City College of New York | Division of Science | Physics Department
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Departmental News
Bunji Sakita
1930 – 2002
The
CCNY Physics Department regretfully announces that Prof. Bunji Sakita,
Distinguished Professor of Physics, passed away Aug 31, 2002 while in Japan,
after a year-long illness. His loyal students and colleagues from around the
world mourn his loss.
Prof.
Sakita was born in Japan in 1930 in the Toyama area and received his bachelor’s
degree from Kanazawa University in 1953 and his Master’s degree from Nagoya
University in 1956. He was among
several students recruited by Robert Marshak to come to Rochester University,
and received his doctorate in 1959
under Charles Goebel. He went on to a post-doctorate position and professorship
at the University of Wisconsin, where he wrote a series of influential papers
on the quark model, introducing the new symmetry group SU(6) which generated
considerable scientific interest among physicists.
At Wisconsin, he wrote some of the fundamental papers on the “dual resonance model,” which now forms the foundation of string theory (which today is the leading candidate for a “theory of everything.”) With Prof. K. Kikkawa and M. Virasoro, Sakita showed how to correct a crucial defect in the theory (unitarity) by including loops diagrams, much like Feynman diagrams. They then generalized this to the functional formalism, which today provides the most powerful formulation of string theory. They also showed how ordinary field theories, in the infinite loop limit, can approximate string theory (which helped form the basis of ‘t Hooft’s 1/N approximation). With J.L. Gervais, he revealed the supersymmetry underling string theory by writing down the first linear supersymmetric action, which today forms the basis of the superstring action. Each of these papers today forms the basis of entire fields within string theory.
With
the rapid expansion of the graduate physics program at the City College of New
York in the 1970s, he followed Robert Marshak (who became President of City
College) and joined the faculty at CCNY as Distinguished Professor in 1970. He
presided over a rapid growth of the High Energy group at CCNY. He received the Nishina Prize in Physics in
1974. He also became interested in Quantum Chromodynamics and the question of
quark confinement. With his student A. Jevicki and also J.L. Gervais, he wrote
a series of papers introducing the formalism of collective co-ordinates,
allowing one to transform point particle theories into ones describing extended
objects.
His
interests were broad and varied, always seeking out the fundamental basis found
in physical systems. In later years, he turned his attention to problems in
solid state physics, esp. two dimensional systems which exhibit physical
characteristics found in high energy physics (e.g. fractional Hall Effect).
Prof.
Sakita leaves behind two children, Mariko and Taro. He will be sorely missed at
the College.
2000
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* CCNY Professor to Become President of APS * The American Physical Society has elected Dr. Myriam Sarachik, an experimental condensed matter physicist at CCNY, to be vice president starting January 1, 2001. Distinguished Professor Sarachik will become president elect in 2002 and president in 2003 of the APS. In a statement, she outlined her agenda: "One of my goals as president will be to strengthen our efforts to make a career in physics attractive. We must make salaries competitive with other professional options." She also emphasized the importance of convincing legislators to invest in science as a means of "seeding" the technologies of the future. |
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* CCNY High-Tech Physicist Obtains Noteworthy Grants * The Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, and the National Institute of Health awarded grants totaling $2,040,000 over the next three years to Professor Robert Alfano. The funds support research entitled "Tunable High Efficient Resonant Tunneling GaN/AlGaN MQW UV Photodetectors," "Prostate Cancer Detection Using Near Infrared Spectral Polarization Imaging," "NIR Tunable Laser Tissue Welding," and "The Detection of Incipient Metal Corrosion and Cracking Beneath Paints Using Near Infrared Ultrafast Photonic Technique." Other research team members include J. H. Ali, J. M. Evans, S. K. Gayen, P. P. Ho, M. Kassir, O. Y. Raisky, W. B. Wang, J. P. Ying and collaborators from Hackensack University Medical Center (J. H. Vitenson, J. M. Lambardo) and Virginia Commonwealth University (M. H. Morkoc). Dr. Alfano heads the Institute for Ultrafast Photonic Materials and Applications, which is one of New York State's Center for Advanced Technology. |
