Newsletter - School of Physics and Astronomy - University of ...

Anatoly LarkinPhoto by Tom FoleyProfessor Anatoly Larkinof the School of Physics andAstronomy died on ThursdayAugust 4, 2005 in Aspen, Colorado.Professor Larkin was72. Larkin had been attendinga physics workshop when hedied unexpectedly.Larkin joined the FineTheoretical Physics InstituteAnatoly Larkin, (FTPI) at the University of1932-2005Minnesota in 1995 after along and prestigious career in his native Russia. Hewas a condensed matter theorist, specializing in superconductivity.His research also was key to the study ofone-dimensional systems and clusters that are so familiarin the fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology.Larkin was a leader of a renowned Russian school oftheoretical physics. Many of his former students holdleading academic positions at universities and institutesboth in Russia and the Western world. He was a recipientof many awards, including the Hewlett Packard EurophysicsPrize, A Humboldt Award, the London Prizein Low Temperature Physics, the Lars Onsager Prize inTheoretical Statistical Physics and the Bardeen Prize forSuperconductivity.Larkin published more than 50 papers during his 10years at the School, as well as the 600-page “Theory ofFluctuations in Superconductors. “Anatoly Larkin was agiant in the field of condensed matter theory and a greatteacher of theoretical physicists,” said Allen Goldman,head of the School of Physics and Astronomy.Larkin was born Oct. 14, 1932, near Moscow. Hestarted his career as a researcher at the Moscow PhysicalEngineering Institute, and went on to positions at theLandau Institute for Theoretical Physics and MoscowState University.Larkin is survived by his wife Tatiana; his sons Victorand Ivan; his daughters in-law Marina and Victoria;his grandchildren Alexander, Maria, Ilia, Anatoly andTimothy; and great-grandchildren Sofia and George.Larkin was cremated and his ashes taken by his familyback for funeral services in Russia, which were heldon Friday, August 19, 2005. FTPI plans to dedicate itsspring workshop in condensed matter physics to thememory and research of Professor Larkin.George FreierContributed by Prof. C. J. WaddingtonGeorge Freier, ProfessorEmeritus ofPhysics, died onFriday May 18th,2005, at the age of90. George was bornin Ellsworth, Wisconsinon the familyfarm and frequentlyGeorge Freier, 1915-2005 described the harshlife on a farm in the early days of the last century. Hegraduated from River Falls State Teachers College in1938 and taught in White Lake, Wisconsin until WW II.He received a Master of Arts degree from the Universityof Minnesota in 1941 and then worked in the NavalOrdnance Laboratory from 1942 to 1944, developingtorpedoes. Returning to the University he was awardeda Ph.D. in nuclear physics in 1949, and was appointedan assistant professor in the same year. His studies withthe nuclear physics group led to a number of importantdiscoveries about the behavior of nuclear interactions atlow energies. In particular he was the first to demonstratethe production of polarized beams of nucleons. He waspromoted to full professor in 1958 at about the time thathis interests switched to atmospheric physics.His work with the high voltages of the University Vande Graaff accelerator led to his interest in thunderstormsand the electrical discharges that produced lightning.He switched his research work from nuclear physicsto meteorology and this remained the main topic of hisresearch for the rest of his career. After discovering thatrain drops were often radioactive he developed a theoryof rain drop formation in which the radioactive atomslead to the nucleation of water vapor to form drops. Usingsimple but clever instruments he monitored every thunderstormthat occurred in the area, rushing to the roofof the Physics building every time a storm approached.He made a point of collecting all the folk weather lorethat he could find and wrote a popular book, WeatherProverbs that discussed the basis and validity of all ofthe proverbs and weather related sayings he had found.He also had a lifelong interest in the theory and practiceof music, building a number of string instruments andstudying Newton’s work on musical theory.George was deeply committed to teaching and believedthat the concepts and ideas of physics were bestcommunicated by hands-on demonstrations. His “DemonstrationHandbook for Physics” co-written with F. J.Anderson, was used in many universities. In 2002, thePhoto by ??Continued on Page 85

