International Atomic Energy Agency

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

International Centre for Theoretical Phvsics

No. 38/39September/October 1990

Contents

New Project Leaderat ICS —Augusto Forti

L6on Van Hove1924 - 1990

Staff Awards

Mathematics Educationin Pakistan

i

2

3

3

Computer Chemistryat the InternationalCentre for Pureand Applied Chemistry 4

Shudders in the Fabric

of Space-Time 5

The Need for Mathenatics 9

Can Japan Make Einsteins

Too? 11Development of Science

and Technology in India l 3

Appointments l 6

Visits to ICTP L6

Conferences and Lectures L6

Activities at ICTP

in ,'september-October1990 t 7Activities at ICTPin 1990'91 23

New Project Leader at ICS -Augusto Forti

Augusto Forti , an Italiangeophysicist, became Project Leader ofthe International Cenfre for Science andHigh Technology (ICS) in summer1990. He is the successor to GiorgioRosso Cicogna, who guided the ICSproject through its two-year preparaioryphase, right from its origin as a proposalof AMus Salam. In November 1990,Professor Forti took up the UN staffmember position of Assistant Secretary-General of UNIDO.

Professor Forti has worked in theUnited Nations system for the last 25years, most recently as Director of theEuropean Regional Offrce for Scienceand Technology of UNESCO at Venice.Previously he was with UNESCO incharge of research in physics,mathematics and problem-orientedresearch, and responsible among othersfor liaison with CERN and ICTP.

Under the leadership of ProfessorForti, ICS is now consolidating itsactivities. New donors have becomeinvolved, new collaborations are beingset up with various institutes, newdiploma courses have been planned, andconferences have been organized — anexample being a one-month intemationalcourse on Research and InnovationManagement to be held in June 1991,wittr Forti's direct involvement.

In 1991 Forti expects to movequickly towards the establishment offully-fledged ICS institutes, active inpure and applied chemistry, earth,environmental and marine sciences andtechnologies, and high technology andnew materials, evolving with the closeco-operation of ICTP. An officialinauguration of ICS is planned in early

1991. The new direction the project istaking has been shown greatencouragement and interest by the PrimeMinister Giulio Andreotti, Gianni DeMichelis, Minister for Foreign Affairs,and Antonio Ruberti, Minister forUniversities and Scientific andTechnological Research.

Professor Augusto Forti

Augusto Forti's professional careerstarted in 1956, when he became aprofessor at the University of Milan afterhaving obtained his PhD there. Fromhis original background in geophysicsand geology, Professor Forti moved intoscience research and later science policymanagement, working in variouscapacities directing and advising onresearch in science and technology andlater research and innovationmanagement. In the area of scientificand technological research, ProfessorForti has advised numerous scientificacademies and national research councils,in at least 15 countries worldwide.Some of the positions currently held

1

News from ICTP - No. 38/39 - September/October 1990

include membership of advisory boardsor councils, such as the InternationalRelations Commission (MURST); theCNR Institute of Research andDocumentation; and the GulbenkianInstitute of Science, Lisbon; andSecretary General of the EuropeanInstitute for East-West Co-operation.

Professor Forti is a member of theEditorial Board of the Reidl series Trendsin Scientific Research, editor of theinterdisciplinary joumal Prometheus, mdmember of the World Academy of Artsand Science. He also writes for severaldaily newspapers and magazineq onresearch policy, and is author and editorof books in the area of research trendsand scientific forecastins.

L6on Van Hove1924 - 1990

Courtesy ofCERN Courier,

SeptemberlOctober 1990.

L6on Van Hove, eminent Belgiantheoretical physicist and ResearchDirector General of CERN from 1976-80, died on 2 September, only eighteenmonths after a special symposium atCERN marked his 65th birthday and hisformal retirement from the Organizationto which he had contributed so much.

