Archived Newsletters

From the Chair

Tim Gay

Welcome to Calgary

Our annual meeting in Calgary, to be held jointly with the Canadian Association of Physicist's Division of Atomic and Molecular Physics and Photonic Interactions (DAMPhi), is less than three months away. Early indications are that we will have more than 800 attendees. Coupled with an exciting and diverse scientific program, this promises to be the best DAMOP Meeting yet.

Before we meet together, there are two issues I would like the membership to consider. One is scientific, one organizational.

As I mentioned in November, the size of our meeting is continuing to grow, to the point where we can expect to see our first 1000+ attendee meeting in the near future. This is a result of our success as a scientific community. It also means, however, that the annual DAMOP meeting is no longer the cozy get-together it used to be. This fact serves as a backdrop for the issue at hand: to what extent should we have official relationships with either the Topical Group on Precision Measurements and Fundamental Constants (TGPMFC) or the Topical Group on Quantum Information (TGQI)? (We will not consider in this discussion our long-standing interactions with two other APS Divisions – Laser Science and Chemical Physics. Also, at present, we have a formal, standing relationship with the Gaseous Electronics Conference (GEC).)

Currently, about one-third of the TGQI membership, or 250 people, belong to DAMOP. This is by far the largest plurality of their members that belong to another Division. The next-best represented Division in the TGQI is the Division of Condensed Matter Physics (DCMP) at 176 members. As it stands, the TGQI formally sponsors sessions at the APS March Meeting and holds its business meeting there, while also having active representation on our Program Committee. Thus, in Calgary, there will be a session on “The State of the Art in Quantum Cryptography.” Should the TGQI begin to officially sponsor symposia at our meeting? This would acknowledge the important role played by AMO Science in QI, and would strengthen our relationship with one of our core constituencies. If there is a downside here, it is that a formal TGQI presence at our meeting could cause it to grow even larger.

The same issue pertains to the TGPMFC. More than half of its members belong to DAMOP, and the shared history of the two groups is long and distinguished. In Calgary, there will be two symposia with a strong precision measurements component: “Cold Molecules” and “Quantum Metrology and Imaging.” The TGPMFC has its “official” meeting in conjunction with the April APS meeting, while maintaining its strong representation at DAMOP. Should we consider inviting them to move their formal meeting in with us, and have them officially co-sponsor symposia?

These issues are tied up with the system that APS is developing for symposia proposals. Last year, we “piggy-backed” on the old website used by the Division of Condensed Matter Physics (DCMP) for symposium proposals to the March Meeting. This generated some confusion about whether proposals were intended for the March Meeting or our Annual Meeting. The DCMP is now using the new APS system to do this, and we must presumably begin to use this system as well. This would make any coordination of programs between DAMOP, TGPMFC, and TGQI easier to implement.

We will discuss all of these issues at the DAMOP business meeting in Calgary. In the meantime, I urge you to contact me or one of the other members of the Executive Committee to give us your input on these concerns.

Finally, the organizational issue we need to resolve is that of content and frequency for emailing to all DAMOP Members. One school of thought contends that anytime any DAMOP member wishes to send an announcement to the entire community, the Secretary/Treasurer should simply do this, in the interests of serving the membership. APS does not charge us to do this, although there can often be a significant time delay between our request for an all-member email and the actual mailing from APS. The counter argument for open membership access to broadcast emails is that this could easily lead to two or three emails sent out per month by DAMOP, thus diluting the impact of important DAMOP announcements regarding, e.g., elections and abstract due dates. At present, we have no firm policy on this issue, but plan to develop one soon. Again, your input would be appreciated. See you in Calgary!

DAMOP Election of Officers

All DAMOP members should have recently received an email announcing the 2007 Election of Officers and providing the appropriate web link to view the candidate biographies and to cast votes. Please check your email inbox for this email and cast your vote right away.

As always, the efficient and effective operation of DAMOP critically depends on having both an excellent pool of candidates and your action to vote. We thank Thad Walker and the members of the Nominating Committee and, most especially, the candidates willing to stand for election as DAMOP officers: DAMOP Vice Chair – Lou DiMauro and Ron Walsworth, and DAMOP Executive Committee – Brett Esry, Robert Jones, Liz McCormack, and Jun Ye.

Voting will close on April 30, 2007, but please vote early.