Awards and AnnouncementsVainshtein to Receive Pomeranchuk PrizeSchool of Physics and Astronomy Professorand member of the Fine TheoreticalPhysics Institute Arkady Vainshteinwill receive the 2005 PomeranchukPrize in theoretical physics.Vainshtein will share the prize withhis collaborator, Iosif Khriplovich ofVainshteinthe Budker Institute for Nuclear Physicsin Novosibirsk, Russia. The prizecommittee cited Vainshtein and Khriplovich for their“outstanding contribution to understanding the propertiesof the standard model, especially for illuminatingwork on weak and strong interaction of quarks.”This prize, awarded by the Institute of Theoretical andExperimental Physics (ITEP), is intended to perpetuatethe memory of Isaak Yakovlevich Pomeranchuk, the famoustheoretical physicist known for work in many fields.Previous winners of the Pomeranchuk Prize, awardedannually since 1998, include S. Drell, J. D. Bjorken, T.Regge, and F. Dyson.Rudnick Receives Outstanding Community ServiceRudnickDahlberg Receives George Taylor AwardDahlbergCourtesy of Physics ForceCourtesy of Rudnick John Lind PhotographyPeloso Receives Best Instructor AwardSchool of Physics and AstronomyProfessor Marco Peloso received a 2005Institute of Technology (IT) Best ProfessorAward at an IT Week award ceremony.Peloso was chosen by an e-mailsurvey of all Institute of Technologyundergraduates as the Best InstructorPeloso in the Physics Department.6Photo by J. AllanProfessor Larry Rudnick of the Schoolof Physics and Astronomy received a2005 University of Minnesota OutstandingCommunity Service Award.Rudnick received the award in part forcontributions to the Science Works!Program, the Minneapolis Planetariumand DragonflyTV.Professor Dan Dahlberg of the Schoolof Physics and Astronomy received theGeorge Taylor Distinguished ServiceAward. Dahlberg and Larry Rudnick(see previous article) were recognizedformally at the Institute of TechnologyPre-Commencement celebration.2004 Student AwardsLeft to right front row: Ardis Nier, Jennifer Dockter,Kay Blair, Jooho Park. Second row: David Toyli,Elizabeth Barnes, Yousi Ma, Tomo Matsumura, PeanutMcCoy. Back row: Derek Lee, Greg McKusky, KyleZilic, Erik Aver.Mrs. Ardis Nier presented the Alfred O. C. Nier Awardand Mrs. Kay Blair attended on behalf of the J. MorrisBlair Award.RecipientOur Development OfficerJennifer PaynePogatchnikPhoto by Tom FoleyAwardElizabeth A. Barnes Alfred O.C. NierDavid M. ToyliHarry & Viola St. CyrPaul R. ShearerJ. Morris BlairKyle T. ZilicJeffrey BasfordYousi MaThe Hagstrum AwardTomotake Matsumura Aneesur Rahman AwardJooho ParkAneesur Rahman AwardErik J. AverOutstanding TA AwardJennifer L. Docktor Outstanding TA AwardDerek M. LeeOutstanding TA AwardBradley “Peanut” McCoy Outstanding TA AwardGregory M. McKusky Outstanding TA AwardXiaoxia PengOutstanding TA AwardJennifer Payne Pogatchnik612-626-9501or jpogatchnik@it.umn.edu.P l a n s a n d q u e s t io n sregarding making gifts tothe department will be keptconfidential. In addition,Jennifer can insure yourwishes are carried out andthat a plan is in place foryour gift today and into the

Walter WeyhmannClass NotesProfessor Emeritus Walter V.Weyhmann, 69, died on Saturday,September 24, 2005.Professor Weyhmann, a graduateof Duke University, Class of ‘57,Weyhmann received his Ph.D. from HarvardUniversity in 1963. He came to theUniversity in 1964 as an Assistant Professor.Professor Weyhmann made important contributionsto the area of experimental low temperature physics includingpioneering techniques in nuclear cooling whichenabled the study of the properties of real materials inmK and sub-mK temperature range and the discoveryof nuclear magnetic ordering PrCu 6. The latter was thefirst observation of nuclear magnetic ordering in a metallicsystem. PrCu 6is unusual, characterizerized by veryweak coupling of its nuclear and electronic spin systems.Its magnetic ordering is dominated by the nuclear spinsystem. Professor Weyhmann’s breakthrough with thismaterial opened the door for much research in this andsimilar directions.Professor Allen Goldman, praised Weyhmann’s abilitiesas a teacher saying that his lectures were known fortheir clarity and completeness. He called him a pioneerat Minnesota in the way in which he taught thermaland stasistical physics using more physical and understandableexamples than had been traditionally used inthose subjects.Professor Weyhmann was promoted quickly to AssociateProfessor in 1968 and Full Professor in 1975. Heserved as Head of the School for 7 years (1975-82) andActing Head for one year (1973-74). He was appointedAssociate Dean of the Graduate School for Research in1989 and continued in this position until 1993. He alsoserved as Acting Dean of the Graduate School for twoquarters during this period. Professor Weyhmann retiredin 2001, but continued his research activities in his subbasementlaboratory until about a year ago.Professor Weyhmann is survived by his wife, Rose;daughter, Elizabeth (Brian) Freeberg; grandchildren,Michael, Anna, Darryl and Peter; sister, Anita (Victor)Brugh; brother-in-law, Chester (Mona Jean) Fossee;several nieces and nephews.Hassib Amini (Ph.D. ‘03) is currently working as aSenior Engineer at Seagate Technolgy in Bloomington,Minnesota.Jennifer Anderson (B.S. ’98) recently completed aPh.D. in Geology at Brown University and returned toMinnesota with her husband, fellow alumnus JeremyAnderson, for a fellowship at Carleton College.Jennifer Blue (Ph.D. ‘97) is starting a tenure-track positionat Miami University in Oxford, Ohio this fall.Heather Brown (Ph. D. ‘03) and Steve Wilkins (B.S.’96) were married in October 2004. Brown is workingat General Atomics in San Diego and Wilkins is workingat the Genomics Institute of the Novartis ResearchFoundation in San Diego.Luke Corwin (B.S. ’03) is currently a graduate studentat The Ohio State University. Corwin is working in theOSU BaBar group under Prof. Klaus Honscheid. Thisfall he will move to Stanford Linear Accelerator Center,which houses BaBar, to continue pursuing his Ph.D..Phil Dudero (B.S. 1985) has returned to the departmentto pursue a Ph.D. in Physics. He married recently andhe and his wife live in married housing on campus.Jesse Johnson (B.S. ’94) is currently an Assistant Professorof Computer Science at the University of Montana atMissoula. After completing his Bachelors at Minnesotahe spent three years in Malawi as a Peace Corps Volunteer.He received a Ph.D. in Physics and a Masters inComputer Science from the University of Maine. He ismarried with two children.David Kleinjan (B.S. ‘04) works designing fire sprinklersfor Viking Automatic Sprinkler Company in St.Paul. He is planning to go to graduate school in 2006.Earl Kyle (B. S. ’61) currently a consultant and volunteerfor NASA’s Solar System Ambassador Program. Kyleis a former military/aerospace engineer/physicist whosedesigns have flown on Apollo manned moon missions,Skylab, Orbiting Solar Observatory, Delta rockets, andthe SR-71 Blackbird. He has also served as a consultantfor numerous aerospace corporations as well as on theSenate Space Shuttle Advisory Committee.Dave Madland (Ph.D. ‘70) recently retired from 30years in the nuclear physics group in the TheoreticalDivision at Los Alamos. His work included fission stud-Continued on Page 87

Class Notes continued from Page 7Freier continued from Page 5ies, optical potentials, Hauser-Feshbach calculations, andthe use of the Dirac equation in scattering and nuclearstructure (relativistic mean field) studies. He was namedan APS Fellow in 2003.Christian Minor (B.A. ‘94) currently a Senior Staff Scientistfor Nova Research, Inc. of Alexandria, Virginia andworks as an in-house contractor for the Naval ResearchLaboratory, Washington, D.C.James McLinn (M.S. ’74) is a Senior Reliability Engineerat Teradyne Instruments. McLinn is a Fellowof the American Society for Quality and was namedDistinguished Engineer in Minnesota in 2000 by theMinnesota Federation of Engineering Societies.Jeff Nelson (Ph.D. ‘94) is an Assistant Professor at TheCollege of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA.Elwood Nestvold (Ph.D. ‘62) retired from ShellGroupin 1992. Since his retirement he has formed a consultingcompany in Oil and Gas Exploration and Productionwhose clients have included Schlumberger, IBM, YPF(Argentina), and Japex (Japan).University named the demonstration room in the TateLaboratory of Physics as the George D. Freier LectureDemonstration Room in recognition of his work. Hewas honored by a Distinguished Service Citation fromthe American Association of Physics Teachers for hisservices to undergraduate teaching.George retired from the University in 1985, whenhe reached the mandatory retirement age of 70. He waspreceded in death by his wife, Phyllis, who was also aProfessor of Physics at the University. He is survivedby his son, David and daughter Susan, as well as threegrand children.Cover Illustration fromDemonstration News, anewsletter which Freierstarted to keep facultyabreast of the latestdemonstrations. Freierdid all the illustrationsfor the newsletter aswell as his Handbook.This whimsical characteroften appeared in hisdrawings.NewsletterAllen M. GoldmanHead, School of Physics & AstronomySend article suggestions and additions/deletions for thenewsletter mailing list to:Jenny AllanEditorSchool of Physics & AstronomyUniversity of Minnesota116 Church Street S.E.Minneapolis, MN 55455jenny@physics.umn.eduThe opinions expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the official policiesof the Board of Regents or the University administrationThe University of Minnesota is committed to the policy that all persons shall haveequal access to its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color,creed, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, disability, public assistancestatus, veteran status, or sexual orientation.To: