Message from the ChairOUR DEPARTMENT’S MOVE LAST FALL INTO THE NEW SCIENCE EDUCATION AND RESEARCHCENTER (SERC)—and our ongoing recruitment of out-standing faculty members to maximize the building’sexceptional research and teaching resources—havedramatically heightened the department’s stature.

Hires to our growing faculty of 22 since 2012 include:Bernd Surrow, a high-energy collider researcher from MIT; Alexander Gray, a former material scienceStanford University postdoctoral research associate;Darius Torchinsky, a quantum electronics researchersfrom Caltech; and John Perdew and AdriennRuzsinszky, from Tulane University. Perdew is aleader in density functional theory and author of atop-100 cited paper according to Thomson ReutersWeb of Science database. And I joined Temple after20 years at Rensselaer with a focus in experimentalnuclear and particle physics.

Recent highlights also include:

• Our hosting a nuclear physics town meeting thatattracted about 250 physicists from the U.S. andaround the world to help determine the direction of our country’s nuclear research.

• The designation of our Center for theComputational Design of Functional LayeredMaterials directed by Perdew as one of just 10 new federal Energy Frontier Research Centers.

• The successful test and implementation of RongjiaTao’s technology to enhance the flow of crude oilthrough pipelines.

To witness the exciting research and teaching that is occurring here, please visit us online atphys.cst.temple.edu or in person.

Jim NapolitanoInterim Chair, Department of Physics

Town meeting at Temple will guide futureU.S. nuclear physics research

About 250 prominent physicists attended a three-day town meeting hostedlast September by the College of Science and Technology’s Nuclear PhysicsGroup to chart the future direction of nuclear physics research. At stake was which of two U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) laboratorieswould best house a new electron-ion collider (EIC) facility that would utilizethe world’s brightest and most versatile microscope—either the BrookhavenNational Laboratory on Long Island or the Thomas Jefferson NationalAcceleratory Laboratory in Newport News, Virginia.The new facility would offer an alternative to the high-energy Large HadronCollider near Geneva, Switzerland, that in 2012 enabled physicists to finallydetect the long-sought Higgs bosun particle. Professor James Napolitano,interim chair of the Department of Physics and co-chair of the town meeting,said, “Probing nucleons with the highest resolution microscopes is anotherway to investigate the structure and dynamics of nucleons—which would bethe purpose of a new collider at either BNL or JLab. This collider wouldensure U.S. leadership in the field of nuclear science for decades to come.”Meeting attendees voted unanimously in favor of constructing an EIC. AsPhysics Today reported, when and where that occurs will begin to bedetermined later this year.“It was a prestigious honor for Temple and the Department of Physics,” says meeting co-chair and Associate Professor Bernd Surrow. “When I told acolleague at the Department of Energy that we would be hosting the meeting,he said, ‘Now Temple is on the map.’”phys.cst.temple.edu

PHYSICSUPDATE FALL 2015

College of Science and Technology

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Alexander Gray earns prestigiousYoung Investigator award

Alexander Gray, a newassistant professor ofphysics, has received a prestigious YoungInvestigator Program award from the U.S. Army Research Office.Gray specializes in thedevelopment of new,ultrafast X-ray spectroscopicand imaging techniques.These techniques aim tounderstand how new phasesof matter arise far fromequilibrium and howultrafast electric-field pulsescan be used to separate and control fundamentalphysical interactions on the nanoscale. A 2011 recipient of a PhD in physics from the University of California, Davis and the Lawrence Berkeley NationalLaboratory, Gray is an expert in bulk-sensitive and depth-resolved X-ray spectroscopic and imaging probes of electronicstructure. During his graduate career he pioneered new X-raytechniques, such as hard x-ray angle-resolved photoelectronspectroscopy (HARPES) and standing-wave excited angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (SW-ARPES). These techniques have been since successfully applied by Gray,collaborators and other researchers to bulk- and interface-sensitive studies of key materials in the field of spintronics, as well as to the interfaces of relevance to low-dimensionalheterostructuring and energy-efficient field-effect devices. Previously Gray spent three years as an experimental researchassociate at the Institute for Materials and Energy Science atStanford University, where he conducted research at theDepartment of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

College of Science and Technology1803 N. Broad Street400 Carnell HallPhiladelphia, PA 19122

Department launches ‘studio physics’courses for intro classes

To enhance student engagement, comprehension and success, this fall all introductory-level classes in both mechanics and inelectricity & magnetism will be transitioned form large lecture hallformats involving several hundred students to smaller classes of up to 60 students.Developed under the leadership of Associate Professors ZbiegniewDziembowski and Bernd Surrow, the “studio physics’ concept has been updated by various universities. It was successfullypiloted at MIT, where Surrow previously taught and utilized theteaching program. The format combines elements of lecturing and recitation with interactive response systems, group problemsand discussions.“Based on studies conducted at MIT,” said Surrow, “the problem-solving sessions, two- and three-dimensional visualizations, as wellas collaborative desktop experiments, web-based assignments andpersonal response systems-based conceptual questions, significantlyenhance students’ understanding of the subject matter.”The courses will be taught in two dedicated, high-tech classroomsin the new Science Education and Research Center (SERC)equipped will small tables that allow for three-student learningteams. Labs will also be conducted in new SERC undergraduateteaching labs.Eventually, the two calculus-based introductory physics classes for pre-med students and two algebra-based introductory physicsclasses will follow the same format.

