Physics MattersVol. 17 | 2013-2014 | Washington State University Department of Physics &Astronomy | www.physics.wsu.edu

Smart optic fibers, wireart, & the brain

Flying high: WSU flag launched into stratosphereDiscovery opens new path to superfast quantum computingAccidental discovery dramatically improves conductivity

FEATURES

Interview with Dr. Michael McNeil ForbesThe department welcomes Dr. Brian Collins

Special Feature:95 Years of Physics

www.physics.wsu.edu

Greetings from thechair

2 Physics Matters Vol. 17

Greetings from the Department of Physics and Astronomy!

The department continues to excel in research and education. Our graduateprogram is strong, graduating 12 physics Ph.D. students in 2013-2014. Ourundergraduate majors are finding interesting jobs or graduate programs, andmany of these alumni are donating generously to WSU. Lower-divisionundergrad enrollments are once again very high.

Two outstanding assistant professors joined the department in 2014. Dr. MichaelForbes is a many-body theorist and Dr. Brian Collins is an experimentalistworking with organic materials. In the near term, we will be searching for a juniortheorist in the area of computational materials physics.

As you can see from this issue of Physics Matters, the department is doing manyexciting things. This is made possible in part by generous support from ouralumni and friends. Thank you!

Dr. Matt McCluskey, professor & chair

5 Discovery opens new path tosuperfast quantum computing

8 Flying high: WSU flaglaunched into stratosphere

11 Interview with Dr. MichaelMcNeil Forbes

13 Accidental discoverydramatically improvesconductivity

14 The department welcomesAssistant Professor BrianCollins

15 Meeting the challenge:Smart optic fibers, wire art,& the brain

22 95 years of physics: Thedepartment, its leaders, andthe research that helpedmake it great

FEATURES

>>

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY

PHYSICSMATTERSVOL. 17, 2013-2014 | www.physics.wsu.edu

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Physics Matters is a publication through the Washington State UniversityDepartment of Physics & Astronomy. Contact physics@wsu.edu for moreinformation.

Copy: Sabrina Zearott, Eric Sorensen (Washington State Magazine)Design: Sabrina ZearottImages: WSU Photo Services unless mentioned cover image provided byElizabeth Berrien (Wire Zoo). Back cover photo by @bicycle onfreeimages.comEditors: Sabreen Yamini Dodson, Sabrina Zearott, Mary GuentherProduction: Scribus, GIMP, Adobe Acrobat

PHOTO WSU News

Physics Matters Vol. 17 3

mailto:physics@wsu.eduwww.physics.wsu.edu

SECTIONS

p. 19

10 Faculty

18 Department

19 Awards

21 Students

28 Friends of Physics & Astronomy

30 Blast from the PastAlumni & Affiliates

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DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY

Downtown Pullman, WashingtonPHOTO Sabrina Zearott

p. 15

p. 5

PULLMAN, Wash.Researchers atWashington State University haveused a super-cold cloud of atomsthat behaves like a single atom to seea phenomenon predicted 60 yearsago and witnessed only once since.

The phenomenon takes place in theseemingly otherworldly realm ofquantum physics and opens a newexperimental path to potentiallypowerful quantum computing.

Working out of a lab in WSUsWebster Hall, physicist PeterEngels and his colleagues cooledabout one million atoms ofrubidium to 100 billionths of adegree above absolute zero. Therewas no colder place in the universe,said Engels, unless someone wasdoing a similar experimentelsewhere on Earth or on anotherplanet.

At that point, the cluster of atomsformed a Bose-Einstein condensate a rare physical state predicted byAlbert Einstein and Indian theoristSatyendra Nath Bose afterundergoing a phase change similarto a gas becoming a liquid or a liquidbecoming a solid. Once the atomsacted in unison, they could beinduced to exhibit coherentsuperradiant behavior predictedby Princeton University physicist

involving coupling to photon fields.Because the coupling of atoms andphotons is usually very weak, theirbehavior was extremely hard toobserve, he said.

What our colleague ChuanweiZhang realized is, if you replacedthe light with the motion of theparticles, you got exactly the samephysics, said Engels. Moreover, itseasier to observe. So while theircloud of atoms measures less thanhalf a millimeter across, it is largeenough to be photographed andmeasured. This gives experimentersa key tool for testing assumptionsand changes in the atomic realm of

quantum physics.