Congratulations to the new APS Fellows

Each year we recognize a small fraction of our membership by granting them Fellowship in the APS. We congratulate the 2006 recipients of this honor that were nominated by DAMOP, listed below. As a reminder, the deadline for 2007 nominations is April 16, 2007 (please see the DAMOP fellowship and honors webpage, and the APS fellowship instructions.

Arnold, Susan Theresa
Air Force Research Laboratory
Citation: For outstanding achievements in anion laser photoelectron spectroscopy and the kinetics and dynamics of ion-molecule, electron-molecule, and electron-ion reactions of importance in the atmospheric and aerospace sciences.

Averbukh, Ilya
Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
Citation: For pioneering contributions to the understanding of wave packet dynamics in atoms and molecules, particularly the sequence of revivals and fractional revivals.

Esry, Brett Daniel
Kansas State University
Citation: For contributions to the theory of few-body physics at ultracold temperatures and its impact on our understanding of trapped atoms, molecules and Efimov states, and degenerate quantum gases.

Hanne, George Friedrich
Universitat Munster, Germany
Citation: For his studies of spin-dependent effects in electron-atom collisions using polarized electrons, and particularly his prediction and experimental verification of the "fine-structure effect".

Hebner, Gregory A.
Sandia National Laboratories
Citation: For investigations of, and contributions to, the science of atomic and molecular processes in plasmas through development of innovative optical, microwave and rf diagnostics.

Hillery, Mark
Hunter College of CUNY
Citation: For his imaginative and pioneering work in quantum information theory and quantum optics and his effective contributions to Physical Review A on the Editorial Board and as Associate Editor.

Inguscio, Massimo
University of Florence, Italy
Citation: For pathbreaking experiments exploring the quantum dynamics of ultracold gases of atomic fermions and bosons, and for major advances in precision laser spectroscopy of the helium atom.

Masnou-Seeuws, Francoise
Laboratoire Aime Cotton, France
Citation: For the development and application of original procedures for high precision calculations of the properties of diatomic molecules and the creation of ultracold molecules by photoassociation of ultracold atoms.

Milburn, Gerard J.
University of Queensland, Australia
Citation: For seminal and fundamental contributions to the theory of quantum feedback and control and of optical implementations of quantum computation.

Nahar, Sultana Nurun
Ohio State University
Citation: For seminal contributions to studies of photoionization and recombination of multicharged atomic systems fundamental to atomic physics and plasma physics and pioneering calculations of remarkable complexity on astrophysically significant processes.

Raithel, Georg A.
University of Michigan
Citation: For research on collisions and excitation blockades in cold gases of Rydberg atoms, Rydberg-atom trapping, and cold-atoms in optical lattices, atom guides and strong magnetic fields.

Savin, Daniel Wolf
Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory
Citation: For his many and wide ranging contributions to atomic collision studies; their applications to astrophysics; and for catalyzing numerous astrophysically motivated research projects with other atomic, molecular, and optical scientists.

Stoof, Hendricus T.C.
Utrecht University, Netherlands
Citation: For pioneering contributions to the many-body theory of ultracold atomic gases, and especially for the development of the theory of Feshbach resonances in strongly interacting Bose and Fermi gases.

Tang, Kwong Tin
Pacific Lutheran University
Citation: For seminal theoretical contributions to our understanding of intermolecular forces, which govern the properties of gases, most liquids and insulator solids.

Taylor, Kenneth Thomas Andrew
Queen's University, Northern Ireland
Citation: For pioneering theoretical and computational studies of photon interactions with atoms and molecules, from the weak-field through strong-field regime.

Timmermans, Eddy M.
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Citation: For theoretical insights into trapped ultra-cold atoms, including novel superfluids in bosonic and fermionic systems, Feshbach resonances and atom-molecule coherence, and resonant light scattering.

Villeneuve, David M.
National Research Council of Canada
Citation: For the first observation of a single electron orbital wave function using high harmonic emission, and novel applications of femtosecond lasers to controlling molecular internal and external degrees of freedom.

Zouros, Theo J.M.
University of Crete
Citation: For his many years of exploration of ion-atom collisions through high-resolution electron spectroscopy and his study of inelastic scattering of electrons from highly-charged ions through the use of quasi-free electron targets.