For more news, go to phys.cst.temple.edu

DEAN’S DISTINGUISHED LECTURE

Saul Rappaport, CST ’63 Professor of Physics, M.I.TPlanetary and Stellar Science from the Kepler MissionNovember 11, 2015, 4PMScience Education and Research Center (SERC)1925 N. 12th Street, Temple University, Main CampusPhiladelphia, PA 19122

Look for details at cst.temple.edu

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Physics center named a DOE Energy FrontierResearch CenterThe department is the new home of a federallyfunded Energy Frontier Research Center focusingon the design of new layered materials that willhave potential use in energy applications.The Center for the Computational Design ofFunctional Layered Materials is one of 10 newEnergy Frontier Research Centers announced lastsummer by the U.S. Department of Energy, which awarded a four-year, $12 million grant. The purpose: to fund basic research into thedesign of new layered materials with potentialfuture applications for the ways that energy isproduced and stored.The center’s director is John Perdew, Laura H.Carnell Professor of Physics and Chemistry. The 18 other principal investigators include five moreDepartment of Physics researchers, including Professor Xiaoxing Xi; four Department ofChemistry researchers, including CST DeanMichael L. Klein; and nine others from prestigiousU.S. universities, the Brookhaven NationalLaboratory and a research center in India.“The interesting thing about the single layers ofmaterials is you can very readily change them and control the properties of that material,” saidPerdew. “For instance, you could tune it to absorba particular frequency or frequencies of light forconversion into electricity.”Perdew said the center’s theoretical or computa-tional scientists are using computer simulations toadd various atoms or molecules to a particularmaterial’s surface or change the material’sstructure and then compute whether thosechanges affect the material’s properties in adesired way to create a new material.Experimental scientists working at the center will then grow these new materials and test their applications.

John Perdew, Laura H. Carnell Professor of Physics and Chemistry and director of the Center for theComputational Design of Functional Layered Materialswith Michael L. Klein, FRS, Dean, College Science andTechnology and Laura H. Carnell Professor of Science.

Device enhances oil pipeline flowAn electrical device designed by professor of physics Rongjia Tao, which enhancesthe flow of crude oil through pipelines, has been successfully field tested onportions of a major U.S. pipeline.Tao’s oil technology device reduces the viscosity and turbulence of crude oil.Patented by Temple University, the device was created with the financial supportof QS Energy, Inc., a Santa Barbara, California-based developer and vendor ofcommercial flow assurance solutions.Utilizing electrorheology principles, Tao’s devices have been installed justdownstream from pipeline pumps. The electrical field polarizes suspendednanoparticles found in crude oil, causing them to aggregate in short chains alongthe flow direction—which both decreases viscosity in that direction and effectivelysuppressing turbulence. This green technology may eliminate the need to heat thecrude oil, a current costly industry standard, while significantly reducing requiredpumping pressures.Field tests have indicated viscosity decreases. “It also reduces the power needed topump crude oil while the flow rate is unchanged,” added Tao. “And by reducingpumping pressures, it’s much safer for both land-based pipelines and pipelinesthat connect with off-shore drilling sites.”

Garett Miller:Undergraduate research in protein foldingUndergraduate Research Program (URP)student Garett Miller, CST ’16, a seniorphysics major and computer scienceminor, was uncertain whether he wantedto go to graduate school and, if he did,was not sure if he wanted to go intoastrophysics or biophysics—until he beganworking with Vincent Voelz, assistantprofessor of chemistry. He focused on protein folding, a process

integral to such mental illnesses as Alzheimer’s and mad-cow disease. In nature,such proteins fold in a microsecond, but to simulate that process it was takingMiller 240 hours’ worth of time on the university’s high-performance super-computer network.“There was always a question about continuing my education, but this summerwas pretty successful so I feel secure about going to grad school for biophysics,” he says. “When you’re doing a lab assignment for class, you don’t really have anyattachment to it. But in this lab what I am doing has direct implications for peoplewho have those diseases, at least that’s the goal.”Launched in 2009, URP enables under-graduates to obtain valuable hands-onresearch experience with world-class researchers. Since then, 750 CST studentshave participated in the highly selective program.

Support undergraduate research

CST’s Undergraduate Research Program (URP) offers motivatedstudents the opportunity to work with world-class researchers onreal-world research. More than 750 students have participated,gaining a valuable advantage in the job market and competitivegraduate programs.

