®
The
Physics News 2008
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
December 2008
Issue 4
Bill Wallace (1942-2008)
William E. (Bill or Wally) Wallace
died suddenly during the summer of
2008 while on a family vacation. Bill
had a successful career as a research
scientist studying the health effects of
fine particles. Bill was a proud husband,
father and grandfather, and had many
interests in literature, music, and people
in general. Bill had an astounding ability to attract and welcome people from
different walks of life and keep them as
friends throughout his life.
First - the physics. Bill completed his
PhD in Physics at WVU in 1969, with
a dissertation on spin-lattice relaxation
in lithium-magnesium alloys under Professor William Vehse. He had entered
WVU in 1959, along with a cohort of
students excited about engineering and
physics by the Space Race kicked off
two years earlier by the Soviet Union’s
Sputnik, the first human-built Earth
satellite. We were part of that cohort. In
the WVU Physics Department, introductory courses were taught by Professors Stanley Farr and Harvey Rexroad.
Professor Rexroad’s courses were
particularly challenging. O. Rex Ford
was the patriarch of the department.
Charles Thomas, the chairman, taught
introductory modern physics and fascinated us with his beautiful blackboard
writing. William Vehse taught thermodynamics and statistical mechanics.
Art Pavlovic taught solid state physics,
Douglas Williamson classical mechanics, and Oleg Jefimenko electricity and
magnetism. As an undergraduate, Bill
was not particularly excited about making good grades. But Bill went a step
beyond most of us at the time. He stud-
Bill Wallace
ied and shared with us the stories of the
people behind the theories: their lives,
idiosyncrasies, and personal hardships.
And he always seemed to manage to
make a connection with the early Greek
philosophers and the classics. “We have
to place all this in context, guys!” he
would tell us time and again.
In graduate school, Professor Arnold
Levine’s quantum mechanics and
theoretical nuclear physics courses were
viewed as the most challenging. Some
of us, including Bill, concluded that we
might never understand these theories,
but that we must learn to accept and
use them. Bill did his MS and PhD
research in Professor Vehse’s lab in
Room 325 of the Physics Building, now
known as Hodges Hall. Larry Stenger,
a student in the same lab, when asked
by Professor Vehse how a probe should
By Larry Headley and Jim Smith
be designed, replied “well, in a real
lab, we would... .” Room 325 became
known as the “Real Lab”. The lab was a
gathering place for other grad students
because it was larger than most and
because of Bill’s friendliness and Professor Vehse’s acceptance. Bill befriended
most of the physics graduate students at
WVU at the time as well as many of the
faculty. Bill shared apartments or houses
with several physics and math students
in “affordable” Morgantown areas. As a
graduate student, Bill met his wife-tobe and lifelong love, Elisabeth Fehl of
Pittsburgh.
In 1969, Bill accepted a National
Research Council (NRC) postdoc to do
nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) research at the U. S. Bureau of Mines lab
in Morgantown (now part of National
Energy Technology Lab [NETL]). In
1970, Bill wrote a paper on NMR pulse
techniques that drew the attention
of Paul Lauterbur, who offered Bill a
postdoc at SUNY Stony Brook. Laut-
In This Issue
Grants Awarded ..............................2
Chair’s Corner..................................3
Physics Department to Relocate.......4
New Associate Editor............................. 4
Exoplanets Discovered . ...................5
Professor Nancy Giles Departs.........5
Highlighting the Staff.......................6
Graduate Students Honored.............7
Radio Burst Discovered....................8
Professor Littleton Retires................9
Two New Professors.......................10
2
erbur was beginning work on magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI). Bill turned
down the offer. MRI seemed at the time
like an interesting curiosity to those of
us doing “real NMR”. Lauterbur shared
the 2003 Nobel Prize for that work. Bill
became motivated to do health effects
research after the Farmington Mine
Disaster http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Farmington_Mine_disaster) while at the
Bureau of Mines lab and began collaborative research with the NIOSH lab in
Morgantown, while managing research
at NETL. Bill finally moved to NIOSH
in 1980, leaving a promising management career for hands-on research.
After moving to NIOSH, Bill’s
career was focused on pulmonary health
effects research with coal dust, diesel
soot, and surrogates and Bill established
an international reputation in that field.
Bill published more than 50 papers
and with his team received numerous
NIOSH awards. Bill worked closely
with researchers in China on mining
dust hazards and in 2005 was named an
Honorary Professor at Tongji Medical College in Wuhan, China. Bill was
an adjunct professor with the WVU
Chemical Engineering Department. Bill
was an advisor with the WVU Physics
Department and helped arrange collaborative research and equipment gifts
to the department.
Outside of his research, Bill was
involved in community activities, from
volunteering for the Salvation Army and
United Way to participating in a Great
Books reading group. Bill’s family was
most important to him and Bill enjoyed
family activities with his wife Elisabeth
(Betsy), his children David Wallace and
Sarah Hewes, Sarah’s husband Karl,
two grandchildren, Corinne and Colin
Hewes, and his extended family in WV
and NC.