DAMOP/DAMPhi 2007 – Information from the Local Committee

Rob Thompson

The 38th meeting of the Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics (DAMOP) of the American Physical Society will be held jointly with the Division of Atomic & Molecular Physics and Photonic Interactions (DAMPhi) of the Canadian Association of Physicists in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, from Tuesday, June 5 to Saturday, June 9, 2007. Make plans now to attend. See http://phas.ucalgary.ca/DAMOP07/ [Local Chair: Rob Thompson; Conference Secretariat: The Bayley Group].

The conference is once again bringing together a large number of quality presentations, with approximately 800 abstracts appearing in the conference program, forming a high quality series of invited, focus, and contributed sessions. The invited speaker list can be viewed at http://phas.ucalgary.ca/DAMOP07/invitedSessions.php .

Calgary is one of North America's most vibrant cities, at the foot of the Rockies close to the world famous towns of Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper. The June dates of DAMPOP/DAMPhi make this an ideal vacation opportunity and a chance to see this outstanding region.

Registration
The Deadline for Pre-Registration at the Early Registration Fee is 5:00 p.m. Friday, March 30, 2007 . On-line registration and printable registration forms are available on the DAMOP 2007 website under the Registration link. The registration fee includes all sessions, the Welcome Reception, the public lecture and the Conference banquet. Registration and Conference check-in will take place at the Palliser Hotel on Tuesday June 5th then at the TELUS Convention Center from the morning of Wednesday June 6th.

Special Events - Tuesday, June 5
Educators' Day returns to DAMOP for its second run with an exciting session being organized with Carl Wieman for teachers, college and university instructors, and even physics education students. The content will be two fold, focusing both on modern physics-instruction pedagogies, such as peer instruction, clickers, and instructional computer simulations, and on Atomic Physics research, with talks by Wieman, Debbie Jin, and Chris Monroe. Educators' Day activities will be held primarily on the Campus of the University of Calgary, although the educators will be joining conference attendees at the opening reception in Fairmont Palliser Hotel in the evening, so be sure to keep an eye out and introduce yourselves to these important people in the training of our next generation of students. The local organizers of Educators' Day for DAMOP 2007 are Phil Langill and Rob Thompson. For further information or visit the Educators' Day website at http://phas.ucalgary.ca/DAMOP07/educators.php .

As has become a regular event at recent DAMOP Meetings, a Graduate Student Symposium is planned for the morning and afternoon of June 5, 2007. The first half of the session, held at the Fairmont Palliser Hotel, will include tutorial presentations from four prominent AMO Physics researchers from Canada and the USA. These talks will be broken up by a catered lunch for all registered participants. Following the talks, participants will travel to the University of Calgary for tours of the university research facilities related to AMO Physics and Quantum Information Science. Speakers currently confirmed for this session include Bob McKellar (National Research Council of Canada) and Randy Hulet (Rice University). Pre-registration for this event, intended for graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, is required at a cost of $50 (Canadian dollars, CDN). Further information about the event, including a full list of speakers, topics, and abstracts will be available at the event web-site http://phas.ucalgary.ca/DAMOP07/gradStudents .

For those of you who arrive early on Tuesday, June 5, the Open House of the AMO Physics and Quantum Information Science research facilities at the University of Calgary main campus will be available to all conference attendees throughout the afternoon. The campus is located a short 20 minute commuter rail ride from the downtown convention centre. Information on taking the train to and from campus, and directions to the Physics and Astronomy Department will be available at the conference registration desk

Arrive in time to enjoy the Welcome Reception at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday June 5th in the historic Canadian Pacific Railway Pavilion. Attached to the Crystal Ballroom at the Palliser Hotel, this unique venue is steeped in history with vintage railway cars and artifacts from the origins of the railway in Canada.

Special Events - Wednesday, June 6
As has been recent tradition, the conference will open with its plenary prize session , which will take place from 8:00-10:00 a.m. in MacLeod Hall of the TELUS Convention Centre and will honor three APS Prize Winners: J. Ye (Rabi Prize), J. Bergquist (Broida Prize), and M. Lieberman (Allis Prize).

Poster Sessions and Exhibits : Poster sessions will be held from 4:00-6:00 PM on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in the TELUS Convention Centre. Refreshments will be available. Various commercial and industrial firms will have exhibits in the MacLeod Hall Foyer during the poster and conference sessions. People presenting posters are asked to remove them no later than 6:30 PM on the day of the presentation.

