Archived Newsletters

December 2009 Newsletter

In This Issue

Officers

  • Chair: Louis F. DiMauro
  • Chair Elect: Christopher Monroe
  • Vice Chair: Gerald Gabrielse
  • Past Chair: Pierre Meystre
  • Secretary/Treasurer: Carol E. Tanner
  • Councillor: Paul Julienne

Members-at-Large

  • Elizabeth McCormack
  • Jun Ye
  • Linda Young
  • Nicolas Bigelow
  • Paul Lett
  • Chii-Dong Lin

From the Chair

From: Louis DiMauro, The Ohio State University

I recently returned from Houston where I had the opportunity to visit the conference site of DAMOP 2010 and meet with the local organizing committee. The meeting venue is the Hyatt Regency in downtown Houston. The Hyatt is newly renovated, the meeting rooms are spacious & equipped with modern A/V equipment, there is sufficient space for extracurricular discussions and the hotel has many amenities typical of an up-scale facility. Furthermore, all the meeting rooms will be in close proximity. Plus there are many options for dining and sightseeing in the immediate vicinity or a short trip to the Rice University district on the Houston light rail. Most importantly, our local organizing committee at Rice University has managed to maintain the cost of the meeting consistent with previous years both for the DAMOP and its membership. So you should not see an increase in expenses, in fact since Houston is a major city with many airline options the cost of travel should be economical. Furthermore, the negotiated room rates for the Hyatt are very reasonably priced and Rice has set up a Google group link on the DAMOP 2010 website for people looking to share rooms.

I encourage everyone to submit abstracts and send their students, the venue and program promises to be exciting!

Speaking about the program, session topics have been selected by our hard working program committee and invitations have been sent to speakers. We had over 100 total proposals for either Invited or FOCUS sessions, which made the selection process very difficult. In the end, the committee has put together an excellent program that highlights cutting edge physics and the breadth of our community. The deadline for contributed abstracts is Friday, January 22, 2010 (see additional information below). These papers are the foundation of our conference and a valuable opportunity for junior PIs to cut their teeth. This year, as in the past, there will be a number of FOCUS sessions. The aim is to coordinate new emerging areas relevant to DAMOP membership into their own session. Typically, a FOCUS session has two invited speakers and a number of related contributed papers. To encourage your abstract contributions I would like to highlight these FOCUS sessions here. The list, in no particular order, is:

  • Novel Cooling Techniques for Atomic, Molecular, and Opto-Mechanical Systems
  • Strongly Interacting Fermi Gases
  • Many-body Physics with Ultra-cold Atoms: Experiment and Simulations
  • Cold and Ultra-cold Molecules
  • Molecular High-order Harmonic Generation and Photoionization
  • Strong Field Orientation and Alignment
  • Strong Field Coherent Control
  • Rydberg Atoms and Molecules
  • Symmetry Paradoxes in AMO physics
  • Molecular Spectroscopy
  • Quantum Simulation and Complexity
  • Hybrid AMO-Condensed Matter Systems for Quantum Information Science
  • Tests of Local Lorentz Invariance

Early December also meant getting ready for the March meeting. The meeting this year will take place in Portland, OR from March 15 - 19, 2010. As you know DAMOP’s presence at this meeting has increased over the years, and this time is no different. DAMOP has 216 contributed abstracts and a total of 17 sessions. I would like to thank our March meeting subcommittee (Brian DeMarco [chair], Erich Mueller, Lincoln Carr and Mark Saffman) for putting together a strong program. I am particularly grateful to Lincoln, Gretchen Campbell, Karl Nelson and Yu-Ju Lin for undertaking the arduous task of sorting all the abstracts at APS headquarters. When you see them, pat them on the head for a job well done.

Just a reminder, DAMOP 2010 will be held in Houston from May 25-29 jointly with the Division of Atomic and Molecular Physics and Photon Interactions (DAMPhi) of the Canadian Association of Physicists. DAMOP 2010 will officially kick-off with the Prize session on Wednesday morning. Join me in congratulating both Chris Greene (Colorado), recipient of the Davisson-Germer Prize, and Mark Kushner (Michigan), recipient of the Will Allis Prize. Chris and Mark have kindly agreed to present their work in the opening ceremonies. More program information will be posted on the DAMOP 2010 website as it becomes available.

