November 4, 2011 was a red ribbon day!

As part of the Physics Department Homecoming events, Dr. Zhenrong Zhang and our

Department Chairman, Dr. Greg Benesh, were joined by Dr. Truell Hyde, Vice-Provost

for Research, and Dr. Lee Nordt, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, for a rib-

bon cutting ceremony to mark the opening of the new Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

Lab in the Baylor Sciences Building.

Dr. Zhang made a short presentation to begin the ceremony and showed off some of

the images, supporting equipment, and capabilities of the new state-of-the-art facility.

The 3 pm ceremony preceded the Homecoming Coffee held by the Department in the

Clock Tower Room to welcome back alumni of the department and share stories over

refreshments and archived pictures of bygone days.

STM Lab Receives Grand Opening

Special points of interest:

New Graduate Students

Spring Recruitment Dates

URSA deadlines

Alumni News

Fellowship Opportunities

Recent Publications

Inside this issue:

From the Chair 2

Grad Program News 3

Undergraduate Research 4

Alumni Feedback 5

News and Notes 6

Out and About … 7

Calendars 8

Volume 6, Issue 3

January/February 2012

Physics Newsletter Department of Physics, Baylor University

January 2012

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year from the Baylor Physics Department! We hope you had a wonderful Christmas season,

and that you enjoyed all of the great athletic news about Baylor the last few months. As I write to you, Baylor

has just held a news conference in which Robert Griffin III announced his decision to make himself eligible

for the NFL draft. What a great ambassador RGIII has been for the university! He will be greatly missed!

You have probably been hearing particle physics news emanating primarily from the CMS and Atlas collabo-

rations at CERN. There have been reports of faster-than-light neutrinos and events that could signal the dis-

covery of the Higgs boson. Our Baylor particle physicists are keeping close watch on the results and partici-

pating in the discussions. (Baylor is a member of the CMS collaboration.) On Dec. 13th a video conference

was held world-wide and CMS and Atlas groups published a news release. According to our Dr. Ken

Hatakeyama, "the main conclusion is that the Standard Model Higgs boson, if it exists, is most likely to have

a mass constrained to the range 116-130 GeV by the ATLAS experiment, and 115-127 GeV by CMS. Tan-

talizing hints have been seen by both experiments in this mass region, but these are not yet strong enough

to claim a discovery."

As I mentioned in an earlier newsletter, this year we have been implementing the final courses in the astron-

omy and astrophysics curricula—and graduating our first student. The newest courses are PHY 4350 Intro-

duction to Stellar Structure and Evolution—taught last fall, and PHY 4351 Introduction to Modern Cosmolo-

gy—which we are teaching for the first time this spring. Thanks to the efforts of our curriculum committee,

both courses are also available for graduate credit (with extra work involved). It’s always nice to have more

elective options for our grad students!

Speaking of graduating students—we graduated our sixth Ph.D. of 2011 in December exercises. The newly-

minted Dr. Qianyu (Theresa) Ma was supervised by Dr. Lorin Matthews. We congratulate them both upon

the completion of Theresa’s degree. The Department also has a large contingent of seniors expecting to

graduate this spring. Amir Ali, Kyle Brown, Kristen Deline, Brandon Doyle, Janie Hoormann, Kimberly Orr,

and Alex Sabey all plan to walk the stage at the May Commencement. We wish them every success as they

move on in their careers!

We again thank you for your interest and support. Please continue to pray with us that we honor God in all

of our work, and that we accomplish goals that are pleasing to Him. If you find yourself in the area this

spring, please stop by and say hello.

With warmest best wishes,

Greg Benesh

Professor & Chairman

Page 2 Volume 6, Issue 3

This year we are

graduating our first student

from the new astronomy

and astrophysics curricula!

From the Chair

Physics Newsletter

Three recruitment mass emailings have been done based upon Physics GRE name data. Our

responses are significantly ahead of last year at this time (29 as opposed to 17).

The annual Stipend Tuition Budget Increase Request Form was submitted to the Graduate

School. Three (3) additional TA positions have been requested.