After training in mathematics hemade fundamental contributions to fieldtheory, statistical mechanics and phasetransitions, crystal sfucture, and neutronscattering as a tool to study condensedmatter. For this work he was awardedthe US Dannie Heinemann Prize in1962. He had been working in Utrechtwhen Viktor Weisskopf invited him in1961 to lead CERN's Theory Division,succeeding M. Fierz, who was movingto Zurich to take the chair vacant afterPauli's death in 1958.

Van Hove played a major role inestablishing the reputation of CERN'sTheory Division as a world forum forparticle physics ideas. With thesetheorists working alongside high energyexperimenters, he stressed theimportance of phenomenology in thequest for new understanding. With hisbackground in statistical physics, VanHove saw the mass of off-resonanceparticle production data from bubble

chambers, previously discarded, as beingripe for exploitation.

In 1971, Van Hove moved toMunich after Werner Heisenberg retiredas Chairman at the Max Planck Institutefor Physics and Asrophysics.

In the early 1970s two CERNlaboratories existed side by side — theoriginal Meyrin (Switzerland) site andthe new Prevessin (France) campus ofthe 400 GeV SPS prolon synchrotron.In 1976 these sites were formallyamalgamated, with John Adams asExecutive Director General and VanHove as Research Directtr C€n€ral.

Under his guidance, the researchprogramme at the SPS flourished, whilemonumental decisions were taken to gofor the proton-antiproton collider, withtwo big experiments. Van Hove took aspecial interest in this project, whichwent on to bring unprecedented honounto CERN and propel the Europeanlaboratory to the forefront of the worldresearch stage. His Research DirectorGeneral mandate also saw the proposalfor the LEP electron-positron colliderand initial ideas for its experimentalprogramme. His coordination helped theproject receive its rapid consensusapproval from the physics community.

Subsequently his vision andexperience were widely sought in otherEuropean research committees, but wi0rmore time available for physics hercturned to full-time research with newvigour, making important contributionsto current thinking on the behaviour ofquarks and gluons under extremeconditions and the interpretation ofresults from experiments using highenergy ion beams. He also conributedsignificantly to the analysis of multipleparticle production, where he had beeninvited to report at tle recent Singaporemeeting, but had to be replaced by hiscollaborator A. Giovannini.

Wi$r the convergence of ideas fromparticle physics, cosmology andastrophysics, he helped establish thejoint CERN/European SouthernObservatory (ESO) Symposia onAstronomy, Cosmology andFundamental Physics as a regularplatform. His own powers of synthesiswere the source of valuable guidance inthis area.

At ease in French, Flemish, Germanand English, and with a university career

spanning several counfties, Van Hovewas a cultured F.uropean. Hispenetrating insight was frequentlyevident in major conferences, where hisobjective comments and conclusionswould frequently reorient muddledthinking and provide a real focus forattention.

Prof. LJon Van Hove u)as at ICTP forthe last tbne in Decenber 1986, wlen lelectured at the Conference on the 40tharniversary of UNESCO.

Earlier this year, he was invited togive the Nishina Memorial Lecture in

• Tokyo, where in one of his final publicappearances he spoke on 'ParticlePhysics and Cosmology — NewAspects of an Old Relationship'. Put ina more general context, his concludingremarks mirrored his own disciplinedattitude to science — 'a redeemingfeature in the midst of so muchspeculation is the slow but tenacioushigh quality work being done byobservational ... and experimentalphysicists, while phenomenologicaltheoriss carefully evaluate results andconfront the various interpretations, theonly way to advance in tte diflicult questfor new ... knowledge of lastingsignificance'.

Professor L6on Van Hove wasassociated with tlw ICTP even before itscreation. In fact, upon requcst of theIAEA governing body, with R.E.Marshak (USA) and, J. Tiomno (Brazil),he wrote, in 1962, a superb feasibilityreport which became tlu clarter for the

News from ICTP - No. 3t/39 - September/October 1990

first ten years of existence of the ICTP.He served on the Scientilic Council ofthc Centre and was the Chairman of oneAd-hoc Committee in 1974 whoserecommendations were to re-orient theactivities of the Centre.

Professor Van Hove is remembered atthe Centre for his sharp judgement, forthe claity and concreteness of his adviceand for his immense sympathy for themission of the ICTP.

