Archived Newsletters

November 2006 Newsletter

In this Issue

Executive Committee

  • Chair: Timothy Gay
  • Vice Chair: Pierre Meystre
  • Chair Elect: William C. Stwalley
  • Secretary/Treasurer: David R. Schultz

From the Chair

Tim Gay

The DAMOP Program
In the period between annual meetings, your Program Committee is hard at work earning the high salary DAMOP pays them, determining the scientific program for both the Annual Meeting and DAMOP-sponsored sessions at the APS March Meeting. As most of you know, the programs for both meetings are condensed from the speaker and symposia nominations from our membership, submitted in late August on the March Meeting website. This procedure is now in its second year and represents a change from the old way of doing things. It is primarily a result of our increasing presence at the March Meeting, driven by the highly fruitful overlap between AMO scientists working in various areas of cold atom physics -- including degenerate Fermi gases, BECs, and lattices -- and the condensed matter community, represented by the Division of Condensed Matter Physics (DCMP).

In addition to the scientific benefits of the DCMP collaboration, the new procedure has some advantages in its own right. Previously, the program was decided essentially a year in advance and was based solely on suggestions from the Program Committee, whose members were appointed by the Chair. In order to ensure a balanced program, the committee appointments were in principle meant to be representative of the breadth of scientific interests in our community. Over the last few years, however, the DAMOP leadership felt that further democratization of this process was desirable. It became apparent that one way to do this was to shift to the current method of program development.

The new procedure guarantees, among other things, that the meeting programs will accurately mirror the interests of the active DAMOP constituency. It also tends to hamper “old boy network” selections of friends and cronies. With very few exceptions, where scientific quality was at issue, we have adhered to the rule that only people nominated through the proposal process can give invited talks. (This rule has not been applied to prize sessions.) We have also forbidden speakers from giving invited talks two years in a row at a given meeting. The March Meeting program is made up in late September from the symposium proposals, with an emphasis on attracting the interest of the condensed matter community that dominate the attendance at this meeting.

The March Meeting in 2007 will have three DAMOP invited sessions with five speakers each on disordered quantum gases, population-imbalanced superfluid Fermi gases, and ultracold gases in optical lattices. In addition, there will be two Focus sessions sponsored by DAMOP with two invited speakers and related contributed talks, one on mixed Fermi gases and the other on optical lattices. We will also sponsor two tutorials, one on the use of emerging media to enhance research collaborations and the other on attosecond pulses.

The May/June annual meeting program is now made up in October and November from the proposed symposia and individual speakers submitted through the DCMP website. A “new” thing we are trying next year in Calgary is the use of Focus Sessions. This was done at several meetings in the early 90's and appears to be a good option for getting superb invited talks in the widest possible range of topics of interest to our members. If this plan works well at Calgary, we will try it again in State College in 2008. Because of more rigid constraints on timeliness, the Hot Topics Session speakers in Calgary will be chosen early in 2007 by the Program Committee, primarily from the list of invited talks submitted in August. In order to maintain the temperature of this session at an appropriately high level, selections from contributed abstracts and other speakers proposed within the Program Committee will be made as late as early February.

One other issue of importance for the Program Committee is maintenance of our good relationship with the Gaseous Electronics Conference (GEC), the Topical Groups on Quantum Information and Precision Measurements, and the Divisions of Chemical Physics and Laser Science. There is currently a GEC invited session built into every DAMOP Annual Meeting, and we are working toward similar relationships for co-sponsorship with TGQI and TGPM. Future joint meetings with the DLS have also been discussed.

The Program Committee is always seeking feedback on whether the meeting programs are addressing the scientific interests and needs of our membership. Please email or call me with comments on, and criticism of the program.

DAMOP 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 DAMP section of the Canadian Association of Physicists in Calgary, Alberta from Tuesday, June 5 to Saturday, June 9, 2007. Make plans now to attend!

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

On Tuesday, June 5 registration opens and the program includes two workshops, various committee meetings and the Welcome Reception in the historical Railway Pavilion. Wednesday June 6 is the start of the scientific sessions which continue until noon on Saturday June 9, 2007. All scientific sessions (including poster sessions) and committee meetings will be held in the Telus Convention Center adjacent to the conference hotel, the Fairmont Palliser Hotel, and close to our secondary hotel, the Sandman Hotel Calgary, and the student housing. A post conference tour to the Rockies is available Saturday, June 9, from the hotel.

