moving on - · professor susanne yelin, will ... was organized by b. esry, m. olshanii, and j....

Changes inAdministrative Staff

Ms. Verity Parris,ITAMP Office Administratorfor 15 years, retired at theend of October 2004. Ms.Lisa Bastille has taken overthe many functions of thisdemanding position. At thesame time Ms. Teri Hamelinstepped into the position ofDivision Administrator forthe Atomic and MolecularPhysics Division at CfA,dealing with ITAMP budgetsand reimbursements. We thankLisa and Teri for their dedication to making thesechallenging transitions as seamless as possible.

Great NewsITAMP is celebrating

the news that ProfessorMikhail Lukin of the HarvardPhysics Department (a formerITAMP postdoc), has decidedto accept Harvard’s offer ofa tenured professorship. Lukinand his group carry outresearch on topics in quantuminformation science, quantumand nonlinear optics andmesoscopic physics. His wife,

Professor Susanne Yelin, willremain on the PhysicsDepartment faculty at theUniversity of Connecticut(Storrs) and will continue tocarry out research and participatein ITAMP programs several daysper week. ITAMP is fortunate tohave both Mikhail and Susannecontributing to its scientificprograms.

Cluster computer

ITAMP has joined a Harvard-Smithsonian-widecluster computation project through the purchase of 2compute nodes (each node has two AMD Opteronprocessors). The computer, powered by Redhat Linuxand the Sun Grid Engine queuing system, is up and running.At present the total number of nodes stands at 32, alreadywith significant demand for future expansion. SeveralITAMP postdocs are currently using the cluster.

Workshop News

Atomic Physicists andAstrophysicists Convene at“X-DAP”

A joint workshop “X-ray Diagnostics of Astrophysical Plasmas,” sponsored by ITAMP and theChandra X-ray Center (CXC), was held in Cambridgefrom November 15 - 17, 2004. The CXC is located atthe Harvard-Smithsonian and manages the NASA-funded X-ray observatory Chandra. The ScientificOrganizing Committee included: Randall Smith(NASA/GSFC and JHU), Jay Bookbinder (CfA), NancyBrickhouse (CfA), Jelle Kaastra (SRON), Tim Kallman(NASA/GSFC), Kate Kirby (CfA), Duane Liedahl(LLNL), John Raymond (CfA), and Claude Canizares,(MIT). Covering theory, experiment and observation,the workshop emphasized the role of atomic theoryand experiment in understanding astrophysicalmeasurements and developing astrophysical models.The number of participants was in excess of 100 andaccordingly the workshop was held at a local hotelwith conference facilities.

Abstracts and talks can be found at,http://itamp.harvard.edu/xdap/schedule.html anda volume of the proceedings is being published.

Timely Workshop onQuantum Degenerate Gases

The workshop on Quantum Degenerate Gases inLow-Dimensionality was another hugely successfulITAMP workshop that ran from October 4-6, 2004 andwas organized by B. Esry, M. Olshanii, and J.Schmiedmayer. This meeting on low-D systems wasconceived before and occurred right after the experimentalrealization of the famed Tonks-Girardeau gas in an opticallattice by two independent groups at MPI-Garching andPenn State. The strong and non-perturbative nature ofthe interaction between bosons in 1D requires beyond-mean-field treatment. In one dimension, correlationbetween fermions requires the so-called bosonization ofthe interaction.

Low-D abstracts and talks can be found onlineat: http://itamp.harvard.edu/low-d/low-d.html

Second ITAMP/UConnOpen House

On February 5, 2005, the second ITAMP/UConnOpen House took place at the University of Connecticutin Storrs, about a 90-minute drive from Cambridge. Themeeting featured talks and posters on theoretical andexperimental topics by members of research groups atITAMP, the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard Physics, andUConn. ITAMP is especially grateful to the UConnorganizers for local sponsorship and the excellent lunch atthe Up and Atom Cafe.