IAEA Service Awards

The Staff Members of the Centre,Deisa Buranello (Supervisor ScientificProgrammes Office), MariucciaFasanella (Supervisor Reader Services,Library) and Maria Zingarclli (Head ofLibrary), received the 1990 IAEAService Award on 30 October 1990.

The Award, consisting in a diplomaand a gold brooch, was presented to themby Abdus Salam, Director of the ICTP,and Luciano Bertocchi, Deputy Director,in the Main Lecture Hall of the Centre.

News from ICTP pre*nts its mostheartfelt congratulations to Deisa,Mariuccia and Maria for their years ofhard and succesful work at the ICTP.

Mathematics Educationin. Fakistan

by Quaiser Mushtaq

Courtesy oy' The Muslim,Islanubad, Pakistan.

Prof. Q. Mushtaq is a facultymember of the Department ofMathcmatics, Quaid-i-Azan University,Islamabad. Professor Mushtaq, wln didhis Ph.D in group theory at OxfordUniversity, is now doing research atICTP. In November, lw will be joiningMIT where lu will spend rtne months asa Fulbight Sclnlar. Amongst the manyprizes that Prof. Mushtaq lws won, isthe Salam Prize for Mathematics in1987. The pize, awarded anrunlly in a4-year rotation for physics, chemistry,biology and mathematics, is institutedby Professor Abdus Salam out of theproceeds of his Nobel Prize.

As also in every other subject,educators in mathematics are faced withsignificant demographic changes andrising expectations in preparing the kindof work force our country will need in

the future. The world of work is nowless manual but more mental; lessroutine but more verbal; and less staticbut more varied.

Now working smarter is moreimportant than just working harder. Weneed workers who match thisrequirement — workers who absorb newideas, adapt to changes, cope withambiguity, perceive patterns and solveunconventional problems.

The foundation of science andtechnology is mathematics.Mathematical literrcy fcms the basis oftechnological expertise in the workplace.In tomorrow's world, the bestopportunities for jobs and advancementwill go to those able to cope confidentlyand competently with mathematical,scientific and technolqgical issues.

What is needed is a bold and realisticapproach to reform mathematicseducation at all levels. Means must befound for significantly improvingstudent achievement whilesimultaneously making changes inmathematics education in response to thedemands of an increasingly mathematicalsociety.

Our population growth rate is higherthan our literacy growth rate. Thismeans that, with the passage of time, weare producing more illiterates thanliterates.

Even if we consider only those whocan afford to seek education, too many ofthem leave schools without havingacquired the necessary. mathematicalpower. Thus, the shortage of qualifiedmathematics 0eachers in the country isserious — more serious than in anyother area of education. This is the caseat all levels, from elementary schools touniversities.

From left to right: M. FasarcIla, M. Zingarelli, Professor Abdus Salam, Dr. F.Allotey, an old friend of tlv Centre, atd D. Burancllo.

Mathematics Tbst Resuls of Studensfrom Various Countries@ercent corect answers)PakisanusASwitzerlandFranceCanadaEnglandAustraliaSwe&nJ4an

15.5625.3031.8033.2035.8037.8037.7037.7050.20

liews from ICTP - No. 38/39 - September/October 1990

If we compare our students with thestudents of other nations, pakistanistudents lag far behind in their level ofmathematical accomplishment.

Curricula and instruction in oureducational institutions are usuallybehind the times. They reflect neitherthe increased demand for higher-orderthinking skills, nor the greatly expandeduses of the mathematical sciences, norwhat we now know about the best waysfor students to learn mathematics.

Generally, it is believed thatmathematics is a dry and difficult subjecthaving no practical or aesthetic vaJue,unlike the social science subjecs. It isbelieved that mathematics isintellectually stagnant — overgrownwith stale courses that fail to stimulatethe interest of today's student.

It is mistakenly thoughr by manyotherwise well-informed people that themathematics they learned in school isadequate for their children. Butmathematics has changed and is stillchanging. It is significantly morediverse than it was several decades ago.The mathematics commonly used andleamed today goes far beyond arithmeticand elementary geomely.

