Features
New Frontiers in Quantum Information With Atoms and Ions
Both the precision control of trapped-ion systems and very large samples of cold neutral atoms are opening important new possibilities for quantum computation and simulation — J. Ignacio Cirac and Peter Zoller
The Cosmological Constant Problem
Quantum gravity may force theoretical physicists to rethink one of the great conundrums in modern physics — Thomas Banks
Strongly Correlated Materials: Insights From Dynamical Mean-Field Theory
Materials with correlated electrons exhibit some of the most intriguing phenomena in condensed matter physics. A new theoretical framework is now allowing theorists to calculate the electronic structure of these materials, which can exist in a rich variety of phases — Gabriel Kotliar and Dieter Vollhardt
Society Meetings
Montreal Hosts the APS March Meeting
Departments
Letters 
Gender Disparity in Physics: A Multifaceted Challenge
More on the Value of Ronald Richter's Work
Somewhere Under the Rainbow
Causes and Correlations of Master's Degree Statistics
An Observation on Hofstadter's Butterfly
Correction
Search & Discovery
Fermionic Atoms Appear to Pair Up Much as Electrons Do in a Superconductor
A new experiment reports pair formation when a gas of ultracold potassium-40 atoms is in the largely unexplored region of strong interactions.
Acoustics Experiment Shows Why It's So Hard to Make Out the Heroine's Words at the Opera
Vocal-tract resonances enhance the output of the vocal cords. They also create the distinctions between different vowels sounds. For sopranos singing high notes, the two functions come into conflict.
New Algorithm Speeds Up Computer Simulations of Complex Fluids
Previously intractable systems are now within the modeler's grasp, thanks to an approach adapted from the study of lattice spin systems.
Issues & Events
Hubble Sacrificed in Wake of President Bush's New Space Vision
The Hubble Space Telescope has been sentenced to a slow death as NASA worries about minimizing risks to astronauts, completing the space station, and sending people to Mars. Astronomers are fighting a last-ditch campaign to reverse NASA's HST decision.
National Academies Report Turns Up the Pressure for Large Facility Reform at NSF
NSF created a major research equipment and facilities construction account in 1995 to better manage large scientific facilities, but that hasn't quelled concerns about both the selection process and ongoing oversight of such projects.
Science Policy Museum to Open in Washington
The National Academy of Sciences will be expanding its public outreach operations by launching a new science policy museum. The 557-square-meter Marian Koshland Science Museum, scheduled to open at the end of April in Washington, DC, will attempt to explain the science behind current and sometimes controversial public policy issues.
Carty Named to Canada's New High-Level Science Post
The day he was sworn in as Canada's prime minister last December, Paul Martin announced the creation of a national science adviser post. Stepping into the new shoes on 1 April is Arthur Carty, a synthetic chemist and president of the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada.
Flatten Succeeds Lerch as APS International Affairs Director
On 2 February, Amy Flatten became head of international affairs at the American Physical Society. She took the torch from Irving Lerch, who stepped down last December, 11 years after founding the program.
Geoscience Job Market Good, but Perceived as Bad
The job market for recent PhDs in Earth and space sciences remained strong for the class of 2002: 88% are working in their field and describe their jobs as challenging and relevant, according to a recent report by the American Geological Institute, the American Geophysical Union, and the American Institute of Physics.
News Notes
Cash for UK students; SPEAR3 pierces brightly; Realistic hydrogen
Web Watch
The Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues; most-cited articles in high-energy physics; IMABLOG
Opinion
Publish or Perish--An Ailing Enterprise? — Mohamed Gad-el-Hak
Books
The Global Approach to Quantum Field Theory, B. DeWitt (reviewed
by S. Deser)
Why Stock Markets Crash: Critical Events in Complex Financial Systems, D. Sornette (reviewed by F. Cuypers)
Essential Mathematical Biology, N. F. Britton (reviewed by F. Adler)
Elements of Synchrotron Light for Biology, Chemistry, and Medical Research, G. Margaritondo (reviewed by S. M. Gruner)
New Books
New Products
Focus on spectroscopy
We Hear That
APS Presents Awards at Montreal Meeting
German Physical Society Bestows Honors
Obituaries
Hermann Anton Haus
Joseph Fine
Daniel Richard Frankl
Derek Charles Robinson
Douglas Howard Sampson
|
