CELEBRATING SCIENCE -- Nobel Prize winner Alexei Abrikosov (left foreground) is congratulated by Argonne Director Hermann Grunder (left) and a host of photographers from area newspapers and local TV stations in the lobby of Building 223. Photo by George Joch.

Abrikosov to share Nobel Prize in physics

Argonne scientist Alexei Abrikosov will share the Nobel Prize in physics with two colleagues for theories about how matter can show bizarre behavior at extremely low temperatures.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences cited Abrikosov, 75, Anthony J. Leggett, 65, and Vitaly L. Ginzburg, 87, for their work concerning two phenomena called superconductivity and superfluidity.

Abrikosov’s research centers on condensed-matter physics (the structure and behavior of solids and liquids), and concentrates on superconductivity, the ability of some materials to carry electrical current without resistance. He was the first to propose the concept of “type-II superconductors” in 1952 and constructed the theory of their magnetic properties, known as the Abrikosov vortex lattice.

His wide-ranging career has also included research in quantum electrodynamics (the theory of elemental particle interactions) and astrophysics, in which he studied the properties of hydrogen planets. He has also worked on the theory of semimetals and plasma physics, the behavior of materials under high pressures and the theory of quantum liquids.

Ginzburg is a Russian based at the P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow, and Leggett is a British and American citizen based at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The $1.3 million prize money will be shared equally among the three winners.

Abrikosov said that he was not surprised, because he had been nominated several times before, but this year the Nobel committee notified him that he was a candidate. “And since this had never happened before, I saw this as a good sign,” he said.

“I feel now relief,” he said. “I had lost hope of winning ... But I thought my life is good even without [the Nobel Prize]. I have interesting work. I am happy. I love my family.”

The two phenomena the researchers studied are linked, in that superconductivity arises from how pairs of electrons behave, while superfluidity comes about from pairings of atoms.

Superconductivity is the ability of some materials to conduct electricity without resistance when they are chilled to extremely low temperatures. Superconducting magnets are used to produce powerful magnetic fields for the standard body-scanning technique called magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI.

Researchers hope to harness superconductivity for such uses as power lines that can conduct current without loss due to resistance and high-speed trains that float above the tracks.

Abrikosov is Argonne Distinguished Scientist at the Condensed Matter Theory Group in Argonne’s Materials Science Division. He received his Ph.D. in 1951 from the Institute for Physical Problems in Moscow for the theory of thermal diffusion in plasmas. His next degree, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, came in 1955 from the same institute for a thesis on quantum electrodynamics at high energies.

Abrikosov joined Argonne’s Materials Science Division in 1991. His recent research has focused on the origins of magnetoresistance, a property of some materials that change their resistance to electrical flow under the influence of a magnetic field.

Before joining Argonne, Abrikosov was director of the Institute for High-Pressure Physics of the Academy of Sciences, Moscow. He was chairman of theoretical physics at the Moscow Institute for Steel and Alloys from 1976-1991, and was head of the condensed matter theory division of Russia’s Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics from 1966-1988.

For his work in superconductivity research, Abrikosov received the Soviet Union’s highest honor for scientific achievement, the Lenin Prize, in 1966, and the Sony Corporation’s John Bardeen Award in 1991. He is also a member of the Royal Academy of London, one of the world’s most prestigious scientific organizations.

He also received the International Fritz London Award in 1972 for his work in low-temperature physics, and the Soviet Union’s State Prize in 1982 for his research on semimetals and semiconductors.

Abrikosov was named a full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1987. He received the Landau Prize from the Academy of Sciences, Russia, in 1989 for a textbook on quantum theory methods used in statistical physics that is now a standard in the field.

Abrikosov has published two other books and written more than 190 journal articles.

He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors that can be accorded a U.S. scientist or engineer, in 2000. Abrikosov is a fellow of the American Physical Society, an honor limited to one percent of the society’s membership.