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* New Faculty Members * The Physics Department is pleased to announce two new faculty appointments: Assistant Professors Mark Shattuck (Ph.D., Physics, Duke Univ., 1995) and Hernan Makse (Ph.D., Physics, Boston Univ., 1997). Both will also be members of the Levich Institute. Dr. Shattuck's specialties are experimental fluid mechanics, transport processes and complex fluids. He comes to CCNY from the University of Texas. Dr. Makse, from Schlumberger-Doll Research, specializes in physico-chemical hydrodynamics. The School of Education has added to its sciences education faculty Assistant Professor Seth Rosenberg formerly of Ohio State University and a 1998 Ph.D. recipient of the Physics Department at UC Santa Barbara. Dr. Rosenberg focuses his research on the development and implementation of programs to train school teachers in inquiry learning and on the investigation of students' conceptual and intuitive understanding of quantum mechanics. |
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* CCNY Professor Co-Chairs International Meeting * Nearly 400 physicists from all over the world gathered on the campus of Chinese University of Hong Kong between July 31 and August 4 to participate in the third joint meeting of the Overseas Chinese Physics Association. Professor Ngee-Pong Chang, the founding chair of OCPA, was the co-chair of the International Organizing Committee. Nobel Laureates T.-D. Lee, Sam Ting and C.-N. Yang, as well as the renowned physicist Paul Chu and mathematician S.-T. Yau, were among the invited speakers. The meeting covered all areas of physics and promoted interdisciplinary networking among physicists from all countries. The proceedings will be published by World Scientific. |
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* New Book on Solids Published * Professors Joel I. Gersten and Frederick W. Smith have written The Physics and Chemistry of Materials. The book describes the physical and chemical properties of solids and is the first attempt at a unified approach to a wide range of technologically important materials. Its multidisciplinary approach bridges the gaps between various science and engineering disciplines involved in the study of materials, the development of new materials and new applications of existing materials. Appropriate as a textbook for science and engineering students, The Physics and Chemistry of Materials is also a reference for professionals involved in materials-science related fields. A web-based supplement offers advanced material with applicable problems, examples, illustrations, 40 additional tables (110 are in the text), and 250 additional figures (370 are in the text), and a chapter on the characterization of materials. The book is published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., (June, 2001, 988 pages, cloth, ISBN 0-471-05794-0). For more information, call 1-800-225-5945 or e-mail custserv@wiley.com. |
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* CCNY Graduate Produces Headline-Generating Research * The
work of Dr. Jonathan R. Friedman (CUNY, Ph.D., Physics, 1996) and Dr.
James E. Lukens, physicists at SUNY Stony Brook, appeared in The New York
Times on July 11, 2000, in a four-column article by Kenneth Chang. The
two researchers used a small square loop of superconducting wire in an
experiment on quantum superposition and on what is famously referred to as
"Schrödinger's cat." In everyday life, one thinks of a system as
being in one definite state or another, such as a car being in one parking
space or another, and not in a combination of the two spaces. However, for
quantum systems of the size of atoms, one can easily create an atom that has
a 50% chance of being in one state and a 50% chance of being in a different
state. To show that this is ridiculous for large-scale objects, Schrödinger
imagined a cat in a chamber with an atom that had a 50% chance of decaying
and releasing a poison that would kill the cat. He reasoned that until you
looked at the cat, it would be 50% alive and 50% dead. While this situation
is commonplace in atomic systems, it clearly seems paradoxical for objects
the size of cats. |
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* CCNY Physicist Appears in a Movie * It
is not uncommon to see physicists on TV in scientifically oriented programs
such as PBS's NOVA series. However, it is unusual to see a physicist starring
in a film playing in theater houses. But this is indeed what has happened to
Professor Michio Kaku. He and six other scientists were profiled in a
film entitled "Me & Isaac Newton" that was produced by First
Look Pictures of Los Angeles, CA. In the film, Dr. Kaku can be seen
performing impressive jumps and elegant turns on an ice rink (Dr. Kaku is an
accomplished figure skater as well as a notable theoretical physicist). Of
course, each of Dr. Kaku's movements is governed by Newton's laws, which
prompts him to say in the movie, "On the ice, there is nothing except me
and Isaac Newton." The film derives its title from this line. The
down-to-earth images contrast greatly with dialog from the "actor-physicist"
on his thoughts about superstring theory and the latest developments in
theoretical physics. |