Finally, I would like to encourage community members to nominate a colleague for DAMOP fellowship. The deadline for nominations is April 1, 2010 and a description of the procedure can be found online. You can also contact Gerry Gabrielse, chair of the DAMOP fellows committee.

I wish everyone happy holidays and a good New Year!

DAMOP/DAMPhi 2010: General Information

  • Conference Dates: May 25-29, 2010
  • Place: Hyatt Regency Hotel Houston, TX
  • APS Meeting ID: DAMOP10
  • Local conference website
  • Abstract Submission Deadline: January 22, 2010
  • Early Registration Deadline: March 31, 2010
  • Conference Hotel Rates Guaranteed Until: April 25, 2010
  • Graduate Student Symposium Registration Deadline: April 30, 2010
  • Preregistration Deadline: April 30, 2010 (after this date registration is onsite only)

Registration
This year registration is being handled through the APS. The DAMOP 2010 meeting is open to all; APS members, DAMOP members, APS reciprocal societies (see below), and non-members.

Online Registration
Online registrants will receive an automatic email confirmation receipt. Register online. 

Fax or Mail Registration
To register by fax or regular mail, download and complete the DAMOP Meeting Registration Form.
Fax the form with your credit card information to phone number: 301-209-3652
Or mail the form with your credit card information or check to:
APS Meetings Department, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844

Registration for Members of APS Reciprocal Societies
Members of APS Reciprocal Societies should NOT register online. Instead, download and complete the DAMOP Registration Form and Fax or Mail the form as described. A list of APS reciprocal societies can be found online. 

Joining APS and DAMOP at the time of registration
Complete the APS Membership Application Form. Include payment for both registration and membership.

Membership Application

Matching Membership Program

Abstract Submission

The deadline for contributed abstract submission is January 22, 2010. Abstract submission information.

Submit your abstract through the APS website.

DAMOP/DAMPhi 2010: Information from Local Organizing Committee

The 41st annual meeting of the Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics (DAMOP) of the American Physical Society is being held jointly with our Canadian counterparts from the Division of Atomic and Molecular Physics and Photon Interactions (DAMPhi) The meeting will take place in Houston, Texas from May 25 through May 29, 2010. The conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, with local organization provided by DAMOP members from Rice University and Texas Southern University.

On site check-in and registration will open on Tuesday May 25, on the 4th floor of the Hyatt. Some committee meetings will be held on Tuesday and the Welcome Reception will take place on Tuesday evening at 6:00 pm at the Hyatt.

The regular scientific sessions will begin at 8:00 am Wednesday May 26, 2010 and extend until about 1 pm Saturday May 29. Poster sessions will take place on Wednesday through Friday afternoons. On Wednesday evening, May 26, a public lecture will be given by Prof. Gérard Mourou of the Director, Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) and Ecole Polytechnique. Professor Mourou will present a talk on Lasers in honor of the 50th anniversary of their invention.

The conference banquet will take place on Friday May 28. The after dinner talk "Physics and the Search for Hydrocarbons" will be presented by Dr. Brian Clark. Dr. Clark is a Schlumberger Fellow based at the Schlumberger Sugar Land Product Center near Houston. He received his PhD in AMO physics from Harvard University where he worked with Frank Pipkin. He then spent several years at Brandeis University before joining Schlumberger. He was named "2002 Texas Inventor of the Year". His role in developing measurement while drilling technology was recognized by the 1996 "Formation Evaluation Award" from the Society of Petroleum Engineers. He has served on the Governing Board of the AIP and is a member of the Corporate Associates Advisory Committee of the APS.

The local conference website contains further information relating to the conference and links to additional websites.

Graduate Student Symposium
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the invention of the laser, a Graduate Student Symposium will be held to introduce students to modern technologies and applications using lasers. This symposium will be held on Tuesday, May 25, 2010, in Hertzstein Hall room 210 on the campus of Rice University. The registration fee for the symposium is $50.00. Students can register for the symposium during preregistration online, fax, or mail. A complimentary box lunch will be provided to all participants. In the afternoon, a tour of the Rice University AMO physics labs will follow the symposium. Additional information can be found online. 

Travel to Houston
Houston has two airports: Bush Intercontinental to the north, and Hobby, which is slightly closer and to the south. Many airlines have frequent service to either airport, but Bush Intercontinental is a hub for Continental Airlines, and Hobby is served mainly by Southwest Airlines. Directions on getting to the Hyatt can be found on the website.