The number of courses has beenincreased without any agreement on whatthe added courses should contain orwhether enough capable teachers can befound to teach them. There has been anincreased reliance on standardised tests.There is very little understanding of whatthe question papers should contain orwhat they are capable of testing.

Too much importance is given to themarks one obtains in examinations.Few understand that the tests reflect onlya small part of curricular objectives. Weforget that good marks usually dependupon how faithfully one has beenfollowing the prescribed texthols fromthe examination point of view. As aresult, our students, teachers and parentshave become more testoriented.

The need for mathematically literatemanpower compels our institutions toprovide more mathematical education tomore students than ever before.Accomplishing this will pose significantchallenges in developing a core ofmathematics which is appropriate for allstudents.

We need to stimulate able studentswith the excitement and challenge of

mathematics. Our curricula and teachingshould be such that they encouragestudents to explore and verbalize theirmathematical ideas. We need to explainto our studens the importarrce of carefulreasoning and disciplined undersanding.

The teaching of mathematics isshifting from a preoccupation withinculcating routine skills to developingbroad-based mathematical power. Broadmathematical power requires thatstudents be able to discem relationships,reason logically, and use a range ofmathematical techniques to solve a widevariety of non-routine problems.

Mathematics is a living subject thatseeks to understand patterns whichpermeate both the world around us andthe mind within us. Although thelanguage of mathematics is based onrules that must be learned, it isimportant that student move beyondrules to be able to express things in thelanguage of mathematics. Thistransformation suggests changes in bothcurricula and terching style.

It involves a renewed effort !o focuson searching for solutions not justmemorizing procedures exploringpatterns, not just learning formulae; andformulating conjectures, not just doingexercises. As teaching begins o reflectthese emphases, students will haveopportunities to study mathematics as anexploratory, dynamic, evolvingdiscipline rather than as a rigid, absolute,closed body of laws to be memorised-

Professionalism in teaching must bestrenglherrcd through a correrted nationaleffort. This is an essential element ofany effective strategy for reformingmathematics in Pakistan. It is theteachers upon whom the real burden ofreform rests. The task we are settingbefore them is very demanding.Teachers need to be given the sustainedsupport and working environment thatwill make it possible for them to carryout their vital mission, that is, teachingand research.

Efforts to bring about lasting changemust proceed steadily for many years onmany levels simultaneously. Pakistanmust move quickly !o improve the scateof mathematics education, teaching andresearch if we are not to be left behind inthe modern world.

Computer Chemistry at theInternational Centre for Pure

and Applied Chemistry

by N. Ralvnan, ICC.

The research done with computers inchemistry is taking a major turn for allresearchers because of essentially twofac8ors, The computers are becomingaccessible to clremists whose brckgroundwas not previously thought to beoriented towards mathematical orinformation sciences. Secondly, tlre costof computers as well as computing isclimbing down dramatically due to rapiddevelopment of technology. Both thesefactors are of major consequence fordeveloping countries. The computerswhile not replacing a chemistrylaboratory, help cut down both theduration and the cost of programmedresearch in every area of chemistry.Taking note of this situation, ICCintends to fully utilize the centralcomputation frcility of ICTPACS, thosethat will be available at the universityand the Area di Ricerca. It has start€dwith its own system that consists of asilicon graphics IRIS workstation whichcommunicates with ICC local networkand all eventual networks at the othertwo organisations.