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* CCNY Physics Professor Receives Chair from Indian University * A chair in the School of Physics at the University of Hyderabad in India has been bestowed upon Professor Bunji Sakita. This Chair commemorates the birth centennial of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, an eminent scholar and former Prime Minister of India. It is being offered to Dr. Sakita to honor him as a research scientist of international repute. Dr. Sakita traveled to Hyderabad for a ten-day visit in January and gave two seminars and a colloquium there, entitled "Non-Relativistic Fermions in One Dimension," "SU(N) Symmetric Matrix Model and Fermions in the Lowest Landau Level" and "Phenomenological Models of Baryons" respectively. Bunji Sakita is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus. |
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* CCNY Professor Elected APS Fellow * The
American Physical Society has made Professor Daniel M. Greenberger a
fellow of its society. Dr. Greenberger was cited for his contributions to the
foundations of quantum mechanics, particularly proposing and explaining novel
experiments in neutron interferometry and multi-particle quantum
entanglement. These contributions have aided in the understanding of the
Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox. |
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* City College Hosts Science Exposition * On February 6, the Division of Science held its annual Family Science Day inviting the public to enjoy a program of activities that included science demonstrations and lectures. At the same time, the Division hosted the 63rd annual New York City Science and Technology Expo in which New York City's best high-school science students competed for prizes. Among the events were two special lectures by professors from the CCNY Physics Department: Professor Richard Steinberg gave a talk entitled Phun with Physics and noted author, television/radio personality Michio Kaku spoke on Hyperspace, Black Holes, and the 10th Dimension. Undergraduate physics majors Paul Chouha and Mario Arenas provided a planetarium show. |
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* CCNY Professor Is Made an Editor of AJP * Professor
Martin Tiersten has become an associate editor of the American Journal
of Physics. By the way, Professor Daniel Greenberger, also of the City
College Physics Department, had been an editor of this journal for the last
three years. With teachers in mind, American Journal of Physics focuses on
pedagogical, cultural and historical aspects of physics. Among physics
journals, it has the largest circulation. |
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* Conference on NMR Held at City College * On
Jan 12, 2000, the Science Division held a one-day symposium entitled NMR
and Structural Biology: Preparing for the New Millennium. Over one
hundred scientists gathered from local universities and medical schools to
discuss the latest advances being generated from the use of high-field
nuclear magnetic resonance. Talks elucidated how proteins carry out their
function, how this function is controlled by various chemical signals, and
how changes in their structure influence their activity. |
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* CCNY Professor Is Made an Editor of AJP * Professor
Martin Tiersten has become an associate editor of the American Journal
of Physics. By the way, Professor Daniel Greenberger, also of the City
College Physics Department, had been an editor of this journal for the last
three years. With teachers in mind, American Journal of Physics focuses on
pedagogical, cultural and historical aspects of physics. Among physics
journals, it has the largest circulation. |
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* Conference on NMR Held at City College * On
Jan 12, 2000, the Science Division held a one-day symposium entitled NMR
and Structural Biology: Preparing for the New Millennium. Over one
hundred scientists gathered from local universities and medical schools to
discuss the latest advances being generated from the use of high-field
nuclear magnetic resonance. Talks elucidated how proteins carry out their
function, how this function is controlled by various chemical signals, and
how changes in their structure influence their activity. |
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* Physics Department's Spring Party * On Wednesday, March 15, the Physics Department held a "get-to-know-each-another" party. About 60 people joined in the festivities. Professors spoke about the their research, which included diverse interests: from biomedical applications of lasers and fancy spectroscopic methods to biophysical analysis of photosynthetic processes and M-theory/string theory. Meanwhile, participants sampled a selection of Chinese appetizers. Students also said a few words about themselves including their home countries: China, the United States, Japan, Russia, Ukraine, Albania, Yugoslavia, Algeria, Taiwan, Vietnam, India, Jordan, Turkey, Cameroon and Peru. |
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* 13 CCNY Physics Professors Receive PSC-CUNY Research Awards * The
faculty of the City College Physics Department received more 1999-2000
PSC-CUNY awards than any other department in all of CUNY with the exception
of the CCNY Engineering School, which received an astonishing 28 awards.