Accommodations
The conference will be conducted entirely in the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Very reasonable room rates have been negotiated with the Hyatt and can be accessed via the website.
If you need to find a roommate, the conference website has a bulletin board set up for this purpose.

Accompanying Persons Information
Details of the accompanying persons program are posted on the website.

Invitations for Visa Purposes
The local website contains instructions for obtaining a letter of invitation for visa purposes.

DAMOP 2010: Additional Information

Student Travel Support
The level of student participation in DAMOP meetings continues to be a central point in the planning of our annual event. Student travel funds assist students who might not otherwise be able to attend. For the last annual meeting the DAMOP Educational Committee obtained student travel funds from several agencies: NIST, ARO, AFOSR NSF, and DAMOP. Last year over 100 students applied for support, and 85 students received up to a total of $500 each in travel support.

Only students who submit an abstract and attend the conference can receive support. To apply for student travel support you must: (1) submit your abstract through the APS website by the January 22, 2010 deadline, and (2) make an email request for Student Travel Support by following the instructions on the web page.

The deadline for requests this year is Friday March 19, 2010.

Special Undergraduate Session at the DAMOP 2010 Annual Meeting
The deadline for applications to participate in the Special Undergraduate Session is Wednesday, January 13, 2010. From the applications received, the Committee will select up to five students to present the results of their work. Travel assistance will be available to those undergraduate students selected. Submissions are welcome in a wide range of topics, including AMO, chemical, plasma, condensed-matter, computational, biological, and nuclear physics. Participation is limited to currently enrolled undergraduate students. Applications from women and minority students are especially encouraged. The oral presentations should be 20 minutes long, including time for discussion. Applications should be sent to: jan.chaloupka@unco.edu

The body of that email should include the following:

  1. title,
  2. authors and affiliations, and
  3. a one-page summary written by the student describing the project and his/her contribution.

In addition, the student should attach to their email an abstract in the proper APS format. Finally, the student's sponsor (mentor) should submit a separate letter of recommendation to the email address above. All application materials must be received no later than Wednesday, January 13, 2010. Please DO NOT submit the abstract directly to the APS abstract website. Any questions regarding applications to the DAMOP special undergraduate session should be addressed to Jan Chaloupka Chair of the DAMOP Education Committee at: jan.chaloupka@unco.edu

For those students selected to participate in this special session, the Committee will submit the abstracts directly to DAMOP. The abstracts must conform to APS style and length formats for a contributed paper. To check compliance go to http://abstracts.aps.org, select Start Abstract Submission, designate Test Web Abstract, provide the information requested, and paste the text of the abstract into the indicated box. This will display the abstract as it will appear in the program and will also show any formatting problems.

DAMOP 2010 Annual Meeting-Abstract Submission

The deadline for contributed abstracts is Friday January 22, 2010. Submit your abstract through the APS website.