Bill remained in close contact with
many friends from his WVU Physics Department days, sharing his own
research and vision, encouraging them
as their careers grew and developed,
and often challenging them with his
own ideas on their work. This article
will mention a few of those friends:
apologies to those not mentioned.
Bill enjoyed traveling to Scotland for
cultural discussions, hot-air ballooning
and single malt Scotch at a castle owned
by his long time friend and grad school
roommate, Addison Fischer. A math
major at WVU, Addison developed
parallel processing methods for the first
WVU computer systems (IBM 360)
and later applied his mathematical (and
management) talents to the burgeoning computer security industry (http://
wvutoday.wvu.edu/news/page/6822/).
Many other close friends received their
graduate degrees in the WVU Physics
Department and kept in touch with
Bill. Larry Stenger (PhD, 1970) of the
Real Lab was an R & D executive for
Gulf/Chevron. Harry McKinney (PhD,
1972) did research with Professor Atam
Arya and also helped develop the first
computer systems at WVU; he went
to work for IBM before launching his
own company. Jim Smith (PhD, 1969)
studied under Professors Rexroad and
Vehse and, with Bill having inspired his
early interest in biophysics, established
the radiation health effects branch at
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
continued on page 3
Maura McLaughlin and Duncan Lorimer Awarded Grant
In June, 2007, faculty members
Maura McLaughlin and Duncan Lorimer, both radio astronomers, received
almost half a million dollars through
the WVEPSCoR Research Challenge
Grant. The grant, renewable for up to
five years and worth 1.4 million dollars
over that period, will be used to provide
graduate and undergraduate support,
purchase new hardware and computers, and engage specialized personnel at
the Center for Astrophysics at WVU.
In fulfillment of the latter, Dr. Paulo
Freire, a Senior Research Associate from
Arecibo Observatory, has been hired
as a Research Professor, and Dr. DJ Pisano, from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), will start as
an Assistant Professor in January.
“We are very excited as it will really
allow us to get the new Center for As-
From Left to Right: Duncan Lorimer,
Finlay Lorimer, Maura McLaughlin, and
Callum Lorimer.
trophysics off the ground,” McLaughlin said. “This will greatly expand the
breadth of the Department of Physics
over the next few years.”
McLaughlin and Lorimer currently
study pulsars and the exotic phenomena
associated with them, taking particular
advantage of the nearby Green Bank
Telescope at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in nearby Green
Bank, WV. “Our searches with the
Green Bank Telescope should allow us
to find new pulsars which offer unique
and exciting physics applications,” says
McLaughlin. “We hope to discover
the first pulsars in other galaxies and
the first pulsar and black hole binary
system. This research will strengthen
the physics program and attract talented
graduate students to WVU through our
partnership with the NRAO.”
3
Chair’s Corner
Earl Scime, Department Chair
What an exciting time for physics here at WVU. In this issue
of the WVU Physics Newsletter, you will find stories about the
successes of our current and former students; the recent retirement of Jack Littleton, one of our longest serving faculty; the
successes of our research programs; and initial planning for our
move to a new physics facility. Although Professor Mohindar
Seehra also retired in 2008, he transitioned to a research professor position and continues to maintain a very active research
program. We will have an extensive review of Professor Seehra’s
impressive WVU career in our next edition of the WVU Physics Newsletter.
Since the last issue of the Newsletter, we are pleased to report that WVU
Physics is now ranked in the top 100 federally funded physics departments
according to the NSF and among the top 100 physics graduate programs by
U.S. News and World Report; that the number of students obtaining BS and
BA degrees in physics continues to rise; that we had our best recruiting year
for graduate students in 2007; that two more physics faculty have been named
as Robert C. Byrd Professors of Physics (Thomas Myers and Earl Scime); that
Professor Nancy Giles received the Benedum Award for research in the physical
sciences; that the department sponsored middle-school robotics team won the
state championship for the third straight year; that Professor Maura McLaughlin
was named a Alfred P. Sloan Fellow; that Professor Sergei Urazhdin was named
a Cottrell Scholar and also received a NSF CAREER Award; and that we hired
two outstanding new assistant professors in 2008 – Dr. Paul Cassak, a theoretical
plasma physicist and Dr. D.J. Pisano, an astrophysicist.
