Williams Physics Department News
(New and Old)

Prof. Wootters Makes His Film Debut

A new documentary film titled "The Quantum Tamers: Revealing Our Wierd and Wired Future" features Prof. Bill Wootters among other renowned scientists. Wootters is a expert in quantum information theory. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and has won the International Quantum Communications Award and the APS Prize for a Faculty Member for Research in an Undergraduate Institution. [Perimeter Institute web page for "The Quantum Tamers"] [Wootters' web page]

Congratulations to the Class of 2009!

Twelve physics majors received their Williams degrees on June 7, 2009. In 2007 all of the physics departments in the United States, including those at large universities, awarded an average of only 8.2 bachelor's degrees per department.* Our relatively large number of physics majors at Williams indicates that we have a robust, thriving department. We educate more undergraduate physics majors than many PhD-granting departments. Eight of our 2009 grads completed senior theses and graduated with departmental honors. To see what the new graduates are doing, please visit our Recent Graduates page.

Chris Chudzicki '10 & Scott Olesen '10 win Goldwater Scholarships

Physics majors Christopher Chudzicki '10 and Scott Olesen '10 both were named 2009 Barry M. Goldwater Scholars. The U.S. Congress established this highly competitive national scholarship "to encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering and to foster excellence in those fields." It is widely recognized as a top honor for undergraduate science students in the United States. [Goldwater Scholarship web page]

Shelby Kimmel '08 Selected as Apker Finalist (2008)

The American Physical Society selected Shelby Kimmel '08 as a finalist for the 2008 LeRoy Apker Award. This national award is the highest honor for physics research by an undergraduate student in the United States. Shelby worked with Prof. Bill Wootters and wrote a thesis titled "Quantifying the Entanglement Cost of Quantum Measurements." Williams alumni Brian Gerke '99, Charlie Doret '02, and Nathan Hodas '04 all won the Apker Award in previous years. [APS Apker web page] [Wootters' web page]

Professors Jones and Majumder Elected APS Fellows (2008)

The American Physical Society (APS) has elected Prof. Kevin Jones and Prof. Tiku Majumder to the status of Fellow. Each year the APS elects no more than one half a percent of its membership to Fellow status. The APS cited Jones "for seminal contributions to the study of cold collisions and to the development of photoassocation spectroscopy in ultracold gasses." It honored Majumder "for precision measurements of atomic structure that test atomic theory and probe the basic laws and symmetries of nature, and for engaging talented undergraduate physics students in making such measurements." Jones and Majumder join Williams Professors Bill Wootters, Jay Pasachoff, Stuart Crampton, and David Park as APS Fellows. [Jones' web page] [Majumder's web page]

Prof. Aalberts Awarded NIH Grant for "Binding and Splicing mRNA" (2008)

Genes are expressed into protein products by (1) copying a section of DNA in messenger RNA, (2) processing the mRNA, and (3) translating the mRNA into protein.  In the processing step (2), proteins and small RNA molecules bind to the mRNA at special sites. Through the splicing process, a mature mRNA emerges which is often only 10% of the size of the original.  Prof. Daniel Aalberts and his students study splice site recognition using thermodynamics, polymer physics, and statistics. The National Institute of Health awarded a grant of $220,479 to further this work. [Aalberts' web page]

Prof. Aalberts Awarded NSF Grant (2008)

RNA molecules fold into complex, compact shapes through complementary base pairing. hairpin or tree-like folds emerge most often; however, occasionally the more complicated pseudoknot fold appears. Pseudoknots have amazing functionality when they do appear, catalyzing reactions as enzymes or performing other gene regulation functions. Prof. Daniel Aalberts and his students have been improving models of pseudoknot structures and have been computing how abundant pseudoknots are. The National Science Foundation awarded Aalberts a $260,819 grant to continue this research through 2010. [Aalberts' web page]

Prof. Wootters Wins APS Prize (2007)

The American Physical Society has announced that Prof. Bill Wootters is the 2007 recipient of its Prize for a Faculty Member for Research in an Undergraduate Institution. The APS cited Wootters "for his pioneering work on quantum teleportation, his widely cited contributions to quantum information theory, and his prolific engagement of undergraduate students in this research at the foundation of quantum mechanics." During 22 years, the APS has awarded this prize to 23 physicists. Wootters joins Williams professor emeritus Stuart Crampton, the 1989 prize winner. [Press Release] [APS web page] [Wootters' web page]

Prof. Wootters Wins International Quantum Communications Award (2006)

The 8th International Conference on Quantum Computation, Measurement, and Computing will honor Prof. Bill Wootters with the 2006 International Quantum Communications Award. Wootters will travel to the conference in Tsukuba, Japan, to present his talk titled "Discrete Phase Space and Minimum-Uncertainty States" and to receive the award. [Conference] [Wootters' web page]

Prof. Majumder Awarded NSF Grant (2006)

The National Science Foundation awarded a $229,500 research grant to Prof. Tiku Majumder to continue his high-precision spectroscopic study of thallium and other heavy elements. This work will help test fundamental particle physics in atomic systems. The grant will pay for equipment, supplies, and for summer student stipends. Over the past decade, over 15 students have worked on honors thesis projects in Majumder's lab and many more have worked there for a summer or more. [Press Release] [Majumder's web page]

Professors Loepp and Wootters Publish Cryptography Book (2006)

Cambridge University Press recently released "Protecting Information: From Classical Error Correction to Quantum Cryptography" by Mathematics professor Susan Loepp and Physics professor Bill Wootters. This unique text book introduces students to the science of cryptography, starting with ancient codes and ending with a discussion of how quantum mechanics may lead to quantum computers and to new techniques for encoding information. For the past several years, Loepp and Wootters have taught Math/Physics 316 covering these topics, so this innovative book is the outgrowth of their work with many Williams students. [Press Release] [Amazon.com]