Our new recruitment Open House website has opened. See (See "Open House for Prospective

Students" under "Graduate Programs")

http://www.baylor.edu/physics/index.php?id=86636

Welcome to two new spring graduate students: Bahram Shakerin from Shahid Beheshti University

(Iran), and Kranti Gunthodi from Northern Illinois University.

Congratulations to our new fall 2011 Ph.D.: Theresa Ma (Lorin Matthews, advisor). Theresa will

be helping us to teach labs in the spring semester.

Graduate credit is now available for our two new astrophysics courses, 4350 ("Stellar Structure

and Evolution") and 4351 ("Introduction to Modern Cosmology"). Many thanks to Jay Dittmann

for his perseverance!

Late in the fall, the department engaged in

discussions with the graduate school about

the current financial model. We are hopeful

that the discussions will benefit future finan-

cial plans of the department.

- Dr. Walter Wilcox

Graduate Program Director

Page 3

Graduate Program News

This is a reminder that students who received funding through the Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Achieve-

ment are required to present the results of their work at URSA Scholars Week. Please make sure your students are

aware of this requirement and that they are making plans to participate.

Students must apply to their academic departments no later than Monday, February 27, 2012 using the form availa-

ble at: http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/159085.doc.

Scholars Week takes place the week of March 26-30, 2012. The URSA website (http://www.baylor.edu/ursa) will be

updated with more information about Scholars Week as the event approaches.

Thanks,

Blake Thomas, Research Project Manager, Office of the Vice Provost for Research

As the department completes the transition to the new undergraduate research sequence, the number of undergrad-

uate majors in physics doing research continues to grow. This fall, the presentations for PHY 4190 included the work

of six of our undergraduate majors: Janie Hoormann, Kimberly Orr, Brandon Doyle, Kyle Brown, Amir Ali, and Kristen

Deline. The growth of the undergraduate research program necessitated expanding the presentations delivered by

students to three days: November 30 - December 1. Indications are that our undergraduate research will continue to

grow as the enrollment in PHY 2190 in spring 2012 is seven students. The PHY 2190/4190 sequence replaces the

previous PHY 4195/4196 sequence and expands the time our undergraduates have available to them to pursue

undergraduate research experiences. Thank you to all who gave feedback on the students’ final presentations!

Dr. Jeffrey Olafsen, Director of Undergraduate Research

Page 4

And speaking of Undergraduate Research …

Senior Undergraduate Research Presentations

Just a reminder that we encourage students who are performing research with a faculty supervisor in the department

to register for PHY 3V95 (Undergraduate Research in Physics). Students may elect to take the course for 1, 2, or 3

hours. This decision should ideally be made by the student together with the research supervisor and academic advi-

sor. Research supervisors who need a section of PHY 3V95 created should start by sending an e-mail message to

Greg (cc Chava). Chava will need to know the names of the student(s) in order to issue a permit for them to register.

Previously, PHY 1V95 was used for research, but our new PHY 3V95 is the better option for students at the sopho-

more level and above.

We do have students in the Honors program who will be performing physics research to satisfy Honors program re-

quirements. In this case, they should be taking courses like HON 3100, 3101, 4177, 4178, 4187, and 4188. Stu-

dents who are enrolled in these courses work with a physics faculty supervisor who ultimately specifies the final

grade for the course through the Honors Program office. If a student is enrolled in one or more of the honors cours-

es, it may or may not be useful for them to take PHY 3V95. It depends on each student's individual situation. I'm

happy to provide assistance if you have any questions.

Dr. Jay Dittmann, Director of Undergraduate Studies

Volume 6, Issue 3

URSA Dates for Spring 2012

Physics Newsletter

Richard Obousy, who graduated from our department in 2008, appeared on the History Channel show "The Uni-

verse" on December 13, 2011 around 9 pm Central Time (time depending on cable provider) to discuss interstellar

propulsion concepts and his activities on the Icarus project.

Martin and Mary Frank are the proud parents of a baby girl, Claire Frances Frank, who was born on January 2, 2012

at 10:11 pm. She weighed 6 lbs. 10 oz., measured 19.5 in long, and is reportedly 100% perfect. Martin completed

his Ph.D. in experimental particle physics with Dr. Jay Dittmann in Spring 2011, and is currently a postdoc employed

by the University of Virginia and located at Fermilab.