ITAMP-CIMs Co-hostsuccessful “Mesoscopic”workshop

The workshop on Mesoscopic Physics, QuantumOptics, and Quantum Information ran from May 10-12,2004. This workshop was organized by M. Lukin, C.Marcus and A. Sørensen. More than 50 participated inthis event, focusing on such topical issues as coherenceand entanglement in semi conducting qubits, Kondoresonances in single-electron transistors, electron-electron correlation and decoherence in quantum dots,coupling of electron and nuclear spin and relevance toquantum computing, and photonic crystals. Thisworkshop was in part sponsored by the Center forImaging and Mesoscale Structures (CIMS) at Harvard.

Abstracts and audio talks may be found at:http://itamp.harvard.edu/mesoscopic/mesoscopic.html

2005 Upcoming ITAMPWorkshops

May 2-4, 2005Attosecond Science: Future Applications in Physicsand Chemistry.Organizers: Prof. Ken Schafer and Prof. Thomas Brabec

June 13-17, 2005Collisional Calculations and non-LTE modeling of molecularhydrogen in astrophysical environments.Organizers: Prof. Phillip C. Stancil and Dr. Teck-Ghee Lee

August 1-26, 2005Few-and Many-Body Physics in Quantum Liquids andGases (Joint with the Institute for Nuclear Theory).Organizers: Hans-Werner Hammer (INT, U. ofWashington), Doerte Blume (Washington State), EricBraaten (Ohio State), Murray Holland (JILA), ProgramCoordinator, Nancy Tate.

September 26-28, 2005Cold Plasmas and Cold Atoms: A Merry Dance.Organizers: Tom Killian (Rice), Francis Robicheaux(Auburn), and H. Sadeghpour (ITAMP).

Spring/Summer2005 VISITORs

Winthrop W. Smith Feb.1-May 31U.Connecticut

John Hougen April 4-15NIST

Jun Ye April 5-7JILA

Michael Fleischhauer April 15-Aug. 31Fachbereich Physik

Tony Scott April 18-19Institute fuer Physikalishe

Gora Shlyapnikov April 21-28FOM Institute AMOLF

Brendan McLaughlin May 13-17School of Mathematics and Physics

Anil Pradhan June 1-Aug. 31Ohio State University

Piotr Froelich June 11-Aug.20Uppsala University

Robert Forrey June 13-Dec. 31University of Pennsylvania

Prof. Zong-Chao Yan July 1-Dec. 31University of New Brunswick

Bernard Zygelman 2 weeks in Aug.UNLV

Spring 2005

43Institute for Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 http://itamp.harvard.edu

The Institute for Theoretical Atomic, Molecular andOptical Physics is supported by a grant from theNational Science Foundation

ITAMP Staff

Kate KirbyDirector

(617) 495-7237, [email protected]

James BabbIndustrial and Educational Outreach


Lisa BastilleOffice Administrator


Alex DalgarnoProfessor of Astronomy, Harvard


Teri HamelinAMP Division Administrator


Eric HellerProfessor of Physics and Chemistry, Harvard(617) 496-7537, [email protected]

Michael LukinProfessor of Physics, Harvard


Hossein SadeghpourVisitor Program Coordinator


Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are thoseof the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

In Memoriam

Former ITAMP postdoctoralfellow Professor Bilha Segev died inHaifa, Israel on March 17, 2005 ofcomplications arising from her battle withcancer. She was 41 years old and a facultymember in the Chemistry Department atBen-Gurion University (BGU) of theNegev.

Bilha received her B.S. degree,Summa cum Laude, in 1988, and her M.S. (1992) and Ph.D.(1996) from The Technion, Israel Institute of Technology.She spent two years, 1996—1998 at ITAMP, funded byboth a Rothschild and a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship.At ITAMP she worked with Jack Wells, Robin Coté, EricHeller, Jim Babb, and Mark Raizen, exploring such variedtopics as electron-positron pair production in heavy ioncollisions, evanescent-wave atomic mirrors, energy transferprocesses between Born-Oppenheimer surfaces in molecules,and superluminal light propagation and quantum noise.

