Alejandro Angel Escobar Prizes in science and solidarity (www.faae.org.co/html/foundation.htm). These prizes are considered as the highest scientific recognition in Colombia, not only for the high qualifications of those who have received them but also for the rigorousness of the juries that have awarded them year after year. Annually, one prize in each of the following fields is awarded to fully completed works undertaken by Colombian citizens: Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities, and Environment and Development.

Spring 2007

  • Dr. Robin Santra (ITAMP Postdoc 2004) was named the winner of the first IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in AMO Phyiscs. Dr. Santra is currently an Assistant Physicist in the Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Group of the Chemistry Division of Argone National Laboratory. He was selected among a large number of nominees identified in a world-wide search. Santra, who received his Ph.D. in physics from Heidelberg University in 2001 and was an ITAMP Postdoc in 2004 was cited for his pioneering Theoretical contributions in the AMO field in particular to the phenomenon of interatomic Coulombic decay.
    The Young Scientist Prize was created by the IUPAP General Assembly Meeting in Johannesburg (South Africa) in 2005 to recognize outstanding young scientists who have already made significant contributions to their field of research early in their career within the first 8 years after completion of the Ph.D. The award ceremony will take place during the XXV International Conerence on Photonic, Electronic and Atomic Collisions (ICPEAC) in Freiburg, Germany, July 25-31, 2007.

Fall 2006

  • RIKEN Institue Research has featured a recent article by T Pohl, H. Sadeghpour, Y. Nagata and Y. Yamazaki (PRL 2006), on cooling of antihydrogen in a magnetic trap. http://www.rikenresearch.riken.jp/research/151/ The report was also picked up by Asahi Shinbun, one of the biggest newspaper companies in Japan.

Spring 2006

  • Dr. Ana-Maria Rey, ITAMP Postdoctoral Fellow, who won the 2005 The American Physics Society's Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Research Prize in Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, has joined ITAMP as a postdoctoral fellow in Fall 2005. She was presented with the prize in the 2005 DAMOP annual meeting in Lincoln, NE. You could read on her citation for the prize here, http://www.aps.org/praw/dissdamo/05winner-rey.cfm.

 

  • Dr. Thomas Pohl, ITAMP Postdoctoral Fellow, was chosen as a finalist in the 2006 APS Thesis Prize. He will present his thesis in an invited talk in the 2006 meeting of DAMOP in May 2006.

 

  • Dr. Thomas Pohl, ITAMP Postdoctoral Fellow, was awarded the Otto Hahn Medal of the Max-Planck-Society on July 12, 2006 in a ceremony in Frankfurt. The citation for his medal reads: "For pioneering work on the theory and simulation of ultracold plasmas, and in particular for the prediction, that laser-cooling of a freely expanding plasma an lead to its crystallization."

Summer 2006

  • Prof. Eric Heller, ITAMP Scientist and Professor of Physics and Chemistry at Harvard University, elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
Fall 2005

Fall 2004

  • Dr. Kate Kirby, ITAMP Director, and Frances A. Houle published, "Ethics and the Welfare of the Physics Profession", in Physics Today, (Nov 2004, pp 42-46) The article is a response to a survey by an APS task force on eithics and the concerns raised in these responses by younger members of the physics community about the treatment of subordinates and about other ethical issues.

Fall 2003

  • December 11, 2003, CNN News, Technology. In a scientific first, Dr. Mikhail Lukin explains of how light pulses have been brought to a halt without losing energy. 

Fall 2001

Spring 2001

Summer 2001

 

Fall 2000

 

Spring 2000

 

  • May 1, 2000 in Physical Review Letters,  M. D. Lukin, S. F. Yelin, and M. Fleischhauer, publish "Light trapping predicted".