We have found animplementation of thesystem that allows us togo in the lab and actuallytest the predictions of theDicke model, and someextensions of it as well, ina system that is not nearlyas complicated as peoplealways thought it has to befor the Dicke physics,Engels said.

Ordinary physical properties changeso dramatically in quantummechanics that it can seem like adrawing by M.C. Escher. Photons

Researchers have managed to achieve asuperradiant state with ultra-cold atoms.

Discovery opens newpath to superfastquantum computingSTORY Eric Sorensen. Reprinted from WSUNews (June 4, 2014).

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Robert Dicke in 1954.

This large group of atoms does notbehave like a bunch of balls in abucket, said Engels. It behaves asone big super-atom. Therefore itmagnifies the effects of quantummechanics.

Engels findings appear in thejournal Nature Communications. Co-author and collaborator ChuanweiZhang, a former WSU physicistnow at the University of Texas atDallas, led the theoretical aspects ofthe work.

Funders include the NationalScience Foundation, the ArmyResearchOffice and theDefenseAdvancedResearchProjectsAgency, thecutting-edgeresearchagency knownas DARPA.

Researchersusing thesesuper-cold dilute gases have createdthe superradiant state in only oneother situation, said Engels, using afar more complicated experiment

The WSU research group. Left to right: Chris Hamner, JiaJia Chang,and Peter Engels. PHOTO Peter Engels.

This large group ofatoms....behaves asone big super-atom.

Therefore itmagnifies the

effects of quantummechanics.-Peter Engels

Continued p. 7

Physics Matters Vol. 17 5

Ph.D. and M.S. programs in the Department ofPhysics & Astronomy

The Department of Physics and Astronomy at WashingtonState University is built around a small but highlyproductive faculty whose research expertise providesstudents a wide variety of research experiences. The highlyrigorous undergraduate program prepares graduates to becompetitive in top graduate programs or for employment.The Ph.D. program and the thesis master's degree blenddemanding coursework with cutting-edge research toprepare graduates for jobs in academia, industry, andgovernment labs. Our programs emphasize core academiccompetency and research excellence.

Physics is the study of the material world. Its historicalmission was to push the boundaries of superlatives: thesmallest subatomic particle, the quickest time interval, themost precise measurement, the most perplexing ofunexplained phenomena. In the 21st century, thesechallenges are augmented with a need to understand howparticles interact under extreme conditions or complexsituations. Astronomy is the study of the universe from thesize scales of planets to the ultimate size scale of all. Itencompasses the risks of meteor impacts, the intricateballet of planetary systems, and the warping of spacetimenear a black hole.

The WSU Department of Physics and Astronomyaims to prepare young scientists for careers in theseand related areas. We offer bachelor's, master's, anddoctoral degrees for students that aspire to thechallenge of pushing the frontiers of humanknowledge.

Fall 2015 priority deadline:January 10, 2015.

We accept applications afterthis date but they are notconsidered priority;admissions considerationsbegin in February 2015.

Research AreasAstrophysicsExtreme matterMaterials & opticsNovel states of matter

Award-winning facultySix fellows of the AmericanPhysical Society (APS)

Three fellows of the AmericanAssociation for the Advancementof Science (AAAS)One fellow of the AcousticalSociety of America (ASA)

One fellow of the FOR760:Scattering Systems with ComplexDynamics (SSCD)

One fellow of the MaterialsResearch Society (MRS)

One fellow of the AmericanVacuum Society (AVS)

Two fellows of the InternationalSociety of Optics and Photonics(SPIE)

One fellow of the Optical Societyof America (OSA)

Four Regents Professors

Excellent standard of livingPullman is located on thePalouse in southeasternWashington. With breathtakingvistas, great access to outdooractivities, and temperateweather, along with awonderful community andschool district, Pullman wasnamed one of the Bestcollege towns in NorthAmerica by MSN in 2012.

www.physics.wsu.edu

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www.physics.wsu.edu

can be both waves and particles. A particle can go through twospaces at the same time and, paradoxically, interfere with itself.Electrons can be oriented up or down at the same time.

This concurrent duality can be exploited by quantum computing.So where a conventional computer uses 1s and 0s to makecalculations, the fundamental units of a quantum computer couldbe 1s and 0s at the same time. As Wired magazine(http://www.wired.com/2014/05/quantum-computing/#x)recently noted, Its a mind-bending, late-night-in-the-dorm-room concept that lets a quantum computer calculate atridiculously fast speeds.

Eric Sorensen is the s