DAMOP 2010 Sorting Categories for Annual Meeting May 25-29, 2010

  1. Atomic and Molecular Structure and Properties
    1.1 Spectroscopy, lifetimes, oscillator strengths

    1.2 Atomic and molecular structure, including in static fields

    1.3 Fundamental symmetries and precision measurements

    1.4 Focus Session: Symmetry Paradoxes in AMO physics

    1.5 Focus Session: Molecular Spectroscopy

    1.6 Focus Session: Tests of Local Lorentz Invariance

  2. Photon Interactions with Atoms, Ions, and Molecules
    2.1 Atomic photoionization and photodetachment processes

    2.2 Molecular photoionization, photodetachment, and photodissociation processes

    2.3 Physics with ultra-intense lasers

    2.4 High harmonic and attosecond pulse generation

    2.5 Atomic and molecular dynamics in intense laser fields

    2.6 Perturbative and resonant multiphoton processes

    2.7 Focus session: Molecular High-order Harmonic Generation and Photoionization

    2.8 Focus session: Strong Field Orientation and Alignment

  3. Atomic, Molecular, and Charged Particle Collisions
    3.1 Atom-atom and atom-molecule collisions

    3.2 Reactive scattering and recombination processes

    3.3 Electron-Atom Collisions

    3.4 Electron-Molecule Collisions

    3.5 Collisions involving antimatter

    3.6 Ion-atom and ion-ion collisions

    3.7 Collisions involving clusters

    3.8 Collisions involving surfaces

  4. Quantum Optics, Matter Optics, and Coherent Control
    4.1 Atom optics

    4.2 Matter wave interferometry

    4.3 Quantum and/or nonlinear optics

    4.4 Slowing and stopping light

    4.5 Focus session: Strong Field Coherent Control

    4.6 Focus session: Novel Cooling Techniques for Atomic, Molecular, and Opto-Mechanical Systems

  5. Quantum Information
    5.1 Entanglement, decoherence, and error correction

    5.2 Quantum cryptography and communication

    5.3 Quantum computation

    5.4 Quantum measurement

    5.5 Focus Session: Quantum Simulation and Complexity

    5.6 Focus Session: Hybrid AMO-Condensed Matter Systems for Quantum Information Science

  6. Cold Atoms, Molecules, and Plasmas
    6.1 Bose-Einstein condensates

    6.2 Degenerate Fermi gases

    6.3 Atoms in optical lattices

    6.4 Dynamic and out-of-equilibrium phenomena in cold atoms

    6.5 Ultracold collisions and photoassociation processes

    6.6 Quantum Monte Carlo calculations of cold gases

    6.7 Laser cooling and trapping

    6.8 Low temperature plasmas

    6.9 Focus session: Strongly Interacting Fermi Gases

    6.10 Focus session: Many-body Physics with Ultra-cold Atoms Experiment and Simulations

    6.11 Focus session: Cold and Ultra-cold Molecules

  7. Special Topics
    7.1 Exotic atoms and molecules

    7.2 Nonlinear dynamics

    7.3 New experimental techniques

    7.4 New theoretical methods

    7.5 Applications of AMO science

    7.6 Focus Session: Rydberg Atoms and Molecules

APS International Travel Grant Award Program

Following the initiative of the APS Forum on International Physics (FIP), the sponsors of the APS International Travel Grant Award Program (ITGAP) recognize that funding for collaborations between developed and developing country scientists is often insufficient to meet existing needs and opportunities. While the needs are great, and though we have only limited resources to stimulate growth of longer-term collaborations, we believe that an International Travel Grant Award Program, even a modest one, can make a significant difference.

The amount of the award is up to US$2,000 for travel and lodging expenses for international travel while visiting a collaborator. The collaborative visit must be for a period of at least one month. One or both partners (co-applicants) in the collaboration must be an APS member and a member of at least one of the APS units that sponsors the ITGAP. When rank-ordering applications, consideration will be given to: A. Merit (1. Past record of research accomplishments and promise of future accomplishments; 2. Invited talks to be delivered during the trip, especially talks at APS-sponsored meetings.) B. Need (1. Under-represented countries and ethnic groups will be given priority; 2. Resources available from other sources with matching funds will be considered as a positive factor while potential support available, but not sought, from other sources as a negative factor.)

The application deadline for the current (11th) cycle is Wednesday, 6 January 2010

Further details and a link to the application form can be found online.

Precision Measurement Grants Deadline 5 February 2010

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) expects to make two new Precision Measurement Grants that start on 1 October 2010. Each grant is in the amount of $50,000 per year and may be renewed for two additional years for a total of $150,000. They are awarded primarily to faculty members at U.S. universities or colleges for research in the field of fundamental measurement or the determination of fundamental physical constants. Applications must reach NIST by 5 pm EST on 5 February 2010. Details are on the website. 

For further information contact:

Peter J. Mohr,
NIST Precision Measurement Grants Program,
National Institute of Standards and Technology
STOP 8420, 100 Bureau Drive
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8420
Phone: 301-975-3217

IUPAP Young Scientist Prize Deadline February 1, 2010

Nominations are being sought for the IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics. This prize is to be awarded for the fourth time in the year 2010 by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics through Commission C15 (AMO Physics). The prize will be awarded during the 22nd International Conference on Atomic Physics (ICAP 2010) to be held in Cairns, Australia, July 25 - 30, 2010. The Prize includes a medal, a EURO 1000 award and an invited presentation at ICAP 2010.