Further information may be found at the University of Calgary Department of Physics website and key information is summarized below.

Do I need a Visa to Go to Canada?

Registration
The Deadline for the Early Registration is 5:00 pm Friday, March 31, 2007. Registration forms will be 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.

Abstract Submission
Complete contributed abstract submission instructions can be found at http://www.aps.org/meetings/abstract. Authors of invited papers will receive instructions on abstract submission. The deadline for receipt of contributed and invited abstracts is Friday, February 2, 2007 at 5:00 pm EST. Post-deadline papers will be considered after this date but are not guaranteed to be included in the Bulletin (submitting abstracts on time is very highly recommended). We strongly urge you to proof your abstract before submission. Abstracts must be submitted through the APS website at http://abstracts.aps.org/. The list of DAMOP sorting categories is provided below. Also, see the special instructions below for the Undergraduate Research Sesssion.

Tutorial Workshop
The meeting will feature a workshop on Tuesday, June 5, 2007 on current topics in AMO physics created for a graduate student audience. Pre-registration for the graduate student workshop will be required as part of the conference registration process. The speakers for the workshop will be announced in January 2007. Complete information can be found on the conference website by clicking on the “Graduate Student” link.

Educators' Day
On Tuesday, June 5 a workshop for high school physics and science teachers and university instructors will be held for one day concurrently with the DAMOP meeting. The 2007 Educators' Day will be a very special event. It will be hosted by Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman of the University of Colorado and the University of British Columbia. The content will be twofold, focusing both on modern physics instruction pedagogies, such as peer instruction, personal response systems, and instructional computer simulations, and on atomic physics research, with talks by Wieman, Debbie Jin, and Chris Monroe. A financial support package for teachers is being arranged and details will be available shortly. The local organizers of Educators' Day are Phil Langill and Rob Thompson. For further information visit the University of Calgary Department of Physics website.

Special Events
Arrive in time to enjoy the Welcome Reception at 7 pm on Tuesday June 5 in the historic Canadian Pacific Railway Pavilion. Attached to the Fairmont Palliser Hotel, this unique venue is steeped in history with vintage railway cars and artifacts from the origins of the railway in Canada .

Wednesday June 6 features an evening reception and public lecture with Mike Lazaridis, the founder and CEO of Research in Motion (RIM), inventor and manufacturer of the BlackBerry. RIM is one of the century's most successful technology stories and Mr. Lazaridis is one of the country's foremost philanthropists, having founded the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics with $100 million of his personal wealth.

Accommodations
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 C$166 (Canadian dollars) plus tax per night for single or double occupancy. A third person is C$30 per night. Accommodation is also available at the Sandman Hotel Calgary, a short walk or trolley ride from the Convention Centre and the DAMOP conference rate is C$129 single or double. Make sure to mention DAMOP when making your reservation . Please make your reservations by April 15 th 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.

Students attending DAMOP 2007 have the option of staying at the University of Calgary in a furnished residence hall that is 30 minutes by rapid-transit train or bus. Each apartment has 4 bedrooms, includes 1 or 2 single beds per bedroom, kitchen, private washroom and living room. The rates are: apartment bedroom single - C$43.00, apartment bedroom shared - C$29.00.

For complete details on all lodging options, please visit the conference website.

Accompanying Persons Information
There will be an area at the main DAMOP registration desk at the Telus Convention Center on Wednesday and Thursday where accompanying persons can meet and obtain information about activities in the Calgary area. A walking tour of the city is planned for Wednesday and someone will be available to coordinate other activities. There is no registration fee, but please indicate the names of people who will come with you as accompanying persons. Morning coffee and pastries are complimentary, but banquet and reception tickets must be purchased in advance. Since the accompanying persons program is informal and subject to change depending upon demand, please check the website for the latest information.

Travel to Calgary
Travel to Calgary is easy with multiple daily flights from the following US hub cities: Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York – JFK, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Seattle. Airline discounts have been arranged with Westjet and Continental and Air Canada. Each of the listed airlines will offer a 5-10% discount to DAMOP participants flying into Calgary. The deadline for discount reservations is May 15, 2007. Complete information can be found on the conference website by clicking on the “Transportation” link.

