This Week in Physics History: Oct. 13 - 20

Monday October 13, 2008

Oct. 15, 1878 - The Edison Electric Light Company begins operation.

Oct. 17, 1887 - German physicist Gustav Kirchhoff dies. Kirchhoff worked extensively in the fields of electricity, spectroscopy, and thermal radiation. He coined the term black body radiation. He is probably best known for the Kirchhoff's Laws in electronics. There is also a Kirchhoff's law of thermal equilibrium, which states "At thermal equilibrium, the emissitivity of a body (or surface) equals its absorptivity."

Oct. 20, 1891 - English physicist Sir James Chadwick is born. Chadwick discovered the neutron and led the way for the discovery of nuclear fission.

Oct. 19, 1910 - American astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar is born in Lahore, British India (now Pakistan). His work on stellar evolution earned him the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Oct. 14, 1914 - American chemist & physicist Raymond Davis Jr. is born. Davis received the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in astrophysics, especially related to cosmic neutrino detection.

Oct. 17, 1933 - Fleeing Nazi Germany, Albert Einstein immigrates to the United States.

Oct. 19, 1937 - New Zealand physicist Ernest Rutherford dies. His discovery of Rutherford scattering led to the orbital theory of the atom, which helped earn him the 1908 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Oct. 20, 1984 - British theoretical physicist Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac dies. Dirac is one of the founders of quantum physics. He made many mathematical innovations that helped with analysis of physical systems ranging from electromagnetic phenomena to quantum physics. He earned the 1933 Nobel Prize in physics, along with Erwin Schroedinger, "for the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory." The "Dirac equation" that he developed describes the behavior of fermions.

Oct. 13, 1987 - American physicist Walter Brattain dies. Brattain, along with Bell Labs coworkers John Bardeen and William Shockley, invented the transistor, for which the trio received the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Oct. 13, 2003 - Canadian physicist Bertram Brockhouse dies. Brockhouse received the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of neutron scattering techniques to probe the structure of matter.

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2008

“Discovery of Broken Symmetries”

This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded to Yoichiro Nambu, USA and jointly to Makoto Kobayashi, Japan and Toshihide Maskawa, Japan for their “discovery of Broken Symmetries”. This year’s Nobel Laureates in Physics have presented theoretical insights that give us a deeper understanding of what happens far inside the tiniest building blocks of matter.

Yoichiro Nambu

1/2 of the prize

USA

Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago Chicago, IL, USA

"for the discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics"

Makoto Kobayashi

1/4 of the prize

Japan

High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) Tsukuba, Japan

"for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature"

Toshihide Maskawa

1/4 of the prize

Japan

Kyoto Sangyo University; Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics (YITP), Kyoto University Kyoto, Japan

"for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature"

CERN: European Organization for Nuclear Research

The Large Hadron Collider

Our understanding of the Universe is about to change... The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a gigantic scientific instrument near Geneva, where it spans the border between Switzerland and France about 100 m underground. It is a particle accelerator used by physicists to study the smallest known particles – the fundamental building blocks of all things. It will revolutionise our understanding, from the minuscule world deep within atoms to the vastness of the Universe. Two beams of subatomic particles called 'hadrons' – either protons or lead ions – will travel in opposite directions inside the circular accelerator, gaining energy with every lap. Physicists will use the LHC to recreate the conditions just after the Big Bang, by colliding the two beams head-on at very high energy. Teams of physicists from around the world will analyse the particles created in the collisions using special detectors in a number of experiments dedicated to the LHC. There are many theories as to what will result from these collisions, but what's for sure is that a brave new world of physics will emerge from the new accelerator, as knowledge in particle physics goes on to describe the workings of the Universe. For decades, the Standard Model of particle physics has served physicists well as a means of understanding the fundamental laws of Nature, but it does not tell the whole story. Only experimental data using the higher energies reached by the LHC can push knowledge forward, challenging those who seek confirmation of established knowledge, and those who dare to dream beyond the paradigm.

LHC Shuts Down For Two Months Due To Helium Leak

Just a week ago, the transformer failed and now a new hardware, due to its malfunction, has stopped the LHC, dead in its tracks. This time a magnet quench event has occurred due to failure of the electrical link between two of the particle accelerator's massive 30-ton superconducting magnets. The complex rectifying process will take approximately two months. The section of the tunnel will have to be warmed up, which contains the magnet. Then it will have to be cooled down to its -271°C operating temperature.