In 1998, Bilha joined the chemistry faculty at BGU.She was a gifted teacher and lecturer and received severalBen-Gurion University honors for her excellence in teaching.In addition, she won the prestigious Alon FoundationFellowship for outstanding young faculty in Israel and in2002 she received the Toronto Prize for excellence inresearch.

Bilha radiated tremendous warmth and enthusiasmfor science, and was universally loved by her students andcolleagues. Her smile was contagious and her wisdom wasinspirational. She leaves her husband, two children, andmany friends and colleagues who miss her greatly.

Thanks to our Advisory BoardProf. M. Raymond Flannery (Georgia Institute of

Technology) and Dr. Paul Julienne (NIST) have agreed toserve on the ITAMP Advisory Board, replacing Prof. MitchPindzola (Auburn University) and Dr. Charles Clark (NIST)who rotated off, having completed their 3-year terms.

We are extremely grateful to all of the boardmembers, who meet once a year in Cambridge to discussITAMP programs and provide us with wise counsel andthe valuable perspective of the AMO Physics community. Continuing board members include: Prof. KeithBurnett (Oxford), Prof. Margaret Murnane (U.Colorado/JILA), Prof Ann E. Orel (University of California),and Prof. Joseph Eberly (University of Rochester).

New ITAMP Admin. Coord.,Lisa Bastille

Verity Parris, retired afterfifteen years of service

Prof. Mikhail Lukin

Prof. Susanne Yelin

ITAMP Postdocs

Moving on …ITAMPpostdoctoralfellow, Dr. AndersSørensen, leftafter only twoyears at ITAMP totake an associateprofessorshipposition at theUniversity of

Copenhagen inDenmark. Sørensen has carried out forefront research in thegeneral area of quantum information, including such topicsas the entanglement of quantum states of ions and thecapacitive coupling of neutral atoms to mesoscopicconductors.

Dr. Daniel Vrinceanu left ITAMP in September 2004to take a Director’s Office Postdoctoral Fellowship at LosAlamos National Laboratory. Vrinceanu, who received hisPh.D. from Georgia Tech, has worked on a number ofproblems associated with the formation of anti-hydrogenfrom magnetically trapped cold positrons and antiprotons,and the line-broadening and line-shifts due to collisions ofexcited and ground-state He atoms.

Moving in …In September 2004,Dr. Robin Santra andDr. Guo-Xin Chenarrived at ITAMP tostart postdoctoralfellowshipappointments. Dr.Santra’s researchinterests lie in thearea of ultra-fastscience, including thephotoionization of clusters, the description of highly excitedmolecular states, and double photo-detachment in molecularanions. Dr. Chen works in atomic astrophysics and issupported half time by ITAMP and half-time through aChandra (X-ray satellite) cycle 6 grant. Chen employs R-matrix methods to carry out calculations of electronimpact excitation, electron-ion recombination, andphotoionization for a variety of ions of astrophysicalinterest.

New Division Administrator.Ms. Teri Hamelin

2




the news tha t ProfessorMikhail Lukin of the HarvardPhysics Department (a formerITAMP postdoc), has decidedto accept Harvard’s offer ofa tenured professorship. Lukinand his group carry outresearch on topics in quantuminformation science, quantumand nonline ar optics andmesoscopic physics. His wife,

Professor Susanne Yelin, willremain on the Physic sDepartment faculty at theUniversity of Conne cticut(Storrs) and will c ontinue tocarry out research and participatein ITAMP programs several daysper week. ITAMP is fortunate tohave both Mikha il and Susannecontrib uting to its scientificprograms.

Cluster computer


Workshop News






























Spring 2005

43http://itamp.harvard.edu


ITAMP Staff

Kate KirbyDirector
















In Memoriam








ITAMP Postdocs




Moving in …In September 2004,Dr. Robin Santra andDr. Guo-Xin Chenarrived at ITAMP tostart postdoctoralfellowshipappointments. Dr.Santra’s researchinterests lie in thearea of ultra-fastscience, including thephotoionization of clusters, the description of highly excitedmolecular states, and double photo-detachment in molecularanions. Dr. Chen works in atomic astrophysics and issupported half time by ITAMP and half-time through aChandra (X-ray satellite) cycle 6 grant. Chen employs R-matrix methods to carry out calculations of electronimpact excitation, electron-ion recombination, andphotoionization for a variety of ions of astrophysicalinterest.

