After an extensive review process, the American Physical Society chose three Oregon physicists among a handful of its members to be recognized as fellows for the 2010 calendar year.
In all, 233 of the organization’s approximately 48,000 members nationwide were chosen by the organization as fellows for this year. American Physical Society spokesperson James Riordon said the designation is one of prestigious honor, especially since the organization’s constitution permits only one half of one percent of its members to be named as fellows for any given year.
“It’s a fairly prestigious recognition, because that’s a small subset of our entire organization,” Riordan said. “The whole point of the fellowship is that it’s an opportunity for members of the American Physical Society to recognize their peers.”
Stephen Kevan, the University’s physics department head, estimated nearly half of the physics department’s faculty have been recipients of the American Physical Society Fellowship.
One of the University physicists recognized, Davison Soper, was chosen for his work in perturbative quantum chromodynamics, a field of particle physics that deals primarily with strong interactions in high-energy or short-distance interactions. Soper, a member of the University’s Institute of Theoretical Science and Center for High Energy Physics, had also been awarded the J.J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Physics in 2009 by the American Physical Society, one of the most prestigious awards in physics. Soper, who is currently participating in collaborative research with the Center of High Energy Physics, said much of his research is focused on the influence of quantum chromodynamics on experiments that are currently being conducted at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland. Soper said he is anxiously awaiting the results of the ATLAS experiments, which may yield more insight into how strong interactions play a role in the outcome of high-energy collisions.
Another University physicist, Steven van Enk, was recognized for pioneering contributions in theoretical quantum information and quantum optics, a research field that applies quantum mechanics to phenomena involving light and interactions with matter. According to the physics department website, van Enk, a member of the Oregon Center for Optics, specializes in research that is focused on theoretical optical physics and quantum information.
Dietrich Belitz, the third University physicist awarded the distinction, was recognized for his work on classical quantal phase transitions regarding the affect of temperature on two specific types of magnetic transitions. Belitz said he was somewhat surprised by the recognition after assuming that his nomination had “died a quiet death in the committee.”
“I completely forgot it,” Belitz said. “Then, almost a year later, I got a cryptic e-mail from a colleague of mine, who congratulated me, but I had no idea what he was talking about. So, I was surprised, but not completely surprised.”
 
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