Physics Roundtable William Armstrong I. Physics Nobel Prize Winners(http://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/2002/) The other half was awarded to Riccardo Giacconi, Associated Universities Inc., Washington DC, USA “for pioneering contributions to astrophysics, which have led to the discovery of cosmic X-ray sources.” The award winners are responsible for opening the fields of neutrino-astronomy and x-ray astronomy, respectively. For further background reading on the work of the honored scientists, the Nobel site has a number of links. APS Original Research Articles From Raymond Davis, Jr.:
notwwa@lsu.edu
On October 8, the Royal Swedish Academy of Science announced the winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics. Half of the prize was awarded jointly to Raymond Davis Jr., Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA; and Masatoshi Koshiba, International Center for Elementary Particle Physics, University of Tokyo, Japan "for pioneering contributions to astrophysics, in particular for the detection of cosmic neutrinos."
In addition to the background material provided by the Nobel site, APS has graciously provided links to some of the original research by the award winners published by APS (http://www.aps.org/media/). A free copy is available to non-subscribers. Among the papers included are the following:
“The first two back-to-back papers showing that neutrinos from the sun should be detectable” (APS).
“The first experimental results” (APS).
- “Search for Neutrinos from the Sun,” Raymond Davis, Jr., Don S. Harmer, and Kenneth C. Hoffman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 20, 1205-1209 (20 May 1968), http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v20/p1205.
From Masatoshi Koshiba:
“The next generation of neutrino detection experiments” (APS).
- “Observation of a neutrino burst from the supernova SN1987A,” K. Hirata, et. al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 58, 1490-1493 (6 April 1987), http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v58/p1490.
- “Observation of 8B solar neutrinos in the Kamiokande-II detector,” K. S. Hirata, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 63, 16-19 (3 July 1989).
“A review of solar neutrino experiments and theory” (APS).
- “Solar neutrino experiments: results and implications,” Till A. Kirsten, Reviews of Modern Physics, 71, 1213-1232 (July 1999).
“A brief history of neutrino physics” (APS).
- “Neutrino physics,” L. Wolfenstein, Reviews of Modern Physics, 71, S140-S144 (March 1999).
From Riccardo Giacconi:
- “Evidence for x Rays From Sources Outside the Solar System,” Riccardo Giacconi, Herbert Gursky, and Frank R. Paolini, Phys. Rev. Lett. 9, 439-443 (1 December, 1962).
In addition to the above articles from the individuals involved, APS has also linked to some articles on neutrinos for non-specialists, published in Physical Review Focus, vol. 10, July-Dec., 2002.
Articles from Physics Today
Physics Today has also posted material related to the award winning researchers at http://www.physicstoday.org/vol-55/iss-10/nobel.html. Included in the original research articles and provided free to the public by the journal are the following:
- “Progress in X-Ray Astronomy, Part 1, Part 2,” Riccardo Giacconi, May 1973, p. 38.
- “Cosmic Ray Showers Provide Strong Evidence of Neutrino Flavor Oscillation,” Bertram Schwarzschild, August 1998, p. 17.
- “Novel Heavy-Water Detector Unveils the Missing Solar Neutrinos,” Bertram Schwarzschild, August 2001, p. 13.
- “Direct Measurement of the Sun's Total Neutrino Output Confirms Flavor Metamorphosis,” Bertram Schwarzschild, July 2002, p. 13.
- “Chandra Probes Deeper into the Mystery of the X-Ray Background,” Charles Day, May 2000, p. 18.
- “Chandra X-Ray Observatory Examines a New Kind of Black Hole,” Bertram Schwarzschild, November 2000, p. 19.
- “Solar Neutrino Experiments: The Next Generation, Part 1, Part 2,” John N. Bahcall, Frank Calaprice, Arthur B. McDonald and Yoji Totsuka, July 1996, p. 30.
- “Conversion In Matter May Account for Missing Solar Neutrinos,” Bertram Schwarzschild, June 1986, p. 17.
II. Staying Current in Physics with Nature Physics Portal
While the above papers and links take us back in time to background material relevant to a current topic, how might we best stay current with new research in physics? One easy method is via the Nature Physics Portal, sponsored by the journal, Nature. To access the portal, one must first register, but registration is free to all. The registration site is http://www.nature.com/physics/physics.taf?file=/physics/signup.html
NaturePhysicsAlert@nature.com.
The Physics Portal is designed to bring together all the physics content of Nature, organize it by subject category, and make it more easily accessible than it would otherwise be to the physicist interested primarily in physics content. A selection of full-text articles is made freely available each week, as well as news and views articles. One can also sign up for the portal e-mail alert, which will keep the subscriber informed on a weekly basis as to new physics content and provide links to new material posted to the portal (NaturePhysicsAlert@nature.com).
Research Collections are among the physics content. These are grouped by subject category, updated weekly, and are searchable by year back to 2000. The specific categories are:
- Astrophysics
- Atomic and molecular physics
- Biological physics
- Chemical physics
- Condensed-matter physics
- Electronics, photonics and device physics
- Fluid dynamics
- Information theory and computation
- Materials physics
- Nanotechnology
- Nuclear physics
- Optical physics
- Other physics
- Particles and fields
- Plasma physics
- Polymer physics
- Quantum physics
- Statistical physics, thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics
- Techniques and instrumentation
Also added to the portal content are special features of the journal such as opinion, commentaries, book reviews, essays, obituaries, research features, and careers features.
Some of the Physics Portal “extras” include the following categories: Research highlights, Looking back (classic papers from Nature's archive), Problem page (physics puzzles for amusement purposes), Renaissance physicist (interesting and significant research from other fields, presented with the physicist in mind), Biology for physicists, Meetings (guide to the main events of the physics calendar), and Links (other links outside the physics portal hoped to be useful and relevant).
III. Landolt-Börnstein News
On another note, Springer Link has announced the completion of the electronic version of Landolt-Bornstein New Series. For better or worse, it is structured much like the print version, with the actual documents, data files, tables of contents, substance and property files in PDF format. And though the new release (1.0) access is reputed to be faster and better than ever, be prepared for a long wait when trying to download any given page. Patience—and a great deal of it—is still a virtue and indeed, quite essential here!
All the indexes have now also been placed online and are located within the new section, General Scientific Information and Tools. This includes the Comprehensive Indexes A-Z and the Substance Indexes of Organic and Inorganic Compounds. Searching the indexes is free to everyone, unlike accessing the actual document files. The URL for the indexes is http://link.springer.de/link/service/series/0284/tocs/000/start_0.pdf.
Also contained within the new section of General Scientific Information and Tools (see above URL), is a connection to Units and Fundamental Constants in Physics and Chemistry. Full-text on all articles here is freely available to the non-subscribing public. A direct link to this section is http://link.springer.de/link/service/series/0284/tocs/000/t000_units_b.pdf.
IV. Change in IoP’s Journal of High Energy Physics (JHEP)
Beginning 2003, the Institute of Physics, which is now hosting the electronic only publication of JHEP, will be charging institutions $900 (or at a discounted price in 3 of their packages) for access to this highly cited journal, previously free. This is, of course, unfortunate news for libraries with budgets that can already ill-afford to keep up with subscription costs.
JHEP was until recently financed by the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), with help from a few other organizations. Along with its growing importance (2001 impact factor of 8.644) and size, according to IoP, came increased costs associated with publication; costs which can no longer be absorbed by just a few organizations, hence the need to spread the costs to a larger base.
On the bright side, however, the 1997-2002 archive is to remain free for everyone. Now this is an archives policy hard to find fault with.