PRA/PRL Session for Authors and Referees : The editors of Physical Review A and Physical Review Letters will hold an information session for referees from 4:00-5:00 PM in Glen 201-203.

Nobel Symposium : A special symposium featuring the 2005 Nobel Laureates in Atomic Physics will be held in MacLeod Hall from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Confirmed speakers at this time include Roy Glauber (Harvard) and Theodore Haensch (Max-Planck-Institute for Quantum Optics, Germany).

Special Events - Thursday, June 7
Public Lecture : Paul Corkum of the National Research Council of Canada will present the DAMOP Public Lecture on Attosecond Science on Thursday evening in the MacLeod Hall of the TELUS Convention Centre.

Special Events - Friday, June 8
A special Herbert Walther Memorial Session in tribute to the career of this leader of AMO Physics in Germany and beyond will be held at 8:00 a.m. on June 8. This series of invited talks by Prof. Walther's former students and collaborators will attempt to illustrate the breadth of the work of his career. Confirmed speakers for the session are M. Scully, G. Rempe, G. Raithel, and W. Quint.

Conference Banquet : The conference dinner at 7:00 p.m. will be preceded by a cash bar reception beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the TELUS Convention Centre MacLeod Hall Foyer. The after-dinner speaker is The Honourable Preston Manning – former Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the Canadian Federal Parliament. Mr. Manning has long been involved in issues related to science policy in Canada, and will be speaking on the importance of scientists being able to communicate with politicians and the public, and how we can do a better job at such communications.

Special Events - Saturday, June 9
There will be four parallel sessions starting at 8:00 a.m. on the last morning of the conference. These will be followed by a stand-alone Hot Topics Session starting at 10:30 a.m., which will wrap up the conference by 1:00 pm. Confirmed speakers for the Hot Topics Session include H. Batelaan, M. Brune, L. Childress, G. Gabrielse, and C. Westbrook.

Following the close of the conference, attendees will have the opportunity to take part in a selection of post-conference excursions to some of the interesting locations around Calgary. These excursion options include both after/evening trips and overnight activities. The excursions require pre-registration and are offered on a cost recovery basis. The conference organizers must reserve the right to cancel excursions that are under-subscribed. Information on these excursions may be found on the conference web-site at http://www.phas.ucalgary.ca/DAMOP07 .

Accompanying Persons Information
The Local Committee is planning a program of daytime activities for accompanying persons on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, in addition to the post-conference excursions mentioned above. Possible activities may be viewed on the conference web page ( http://phas.ucalgary.ca/DAMOP07/local.php ). Advance expressions of interest are welcome through the web page.

Accommodations
The conference will be held at the TELUS Convention Center and the Fairmont Palliser Hotel in the downtown area of Calgary.

Official DAMOP 2007 room blocks have been reserved at two hotels in downtown Calgary. The Fairmont Palliser is directly adjacent to the TELUS Convention Center where all meetings will be held. The special conference rate is $166 (CDN) plus tax per night for single or double occupancy. Please download this pdf file with more information on the special rate.

Additional rooms are being held at the Sandman Hotel Calgary, a short walk or trolley ride from the Convention Centre and the DAMOP conference rate is $129 (CDN) single or double. Make sure to mention DAMOP when making your reservation. Please make your reservations by April 15th as room availability and the special conference rate is not guaranteed after this deadline. Calgary is an extremely busy city in June and you must make your reservations before the deadline date.

Student Housing
Students and other attendees requiring less expensive accommodation at DAMOP 2007 have the option of staying at the University of Calgary in a completely furnished residence hall a 20-minute ride on the light rail from the conference site.

The apartments are self-contained units with four bedrooms, kitchen, living room and bathroom. Kitchens are not equipped with cookware. The rate is $50 (CDN) per bedroom. To book a room you must complete the Conference Housing Reservation Form which can be submitted by fax to 403-220-6760, by phone to 403-220-3203 or 1-877-498-3203 or by mail to Conference Housing, 104 Cascade Hall, 3456 24th Ave NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 4V5 and is available at http://phas.ucalgary.ca/DAMOP07/accommodation.php .

The Conference Housing office is located in the lobby of Cascade Hall.