So what about this new facility for physics? Well, the plan right now is for the
entire department to move from Hodges Hall into a completely renovated White
Hall (just south of the library) in 2010 or 2011. As this Newsletter goes to press,
the process of designing the interior of the building is underway. The prospect
of moving an entire department is both exciting and a bit daunting. As chair,
my biggest concern is that we end up with a facility that is capable of supporting all our research and teaching programs in a manner that improves the quality
of “life” for the students, researchers, staff, and faculty. If you ever considered
donating funds in honor of a former mentor, colleague, or family member, now
is the time to consider endowing the new undergraduate student study area; the
new planetarium; the undergraduate teaching laboratories; and the conference
rooms throughout the building. Gifts to such facilities will have a lasting impact
on the quality of experience obtained by future generations of WVU students. In
the last five years, we have been honored to receive gifts to fund two new undergraduate scholarships in physics, a new graduate fellowship in physics, and the
endowed Carroll Chair in Physics. These gifts have made a real difference in our
ability to recruit the very best students and faculty to WVU. I have no doubt that
gifts directed toward the new facility will have equally important impacts on the
WVU physics program.
As always, we welcome visits by alumni passing through town. We especially
hope you will visit us in our new facility when it opens. Oh, and don’t forget
the department website (physics.wvu.edu). Professors Urazhdin and Lederman
oversaw a dramatic facelift of the site recently and now Professor McLaughlin is
leading the effort to keep it updated – so drop by for a look sometime and learn
about our featured alumni and the latest WVU physics news.
Because so much seems to be happening in our department right now, I have
agreed to serve another 5-year term as department chair. Thankfully, my colleagues continue to be extremely supportive and I have been able to continue
to work with my students and maintain my research program. The tremendous
accomplishments of the WVU physics students and faculty make the job of chair
worthwhile (even on those days filled with seemingly endless meetings). I hope
you are as proud as I am about the successes of our students, alumni, and faculty.
Please stay in touch.
With Regards, Earl Scime
Bill Wallace (1942-2008)
(continued from page 2)
in Atlanta (http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/
radiation). David Close (MS, 1967) did
research with Professor Rexroad, later
receiving a PhD at Clark University
before becoming a tenured physics
professor at East Tennessee State University. Linda Condry (MS, 1978; one of
the few women in physics at the time)
and her husband Patrick, who graduated from WVU Medical School, live in
upstate New York where Pat is a physician. Don Campbell (MS, 1967) is a
research scientist and was a co-worker at
NIOSH.
Of the four grad students with whom
Bill roomed in the “physics house” on
Falling Run Road, Tom Nicely (MS,
1966) completed a PhD in applied math
at the University of Virginia, achieved
fame for finding the math flaw in the
first Pentium chip, taught at Lynchburg
College and maintains a prime number research homepage (http://www.
trnicely.net). Martin Nagel (MS, 1966)
went into the electronics business in
Cleveland. Larry Headley (PhD, 1969)
worked with Bill at NETL, helped with
Bill’s first biophysics research project
and later became director of in-house
R&D at NETL. Joel Groves (MS, 1966)
completed a PhD at the University of
Illinois-Urbana and worked at Schlumberger research labs.
Bill seemed unafraid of any challenge
and able to keep his head in any situation. Some of his unique abilities were
undoubtedly shaped by his ordeal with
polio as a child of ten. Bill has written of
his stay in the Marmet WV polio hospital in the article “In Isolation”, (Now
and Then, Spring 2000, http://www.
etsu.edu/cass/nowandthen/apphealth.
asp). Bill’s own words are highly recommended to those with interest in a stirring true story of overcoming adversity.
When Tom Nicely heard about Bill’s
passing, he said “He will continue to be
in my thoughts and my heart as long as
I am breathing.” Well said.
4
Physics Department to Relocate
Soon the physics department will
move from Hodges Hall to a newly
renovated White Hall. Designs for the
renovation were completed this year
and initial demolition of its interior began in July. Over the past two years, the
Department of Geology and Geography
and other occupants of White Hall have
found new homes on campus. The
$30 million university budget allocation for the demolition and renovation
of over 50,000 sq ft of White Hall will
accommodate all of the research, office,
classroom, and introductory laboratory
space for Physics, with approximately
3,000 square feet of space left over for
future expansion. The state-of-the-art
research facilities, teaching laboratories,
and classrooms will meet the needs of
the Department of Physics in these
initial years of the 21st century. The
new facilities will include significantly
increased clean room space, adequate
electrical infrastructure, a multi-user
computer cluster facility, expanded shop
facilities, an integrated undergraduate teaching laboratory – including an
expanded advanced laboratory facility,
an expanded planetarium, and vibration isolated laboratories for sensitive
microscopy and optical laboratories.
Even with the significant university
investment in White Hall, The Department of Physics is actively seeking ad-
ditional funds to ensure
that all research laboratories; faculty, staff, and
student offices; undergraduate teaching laboratories; planetarium
and observatory; and
administrative offices
will be able to move to
White Hall. Moving all
our laboratories will be
a challenging, time consuming, and expensive
process. In addition, the
infrastructure for some
White Hall during renovations
facilities, such as the
new 60-seat planetarium, is not fully funded.
Hodges Hall is fully
occupied and there is
no room for future
expansion. Even with
the challenges of new
construction and moving, the White Hall
project is crucial to the
future of WVU Department of Physics and we
are excited about the
move and the potential
for future growth. Don’t
forget to visit us in our
new home!