Jon Wilson (BU University Scholar '07) defended his Ph.D. thesis in experimental high energy physics on December

16, 2011 at The Ohio State University. His dissertation is entitled "A Search for the Standard Model Higgs Boson

Produced in Association with Top Quarks". On January 4, he started a new job as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at

the University of Michigan, where he is investigating the top quark forward-backward asymmetry at CDF. Within a

year, he plans to start working on the ATLAS experiment which is located at CERN. Jon was the first undergraduate

to perform research in experimental high energy physics at Baylor, working with Dr. Jay Dittmann from 2004-2007.

Congratulations, Jon!

We also recently heard from Dr. Cecil Rousseau, who was briefly a member of the Baylor physics faculty from 1968-

1969. He recently wrote to us to share his memories of that period in the department’s history and bring us up to

date on him and his family (particularly in relation to Dr. Wei-Kan Chu, the first Ph.D. graduate of our department.

Dr. Chu spoke highly of Dr. Rousseau during his recent visit in November, crediting him for tremendous help with the

analysis that went into his Dr. Chu’s Ph.D. thesis) :

Dear Professor Benesh:

After receiving a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University in 1968, I was briefly a member of the Baylor

physics faculty during 1968-1969. I joined the Memphis State University mathematics faculty in

1970. I am emeritus now. I have kept my office and continue to work on mathematical problems of

interest.

Our elder daughter, who was born while we were in Waco, is now on the University of Memphis

faculty, working in mathematics education.

Two mentors have strongly influenced my professional development, Murray Klamkin and Paul

Erdos.

It was Murray Klamkin who asked me to join the USA Mathematical Olympiad committee, and it was

Paul Erdos who kept asking “is your brain open?” as we wrote more than 30 papers together.

I remember with appreciation Dr. Chu for his enthusiasm and hard work. I am glad to have

contributed in some small way to his successful Ph.D. research.

Sincerely,

Cecil Rousseau

Page 5

Alumni News

The National Research Council of the National Academies sponsors a number of awards for graduate, postdoctoral

and senior researchers at participating federal laboratories and affiliated institutions. These awards include generous

stipends ranging from $42,000 - $75,000 per year for recent Ph.D. recipients, and higher for additional experience.

Graduate entry level stipends begin at $30,000. These awards provide the opportunity for recipients to do independ-

ent research in some of the best-equipped and staffed laboratories in the U.S. Research opportunities are open to

U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and for some of the laboratories, foreign nationals.

Detailed program information, including online applications, instructions on how to apply and a list of participating

laboratories, is available on the NRC Research Associateship Programs website

There are four annual review cycles. February Review Cycle: Opens December 1, Closes February 1: May Review

Cycle: Opens March 1, Closes May 1; August Review Cycle: Opens June 1, Closes August 1; November Review

Cycle: Opens September 1, Closes November 1.

Department Chair’s Note: Baylor Physics Graduate Amy Webber Robertson won an NRC fellowship to support her

PhD research at the University of Washington.

Whether as faculty or students, over a time as short as four years of an undergraduate

degree or longer periods, the family that grows out of our personal relationships as a

department grieves together at a time of loss.

We want to extend our deepest sympathies to two members of our extended Baylor

family who suffered recent losses in their lives. We continue to pray for their comfort.

We grieve along side our colleague, Ken Park, with the loss of his father in November

even as we are glad that he was able to spend those last few precious days with him.

We also mourn with David Katz, a master’s graduate of our department, on the recent

passing of his wife, Adriana, earlier this month. Please keep David and his two young

sons in your prayers.

Page 6

Women in Physics

Our Deepest Condolences

There is a new Women in Physics, Astronomy, and Astrophysics section of our department website

http://www.baylor.edu/physics/index.php?id=77547

periodically updated with professional opportunities (conferences, fellowships, scholarships, etc.) as well as social

occasions, such as the recent women faculty and student lunch that was held on November 30 in room E.234 of the

BSB at 12:15 pm and the Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics at Texas A&M in January. Please visit

the page often to check for the latest updates and news.

Volume 6, Issue 3

Fellowship Opportunities

Caption describing picture

or graphic.