Travel to Calgary
Calgary is easily accessible by air, with airport information available at http://www.calgaryairport.com/index.htm . Currently, direct scheduled flights exist between Calgary and the following US cities: Chicago, Dallas/ Fort Worth, Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Minneapolis Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York JFK, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Seattle. Air carriers connecting Calgary with the USA include Air Canada, West Jet, Continental, Northwest, Alaska, Delta Connector, Frontier, Horizon, United, and US Airways. Air Canada, West Jet, Continental, and Northwest airlines are all offering conference discount rates, with further information available on the conference web-site at http://phas.ucalgary.ca/DAMOP07/transportation.php .

Visas for Visitors to Canada
Citizenship and Immigration Canada provides general information on visiting Canada about visa regulations at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/faq/visiting-1.html . Attendees who wish to have a letter of invitation for the purpose of applying for a Canadian Visa should contact Rob Thompson, Local Chair. Please include with your message the following:

  1. Your complete name and mailing address
  2. Whether you are giving an invited or contributed presentation
  3. The title(s) of your presentation(s)

Adequate time should be allowed for processing visa applications. Applicants should initiate the process as early in their travel plans as possible. To visit Canada you require a valid passport, proof of whom you are or other travel documents. Information regarding Canadian visa policy is available at www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/ . A list of countries that require visas in order to visit Canada may be viewed at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/visas.html . DAMOP does not get involved in the visa application process.

Canada does not pay for hospital or medical services for visitors. Make sure you have health insurance to pay your medical costs before you leave for Canada.

Information for Visitors from the U.S.A.
Visitors from the US should be aware that certain US government regulations may apply if you plan to travel to Canada. You may ask your employer if special regulations apply to you. In general, beginning January 23, 2007, ALL persons, including U.S. citizens, traveling by air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda will be required to present a valid passport.

The following documents are NOT valid to enter or re-enter the United States: voter's registration, hospital birth certificate, baptism record, or driver's license.

How do I obtain a U.S. passport or renew a U.S. passport? The Passport Services Office provides information and services to American citizens about how to obtain, replace or change a passport at http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html

Conference Deadlines
Pre-registration (reduced fee): March 30, 2007
Discount accommodation rates: April 15, 2007

DAMOP/DAMPhi 2007 – ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Program On-line

The DAMOP program can be viewed on-line at http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DAMOP07 .

Student Travel Support
Students may apply for travel support to Calgary in 2007. For the purposes of this application, please note that a “paper” means either a talk (invited or contributed) or a poster. We have about 80 applications so far and hope to be able to provide $300 to $500 support to more than 30 students. DEADLINE: March 30, 2007.

Additional Visa and Passport Requirement Information
Owing to a new policy that comes into effect in January 2007, all travelers to Calgary who return to the U.S. by air must have valid passports to enter the U.S. Previously, U.S. citizens could enter the U.S. from Canada using other forms of identification. At the time of the Calgary meeting a valid passport will be required for ALL travelers entering the U.S. by air.

Dr. Amy Flatten, Director of International Affairs at APS, has kindly provided the following weblinks for information regarding visa issues that was found useful by attendees of the recent March Meeting in Montreal, Canada (2004): http://www.aps.org/programs/international/visa/mar04/, and for US travelers going to other countries
http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/brochures/brochures_1229.html; (click “ C ” and/or scroll down to “ Canada ” for the latest passport/visa requirements for US citizens trying to enter Canada).

Prize and Fellowship Nomination Deadlines Loom

Remember, APS Fellowship nominations through DAMOP are due April 16, 2007. Nominations for the Will Allis Prize (for the study of ionized gases) and the Davisson-Germer Prize (for atomic physics) are due July 1, 2007. Go to the DAMOP website section on Prizes for links to nomination instructions.

First X-ray Summer School on Ultrafast Science using FELS

Nora Berrah and Phil Bucksbaum

The ultrafast summer school, to be held at Stanford University's PULSE Center, located at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, will offer a five day residential program to present comprehensive lectures and open forum for discussions about free electron lasers (FEL) including vuv FELs and high harmonic generation; multiphoton physics with x-ray FEL; Ultrafast atomic, molecular, cluster physics; attosecond physics; material science and imaging molecules with X-FELs; high energy density science, time-resolved absorption and x-ray scattering. The program will cover both fundamentals of high harmonic generation, soft x-ray and hard x-ray FEL and their use in spectroscopy and diffraction as well as a broad range of scientific applications. The program includes discussing new experimental techniques which need to be developed and built due to the different nature of the LCLS compared to ultrafast lasers or synchrotron sources. In addition, tours to the LCLS site will be arranged.