Invitations for Visa Purposes
Attendees who wish to have a letter of invitation for the purpose of applying for a Canadian visa should contact Rob Thompson. 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).

Travel Visa Policy
Adequate time should be allowed for processing visa applications. Applicants should initiate the process as early plans as possible. Information regarding Canadian visa policy is available at https://www.canada.ca/en/services/immigration-citizenship.html.

To visit Canada you need a valid passport, proof of who you are or other travel documents. A list of countries that require visas in order to visit Canada may be viewed at https://www.canada.ca/en/services/immigration-citizenship.html. Note that APS, DAMOP, CAP, and DAMOP do not have the resources or authority to become directly involved in the visa application process. Also, please note that 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.

DAMOP 2007 – Additional Information

DAMOP Abstract Sorting Categories

Please use only the sorting categories below when submitting your contributed abstracts.

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

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 Focus session: The Ultra Intense Laser Frontier (Strong field (intense laser) processes)

2.4 Short pulse (e.g., attosecond, femtosecond) processes

3. Atomic, Molecular, and Charged Particle Collisions

3.1 Atom-atom and atom-molecule collisions

3.2 Reactive scattering and recombination processes

3.3 Focus session: Electron-Atom Collisions

3.4 Focus session: 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 Wavepacket dynamics and coherent control

4.2 Atom optics

4.3 Focus session: Matter wave interferometry

4.4 Quantum and/or nonlinear optics

4.5 Focus Session: Slowing and Stopping Light

4.6 Cavity QED

5 . Quantum Information

5.1 Entanglement, decoherence, and error correction

5.2 Quantum cryptography and communication

5.3 Quantum computation

5.4 Quantum measurement

6. Cold Atoms, Molecules, and Plasmas

6.1 Bose-Einstein condensates

6.2 Degenerate Fermi gases

6.3 Atoms in optical lattices

6.4 Focus session: Dynamic and out-of-equilibrium phenomena in cold atoms

6.5 Ultracold collisions and photoassociation processes

6.6 Focus session: Quantum Monte Carlo calculations of cold gases

6.7 Laser cooling and trapping

6.8 Low temperature plasmas

7. Special Topics

7.1 Rydberg atoms a]O science

7.2 Exotic atoms and molecules

7.3 Nonlinear dynamics

7.4 New experimental techniques

7.5 New theoretical methods

7.6 Applications of AMO science

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.

Call for Papers, Special Undergraduate Session at DAMOP
There will again be a special session featuring research performed by undergraduate students. The Education Committee of DAMOP would like to encourage undergraduate students to apply for participation in this special session. 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 students selected. We welcome submissions in a wide range of topics, including AMO physics and the related areas of other fields such as chemical, plasma, condensed-matter, computational, biological, and nuclear physics. Participation is limited to currently enrolled undergraduate students, and applications from women and minority undergraduate students are strongly encouraged.

The papers will be 20 minutes long, including time for discussion. Students who wish to apply should send an email to Allen Landers. 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 to it. In addition, as described in the next paragraph, the student should attach to this email the abstract for the paper in APS format. Finally, the student's sponsor (mentor) should submit a separate letter of recommendation to the email address shown above. All application materials must be received no later than Friday, January 26, 2007.

For those students selected to participate in this special session, the Committee will submit the abstracts directly to DAMOP. Thus the abstracts must conform to APS style and length formats for a contributed paper. To check compliance to this format go to http://abstracts.aps.org, select “Start Abstract Submission,” designate “Test Web Abstract,” provide the information requested, and cut-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. Please DO NOT submit the abstract directly to DAMOP.

Any questions regarding applications to the DAMOP special undergraduate session should be addressed to: Allen Landers, chair DAMOP Education Committee.

DAMOP Thesis Prize
As was announced earlier via broadcast email to the DAMOP membership, the annual Prize for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Research in Atomic, Molecular, or Optical Physics (DAMOP Thesis Prize) nomination deadline is approaching. Please see the APS website for details and send completed nominations packages to the Thesis Prize Chair by December 1, 2006 following the instructions given on this webpage.

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 weblink for information regarding visa issues that was found useful by attendees of the recent March Meeting in Montreal, Canada (2004): APS Visa Information.