Stephen Hawking: Big Bang experiment could finally earn me a Nobel Prize

Daily Mail Reporter:09th September 2008

Experts around the world are eagerly awaiting the switch on of the world's biggest scientific experiment, and none more so than Professor Stephen Hawking. The £5billion Large Hadron Collider aims to recreate the conditions moments after the Big Bang that created the universe. It could offer Professor Hawking his best chance so far of winning a Nobel prize if it confirms his theory that black holes give off radiation. He told the BBC: 'If the LHC were to produce little black holes, I don't think there's any doubt I would get a Nobel prize, if they showed the properties I predict. 'However, I think the probability that the LHC has enough energy to create black holes, is less than 1 per cent, so I'm not holding my breath.' The British physicist put forward his idea in the 1970s but it proved controversial because many scientists believed nothing could escape the gravitational pull of a black hole. Although Hawking's theory has become accepted by the profession is remains unproven. Nobel prizes in physics are awarded only when there is experimental evidence for a new phenomenon. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at Cern may produce microscopic black holes that could evaporate in a flash of Hawking radiation. To do this, a massive 27km tunnel has been constructed under countryside in France and Switzerland near Geneva, which will be used to smash protons together at 99.99 per cent of the speed of light. Tomorrow morning, it will be switched on and the first attempt to send the particle beam around its entire 27km length will be made. Experts say the LHC is probably the most complex and challenging scientific endeavour since the Apollo programme put astronauts on the moon. One of the aims of the LHC is to hunt for the Higgs boson, the so-called "God particle". The Higgs is said to be the so-far undetected key to mass. If scientists can prove its existence, it could pave the way for manipulating the gravity which exists in all mass - rather like Star Trek 'tractor' beams.

Multibillion-dollar experiment to probe nature's mysteries

Deep underground on the border between France and Switzerland, the world's largest particle accelerator complex will explore the world on smaller scales than any human invention has explored before. The Large Hadron Collider will look at how the universe formed by analyzing particle collisions. Some have expressed fears that the project could lead to the Earth's demise -- something scientists say will not happen. Still, skeptics have filed suit to try to stop the project. Scientists say the collider is finally ready for an attempt to circulate a beam of protons the whole way around the 17-mile tunnel. The test, which takes place Wednesday, is a major step toward seeing if the the immense experiment will provide new information about the way the universe works. "It's really a generation that we've been looking forward to this moment, and the moments that will come after it in particular," said Bob Cousins, deputy to the scientific leader of the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment, one of six experiments inside the collider complex. "September 10 is a demarcation between finishing the construction and starting to turn it on, but the excitement will only continue to grow." The collider consists of a particle accelerator buried more than 300 feet near Geneva, Switzerland. About $10 billion have gone into the accelerator's construction, the particle detectors and the computers, said Katie Yurkewicz, spokewoman for CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, which is host to the collider.

Big Bang Machine 'Absolutely Safe'

Big bang machine 'absolutely safe'

Scientists insist the most powerful particle accelerator ever built is "absolutely safe".

Concerns have been voiced over the £5 billion Large Hadron Collider (LHC) which will be switched on this Wednesday

The machine, to be based underground on the Swiss-French border, will smash protons - one of the building blocks of matter - into each other at energies up to seven times greater than any achieved before.

In the flashes from the collisions, they expect to reproduce conditions that existed during the first billionth of a second after the Big Bang at the dawn of creation.

Professor Otto Rossler, a German chemist from a group of scientists mounting a last-minute court challenge to the project, has expressed worries about the creation of black holes.

Scientists believe microscopic black holes might be generated in the machine. But according to the predictions, they will blink in and out of existence before anything scary happens.

Prof Rossler believes it is quite possible that the black holes made in the LHC will grow uncontrollably and "eat the planet from the inside".

But Particle physicist Dr James Gillies, a spokesman for the project, said: "We have received a lot of worried calls from people about it.

"There's nothing to worry about, the LHC is absolutely safe, because we have observed nature doing the same things the LHC will do. Protons regularly collide in the earth's upper atmosphere without creating black holes."

The experiments could help scientists find answers to some of the biggest questions in physics, such as why the universe looks the way it does, and how to explain mass, gravity and mysterious "dark matter".