Hodges Hall
New Associate Editor: Grandson of Former Chair
It is a great pleasure for
his grandson from adminme to be engaged by Dr.
istrators, faculty, and staff.
Boyd Edwards as AssociDuring my initial interview
ate Editor of the Physics
with Dr. Edwards, he told
Department Newsletter. My
a brief story of assistance
previous connection with
received from my grandfathe department had been
ther when first settling in
indirect, through my grandMorgantown in 1986, which
father, Arthur Pavlovic, who
is remarkable only when
served as its chair for many
seen together with the other
years. I have now had the
numerous instances of his
Dwight Pavlovic
good fortune to benefit from
good nature as recollected
his legacy and I find myself constantly
by other colleagues and friends of his
surprised by the recognition I receive as
whom I have encountered at one time
By Dwight Pavlovic
or another. Though my personal activities have spread themselves over the
English and Philosophy Departments
and the Religious Study Program, the
latter being where I pursue my formal
major as a sophomore, it is my tremendous pleasure to now be employed by
the department which my grandfather
led and continues to serve as an Emeritus Professor and through his research
into the department’s history. I hope to
emulate the same qualities he exemplified, in my efforts on the department
newsletter.
5
WVU Graduate Leads Study of Exoplanets
Beginning in 2005, Dr.
Indeed, the first world,
Jeremy Richardson, a 1997
HD 209458b, unofficially
graduate from the Physics
called Osiris, is larger than
Department and a 1995
Jupiter, though less massive,
Goldwater Scholar, led one
but orbits its sun at a radius
of three teams at NASA’s
that is eight-times smaller
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
than Mercury’s orbit of
and California Institute of
ours. Osiris completes a
Technology in a study of
full orbit in just 3.5 days,
two exoplanets. Both bodies
enjoys a surface temperaare gas giants that were deture of more than 1,000°C,
tected by distortions in the
Dr. Jeremy Richardson and was the first transiting
appearance of their parent
exoplanet discovered. The
stars when these planets pass in front of
second, HD 189733b, is only slighter
them from Earth’s point of view. These
more massive than Jupiter and roughly
passages are called transits. This detecthe same size, but is even closer to its
tion technique is currently limited to
sun than Osiris, completing an orbit in
large planets.
only a little more than 2 days.
Dr. Richardson’s study was the first
of its kind to examine exoplanetry
atmospheres, and revealed that water is
absent in the atmospheres of both planets. The presence of water is a factor
intimately connected with the search
for extraterrestrial life, as it is currently
thought to be essential for the development of life, leading some to characterize Richardson’s study as a “dress
rehearsal” in this wider search.
After graduating from WVU in
1997, Dr. Richardson attended the
University of Colorado at Boulder,
receiving his masters in 2000 and PhD
in 2003. He is currently transitioning
from astronomical study to climatology.
Professor Nancy Giles Departs
After serving for almost twenty years
as a faculty member in our department,
Professor Nancy Giles has recently
announced that she will be moving to
the Air Force Institute of Technology
(AFIT), located at the Wright-Patterson
Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. She
will serve as Professor and Head of the
Engineering Physics Department at
AFIT. The Engineering Physics Department at AFIT currently employs 21
faculty members, offers masters and
doctoral degrees, and maintains extensive research projects including remote
sensing, laser, materials physics, and
nuclear technology. Professor Giles will
continue collaborations with WVU
physics faculty in experimental solidstate physics at WVU. Current projects
supported by the National Science
Foundation and Oak Ridge National
Laboratory will continue to receive her
input and advising of students at WVU
for the coming year.
Professor Giles received her B.S. in
Physics from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Ph.D.
in Physics from North Carolina State
University. She joined the Physics
Department at West Virginia University
as an assistant professor in August of
1989, and was promoted to the rank
of full professor in 2001. Beginning in
January 2007, Professor Giles has been
serving as Associate Chair of the WVU
Physics Department.
Dr. Giles has received West Virginia
University’s highest awards in both
teaching and research. In the spring
of 2007, she received the WVU Benedum Distinguished Scholar Award for
her research in optical and compound
semiconductor materials. Her previous
honors include the WVU Foundation
Outstanding Teacher Award in 1998
and the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Researcher Award
in 1997. Thus far in her career, she has
published over 150 refereed papers and
16 conference papers, with over 100
of these being written since joining the
faculty at WVU. She has had 9 PhD
students and 4 MS students complete
their degrees under her supervision at
WVU.
While at WVU, Professor Giles
established an experimental research
program to study optical properties
of semiconductors and laser materials. Her research focuses on the optical
and magnetic resonance spectroscopy
of point defects in these materials.