DAMOP Fellowship and Prize Deadlines

Please have in mind the following deadlines for DAMOP/APS Prize and Fellowship nominations:

Fellowship nominations: April 16, 2007

Davisson-Germer Prize: July 1, 2007

Will Allis Prize: July 1, 2007

Information about these prizes, the fellowship nomination procedure, and the most recently available list of newly elected Fellows are available through the DAMOP fellowship and prizes website.

Call for Nominations for the IUPAP Young Scientist Award

Joachim Burgdörfer

Nominations are being sought for the Young Scientist Prize in Atomic, Molecular and Optical (AMO) Physics which will be awarded by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics through the Commission C15 (AMO Physics) for the first time in 2007. The prize will be awarded during the XXV International Conference on Photonic, Electronic and Atomic Collisions (XXV ICPEAC) to be held in Freiburg , Germany , July 25 – 31, 2007. The Prize includes a medal, a $1000 award and an invited presentation at XXV ICPEAC.

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 indentifiable 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, 2007 .

Nominations should include:

A letter of not more than 1000 words evaluating the nominee's achievements and identifying the specific work to be recognized.

A curriculum vitae including all publications.

A brief biographical sketch not exceeding two pages.

Self-nominations will not be considered. Nominations should be sent to the chair of IUPAP- C15:

Prof. J. Burgdörfer, Institute for Theoretical Physics, Vienna University of Technology, Wiedner Hauptstraße 8-10/E136, 1040 Vienna , Austria , EU. Deadline is February 1, 2007 .

ONR Young Investigator Program Call

Charles Clark

DAMOP members have met with good success in proposals to the Office of Naval Research's Young Investigator Program. Present ONR YIP's include DAMOP members Brian DeMarco and Alex Kuzmich and recent program alumni include DAMOP members Tom Killian and Debbie Jin. The program announcement is reproduced below.

The Office of Naval Research FY2007 Young Investigator Program (YIP) Broad Agency Announcement has been posted at http://www.grants.gov/ (search "YIP").

ONR's YIP seeks to identify and support academic scientists and engineers who have received Ph.D. or equivalent degrees within the last five years (on or after November 1, 2001 for this FY2007 competition) and who show exceptional promise for doing creative research. Awards will be made only to U.S. Institutions of Higher Education which award degrees in science, engineering, and/or mathematics. Further, the Principal Investigator must be a U.S. citizen, national, or permanent resident (on the date proposals are due), holding a tenure-track or permanent faculty position at that university. Awards provide up to $100,000 of research support per year, for up to three years.

Proposals are due 12 January 2007. All YIP proposals must be submitted electronically through Grants.Gov.

In Memorium: Lorenzo Narducci and Yong-Ki Kim

It is my sad duty to report the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Lorenzo Narducci on the morning of Friday, July 21, 2006. Lorenzo will be greatly missed, both as a friend, and as a key contributor to the editorial process at Physical Review A. He had served for more than 15 years as an Associate Editor with primary responsibility for papers in the areas of matter waves, lasers and quantum optics. His broad knowledge of the field and the strength of his own personal contributions made him outstandingly effective in this position. His three books and at least 186 other widely cited journal publications earned him great respect from his colleagues for his work on a broad range of phenomena involving laser physics, laser instabilities, and laser-matter interactions. He was a genuine scholar dedicated to the pursuit of the highest standards of academic excellence in both research and publications, and he communicated these same high standards to those who worked with him. His funeral was held on Tuesday, July 25 and his family requested donations in lieu of flowers to either the Kidney Foundation or the American Breast Cancer Foundation. – Gordon Drake

With great regret, we inform the community that Yong-Ki Kim of the NIST Atomic Physics Division died in an automobile accident on September 9, 2006 while vacationing in Alaska with his wife, Younghee, and son, Edward. As they were parked at the side of a country road just north of Fairbanks, their rental car was struck from the rear by a pickup truck. Their car was crushed and Yong-Ki, who was sitting in the back seat, was killed. Younghee and Edward were also injured, but not seriously. After receiving his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago in 1966, Yong-Ki began his government career at Argonne National Laboratory where he worked on atomic spectroscopy and fusion-related research. Yong-Ki joined the NIST Physics Laboratory in October 1983. During his NIST career, he worked on fusion-related research and collaborated with many scientists from NIST and in the broader international community, making outstanding contributions to fusion and plasma science research. – Joseph Reader and Wolfgang Wiese

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