To make a gift, contact John Walker at 215-204-8176 orjohn.walker@temple.edu or go to giving.temple.edu/urp

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ATOMIC, MOLECULAR ANDOPTICAL PHYSICSMarjatta Lyyra and Ergin Ahmed• Control of molecular quantum state

character by coherence effects, NSF

Svetlana Kotochigova • Quantum magnetism of strongly correlated

magnetic atoms and molecules, Air ForceOffice of Scientific Research (AFOSR)

• Controlling anisotropy in interactions of ultracold atoms and molecules forquantum information processing, NSF

• High-resolution quantum control ofchemical reactions, MURI Army ResearchOffice (ARO)

• Precision chemical sensing and quantumcontrol of ultracold molecular ionreactions, MURI ARO

CONDENSED MATTER ANDMATERIAL SCIENCEKe Chen (PI) and Xiaoxing Xi• Superconducting circuits using magne-

sium diboride Josephson junctions, Officeof Naval Research (ONR)

Alexander Gray• Controlling fundamental physical

interactions in strongly-correlated andtwo-dimensional electronic systems withultrafast THz electric fields, ARO YoungInvestigator Program

Maria Iavarone• VortexMatter in confined superconductors

and MesoscopicHybrid herostructures, DOE

• Manipulation of chiral chargeDensityWaves, ARO

John Perdew (director), Maria Iavarone,Adrienn Ruzsinsky, Xifan Wu and Xiaoxing Xi

• Energy Frontier Research Center: Centerfor the Computational Design of FunctionalLayered Materials, DOE

John Perdew• Density functional theory of electronic

structure, NSF

Adrienn Ruzsinsky• Exploring the random phase approximation

for materials and chemical physics, DOE

Peter Riseborough• Strongly correlated electron systems, DOE

Rongjia Tao• Air ions produced by various isotypes,

Naval Research Lab

• Research on crude oil viscosity reductionand diesel fuel injection, Save the WorldAir

• Magnetic and electric field application toconfectionary materials, Mars Chocolate,UK

Xifan Wu• Signature of molecular environment in

spectroscopy measurement of water andaqueous solutions studied by advancedabinitio methods, ACS Petroleum

• Advanced modeling of ions in solutions, onsurfaces and in biological environments, DOE

Xifan Wu (co-PI) and Xiaoxing Xi• Artificial oxide heterostructures with tunable

band gap, Air Force Research Laboratory

Xiaoxing Xi• Enhancement

of spin-latticecoupling innanoengineeredoxide films andheterostructures bylaser MBE, DOE

• Study of gapsymmetry and gapstructures in ironpnictides usingJosephsonjunctions, NSF

• Investigation andoptimization of thinMgB2superconductingfilms for THz HEBmixer development,NASA/JPL

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS FUNDED RESEARCHDepartment’s funded research portfolio continues to grow

• MgB2 thin film deposition on RF cavities,Argonne National Laboratory

• Magnesium diboride thin films, multi-layersand coatings for SRF cavities, DOE

NUCLEAR AND PARTICLEPHYSICSJeff Martoff• Collaborative Research: Direct search for

dark matter with underground argon atLNGS, NSF

• Collaborative Research: R&D TowardsDarkSide-G2, a second-generation directsearch for dark matter, NSF

Andreas Metz• Hard scattering processes in QCD, NSF

Zein-Eddine Meziani• Research in nuclear physics using electro-

magnetic probes, DOE

Jim Napolitano• Fundamental physics experiments with

reactor neutrinos, DOE

Nikolaos Sparveris• Studies of hadronic structure, NSF

Bernd Surrow• Measurements on the structure and

dynamics of matter, DOE

• Design and assembly of fast and light-weight barrel and forward-trackingprototype systems for an EIC, DOEmanaged by Brookhaven NationalLaboratory

• MRI Consortium: Collaborative Research:Development of Phase-I DarkLightexperiment at Jefferson Laboratory, NSF

The Department ofPhysics welcomes backProfessor Xiaoxing Xi,after an investigation by the U.S. JusticeDepartment where allcharges against him were dropped.

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS 2015 AWARDS

STUDENTSDistinguished Graduate Student ResearchAward: Steven Moore

Distinguished Graduate Student TeachingAward: Xiangying Deng

Peter Havas Humanitarian Scholarship forOutstanding Physics Graduate Students:Adam Blomberg

Alliance for Minority Participation Awardfor Academic Achievement: Gregory Bell

Alliance for Minority Participation Awardfor Research: Brandon Elman

Robert and Rita Cook Science ScholarsFund: Jeffrey Timlin

Seda Tarzian Endowed Scholarship:Melanie Rehfuss

The College of Science and TechnologyStudent Advisor Award: Jake Roemer

Undergraduate Research ProgramSymposium Awards: Jeffrey Timlin

Dr. Paul G. & Beatrice Zackon PhysicsScholarship: Dillion Fox

Murray Green Memorial Prize in Physics:2014- Brandon Elman; 2015- Dillion Fox

Donald and Annette Baird Family Awardin Science and Math Education:Catherine Bergeron

FACULTYYoung Investigator Award, U.S. ArmyResearch Office: Alexander Gray

Honorary degree, Budapest University of Technology and Economics: John P. Perdew

Humboldt Research Award: John P. Perdew

John Scott Award: John P. Perdew

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