The potential use of computers inchemistry lie in many directions:1. SYNTIIESIS DESTGN — Predictionof possible routes for synthesis forarriving at a desired molecule startingfrom a commercial or easily preparedmolecule. Also routes of degradation ofa molecule with the necessary reagentsand experimental conditions. The mostwell-known program is EROS ofGasteiger of Munich.2. STRUCTURE ELUCIDATION —With the specual daa (Mass, IR, NMR,NMR-2 etc.) one can obtain a possibleset of candidate molecule and with ottrerchemical information (e.g., presence ofparticular functional groups) it ispossible to identify the molecule.CIIEMICS by Sasaki (Japan) is typicalof such programs.3. CHEMIOMETRICS — Treatment ofexperimental data with statisticaltechniques. Optimization of processesand drug design.4. DATA BASE — Data bases are used

News from ICTP - No. 38/39 - September/October 1990

to manage and catalog a large quantity ofdata. Protein Data Bank is a primeexample. Techniques of artificialintelligence in chemistry useful forstructure determination, synthesis designare being widely developed. Anotherexample is the program CHARGE ofGasteigner-Marsili which allows fastcomputation of physico-chemicalproperties e.g., atomic charges (sigma,pi), residual electronegativity on atoms,polarity, polarizability etc. which arethen used in EROS for synthesis design.5. MOLECULAR MODELLING -MOLECULAR GRAPHICS .—Manipulation and representation in 3Dof molecular structure. Graphicalrepresentation of electrostatic potential.Docking for pinpointing similarity ofstructure between two molecules.Assembly of molecular structure forcomplex molecule using already preparedfragmenls and subsequent refinementsusing molecular mechanics.6. COMPUTATIONAL CTIEMISTRY:a) Molecular mechanics: minimisationof potential energy of molecules.Calculation of geometry. Softwares ofthese are now widely available.b) Molecular dynamics: temporalevolution for interaction with solventsor with other molecules. CHARMM ofKarplus and AMBER of Kollman.c) Statistical mechanics andconformational analysis: calculation ofthermodynamic quantities and mostprobable geometries. Analysis ofconformational space for a good startingpoint for minimisation routine.CONGEN of Karplus - softwarePolygen.7. STOCHASTIC AND MONTECARLO METHODS — Altemative tomolecular dynamics. Used in descriptionof drug-receptor interaction and bindingof small molecule e.g. oxygen on Fe inhaemoglobine.8. QUANTUM CTTEMTSTRY — Ab-initio as well semi-empirical methodsfor small to medium size molecules forcharge distribution or geometry ofminimum energy. Formation orbreaking of chemical bonds and exchangeof electrons can be studied only withquantal treatment.9. ELECTROSTATICS OFPROTEIN — Electric field aroundproteins solving Poisson-Boltzmannequation.

These and also others are all underconsideration by this Centre eitherdirectly or through collaboration withlaboratories of repute in other parts ofEurope such as that in Pisa, inHeidelberg, in Mainz, in Paris etc.

Right now a team of researchers areworfting there including f,h. H. Moustafa(Egypt) and Dr. R. Urbani (Italy). Thesystem is being set up with the help ofDr. S. Faustoferri of ICS. Externalcollaborators include Dr. B. Schiirmann(Germany) and Dr. S. Pongov(Hungary). Prof. S. Miertus(Czechoslovakia) is joining the team forat least six months from Ocober.

Close collaboration with ICGEB isbeing developed in the field of computerprotein chemistry. There is hope that aMaster's level diploma course will besoon inaugurated. It appears to be allworking to be a good start in a newplace and in an exciting new field ofresearch.

Computer chemistry at ICC has beendeveloped under the direction of Prof. N.Rahman who is a professor at theUniversity of Trieste in the ChemistryDepartment. His interest withcomputers dates back !o 1966 when he,as a research assistant with NASA, wasworking in atmospheric chemistry usingsatellite data and modelling with the thenlargest compufer in the world — an IBMmainframe Model 3ffi19I. Since thenhis research interest has been in otherfields such as lasers chemistry andphysics as well as time-dependentprocesses in chemisry. He has alwaysused the relevant compulers such as theCray at Saclay and IBM mainframes atPisa where he had been an AssociateProfessor until when he got a chair atthe University of Trieste about three anda half years back. It is of some interestto the ICTP that he was one of the fintresearch fellows of ICTP from Pakistan(now Bangladesh) in 1964 i.e., the fintyear of ICTP worting at Piazza Oberdan.