Recent published work has included
three particular materials systems: zinc
oxide (ZnO), a wide band-gap II-VI
semiconductor with potential for use as
ultraviolet/blue light-emitting diodes,
lasers, and detectors; cadmium germanium arsenide (CdGeAs2), an infrared
nonlinear optical material for frequency
tunable lasers spanning the mid-infrared; and transition-metal-ion doped
II-VI semiconductors (ZnSe:Cr, Fe,
Co) for optical saturable absorber and
laser applications in the 1 to 5 micron
spectral region of the near-infrared. A
common theme of Prof. Giles’ research
is the search for an understanding of the
electronic structure of the point defects
controlling the optical and electrical
properties of materials. These point defects often cause unwanted absorption
bands in materials that would otherwise
be suitable for lasers. Point defects can
also produce radiative recombination
sites that offer the potential for wavelength tuning over wide spectral regions
(as with the doped II-VI compounds).
The WVU Physics Department wishes
her well in her new position.
6
Highlighting the Department Staff
The staff of the Physics Department is a group of dedicated individuals
whose service is crucial to the success of
the department. We here feature these
individuals and salute their devoted
efforts.
Siobhan Byrne was born and resides
in Pennsylvania and has worked almost
three-decades for WVU, more than two
of them as Administrative Secretary of
the Physics Department, processing
payroll and travel requests. She assists
the Chair, Dr. Earl Scime, with numerous day-to-day operations that allow
the department to function smoothly.
Outside of the university, she enjoys
spending time with her three grandchildren and her daughter Erica.
John Hopkins manages the department’s Academic Laboratories, to upgrade these as time and money permit,
and to support the Physics lectures
with demonstrations. Additionally, he
maintains and operates the planetarium;
planning, producing, and presenting
planetarium shows, that are free to the
public and maintaining and upgrading
the planetarium equipment. In association with this, he writes, edits, and publishes the newsletter Mountaineer Skies,
and maintains the department, AAPT,
and planetarium web sites.
Sandra Johns, the department’s
Accounting Clerk, audits accounting
forms and resolves any discrepancies.
She also processes procurements and
payments and disseminates purchasing, receiving, and payable policies
and procedures. She also reconciles
procurement-card transactions for both
the State and Research Corporation
accounts.
Doug Mathess and Tom Milam are
senior Laboratory Instrument Specialists, working in an advanced, precision machine shop. The pair, under
the direction of the Shop Manager,
directly supports the unit’s mission to
design, construct, assemble, and operate
scientific instruments and apparatus
used in research and instructional
laboratories in the Physics Department
and elsewhere on campus. Examples
of specific tasks include interpreting
technical drawings, precision machining
using various mills and lathes, advanced
welding, exercising knowledge of a wide
variety of metals, maintaining and purchasing tools and materials, and controlling their inventories. They are also
charged with teaching the faculty and
students of the department the correct
and safe use of equipment, machines
and hand tools in the user shop.
Greg Puskar, as an Academic Laboratory Manager, provides guidance and
direction to the undergraduate instructional laboratories for general introductory physics to ensure their effectiveness
in the education of the students. He
also assigns and trains teaching assistants.
Sherry Puskar, as an Administrative
Secretary, manages day-to-day operations of the Physics Department including handling student issues, student
registration, student work assignments,
greeting and directing visitors, answering phones, receiving and sending mail,
managing graduate students records,
and alumni records. She also provides
secretarial support to the Department
Chair and faculty.
From Left to Right:
Phillip Tucker,
Doug Mathess,
Tom Milam,
Greg Puskar,
Carl Weber III,
Sherry Puskar,
John Hopkins,
Siobhan Byrne.
Phillip Tucker is a Laboratory
Instrument Specialist responsible for
all electronics activities in the Physics
and Chemistry Departments; including
repairing and maintaining electronic
equipment and computer networks,
sharing electronics knowledge with
other personnel, managing the electronics storeroom and other electronics
resources, designing and constructing
electronic devices, and shipping and
receiving. He is also the Chemical
Hygiene Officer of the Physics Department, responsible for the development
and implementation of safe work practices, safety training, compliance and
hazardous waste removal supervision.
Carl W. Weber III was born in Morgantown, WV and currently serves as
the Lab Instrument Specialist Supervisor of the Physics Shop. His more than
two-decade long career, began as an
apprentice welder, first under his grandfather at the age of ten and later under
Jack Johnson and Don Feathers, both
then of the Physics Department. Weber
currently supervises the construction
of research equipment, primarily for
the Physics Department, but often for
other departments within the Eberly
College of Arts and Sciences. He lives
in Terra Alta, WV with his wife Debi Jo
and their children Carl IV, Wesley, and
Kristen.
7
Graduate Students Honored
During the spring of 2008, two
graduate students were honored for
their service as teaching assistants. Olga
Volotskova received the Outstanding
Graduate Teaching Assistant Award and
Josh Miller received the Rotter Teaching
Assistant Scholarship.
Olga Volotskova, born in Nurmansk
Russia, a large seaport on the Arctic
Circle, received her degree from the
Nurmansk State Technical Institute,
where she first served as a teaching assistant for Physics and English courses.