These peer-reviewed grants support the research endeavors of faculty in all
fields. |
1999
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* CCNY Physics Open House Party Called a Great Success * The Physics Department held an Open House Party on November 16, 1999. The clubhouse was packed with people. After the event, Professor Stuart Samuel was quoted as saying, "The party was a great success." Professors Michael Lubell and Michio Kaku spoke to prospective students about interesting developments in the world of physics. The event included a talk by Anthony Johnson about lasers and a tour of some of the Physics Department's research labs. For more information and photos, click here |
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* CCNY Physics Professor Elected to the NYAS * The Board of Governors of the New York Academy of Sciences has choosen Robert R. Alfano to be a fellow. Membership is a distinction conferred only to a limited number of scientists who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of science. Dr. Alfano is one of eight Distinguished Professors in the Physics Department of City College of New York. His high-tech laboratory carries out state-of-the-art research on ultrafast lasers and optics, photonics, semiconductor structures and interfaces, optical storage, thin films and spectroscopy. His work often has applications to biophysics, communications, optical imaging and medical diagnostics. Dr. Alfano is the author or co-author of more than 50 patents. |
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* Selected Works Published * A Quest for Symmetry: Selected Works of Bunji Sakita has recently been published by World Scientific. The book contains important research papers of Physics Professor Bunji Sakita on SU(6) symmetry, strong coupling theory, string theory, supersymmetry and the method of collective coordinates. In addition to vivid personal accounts, the book highlights some key concepts in modern high energy physics. |
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* Physics Department Loses Valued Member * The
Physics Department was saddened by the passing of its esteemed colleague Professor
Narkis Tzoar on Dec. 25, 1999 after a long illness. Narkis first came to
City College in 1967 and continued working until the beginning of the Fall
1999 semester. He was born in Tel-Aviv, Israel in 1930, received his BS and
MS degrees at the Israel Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. degree from
the University of Pennsylvania with Prof. Klein. He did post-doctoral
research at Columbia University with Professor Joachim Luttinger and spent
several years at Bell Telephone Laboratories working on plasmas and the
solid-state electron gas. |
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* Physics Professor Becomes Fellow of AAAS * Distinguished Professor of Physics Myriam P. Sarachik has been elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as a result of her internationally recognized research on low temperature physics, on metal-insulator transitions in semiconductors, on novel effects in two-dimensional systems, on magnetism of molecular crystals and on other contributions to condensed matter physics. Professor Sarachik is also a fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the American Physical Society, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1995, she received an Award for Excellence in Science and Technology from New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. |
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* Discussion on 1999 Nobel Prize in Physics * On Wednesday, October 20 1999 during the Colloquium hour, CCNY Professors Ngee-Pong Chang and David Schmeltzer led a discussion entitled 't Hooft-Veltman Dimensional Regularization and its Impact on High Energy Physics and Beyond. G. 't Hooft and M. Veltman shared the 1999 Nobel Prize in Physics. In particular, Dr. Schmeltzer explained how he computed critical exponents in quantum phase transitions using the 't Hooft-Veltman method. |
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* CCNY Selected as Site for New NMR Center * The New York City Partnership has decided to build the New York Structural Biological Center on the campus of City College. The state-of-the-art facilty will house the most powerful NMR magnets in the United States. The reseach center will be used for obtaining the structure of biological molecules from nuclear magnetic resonance, which is part of the growing field of biophysics. Institutions planning to take advantage of the new facilities include the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the City University of New York, Columbia University, Cornell University, the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the State University of New York at Stony Brook and the New York University School of Medicine. The center should be helpful to biophysicist Marilyn Gunner, a member of the Physics Department at City College. In 1997, she was one of only 20 researchers to receive a Presidential Early Career Award. This award recognizes outstanding scientists and engineers who have demonstrated excellence and promise in their field of research and who show potential leadership qualities. Professor Gunner was cited for her "outstanding research on the role of electrostatic forces in protein stability and function and on the coupling of electron and proton transfer events in photosynthesis." |
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* French University Honors CCNY Professor * The University of Paris has awarded Professor Herman Z. Cummins the degree of Docteur Honoris Causa for his research in the use of lasers and for his studies of critical phenomena. The ceremony honoring the Distinguished Professor of Physics took place on March 31, 1999 at the Sorbonne. Dr. Cummins is also one of three City College physics professors who are members of the National Academy of Sciences. |
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* CCNY Professor Awarded Medal * Lorenzo Narducci, Herbert Walther and Melvin Lax have won the 1999 Willis E. Lamb Medal for Laser Physics. Dr. Lax, who is a Distinguished Professor of Physics at City College of New York, has made important scientific contributions in extracting multiple time dependencies from the density matrix. This result was achieved by extending Onsager's classical statistical regression analysis to the quantum mechanical case. |
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* Author Produces a Second Best-Selling Book * Visions: How Science Will Revolutionalize the 21st Century by Michio Kaku, Henry Semat Physics Professor at City College, has become a top-selling book not only in the United States but also in England. An earlier book by Dr. Kaku, Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimension, which published in 1994, was reviewed on the front page of the New York Times Book Review and also was a best-seller. Dr. Kaku's first popular science book Beyond Einstein: The Cosmic Quest for a Theory of the Universe was written with Jennifer Trainer in 1987 and is remarkably still in print. |
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* Journal Honors Physics Professor * Foundations of Physics dedicated its 29th volume to Danny Greenberger, a Professor of Physics at the City College of New York, on the occasion of his 65th brithday. This journal focuses on conceptual problems in quantum theory, a field to which Dr. Greenberger has made considerable contributions particularly regarding the EPR Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox. Professor Greenberger was the 26th person to be so honored in the journal. Previous honorees include such notable figures as Paul Dirac, Erwin Schrödinger, Lois de Broglie, John Wheeler, Eugene Wigner, David Bohm and John Bell. |
Links to Other CCNY Physics Departmental Information:
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