Prof. Tucker-Smith Awarded NSF Grant (2006)

The National Science Foundation awarded a $20,000 grant to Prof. David Tucker-Smith to support his research in elementary particle theory. "The broader impacts of this proposal include the involvement of undergraduates in particle physics research, and the exposure of larger numbers of undergraduates at a predominantly liberal arts college to modern particle physics and its intimate connection with cosmology." [NSF abstract] [Tucker-Smith's web page]

Recent Grads Win NSF Fellowship and Honorable Mentions (2006)

The National Science Foundation awarded a 2006 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to astrophysics alumna Lissa Ong '04, who is now studying toward a Ph.D. in earth and planetary sciences at University of California at Santa Cruz. Physics alums Laura Effinger-Dean '06, Christopher Holmes '03, and Sarah Iams '04 all received honorable mentions. Including all majors, a total of 4 recent Williams graduates won NSF fellowships this year and 16 more received honorable mentions. The previous year 9 recent grads won fellowships and 12 received honorable mentions, exceptionally large numbers for a college our size. The NSF is a highly competitive national fellowship that covers the cost of three years of graduate study at virtually any university in the United States. [Statistics on Williams grads receiving NSF fellowships]

Nathan Hodas '04 Wins the Apker Award (2004)

The American Physical Society selected Nathan Hodas '04 as one of only two winners of the 2004 LeRoy Apker Award. This national award is the highest honor for physics research by an undergraduate student in the United States. Nathan was very productive at Williams, working with Prof. Daniel Aalberts on a number of projects related to DNA and RNA. These include designing and implementing an algorithm that computes optimal binding of two RNA molecules, characterizing and modeling how RNA pseudoknots fold, and studying the properties of a polymers with stacking interactions. He joins Apker winners Brian Gerke '99 and Charlie Doret '02, boosting our department's record to 3 Apker Awards in 6 years. [Press release] [APS Apker web page] [Aalberts' web page]

Physics Alumnus Wins Nobel Prize in Economics (2003)

Robert F. Engle has won the 2003 Nobel Prize in Economics for discovering statistical methods for "analyzing economic time series with time-varying volatility." Dr. Engle graduated from Williams College in 1964 with highest honors in physics and presently is a Professor of Finance at New York University. [Engle's web page at NYU]

Prof. Aalberts Awarded NIH Grant (2003)

The National Institutes of Health awarded a $155,183 grant to support Prof. Daniel Aalberts' research on splicing, folding and stretching nucleic acids. Aalberts and his students apply the methods of computational and theoretical physics to study molecules of biological importance. In addition to working on this research project, Aalberts teaches an innovative course on computational biology. [Aalberts' web page]

The Chronicle Features Williams Tutorials (2002)

Prof. Kevin Jones '77 and his students Dave Ticehurst '04 and Jeff Garland '03 appear in an article published in The Chronicle of Higher Education describing the tutorial program at Williams College. The Physics Department offers the following tutorial courses: Physics 402T "Applications of Quantum Mechanics," Physics 405T "Electromagnetic Theory," and Physics 411T "Classical Mechanics." They rotate on a two-year schedule, so all physics majors have an opportunity to take them during the junior or the senior year.

Charlie Doret '02 Wins the Apker Award (2002)

The American Physical Society chose S. Charles Doret '02 as a winner of the 2002 LeRoy Apker Award, the highest national honor for physics research by an undergraduate student. Only two Apkers are awarded each year. Charlie worked with Prof. Tiku Majumder on experiments measuring the Stark shift in atomic thallium. [APS Apker web page] [Majumder's research web page]

Bequest Honors William Edward McElfresh (2002)

Williams College has received a $12.6 million gift in honor of former physics professor and department chair William Edward McElfresh. [Alumni Review article]

Professors Bolton and Majumder Awarded NSF Grants (2002)

The National Science Foundation awarded research grants to Prof. Sarah Bolton and Prof. Tiku Majumder. Bolton's $150,000 grant is titled Dimensionality Dependence of Semiconductor Ultrafast Optical Response. Majumder's $230,200 grant is titled Precise Atomic Structure Measurements and Tests of Fundamental Physics. Both of these grants include support for student researchers as well as for scientific equipment and supplies. All told Williams faculty currently have 25 active NSF grants, more than any other primarily undergraduate college. [Bolton's research web page] [Majumder's research web page]

Prof. Wootters Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society (2000)

The American Physical Society (APS) has elected Prof. Bill Wootters to the status of Fellow for his "contributions on the foundations of quantum mechanics and groundbreaking work in quantum information and communications theory." Each year the APS elects no more than one half a percent of its membership to Fellow status. Wootters joins Williams Professors Stuart Crampton, David Park, and Jay Pasachoff as APS Fellows. [Wootters' research web page]

Prof. Majumder Wins a NIST Precision Measurement Grant (1999)

The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) awarded a 1999-2001 Precision Measurement Grant to Prof. Tiku Majumder of the Department of Physics. This highly competitive $150,000 grant will help finance Majumder's search for T-violating forces in atomic thallium. [NIST Update] [Majumder's research web page]

Brian Gerke '99 Wins the Apker Award (1999)

The American Physical Society selected Brian Gerke '99 as a winner of the LeRoy Apker Award. Only two Apkers are awarded nationally each year to recognize "exceptional achievements in physics research by undergraduate students." Gerke wrote a senior thesis titled "Ultrafast Photoisomerization Dynamics: A Tight-Binding Model Applied to Small Alkenes." Prof. Daniel Aalberts served as his research advisor. [APS Apker web page]

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Ancient History