Japanese physicists aim to unlock universe's mysteries

A worker shows the facilties of the world's largest scale synchrotron 500m in diameter which produces neutrons and neutrino and can be used for research materials and life science at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) Tokai Research and development center at Tokai village in Ibaraki prefecture As the world's scientists try to unzip mysteries about the universe, Japan is set to open its largest atomic science park to study the world at its smallest level

Electrons discover their individuality

Electrons between cooperative (coherent) and egocentric behaviour: If an electron is catapulted out of a nitrogen molecule at relatively low speed, it behaves cooperatively. The waves are sent out like a pseudo pair from both atoms and are superimposed (a). This also remains the case so if one of these electron waves is scattered off the atom (b). On the other hand, an electron behaves egocentrically or like an individual if it leaves the molecule quickly (c). If the electron now hits the adjacent atom and is scattered by it, it recognizes from which atom it started and superimposes itself on its scattered wave. Image: Fritz Haber Institute / Uwe Becker

This Week in Physics History: September 1 - 7

Sept. 1, 1804 -

German astronomer Karl Ludwig Harding discovers Juno, one of largest asteroids in the asteroid belt.

Sept. 3, 1905 -

American experimental physicist Carl David Anderson is born. Anderson would receive the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the positron.

Sept. 5, 1906 -

Austrian physicist Ludwig Boltzmann dies. Part of the illustrious Boltzmann family, which permeated nineteenth century European intellectual life in mathematics & the sciences, Ludwig is best known for his work in statistical mechanics and thermodynamics. He strongly advocated atomic theory, well before it was popular to do so.

Sept. 3, 1976 -

U.S. spacecraft Viking II arrived on Mars, landing at Utopia Planitia, and took the first pictures of the planet's surface. Viking II was, of course, an unmanned spacecraft.

Sept. 2, 1992 -

The first automobile powered by natural gas is purchased. Fifty of these alternative fuel vehicles were purchased and put into service by the Southern California Gas Company

This Week in Physics History: August 18 - 24

Aug. 19, 1662 -

French mathematician, philosopher, & physicist Blaise Pascal dies. Pascal was best known for his mathematical work, especially the formation of Pascal's Triangle (although he was not the first to develop it) as well as work in probability. In physics, Pascal is known for his impassioned defense of the scientific method, studies of fluids, and early work in thermodynamics, most notably pressure and vacuum experiments.

Aug. 23, 1806 -

French physicist Charles Augustin de Coulomb dies. His best-known achievement is the discovery of Coulomb's law for electrostatic force. The SI unit of charge, the coulomb, was named after him.

Aug. 21, 1814 -

Early American physicist and inventor Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, dies. Thompson's work in questioning the orthodox physical theories of the time helped lay the foundation for revolutions in thermodynamics, especially in the realms of specific heats, heat transfers and thermal conducitivity. His views on heat as a form of motion helped lead to the kinetic theory and also the laws of conservation of energy.

Aug. 20, 1961 -

American physicist Percy Williams Bridgman dies. Bridgman won the 1946 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in high-pressure physics. Aug. 21, 1993 - The Mars Observer spacecraft signal is lost by NASA.

Aug. 21, 1995 -

American astrophysicist (born in British India) Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar dies. Chandrasekhar's theoretical work in cosmology and stellar evolution earned him the 1983 Nobel Prize in physics. The Chandra X-Ray Observatory satellite, deployed into space by the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1999, was named in his honor after a contest with 6,000 proposed names.

Aug. 24, 2006 -

The International Astronomical Union comes to the conclusion that they will redefine the term "planet" so that Pluto is no longer a planet

Scientists Create World's Thinnest Balloon

Scientists have developed the world's thinnest balloon that is impermeable to even the smallest gas molecules. Above is a multi-layer graphene membrane that could be used in various applications, including filters and sensors. Credit: Jonathan Alden

The Light and Matter Series

The Light and Matter Series of six books is intended for a introductory course.

Newtonian Physics

http://www.lightandmatter.com/area1book1.html

Conservation Laws

http://www.lightandmatter.com/area1book2.html

Vibrations and Waves

http://www.lightandmatter.com/area1book3.html

Electricity and Magnetism

http://www.lightandmatter.com/area1book4.html

Optics

http://www.lightandmatter.com/area1book5.html

The Modern Revolution in Physics

http://www.lightandmatter.com/area1book6.html

The Light and Matter Series

The Light and Matter series of introductory physics textbooks is designed for the type of one-year survey course taken by biology majors.

Newtonian Physics

Conservation Laws Vibrations and Waves Electricity and Magnetism Optics The Modern Revolution in Physics Simple Nature - engineering physics Conceptual Physics

Student Devises Solar Energy ECG Useful In Developing Countries And Troubled Areas

ScienceDaily (July 24, 2008): Electrotechnology student Felix Adamczyk has devised an ECG machine that runs on solar energy. This especially lends itself to use in developing countries or troubled areas. Adamczyk christened it “Kadiri”, which means “make possible” in the Tanzanian language Kiswahili.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080720220017.htm