An Overview Physics Through the 1990's (1986) / Chapter Skim
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3. Maintaining Excellence
3. Maintaining Excellence
Pages 44-74
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From page 44... ...
Excellence in physics, however, is fragile. It requires a fortunate combination of circumstances: a talented and well-educated population of scientists, a society that is interested in and appreciative of new discoveries, institutional structures that give scientists the freedom to follow wherever science leads, open lines of communication among fellow scientists everywhere, and the economic resources for carrying out research at the frontiers of knowledge.
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From page 45... ...
Basic science is the driving force behind new technology; excellence in physics today is essential to leadership in technology tomorrow. · We must be able to educate the skilled physicists who are needed to carry forward our national programs in energy, the environment, and defense, who can meet the many demands of industry, and who can advise the government on the scientific and technical issues that often underlie urgent policy issues.
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From page 46... ...
In fields that use major facilities, an organized consensus is generally necessary to establish the scientific need for a new facility. Special panels or workshops are usually convened to establish the relative scientific priority of the various facility proposals within each field.
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From page 47... ...
Dealing with this complex issue is beyond the scope of the Physics Survey, but we would be negligent not to emphasize the critical nature of the problem and not to endorse efforts to improve secondary education, particularly education in science. In this regard, we welcome the re-establishment by the National Science Foundation of the Directorate in Science and Engineering Education.
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From page 48... ...
The panel reports that constitute the main body of this Physics Survey provide evidence of an enormous vitality in
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From page 49... ...
RESEARCH IN SMALL GROUPS Small-group research encompasses those areas in which the research is generally pursued by a few investigators working together, possibly only a single scientist with a few students, most often using equipment in their own laboratories. Much of condensed-matter physics operates in this style, as do atomic, molecular, and optical physics; fluid physics; and certain areas of astrophysics and nuclear physics.
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From page 50... ...
. Most areas of small-group physics usually advance by a multitude of discoveries that fit together to reveal a major scientific advance, in contrast to research that is organized around a single conceptual theme.
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From page 51... ...
Foremost is a critical need for laboratory equipment or instrumentation. Inadequate support for instrumentation in the United States was identified as a growing problem in the early 1970s in the previous Physics Survey (Physics in Perspective, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., 19721.
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From page 52... ...
Unless the climate for research in the universities is significantly improved, we face the possibility of a critical shortage of highly qualified young physicists to fill these positions. The Panel on Condensed-Matter Physics and the Panel on Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics, meeting separately and addressing different research communities, arrived at the same conclusions: the need for instrumentation is urgent, and it is essential to bring the support of the groups up to a realistic level.
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From page 53... ...
Major instrument inventions in the last half century include the laser, the electron microscope, the particle accelerator, and the magnetic confinement apparatus used in plasma fusion studies. Examples of major changes introduced into physics techniques are the use of integrated circuits and high-speed computers, the use of rockets and satellites for atmospheric and space physics, and the use of very low temperatures to study the properties of matter.
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From page 54... ...
_ FIGURE 3.2 The Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
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From page 55... ...
This second-generation machine of its type will generate 30 MV and several hundred terawatts when it is completed in 1986. It will be used for inertial fusion, driven with Li+ beams.
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From page 56... ...
Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) (Nuclear physics)
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From page 57... ...
In the last few decades, therefore, as the need for major facilities has become more common in physics, the physics community and the funding agencies have examined more and more closely how a proposed large facility FIGURE 3.4 The National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The Ultraviolet Radiation Synchrotron ring is in the upper central portion of the picture with various experimental parts emanating from it.
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From page 58... ...
Examples of facilities not funded include the full-scale NOVA laser, the Isabelle project, and the toroidal fusion core experiment. We summarize below the large facilities and major programs recommended by the panels of the Physics Survey Committee.
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From page 59... ...
The accelerator has just been rebuilt to provide 50-GeV electrons and positrons for the Stanford Linear Collider. national laboratories, including the extensive experience with superconducting magnet systems gained at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL)
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From page 60... ...