After graduating, Volotskova considered
continuing her education in both the
United States and Norway, but elected
to pursue the former because of her
background in English and a desire to
receive the most competitive and com-
Olga Volotskova
prehensive familiarity with her chosen
subject. She received her Master of Science in Physics this past year at WVU,
where she helped teach several introductory courses in the department. During
her time as a graduate student, she was
close with a number of the department’s
WVU Physics Faculty
faculty and staff and when questioned
on the subject, speaks very highly of her
first experiences outside of Russia. She
is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Engineering and Applied Sciences at George
Washington University in Washington
D.C., where she is performing work in
Applied Plasma Physics. Her parents are
Larisa Volotskova and Nikolai Volotskov.
Josh
Miller, born
in Tecumseh,
Michigan,
graduated
Summa Cum
Laude with a
BA in Physics
Research
at Eastern
Josh Miller
Michigan
University, where he was the recipient
of numerous prestigious fellowships,
scholarships, and awards, the latter
primarily granted by his professors
in the Physics Department. This past
year he received his Master of Science
in Physics from WVU, where he was
popular with faculty and students for
his work teaching Introductory and
Conceptual Physics. While teaching
at WVU, Miller also maintained
an extensive schedule of volunteer
activities, including the local Kids Day
event. He is now pursuing a Ph.D.
with Dr. Maura McLaughlin while
working in the WVU Radio Astronomy
Research Group. His parents are Sandra
and Robert Miller.
Front row, from left: Paul Cassak, Feruz Ganikhanov, Leo Golubovic,
David Lederman, Maura McLaughlin, Wathiq Abdul-Razzaq
Middle row, from left: James Lewis, Alan Barnes, Marty Ferer,
Boyd Edwards, Jack Littleton, Sergei Urazhdin
Back row, from left: Dimitris Vassiliadis, Mark Koepke, Earl Scime,
Mohindar Seehra, Art Weldon, Dunc Lorimer
Missing from the Faculty photo: Nancy Giles, left, and
Larry Halliburton
8
Duncan Lorimer and Team Discover Radio Burst
While analyzing data from the Magellanic Clouds taken using the 64-m
Parkes radio telescope in Australia,
Duncan Lorimer, Maura McLaughlin
and David Narkevic found an unusually powerful burst of radio waves. The
origin of the mysterious source is far
from clear. It appears to have been emitted from a compact source far from our
Galaxy and well beyond the region of
the original survey. The five-millisecond
long burst was detected by virtue of
its passage through ionized interstellar
and intergalactic gas, causing an effect
known as “dispersion” which allowed
the brief but powerful indication of a
3-billion light years-distant event to
appear. The dispersion phenomenon is
shown in the figure below. Those readers familiar with electromagnetism will
recognize the classic inverse square law
dependence of pulse arrival time with
frequency as a manifestation of the cold
plasma dispersion relation. Based on the
power of the signal, speculation currently associates it with substantial events
like the evaporation of a black hole or
the collision of super-dense neutron
stars at cosmological distances.
A firm prediction of the new discovery was that, if the source is cosmological in origin and representative of
a population distributed isotropically
on the sky, then other bursts should be
present in archival data sets. Over the
past year, Lorimer and others have been
searching for more such phenomena. At
WVU, David Narkevic spent the summer of 2008 searching another Parkes
survey dataset, while in Swinburne
Australia, Prof. Matthew Bailes and
his PhD student Sarah Burke set about
searching two other archival surveys
made with the same telescope. While
the analysis techniques are straightforward, the sheer volume of data makes
this a computationally demanding
task, requiring clusters of computers
to process the data. Once processed,
the data need to be sifted for candidate
events amidst a plethora of confusing
signals produced by man-made sources
of radio emission. At the time of writing, no new bursts have been found in
the WVU search. The Swinburne team,
however, found a number of new bursts!
The problem with the Swinburne
discoveries is that they display an essentially identical amount of dispersion
to that exhibited by the original burst!
This was unexpected; if the sources are
truly of astrophysical origin, the new
bursts, which are seen on different positions on the sky, should show different
amounts of dispersion since they would
be located at different distances from
Earth. An example of one of these new
bursts is shown alongside the original
burst in the figure. As can be seen, while
the dispersive properties of the two
bursts are similar, the spectral and temporal properties of the new bursts are
significantly different. The Swinburne
burst has a much longer duration and is
significantly stronger at the higher radio
frequencies.
So what do these latest developments
imply for the original burst? Based on
the original data from the Magellanic
Cloud survey, Lorimer et al were able
to argue convincingly for an astrophysical origin. With the new discoveries of
bursts of identical dispersion, that claim
is now far from clear. Could the new
bursts be terrestrial in origin and just
happen to have the same dispersion as
the original event? Such coincidences do
happen in astronomy and science, but
a skeptical and perhaps simpler view
is that the original burst was simply a
different manifestation of the (as yet)
unknown source of terrestrial origin.