Previous winner also a physicist

Argonne’s previous Nobel Prize winner, Maria Goeppert Mayer, shared the 1963 prize for physics.

Goeppart Mayer spent 15 years at Argonne, where she set up a system of “magic” numbers to represent the numbers of protons and neutrons arranged in shells in the atom’s nucleus. In 1948, she developed a theory that explained why some nuclei are more stable than others and why some elements are rich in isotopes.

The following year, J. Hans Daniel Jensen independently advanced the same theory. They collaborated on “Elementary Theory of Nuclear Shell Structure,” published in 1955. Goeppert Mayer and Jensen received the 1963 Nobel Prize for physics for their work. They shared the prize with Eugene Wigner, who was honored for his elucidation of the mechanics of proton-neutron interaction. In 1960, Goeppert Mayer and her husband moved to the University of California at San Diego. She remained there until her death in February 1972.

Argonne’s capabilities vital for Ricketts Lab

By Margret Chang

Argonne’s unique collection of structural imaging facilities may be a key factor in helping the Howard T. Ricketts Laboratory wage war against infectious diseases.

“Evolution makes organisms smarter, and they develop ways to combat our present cures,” said Associate Laboratory Director Harvey Drucker. “Medical doctors soon find themselves in a race to find new drugs with which to fight back, and Argonne, with its world class facilities, can give them the technology to do so.”

Drucker’s remarks came during a recent meeting for all Argonne employees interested in learning about plans for the Ricketts Laboratory. The new University of Chicago facility, which has received funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), will be located at Argonne-East near Building 202. Estimated construction time for the laboratory is set at 26 months, with the expected completion in early 2006.

While the university will be solely responsible for the facility’s administration, it will work closely with Argonne to establish safety and security guidelines and to inform neighboring communities of developments.

Key to the designation of Argonne as the ideal site for the Ricketts Laboratory is the presence of facilities such as the Advanced Photon Source, the Structural Biology Center, and the Center for Nanoscale Materials (in development). Coupled with the computational modeling technologies developed at the Mathematics and Computer Science Division, these facilities will allow for rapid analysis of the proteins involved in disease -- a development that will facilitate the search for new treatments and enable the timely design of vaccines.

“Having the Ricketts Laboratory built at Argonne is a very positive development,” said Laboratory Director Hermann Grunder. “Added to the Structural Biology Center and the protein generation capability of the Midwest Center for Structural Genomics, the new facility will make Argonne National Laboratory a serious biology center that will attract top-notch scientists from all over the world.”

Drawing on Argonne’s excellent safety record in working with hazardous materials, the Ricketts Laboratory will be equipped to deal with Biosafety Level 3 work on infectious agents for which there are already treatments available.

Research would be conducted on organisms selected by investigators of the Regional Center for Excellence in infectious disease and followed by development of protocols and procedures to maximize the safety of the center’s staff, the laboratory and its surrounding communities.

As Drucker pointed out, national facilities that deal with biosafety requirements even higher than those at the Ricketts Laboratory have been operating for many years.

“What the laboratory plans on doing is not something new and revolutionary. It is something that has been done before with a great measure of success. We will follow the safety protocols that have been laid down by the best of containment laboratories such as the Communicable Disease Center in Atlanta and the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Center in Frederick, Maryland.”

The collaborative spirit at Argonne, Drucker said, is one of the strongest weapons that the Ricketts Laboratory possesses in the fight against infectious agents, and ultimately, in preventing potential acts of bioterrorism.

“Ultimately, developments within this new facility will remind Argonne that the events of Sept. 11 did not happen in a vacuum,” said Drucker. “We need to remember that we can do a lot, not just for people affected by similar acts of terrorism, but for the good of the health of all humanity.”

ANL-West prepares for science expo

Argonne-West will have two exhibits at the 3rd annual Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) Science and Engineering Expo, Oct. 22-25, at the Museum of Idaho in Idaho Falls.

INEEL teams up with the Idaho section of the American Chemical Society to bring the Expo to the museum in association with National Chemistry Week. The University of Chicago is a co-sponsor.