EXTENSIONS OF THE CAPABILITIES OF EXISTING ACCELERATORS The capabilities of two existing accelerators in the United States are currently being extended into new areas of elementary-particle research by adding collider facilities to each of them. · A 100-GeV electron-positron collider, using a new linear collider principle, is now being constructed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
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From page 61... ...
In addition, some elementaryparticle physics experiments are carried out at medium-energy accelerators primarily devoted to nuclear physics. Experimentation at accelerator laboratories requires complex particle detectors that are often major facilities in their own right.
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From page 62... ...
EXTENSIONS OF EXISTING FACILITIES Many of the major questions currently facing nuclear physics, including nuclear astrophysics, point to a number of important scien
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From page 63... ...
In addition, a lesser effort is required for the production of high magnetic fields. The priorities for the facilities have recently been examined closely in the report of the National Research Council's Major Materials Facilities Committee (Major Facilities for Materials Research and Related Disciplines, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 19841.
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From page 64... ...
Consequently, a new synchrotron facility optimized for use of insertion devices should be constructed. The increased brightness of such a synchrotron radiation source would create new opportunities in the studies of photoabsorption, EXAFS and its variant spectroscopies, x-ray scattering, and other techniques.
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From page 65... ...
The scientific feasibility of controlled fusion is likely to be demonstrated in the coming decade, and the program outlined below is designed to accomplish this goal. MAGNETIC FUSION RESEARCH In all the main approaches to the magnetic confinement of fusion plasmas, the principal measures of performance—plasma density, temperature, and confinement time improved by more than an order of magnitude as a result of intensified fusion research in the 1970s.
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From page 66... ...
· The demonstration and experimental study of an ignited fusion plasma is the obvious next research frontier after attainment of the energy breakeven point in a plasma. While the scientific understanding of many key plasma phenomena can best be gained on moderate-size experimental facilities, ultimately plasma-confinement properties must be investigated under conditions of intense alpha-particle heating, which will require an ignited plasma core.
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From page 67... ...
Gravitation, Cosmology, and Cosmic-Ray Physics Physicists conduct a broad range of research under the general heading of astrophysics~osmology, nuclear astrophysics, solar physics, and plasma physics, to name a few. To avoid duplication with the report of the Astronomy Survey Committee, the Physics Survey Committee has concentrated on three research areas: gravitational radiation and general relativity; cosmology, particularly as it relates to elementary-particle physics and gravitation; and cosmic-ray physics.
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From page 68... ...
The vigorous program of the National Science Foundation in gravitational radiation research is strongly supported, and the Long Baseline Gravitational Wave Facility is strongly endorsed. RELATIVITY GYROSCOPE EXPERIMENT This experiment uniquely addresses the important magnetic aspects of general relativity by a precision measurement of the precession rate of a gyroscope in an orbiting satellite.
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From page 69... ...
GROUND-BASED COSMIC RAYS The only practical means of observation of the most energetic cosmic rays is through the observation of extensive air showers. The Utah Fly's Eye is a unique and successful facility for air-shower studies, and its exploitation and upgrade merit strong support.
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From page 70... ...
Women and minorities represent an important reservoir of talent in this nation, and every effort should be made to attract them to careers in physics. POLICY ISSUES CONNECTED WITH MAINTAINING EXCELLENCE General policies of the federal government having to do with science and technology affect physics research in the United States and are therefore of importance in determining its future.
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From page 71... ...
. Consequently, the Physics Survey Committee strongly recommends that the DOD restore its investment in long-range fundamental research and strengthen its connections with the research community for the mutual benefit of science and national security.
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From page 72... ...
Neither precisely theoretical nor experimental, this style of physics possesses enormous potential, and it is growing rapidly. The complete range of computers is needed in physics.
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From page 73... ...
In this survey, the problem was particularly emphasized by the Panel on Nuclear Physics and the Panel on Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics. When we consider that the actual costs of these services are relatively small, sponsoring agencies should make a determined effort to respond to the need to make the data from physics research widely and readily accessible.
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