Tlw Internatiorul Centre for Pure ardApplied Chemistry is one of thecomponenls of the International Centrefor Science (ICS) of Trieste. The othertwo components are the InternationalCentre for High Technology and NewMaterials and tlrc lnternatiorul Centre forEarth Sciences and Environment.Professor Abdus Salam is tlrc President

of ICS. Professor Augusto Forti,former Director of tlu Unesco RegiotwlOffice for Science and Technology forEurope (ROSTE) has recently taken uphis Project Leafur duties, succeeding tocounsellor G. Rosso Cicogna who lwsreturned to the Italian Ministy ofForeign Affairs. The United NationsIndustrial Development Organization(UNIDO) is tlv Exccutive A.gency incharge of the Project.

Shudders in the Fabricof Space-Time

This article ftrst appeared in NewScientist Magazine, London, tlu weeHyreview of science and technology.

Researchers around the worldare racing to build 8 new type oftelescope, that will detectgravi ta t ional waves fromexploding s ta r s , collidingpulsars and cosmic strings.

Throughout the long history ofastronomy, researchers have had onemain way to understand the Universe:from the message carried byelectromagnetic radiation. Although thistype of radiation covers a wide range infrequency—from gamma-rays 0o radiowaves—produced by many differentsources in the Universe, electromagrrcticwaves are caused by the same basicphysical process, the dcceleration ofelectic charges.

Astronomers could add to thisknowledge slightly by studying someparticles that reach us from space: the"cosmic rays" that are in fact high-speedatomic nuclei, and the highly-peneratingneutrinos from the Sun and from thenearby supernova which exploded in1987.

But now astronomers are poised tomake a breakthrough in observing thecosms. Within the next few years, fouror five new "telescopes" around theworld will begin to pick up an entirelynew kind of signal from space.

These gravitational waves areshudders in the fabric of space-timeitself. The "gravitational wavetglescopes" should detect radiation fromknown sources of cosmic violence, suchas nearby superdovae, and from events

News from ICTP - No. 38/39 - September/October 1990

such as the crashing together of twoneutron sklrs as they spiral in towardsone another. More exciting is thechance of making new discoveries abu tthe Universe that are not predicted by ourcurrent knowledge and theories.

Gravitational radiation has beenatound, in the minds of theorists at least,for many decades. Albgrt Einsteindeduced that it must exist, as a naturalcorollary of his theory of gravity, thegeneral theory of relativity. One simpleway to visualise general relativity is tothink of space-time (reduced to twodimensions) as a sheet of rubbsr. Amass, such as a star, placed on therubber forms a depression in the sheet.If the mass wiggles about, ripples—waves of gravitational radiation—-willspread out in ttre sheet.

This is similar to the way in whichcharged particles, such as an elecfton,produce electromagnetic waves. Butthere is one fundamental difference. Asingle electron may oscillate withoutdisturbing any other electric chargescausing what is called a dipole. Theresult is electromagnetic "dipole"radiation which is relatively intense.

For a star !o produce gravitationalradiation, however, then a force must beapplied that reacts on another mass.According to Einstein as well asNewton, this reaction must be "equal andopposite". So, the second mass wigglestoo, and the gravitational waves from itmore or less cancel out those from thefirst mass. In fact, a deailed calculationshows that the motion of the secondmass always wipes out the dipoleradiation of the frst mass completely.All that is left is a much weaker"quadrupole" radiation.

This means that accelerating massesdo not always produce gravitationalwaves. One example would be a starthat explodes as a perfectly symmetricalsphere of gas. In such a system, thequadrupole radiation is cancelled as well.So dn absolutely spherical supernovawould generate no gravitational waveshowpver violently it exploded. InpracFce, holvever, astronomers thinkthat a supernova is rather messier thanthis and is sure to generate somegravitational radiation.

Astronomers have thought of at leasttwo other kinds of star systems thatshogld produce a Aetectable amount of

gravitational radiation. A neutron star isa very compact object, made almostentirely of neufrons packed cheek tojowl, so it would have an extremelyhigh gravitational field. Many neutronstars spin rapidly, producing pulses ofelectromagnetic radiation. If a spinningneutron star has a small I'mountlin" onits surface, it becomes an excellentgeneratu of gravitational waves.