Dr. Anders SørensenDr. Daniel Vrinceanu

Dr. Robin SantraDr. Guo-Xin Chen

2

Prof.Bilha Segev






Cluster computer


Workshop News






























Spring 2005



ITAMP Staff

Kate KirbyDirector
















In Memoriam








ITAMP Postdocs




Moving in …In September 2004,Dr. Robin Santra andDr. Guo-Xin Chenarrived at ITAMP tostart postdoctoralfellowshipappointments. Dr.Santra’s researchinterests lie in thearea of ultra-fastscience, including thephotoionization of clusters, the description of highly excitedmolecular states, and double photo-detachment in molecularanions. Dr. Chen works in atomic astrophysics and issupported half time by ITAMP and half-time through aChandra (X-ray satellite) cycle 6 grant. Chen employs R-matrix methods to carry out calculations of electronimpact excitation , electron-ion recombination, andphotoionization for a variety of ions of astrophysicalinterest.

2






Cluster computer


Workshop News


A joint workshop “X-r ay Diagno stics of Astrophysical Plasmas,” sponsored by ITAMP and theChandra X-ray Center (CXC), was held in Cambridgefrom November 15 - 17, 2004. The CXC is located atthe Harvard-Smit hsonian and manages th e NASA-funded X-r ay observatory Chandra . The S cientificOrganizi ng Committee included: Rand all Smith(NASA/GSFC and JHU), Jay Bookbinder (CfA), NancyBrickhouse (CfA), Jelle Kaastra (SRON), Tim Kallman(NASA/GSFC), Kate Kirby (CfA), Duane Liedahl(LLNL), John Raymond (CfA), and Claude Canizares,(MIT). Covering theory, experiment and observation,the worksho p emphasized the role of a tomic theoryand experiment in und erstanding astrophysicalmeasurement s and develop ing astroph ysical mod els.The numb er of participants was in exc ess of 100 andaccordingly the workshop was held at a local hotelwith conference facilities.

Abstracts and talk s can be found at,http:// itamp.harvard.edu/xdap/ schedule.html anda volume of the proceedings is being publ ished.







The workshop on Mesoscopic Physics, QuantumOptics, and Quantum Information ran from May 10-12,2004. This wor kshop wa s organiz ed by M. Lukin, C.Marcus and A. Sørense n. More than 50 participated inthis event, focusing on such topical issues as coherenceand entangle ment in se mi conducting qubits, Kondoresonance s in single- electron tra nsistors, electron-electron correlation a nd decoherence in quantum dots,coupling of electron and nuclea r spin and releva nce toquantum c omputing, and photoni c crystals. Thisworkshop was in par t sponsore d by the Center forImaging and Mesosca le Struc tures (CIMS) at Har vard.

Abstra cts and audio talks may be found a t:http:// itamp. harvard.edu/mesoscopic /mesoscopic.h tml



















Spring 2005



ITAMP Staff

Kate KirbyDirector
















In Memoriam








ITAMP Postdocs




Moving in …In September 2004,Dr. Robin Santra andDr. Guo-Xin Chenarrived at ITAMP tostart postdoctoralfellowshipappointments. Dr.Santra’s researchinterests lie in thearea of ultra-fastscience, including thephotoionization of clusters, the description of highly excitedmolecular states, and double photo-detachment in molecularanions. Dr. Chen works in atomic astrophysics and issupported half time by ITAMP and half-time through aChandra (X-ray satellite) cycle 6 grant. Chen employs R-matrix methods to carry out calculations of electronimpact excitation , electron-ion recombination, andphotoionization for a variety of ions of astrophysicalinterest.

2

moving on - · professor susanne yelin, will ... was organized by b. esry, m. olshanii, and j....

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