The goal of the school is to disseminate information about scientific opportunities in ultrafast science and train students and posdocs on the new FEL facilities as well as inform researchers who are interested to join this exciting new field. Lectures will be presented by expert scientists in the various aforementioned fields. The attendees will be expected to participate in the discussions since we plan to offer these lectures in an interactive style mode to make it effective and interesting to the audience.

Please see http://photonscience.slac.stanford.edu/pulse/uxss2007/index.php .

AMO Theory at the Santa Barbara Kavli Institute

Peter Zoller

Margaret Murnane and I currently represent AMO physics on the Advisory Board of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at UC Santa Barbara, and I am one of the organizers of the KITP program “Strongly Correlated Phases in Condensed Matter and Degenerate Atomic Systems,” which is running from February through mid-June, 2007, with a conference to be held in April. With this message to the AMO community, I want to address the problem that the AMO theory seems to be in general underrepresented at KITP, both in terms of the number of high-quality proposals for new programs - although there were very successful programs in the past - and also in terms of the number of participants. This must change if AMO theory is to become an identified, recognized subfield of theoretical physics.

KITP, under the leadership of its Director David Gross, has a significant interest in developing a stronger AMO theory component in its programs. This reflects the increasing visibility of AMO physics during the last fifteen years, a consequence both of exciting developments within AMO itself, but also of its growing interdisciplinary connections with other fields, in particular condensed matter physics and quantum information science.

The current program on Strongly Correlated Phases in Condensed Matter and Degenerate Atomic Systems is a good example of such a successful interdisciplinary program, which brings together condensed matter theorists, and AMO theorists and experimentalists. On the condensed matter side, there has been an explosion of theoretical proposals for novel and exotic quantum phases, and transitions between them, in particular outside the conventional weakly-interacting solid-state paradigm. On the other hand, cold atoms and molecules might provide realizations and a testing ground for these new developments. One such example is the role that may be played by AMO scientists in solving the puzzle of high-Tc superconductivity with the help of cold fermions in an optical lattice.

The KITP has a program on Coherent Control in the pipeline for spring and summer, 2009, to be organized by D. Tannor et al. This program will focus on coherent control techniques in atomic, molecular physics and chemistry, and will also contain a strong component on ultrafast science, stimulated also by a recent very successful program Attosecond Science (2006). Other recent programs involving AMO physics include Quantum Optics (2002), Quantum Gases (2004) and Topological Phases and Quantum Computation (2006).

The key message I wish to convey is that it is important for the AMO theory community to become more involved in programs at KITP, and further integrate and link AMO theory efforts to theoretical physics in general. This requires submitting high quality proposals that demonstrate that AMO theory is a lively subject and that the community identifies itself as an equal partner with other subfields of theoretical physics. We are at present witnessing an exciting time where traditional boundaries between different fields, for example AMO physics of cold atoms and condensed matter theory, disappear and communities merge. It will be important in particular for the younger generation to both benefit from this new interface, but also to be able to compete within the emerging larger communities with rather different cultures.

KITP + ITAMP Synergy

Kate Kirby and Mikhail Lukin

ITAMP is interested in working with potential organizers of long-term workshops at KITP to support and facilitate planning meetings and smaller workshops for drawing up a KITP proposal. ITAMP is also interested in supporting, via its long- and short-term visitor program, AMO theory collaborations which result from KITP programs. Working together, KITP and ITAMP can stimulate and make possible a variety of productive interactions that further AMO theoretical endeavors.

Rochester Conferences

Joe Eberly

Conferences of interest to our members have announced their dates for early summer 2007, to immediately follow the DAMOP annual meeting, which should enhance the convenience for international visitors to both sites.

The Rochester Conference on Coherence and Quantum Optics, which has been held once each six years since 1960, will have its ninth meeting (CQO9) on campus at the University of Rochester sharing the week of June 10-16, 2007 with a sister conference, the International Conference on Quantum Information (ICQI). The conferences will be held back-to-back with coordinated sessions on the Wednesday.