Physics Newsletter

Drs. Greg Benesh, Ken Hatakeyama, Lorin Matthews, Jeffrey Olafsen, Linda Olafsen and Walter Wilcox marshaled at

the Winter 2011 Commencement on December 17.

“Search for a Higgs Boson in the Diphoton Final State in Proton-Antiproton Collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV.” Physical

Review Letters 108, 011801 (2012). This paper describes a search for the Higgs boson at the CDF experiment and is

the research of Karen Bland, Dr. Azeddine Kasmi, and Dr. Jay R. Dittmann, members of the Experimental High Ener-

gy Physics group.

Dr. Lorin Matthews was a participant at the 23rd Annual Kavli Frontiers of Science Symposium, sponsored by the

National Academy of Sciences, in Irvine, California, November 17-19. The Kavli Frontiers of Science program brings

together some of the very best young scientists to discuss the challenges and opportunities of vastly different fields

such as astrophysics, nanoscience, neuroscience, and theoretical physics. Through formal and informal activities,

researchers are encouraged to stimulate new long-term relationships, seek perspectives from outside their fields, and

explore opportunities presented by the scientific community as a whole. Dr. Matthews presented a poster on her re-

search, “Coagulation of Dust Particles in Plasma.”

“Synchronized Mid-Infrared Beam Characterization of Narrow Gap Semiconductors,” L. J. Olafsen, I. K. Eaves, and

J. S. Olafsen AIP Conf. Proc. 1416, pp. 88-90 (2011).

Linda Olafsen has been tapped to serve as the Congressional Visits Day sub-committee chairwoman beginning in

May of 2013. She brings considerable insight and experience to the CVD program at the Materials Research Society

given her extensive involvement with the program over the last several years.

Members of CASPER traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah, to attend the 53rd Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plas-

ma Physics, November 14-18, 2011. Group members presented a total of seven talks and three posters during the

conference. Attendees included Drs. Truell Hyde, Lorin Matthews, Victor Land, Ke Qiao, Jay Kong, Jorge Carmona-

Reyes, graduate students Angela Douglass, Brandon Harris, Zhuanhao Zhang, and undergraduate Brandon

Doyle. Two of this summer’s REU participants, Autumn Paro and Erin Middlemas, also attended the conference.

Page 7

Out and About …

JANUARY 2012

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 Dept Colloqs

E.125 4 - 5 pm

5 First Thursday

Retiree Coffee

10:30 am

6 7

8 9 First Day of

Classes

10 11 Dept. Colloq.

Dr. Bao-An Li

TAMU-Comm

12

University-wide

Faculty Mtg 3:30

13 Grad Colloqs

E.125 3:35 pm

14

15 16 MLK Holiday

No Classes

17 18 Dept. Colloq.

TBA

19 20 Grad Colloq

Prelim Exam Info

E.125 3:35 pm

21

22 23 24 25 Dept. Colloq.

Ke Qiao

CASPER

26 Spring Staff

Forum

2:30 - 3:30 pm

27 Grad Colloq

E.125 3:35 pm

28

29 30 31

FEBRUARY 2012

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

Welch Deadline

February 1

URSA (funding)

deadline

February 8

URC deadline

Noon

February 29

1 Dept. Colloq.

Dr. Chabanov

UT San Antonio

2 First Thursday

Retiree Coffee

10:30 am

3 Grad Colloq

E.125 3:35 pm

4

5 6 7 8 Dept. Colloq.

Dr. Flachi

CASPER

9 10 Grad Colloq

E.125 3:35 pm

11

12 13 14 15 Dept. Colloq.

Dr. Shemmer

UNT, Denton

16 17 Grad Colloq

E.125 3:35 pm

18

19 20 21 22 Dept. Colloq.

Dr. Staack

TAMU

23 24 Grad Colloq

E.125 3:35 pm

25

26 27 Applications

for URSA week

due on this day

28 29 Dept. Colloq.

Dr. Shapiro

UT Austin

Spring Break

March 10-18

URSA Scholar’s

Week Scheduled

March 26 - 30

Bearathon Early

Deadline 2/24

Race is 3/24