Eight Los Alamos physicists honored as Fellows of the American Physical Society

Contact: Jim Danneskiold, jdanneskiold@lanl.gov, (505) 667-1640 (03-159)

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LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Dec. 11, 2003 -- Eight Los Alamos researchers have been elected fellows of the American Physical Society, recognized by other physicists for their outstanding contributions to physics.

No more than one in 200 APS members of APS become fellows. A total of 215 fellows were elected for 2003.

The APS Fellowship Program was created to recognize members who have made advances in knowledge through original research and publication or made significant innovative contributions in the application of physics to science and technology. They also may have made significant contributions to the teaching of physics or they may serve and participate in APS activities.

"Election as a fellow in the American Physical Society by one's fellow physicists is one of the highest honors in the field," said Allen Hartford, leader of Science and Technology Base Programs. "For Los Alamos to have eight of its staff elected in one year speaks volumes about the sustained quality of our research. We're really proud of these individuals."

The new APS fellows will receive certificates at the annual meeting of the division that sponsored their nominations. Those citations will specify the achievements for which they were nominated.

With the new additions, Los Alamos' Theoretical Division currently boasts 38 APS Fellows. The Physics Division has 29 of its staff among the ranks of APS Fellows.

The eight Los Alamos physicists, the groups in which they work at the Laboratory, the APS divisions or topical groups from which they were nominated, and their specific citations are as follows:

Alexander Vasilievich Balatsky, Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics

Condensed Matter — "For insightful theory of strongly correlated states of matter, particularly unconventional superconductivity and the prediction of impurity-induced quasiparticle bound states."

Gary Dean Doolen, Complex Systems

Computational Physics — "For frontier computational research in fluid dynamics modeling, one-component plasmas, complex-rotation methods for atomic resonances and laser-plasma interactions."

Francis Harvey Harlow, Fluid Dynamics

Fluid Dynamics — "For his contributions to our understanding of low-speed, free-surface, and turbulent flow through computational modeling, and his invention of completely original methods to address these issues."

Andrew Hime, Neutron Science and Technology

Nuclear Physics — "For his many scientific contributions to neutrino physics with the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory that resulted in the demonstration that neutrinos from the sun undergo flavor transformation."

Victor I. Klimov, Physical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy

Forum on Industrial and Applied Physics — "For pioneering studies of ultrafast dynamical processes in nanocrystal quantum dots, development of fundamental principles for light amplification in NQDs, and the first demonstration of NQD lasing."

William C. Louis, Subatomic Physics

Nuclear Physics — "For his significant contributions to neutrino physics through the invention and application of the technique of weakly scintillating mineral-oil detectors."

David G. Madland, Nuclear Physics

Nuclear Physics — "For his pioneering work on relativistic mean-field theories of nuclei using point couplings, for relating the couplings to Quantum Chromodynamics scaling, and for substantial contributions to other areas of nuclear theory."

Peter Moller, Nuclear Physics

Nuclear Physics — "For his contributions in the areas of nuclear fission, nuclear masses, nuclear beta decay, data for astrophysical applications, and superheavy element stability and formation."

Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) of the U.S. Department of Energy and works in partnership with NNSA's Sandia and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories to support NNSA in its mission.

Los Alamos develops and applies science and technology to ensure the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear deterrent; reduce the threat of weapons of mass destruction, proliferation and terrorism; and solve national problems in defense, energy, environment and infrastructure.

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