Topics of interest in CQO9 will include all aspects of optical coherence and quantum optics, including topics such as cavity QED, singular optics, quantum coherence in condensed matter systems, particle coherence in Bose and Fermi contexts, Schrödinger cats, quantum control, coherence in the ultra-short wavelength regime, and theory and observation of quantum entanglement.

Themes that will be included in ICQI include quantum imaging, creation and measurement of high-order entanglement, transverse effects and Schmidt modes, state discrimination and cryptography, orbital angular momentum and entanglement, quantum lithography, linear optical computing, and optical storage of quantum information.

More complete descriptions and additional information about registration, deadlines, publication requirements, etc., will be available on the OSA website under the Meetings category starting at http://osa.org/meetings/topicalmeetings/CQO/default.aspx and http://osa.org/meetings/topicalmeetings/ICQI/default.aspx .

CLEO/QELS 2007 Conference to be held on May 6-11, 2007

The annual CLEO/QUELS Conference will be held this year in Baltimore, MD from the 6 th to the 11 th of May. The conference website is http://www.cleoconference.org . You can download a copy of the Attendee Brochure to preview all the benefits of attending at: http://www.cleoconference.org/materials/07AttendeeBrochure.pdf . The early registration deadline is April 12, 2007. Register at http://www.cleoconference.org/registration/ .

Invitation for Contributions to IJMS Special Issue

Kurt Becker

As you may know, our colleague and friend Yong-Ki Kim died tragically in a car accident in September of 2006. Tilmann Mark, Hans Deutsch, and I are serving as Guest Editors for a Special Issue of the International Journal of Mass Spectrometry (IJMS) that will commemorate the work of Yong-Ki Kim. t is our pleasure to invite you to consider submitting a manuscript for publication in this Special Issue. The scheduled publication date of the Special Issue is in the Spring of 2008 and the deadline for abstract submission is August 31, 2007. If you consider submitting a contribution, please indicate your intent by sending me an e-mail at kbecker@stevens.edu no later than April 1, 2007.

Below you will find some useful information for submitting your manuscript to the IJMS Yong-Ki Kim Special Issue.

  1. The Journal publishes only original research work. Hence manuscripts submitted should describe new work and must not be simply discussion of the author's work previously published elsewhere.
  2. Manuscripts should be received between July 1, 2007 and August 31, 2007 . No manuscripts can be accepted after September 15, 2007.
  3. Details regarding manuscript submission will be provided at a later time.

Tilmann, Hans, and I are looking forward to working on this Special Issue, whose articles will only be able to cover a small cross section of the wide and diverse range of Yong-Ki's scientific work and interests. We hope that you will be able to contribute a manuscript and look forward to your contribution.

Lorenzo M. Narducci Memorial Symposium: Advances in Coherence, Quantum Optics, and Atom Optics

You are invited to attend a Memorial Symposium honoring and celebrating Professor Lorenzo Narducci's life and work. Lorenzo Narducci was a long time member of the American Physical Society, including the Division of Laser Science and the Division of Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics, and he made many significant contributions to the fields of laser science, optical coherence, nonlinear dynamics, to name just a few. The meeting will take place at Drexel Universtiy, Bossone Research Center, on May 24-25, 2007. The meeting will be chaired by Frank Narducci. The preliminary program and other details can be found at http://www.physics.drexel.edu/narducci

There will be a registration fee ($75), primarily to cover the costs of the conference dinner and coffee breaks. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Sheraton University City Hotel, which is within walking distance of the University campus. Be sure to mention the group code "Memorial Symposium" to secure a special discounted rate. These rates expire on 19 April 2007.

For further information contact narduccisymposium@physics.drexel.edu .

Job Opportunity: Program Manager for Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Sciences

The Office of Basic Energy Science, US Department of Energy, is seeking qualified applicants for a career federal position managing its Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Sciences Program. This program supports mission-oriented basic science at universities and national laboratories. A link to the announcement and on-line application instructions is at http://www.sc.doe.gov/bes/BESjobs.html . Applications must be submitted by May 21, 2007. The AMOS program is described at http://www.sc.doe.gov/bes/chm/Programs/programs.html . For questions about this position and working at BES, please contact Michael Casassa, michael.casassa@science.doe.gov.