The expo is aimed at Idaho’s middle-school students, parents, teachers, community leaders and learners of all ages. It highlights a diverse range of potential careers in science, mathematics, engineering and technology. More than 60 exhibitors are expected to participate in this year’s Expo and more than 5,000 people are expected to attend. The INEEL Science and Engineering Expo is free and open to the public.

Back by popular demand this year is Argonne-West’s “Atomic Mousetrap,” a demonstration that uses mousetraps and ping-pong balls to simulate nuclear fission. The second Argonne-West exhibit will explain Argonne’s radioisotope generator (RTG) program. RTGs generate electricity for spacecraft use through radioactive decay; Argonne-West will conduct assembly and testing of the devices.

“This will be the biggest National Chemistry Week celebration yet,” said Mary Adamic (NT), who worked with the Expo Planning committee and was responsible for organizing a “cluster” of chemistry-related activities. Adamic has coordinated National Chemistry Week activities for the American Chemical Society’s Idaho Section for the last 16 years. More than 30 hands-on chemistry activities will be available at the Expo. Activities will be led by volunteers and advanced placement chemistry students from Idaho Falls High School. To volunteer with any of the Expo activities, contact Adamic at ext. 3-7858.

The Expo will kick off Wednesday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m. at Willard Arts Center Colonial Theatre with “Exploration is Humanity’s Destiny,” a keynote address by Millie Hughes-Fulford, former NASA astronaut and payload specialist on the first dedicated biomedical Space Shuttle mission in 1991. Hughes-Fulford is now a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, where she conducts research on bone cancer and osteoporosis. She continues to participate in the space program by placing experiments on shuttle missions.

Student days are Oct. 23-24, at the Museum of Idaho, 200 Eastern Ave., Idaho Falls. Family day is Saturday, Oct. 25. The Expo runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

For more information, visit the Expo Web page or contact Adamic at ext. 3-7858 or mary.adamic @anl.gov.

WIST seeks new steering committee members

Applications are now being accepted for steering committee members for Argonne’s Women in Science and Technology (WIST) committee.

“Serving on the WIST Steering Committee has been a very rewarding experience for me,” said Kirsten Laurin-Kovitz, a mechanical engineer in the Nuclear Engineering Division and current Steering Committee member. “It has given me the opportunity to make a meaningful and significant contribution to the laboratory effort to increase the representation of women in scientific and technical positions. I strongly encourage others to apply -- their time and effort will be well worth it.”

To apply, send a brief biography and memo specifying interest and reasons for membership to Tracy Rogness (OTD) by e-mail at rogness@anl.gov by Friday, Oct. 31.

More information about WIST is available online.

Human Resources plans employee health fair

“Health Fair 2003,” to be held at Argonne-East Tuesday, Oct. 14, will give employees a chance to interact with representatives from the laboratory’s health-care vendors and companies providing health-care services.

The health fair will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Building 213 Cafeteria.

Free activities include a hearing exam, health risk assessment, body fat measurement, computerized spinal test, bone density screening, information on exercise programs and more.

The Health Fair is sponsored by Human Resources.

CIS CLASSES

Classes offered by Computing and Instrumentation Solutions are held in Argonne-East’s Building 201, Room 167. Unless otherwise specified, class sizes are limited to eight participants and cost $215. Complete computer class descriptions, schedules and enrollment forms are available online. For information about enrollment, contact Diane Cavazos (ECT) at ext. 2-7153 or dkcavazos@anl.gov.

November classes:

“Intermediate Word 2000” (CIS103) -- Monday, Nov. 3, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

“Intermediate Excel 2000” (CIS104) -- Tuesday, Nov. 4, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

“Intermediate Access 2000” (CIS105) -- Wednesday, Nov. 5, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

“Introduction to PowerPoint 2000” (CIS106) -- Thursday, Nov. 6, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

“Advanced PowerPoint 2000” (CIS107) -- Friday, Nov. 7, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Questions about Social Security to be answered

A representative of the Social Security Administration’s Joliet office will visit Argonne-East Wednesday, Oct. 15, from 8 a.m. to noon. The representative will be available to:

Enroll employees in Social Security.

