Controlling the Quantum World of Atoms, Molecules, and Photons: An Interim Report (2005)
Chapter: Front Matter
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
500 Fifth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20001
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This project was supported by the Department of Energy under Award No. DE-FG02-04ER15610; NAS and the National Science Foundation under Award No. PHY-0443243. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsors.
Cover: Upper left, Simulation of X-ray diffraction pattern of anthrax from the Linear Coherent Light Source (courtesy of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory). Upper right, Time-of-flight images showing a fermionic condensate (courtesy of JILA/University of Colorado). Below, Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) interferograms created by laserlike (or coherent) beams of short wavelength light centered at photon energies of 45 eV and diffracted by pinhole pairs at separations of 150 µm (left) and 250 µm (right) (courtesy of JILA/University of Colorado).
International Standard Book Number 0-309-10076-3.
Additional copies of this report are available from: The
National Academies Press,
500 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313 (in the Washington metropolitan area); Internet <http://www.nap.edu>; and the Board on Physics and Astronomy, National Research Council, 500 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20001; Internet <http://www.national-academies.org/bpa>.
Copyright 2005 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Wm. A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.
COMMITTEE ON AMO 2010
PHILIP H. BUCKSBAUM,
University of Michigan,
Co-chair
ROBERT EISENSTEIN, Co-chair
GORDON A. BAYM,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
C. LEWIS COCKE,
Kansas State University
ERIC A. CORNELL,
University of Colorado/JILA
E. NORVAL FORTSON,
University of Washington
KEITH HODGSON,
Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory
ANTHONY M. JOHNSON,
University of Maryland at Baltimore County
STEVEN KAHN,
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
MARK A. KASEVICH,
Stanford University
WOLFGANG KETTERLE,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
KATE KIRBY,
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
PIERRE MEYSTRE,
University of Arizona
CHRISTOPHER MONROE,
University of Michigan
MARGARET M. MURNANE,
University of Colorado/JILA
WILLIAM D. PHILLIPS,
National Institute of Standards and Technology
STEPHEN T. PRATT,
Argonne National Laboratory
K. BIRGITTA WHALEY,
University of California at Berkeley
Consultants to the committee
NEIL CALDER,
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
NEAL F. LANE,
Rice University
Staff
DONALD C. SHAPERO, Director
MICHAEL H. MOLONEY, Study Director
BRIAN D. DEWHURST, Senior Program Associate
PAMELA A. LEWIS, Program Associate
VAN AN, Financial Associate
BOARD ON PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY
BURTON RICHTER,
Stanford University,
Chair
ANNEILA L. SARGENT,
California Institute of Technology,
Vice Chair
ELIHU ABRAHAMS,
Rutgers University
JONATHAN BAGGER,
Johns Hopkins University
RONALD C. DAVIDSON,
Princeton University
RAYMOND J. FONCK,
University of Wisconsin at Madison
ANDREA M. GHEZ,
University of California at Los Angeles
PETER GREEN,
University of Michigan
LAURA H. GREENE,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
FRANCES HELLMAN,
University of California at Berkeley
ERICH P. IPPEN,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MARC A. KASTNER,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
CHRISTOPHER F. McKEE,
University of California at Berkeley
JOSE ONUCHIC,
University of California at San Diego
JULIA M. PHILLIPS,
Sandia National Laboratories
WILLIAM PHILLIPS,
National Institute of Standards and Technology
THOMAS N. THEIS,
IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
C. MEGAN URRY,
Yale University
Staff
DONALD C. SHAPERO, Director
TIMOTHY I. MEYER, Senior Program Officer
MICHAEL H. MOLONEY, Senior Program Officer
ROBERT L. RIEMER, Senior Program Officer
NATALIA MELCER, Program Officer
BRIAN D. DEWHURST, Senior Program Associate
DAVID B. LANG, Research Assistant
PAMELA A. LEWIS, Program Associate
VAN AN, Financial Associate
PREFACE
The National Research Council of the National Academies has undertaken a study of opportunities in atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) science and technology over roughly the next decade. The charge for this study was devised by the Board on Physics and Astronomy’s standing committee on Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Science (CAMOS) in consultation with the study’s sponsors, the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. The committee carrying out the AMO 2010 study, has been asked to assess the state of AMO science, emphasizing recent accomplishments and identifying new and compelling scientific questions. The committee’s final report, which is scheduled for release in the summer of 2006, is a part of the ongoing Physics 2010 decadal survey that is being undertaken by the National Academy’s Board on Physics and Astronomy.
The purpose of this short interim report is to provide a preview of the final document. It summarizes the committee’s opinion on the key opportunities in forefront AMO science and in closely related critical technologies and discusses some of the broad-scale conclusions of the final report. It also identifies how AMO science supports national R&D priorities.
Significant effort has been made to solicit community input for this study. This has been done by means of town meetings, one of them held at the Annual Meeting of the Division of AMO Physics of the American Physical Society (APS) in Lincoln, Nebraska, in May 2005, and another held at the International Quantum Electronics Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, also in May 2005. The committee also solicited input from the community through a public Web site. It will welcome input for as long as possible following the release of this interim report.
The committee has also received valuable advice from its consultants, Neal Lane, Rice University, and Neil Calder, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.
The committee’s work on the final report is continuing with an enthusiasm that is inspired by the tremendous excitement within the AMO science community about future R&D opportunities. It looks forward to sharing that compelling excitement with the broader R&D community and its sponsors, with the release of its final report in 2006.
|
Philip Bucksbaum Co-chair |
Robert Eisenstein Co-chair |
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF REVIEWERS
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Keith Burnett, Oxford University,
Alexander Dalgarno, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics,
Gerald Gabrielse, Harvard University,
Chris H. Greene, University of Colorado,
William Happer, Princeton University,
Wendell T. Hill, University of Maryland,
Erich P. Ippen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Gerard J. Milburn, The University of Queensland, and
Richart E. Slusher, Lucent Technologies.
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Daniel Kleppner, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Appointed by the National Research Council, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