The only way to distinguish between
these possibilities is to exhaustively
search the archival and new data. The
team is understandably dejected at the
new developments, but still optimistic
that it can determine the origin of these
bursts with ongoing research. The story
is still intriguing. It
provides an excellent example of the
harsh realities of
the highs and lows
of research, and the
scientific method
to which we all
must adhere. We
aim to update the
reader on the team’s
progress in the next
Newsletter.
Left, The original burst found in 2006. Right, A new burst found in 2008. Both plots show frequency as a function of pulse arrival time on the same scale. The while lines bounding each pulse show the expected dependence
from the cold-plasma dispersion law for the same dispersion sweep! Insets to each figure show the time-resolved
pulse after accounting for the dispersion. The time scale on each of these plots is 500 ms.
9
Professor Littleton Retires
John E. Littleton, WVU Professor of
Physics, has announced his retirement
from WVU following the Spring 2008
semester. During his thirty-three years
of service, he has inspired thousands to
look to the sky and has indefatigably
promoted awareness and understanding
of astronomy.
In a reception held in his honor on
April 22, 2008, Eberly College of Arts
and Sciences Dean Mary Ellen Mazey
said; “Professor Jack Littleton has
made tremendous contributions to the
public awareness and appreciation of
the universe, notifying the public about
upcoming eclipses, showing the glowing rings of Saturn to amazed school
children, explaining the historical significance of Galileo’s observations of the
moons of Jupiter to his students, and
generally sharing his knowledge and
enthusiasm for the universe with his
fellow travelers on earth. He has been
a tremendous asset to WVU, to the
Morgantown community, to the state,
and to the world. His influence will be
felt for years and years to come.”
Physics Department Chair Earl
Scime said “I think I speak for this institution, the students, and the broader
community when I say that I am glad
you chose to make your career here at
West Virginia University.”
Bill Amatucci (PhD, 1994) praised
the clarity, organization, and pacing of
Littleton’s lectures, saying; “He impressed me with his clear command of
the material and techniques and he presented everything with such a confident,
straightforward manner that I couldn’t
help but believe that I, too, could
understand the material.” “Dr. Littleton
is an exceptional teacher and an asset to
the WVU Physics Department that will
not easily be replaced.” Amatucci is now
the Section Head of the Space Experiments Section in the Plasma Physics
Division at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington DC.
Amatucci also appreciates the friendship extended to him; “Dr. Littleton
and Dr. Treat immediately made me feel
From Right to Left: Earl Scime, Becky Littleton, Jack Littleton, and Mary Ellen Mazey
like I was part of the family.” Amatucci
recalls socializing at Gibbie’s, trips to
Washington DC, and superbowl parties
at Jack and Becky’s, saying; “One of the
enduring lessons that I learned from
him is that Dr. Littleton the scientist
and educator and Jack Littleton the
friend and mentor are always woven
together.”
Littleton’s first master’s student,
Professor Gordon McIntosh (MS,
1978), remarked that he “will always
be grateful for the personal interest Dr.
Littleton took in my development and
progress as a physics student and as a
friend.” Another student, Dr. Alison
Kemp Anderson (BS, 1983), wrote to
thank Jack for his dedication to teaching and that she was grateful to be “one
of the recipients of your expertise and
passion for physics.”
Professor Littleton promoted
astronomy by writing monthly astronomy columns for the Dominion
Post, visiting public schools, advising
the WVU Astronomy Club, speaking at
star parties, constructing the Tomchin
Planetarium, and showing thousands
of visitors and students the wonders of
sky through the telescope perched atop
Hodges Hall, which arrived at WVU
shortly after Littleton did.
He has taught Introductory Descriptive Astronomy (ASTR 106) to
over 6000 students, and has taught
other courses to a few thousand more.
Littleton enjoys sharing his knowledge
of and enthusiasm for the universe with
his students. Just ask his wife Becky, a
former student of his!
In his research, Littleton has contributed to the frontiers of knowledge
of supernovae explosions, red giant
stars, molecular spectroscopy, the solar
wind, and the structure of galaxies. He
anticipates continuing his research after
his retirement.
He was born in Ballston Spa, NY, a
small town near Schenectady, where his
sixth-grade science teacher, Mrs. Sauerbray, helped to spark his passion for
astronomy. At age 12, his family moved
to Harpers Ferry, WV. At Harpers Ferry
High School (HFHS), he lettered in
football, basketball, and track and field
(discus), played snare drum in the band,
served as president of his class all four
continued on page 10
10
Department Engages Two New Professors
Dr. Paul Cassak received his Ph.