Take applications for new social security cards, including original cards for newborns, corrected cards due to marriage, or replacement cards.

Help with earnings posting problems.

Answer general questions about the social security program.

To schedule a meeting, call Fran Perri (HR) at ext. 2-2989.

‘PC Helps’ to explain its how-to service

PC Helps, a leader in software support, will visit Argonne-East Monday, Oct. 20, to demonstrate the capabilities of a help-desk service offered through Computing and Instrumentation Solutions.

PC Helps provides “how-to” support for more than 160 commercial applications including Microsoft Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, Windows, Eudora, Acrobat and many others. Help is available at ext. 2-9999 for both PC and Macintosh users.

Computer software support presentations will be held at 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. in the Building 213 Cafeteria, Dining Room A. A representative of PC Helps will also be available in the cafeteria lobby during lunch hours.

Brunswick Lab to host fun run, walk

The annual “New Brunswick Laboratory Director’s 5K Run and Two-Mile Walk” will be held Wednesday, Oct. 15, starting at noon at Argonne-East’s Building 350.

There will be snacks and refreshments at the end of the run and walk. Runners and walkers of all skill levels are invited to participate.

Child center offers a pair of new programs

Bright Horizons Family Solutions has been awarded the contract to continue operating the Argonne Child Development Center at Argonne-East. They will continue to offer full- and part-time child care.

The new contract includes two new programs: “School’s Out” and a Kindergarten.

The School’s Out Program will begin Monday, Oct. 13, for children ages six through 12 years old. The program will provide full-day child care on some days when public and private schools are closed -- for example, Columbus Day and spring breaks. Bright Horizons will develop a calendar of days on which this service will be provided based on the needs of the families they serve.

A Kindergarten will begin in fall 2004. An information session will be held Monday, Nov. 3, at noon at the Argonne Child Development Center, Building 952. Kindergarten will be taught by a licensed, certified State of Illinois teacher.

For more information on these programs, call ext. 2-9601.

Workshop to focus on ALFF facility

A workshop for the users of the proposed Argonne Linear Free-Electron Laser Facility (ALFF) will be held Thursday, Oct. 30, and Friday, Oct. 31, in Building 402, Conference Room A1100.

Speakers will discuss the capabilities of ALFF. The workshop’s goal is to establish priorities for the future of the facility through input from a broad user community.

Registration is free; an optional dinner is available. Registration deadline is Friday, Oct. 10. Abstracts for contributed talks are welcome.

For more information or to register, visit the workshop Web site.

Metlife rep to visit ANL-East

A representative from MetLife Auto and Home will visit Argonne-East Tuesday, Oct. 21, to meet with individual employees for insurance comparisons and quotes for the “METPAY” group automobile and homeowners insurance program.

To schedule an appointment, call Craig Riddick at (630) 810-0346, ext. 143. Employees can also receive a quote over the phone by calling 1-800-438-6388.

Class to concentrate on writing appraisals

Human Resources has added the class, “Performance Management Workshop Series: Writing Performance Appraisals” (HR294) to be held Monday, Oct. 13, from 3-5 p.m. in Argonne-East’s Building 201, Room 190.

Participants will learn to clearly document performance appraisals based on specific employee behaviors, will write and re-write examples individually and as a group, and complete the appraisal section for one of their direct reports.

To enroll, contact a Training Management System representative. For more information, call Betty Iwan at ext. 2-3410. Complete descriptions of all HR courses are online.

Book fair will offer discounts

A book fair will be held in Argonne-East’s Building 213 Cafeteria Tuesday, Oct. 14, and Wednesday, Oct. 15, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Books and accessories will be available for up to 75 percent less than retail prices.

Cash, checks and credit cards will be accepted.