The nominee is expected to have made original and outstanding contributions to the field of AMO physics. The leading personal contribution of the recipient to the achievement must be clearly identifiable when the work was performed in collaboration. Nominees for the prize should have a maximum of 8 years of research experience (excluding career interruption) following the PhD on January 1, 2010.

Nominations should include: (1) a letter of not more than 1,000 words evaluating the nominee’s achievements and identifying the specific work to be recognized, (2) a curriculum vitae including all publications, (3) a brief biographical sketch not exceeding two pages. NOTE: Self-nominations will not be considered.

Nominations should be sent to:

Dr. Katharine B. Gebbie
NIST
100 Bureau Drive,
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8400, USA

Further information about the IUPAP can be found at: http://www.iupap.org/

Congratulations to APS Prize & Award Winners

Prizes and Awards Spnsored by DAMOP

2010 Davisson-Germer Prize in Atomic or Surface Physics
Chris H. Greene, JILA & University of Colorado
Citation: For seminal contributions to theoretical AMO physics, including dissociative recombination, ultracold matter, and high-harmonic generation, and for the prediction of 'trilobite' long-range molecules

2010 Will Allis Prize for the Study of Ionized Gases
Mark J. Kushner, University of Michigan
Citation: For ground-breaking contributions to developing and applying hybrid plasma models that have advanced the fundamental understanding of the chemistry, surface kinetics, and energy transport in low temperature plasmas.

DAMOP Members Win Prizes and Awards Through Other APS Units

2010 Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Science

Two Recipients:

  • Henry C. Kapteyn, JILA & University of Colorado
    Citation: For pioneering work in the area of the ultra-fast laser science, including development of ultra-fast optical and coherent soft x-ray sources
  • Margaret M. Murnane, JILA & University of Colorado
    Citation: For pioneering work in the area of ultra-fast laser science, including development of ultra-fast optical and coherent soft x-ray sources

2010 Prize for a Faculty Member for Research in an Undergraduate Institution

Enrique Galvez, Colgate University
Citation: For his contributions to quantum optics, his enthusiastic inclusion of undergraduates in a significant way in his research, and his contributions to the wider physics community

Prize and Award Nomination Procedures

Prize and award nomination packets include a substantial amount of supporting material so please do not wait until the last minute. More information on APS prizes and awards and their deadlines can be found at these websites:

New APS Fellows Through DAMOP

Congratulations to all new APS fellows. New APS Fellows sponsored by DAMOP (listed below) will be presented with their certificates and pins at the DAMOP 2010 banquet.

Gao, Bo, University of Toledo
Citation: For contributions to the quantum-defect theory of cold atom interactions and the analyses of the associated mathematical special functions.

Kuzmich, Alexander M., Georgia Institute of Technology
Citation: For experimental work with atomic ensembles that have advanced our understanding of atom-atom and atom-light entanglement, demonstating the feasibility of quantum repeaters.

Muga, Juan G., Universidad del Pais Vasco
Citation: For pioneering theoretical work on tunneling time in quantum mechanics and for the development of the concept of the atom diode and its application to cooling of atoms.

Naduvalath, Balakrishnan, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Citation: For seminal contributions to the understanding of molecular energy transfer and chemical reactivity in ultra-cold atom-molecule systems.

Onofrio, Roberto, Dartmouth College
Citation: For contributions to measurement theory and experimental techniques, and their applications to a broad spectrum of quantum systems, in particular the Casimir force.

Ralchenko, Yuri, NIST
Citation: For significant contributions to the relativistic theory of highly-charged ions and collisional-radiative modeling, and through creation of online codes and databases for the atomic physics community.

Remacle, Francoise, University of Liege
Citation: For studies of systems with a high density of states such as Rydberg systems, quantum dot arrays and peptides, and their utilization in molecular information processing and attoscience.

Fellowship Nominations Procedures
The APS FELLOWSHIP Deadline is April 1, 2010. Vice Chair Gerald Gabrielse is the chair of the DAMOP Fellowship Committee. Although the deadline is April 1, 2010, he would like to remind everyone that it is not too early to start preparing your nominations. Please contact Gerald Gabrielse with your suggestions or questions regarding nominations.

DAMOP 2011 The 42nd Annual Meeting

Finally, it is not too early to mark your calendars with the dates of the next annual meeting: June 13-17, 2011, Marriott Atlanta Marquis Hotel and Conference Center,Atlanta, GA

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