D. in 2006 from the University of
Maryland-College Park in theoretical
and computational plasma physics. He
is joining the WVU Physics Department following a one-and-a-half year
postdoctoral position at the University
of Delaware. His work has focused on
a physical phenomenon called magnetic reconnection, in which magnetic
field lines release their stored energy
when they break and cross-connect, not
unlike the slinging out of a stretched
rubber band. Reconnection is the underlying cause of solar flares, as well as
substorms in the geomagnetic field and
disruptive events in fusion devices.
His research has helped to develop
a better understanding of why reconnection begins explosively and how it
occurs in the Earth’s magnetosphere. At
WVU, Cassak intends to involve
graduate and undergraduate students in
performing massively parallel numerical
simulations on large supercomputers
and using theoretical tools to answer
unsolved problems about magnetic
reconnection with applications in solar,
laboratory, and magnetospheric settings. He is excited about teaching graduate level plasma physics courses and
undergraduate level electromagnetism,
and is interested in public outreach.
Dr. D.J. Pisano
Dr. Paul Cassak
Dr. D.J. Pisano comes to WVU
from the National Radio Astronomy
Observatory (NRAO) in Green Bank,
WV where he was a postdoctoral associate supporting the Green Bank
Telescope (GBT). He received his PhD
from the University of Wisconsin Madison in 2001 where he searched for
the gas clouds around isolated galaxies
as a test of current models of galaxy
formation. He extended this work to
groups of galaxies, first as a postdoctoral fellow at the Australia Telescope
National Facility and then at the Naval
Research Laboratory and NRAO. He
is continuing to study neutral hydrogen
around galaxies to constrain the nature
of gas clouds around the Milky Way.
In addition, Pisano is currently using
radio telescopes in West Virginia and
around the world to observe nearby
analogs to distant star-forming galaxies
in order to constrain the masses and fate
of these galaxies. These galaxies were
common in the past, but are exceedingly rare today. They may the progenitors of galaxies like the Milky Way or its
lower-mass companions. By combining
radio data with data from other telescopes, Pisano is working to determine
which evolutionary path these galaxies
follow.
Pisano is looking forward to helping
to teach the new astrophysics courses
that have recently been added to the
curriculum and is looking forward to
working with WVU undergraduates
and graduate students to conduct research with the GBT and radio telescopes
around the world.
Professor Littleton Retires
years, and served as editor of the school
yearbook, Ferry Tales.
He attended Cornell University,
where he served as social chairman,
chaplain, and president of his fraternity,
Theta Chi, and received his BS in Engineering Physics in 1965. His graduate
studies in theoretical astrophysics at the
University of Rochester were interrupted by a tragic automobile accident
in 1969 that broke his leg and claimed
the lives of his mother, Anna, and wife,
Joan. He received his Ph.D. from the
University of Rochester in 1972 under
continued from page 9
the direction of Hugh Van Horn, studying stellar transport of momentum and
energy by plasma waves.
Littleton worked as a postdoctoral
research associate with the late Al G. W.
Cameron for a year at the Belfer Graduate School of Science at Yeshiva University in New York City and for two years
at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center
for Astrophysics. Littleton joined the
Department of Physics at West Virginia
University as an Assistant Professor in
1975, where he has remained ever since
except for a summer at the Univ. of
Illinois, three summers and a sabbatical
year at Berkeley, and a sabbatical semester at Indiana University.
To honor Littleton’s dedication
to astronomy education, the WVU
Physics Department has established
the Professor Jack Littleton Fund for
Astrophysics, which will be used for the
astronomy program as the department
relocates to a renovated White Hall. As
a testament to his impact, thousands
of dollars have already been donated to
this fund.
11

Consider Making a Gift to Physics Education at WVU
Please contribute toward the education of a new generation of physics students. Gifts to the Physics Scholarship Fund (# 2S061) will provide graduate student stipend caps and undergraduate student scholarships. Gifts
to the Tomchin Planetarium Fund (# 2V363) will provide for upgrades and operating funds for the planetarium
and its newsletter. Gifts to the Physics General Fund (# 2V017) will be used where the need is greatest. Besides
helping with assistantship caps, scholarships, and the planetarium, gifts to this fund will help us to renovate the
undergraduate study room, to obtain equipment for new faculty and for student computer laboratories, and to
establish endowed professorships. Please detach and mail this card with your gift using the enclosed business
reply envelope, and take advantage of any offer by your company to match your contribution. All gifts, large and
small, are greatly needed, and are deeply appreciated. Thank you!
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
Department of Physics
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department Chair
Earl Scime
304.293.3422 ext. 1437
escime@wvu.edu
Newsletter Editor
Boyd Edwards
304.293.3422 ext. 1433
bedwards@wvu.edu
Alumni Relations
Sherry Puskar
304.293.3422 ext. 1451
spuskar@wvu.edu
Newsletter Associate Editor
Dwight Pavlovic
Physics News is published annually by the
Department of Physics
West Virginia University
PO Box 6315, Hodges Hall
Morgantown, WV 26506-6315
Web site:
http://physics.wvu.edu/
12
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