Any two object orbiting each otheralso generate gravitational waves. In thecase of the Sun and the Earth, thesewaves are loo weak o be measured. Butif we have two neutron stars very closetogether, orbiting at very high speed,then they will pump out a signi{icantamount of gravitational radiation. In1974, radio astronomers found such apair of neutron stars, swinging aroundeach other in just under eight hours.Over the years, their mutual orbit hasgradually shrunk, implying that thesystem is losing energy—and at exactlythe same rate as theory predics for theenergy carried away by gravitationalwaves. There is little doubt that thispair of neutron stars is generatinggravitational radiation, although it hasnot been detected directly.

Bernard Schutz of the Univenity ofWales in Cardiff pointed out that a pairof stars, such as this .one, willeventually spiral together and merge intoone body. In its final few seconds, thestar system should emit a crescendo ofgravitational waves: a loud andcharacteristic burst of radiation thatwould sound like a "chimrp" if we hearir.

The gravitational radiation ftom tlpsesources can carry a lot of energy. Theburst of gravitational waves from twostars coalescing in a gdaxy 100 millionlight years away would arrive at theEarth with a power—if we converted itinto terms of optical light—+qual to thebrightness of the full Moon.

As this ripple in space-time spreadsthrough the Universe, it distorts theshape of any object it passes through.This gives us the means, in theory atleast, to detect gravitational waves. Itwill squeeze a piece of matter in onedirection and stretch it in theperpendicular direction. The shapeoscillates in time with the frequency ofthe vibration of the wave as it asthrr6ugh.

But in reality, the change in size ofthe object is absolutoly minuscule. Thegravitational waves from a typicalastronomical source would deform apiece of matter by about one part in1020. So, a lump of matter a metreacross would change in size by muchless than the diameter of an atomicnucleus.

Undeterred by such predictions, anAmerican physicist, Joe Weber, decidedin the 1960s to try to detect these waves.His "lump of matter" was a cylindricalbar, weighing a tonne and made ofaluminium. Over the intervening years,many other $oups around the worldhave made more and more sophisticateddetectors of this type, usually cooled to afew degrees above absolute zero toimprove their sensitivity (see How toobtain lat resuhs from cold meta[).

Despite all this progress, mostphysicists believe that bar detectors havereached the limit. One limitation is thatthey can detect gravitational waves withonly a limited range of freqwncy, near tothe lone at which the bar naturallyvibrates. More fundamentally, theexperimenters are now looking for suchtiny movements that they are runninginto Heisenberg's uncertaintyprinciple,whereby the very act ofmeasuring the changing size of the baraffects the dimensions of the bar by acomparable amount. Along with morerecent and pessimistic estimales of theamount of change a gravitational wavewould produce, this limitition meansthat even the most sophisticated bardetectors will be able to detect only themost spectacular—and hencecomparatively rare—outbursts ofgravitational waves.

A novel idea for detectinggraviational waves hasi, however, led toa huge resurgence of interest ingravitational wave astronomy. Itpromises a more sensitive kind ofdetector that can pick up much weakersignals, much more often.

After Weber claimed he had detectedthese waves, Bob Forward, an Americanscientist then working for HughesAircraft, suggested an entirely difforentkind of &vice.

Forward argued that a gravitationalwave changes the size of a detector bythe same tiny fraction, regardless of thedetector's size. If we use a detector tlnt

News from ICTP - No. 3t/39 - September/October 1990

is as large as possible, then we wouldhave a change in size that is larger, andso is easier to measure. Forward'sscheme was simply to measure thechange in distance between two separatemasses that are a long distance apartusing a laser. In 1973, Forward builtthe first prototype of this type ofdetector, with masses 10 metres apart.His experiments led to improvements inlaser technology that Hughesincorporated in displays for aircraftcockpits, but Forward could not carry onto build larger detectors for pureastronomical research.

A few years later, Rai Weiss, of theMassachusetts Institute of Technologydeveloped the theory further, whileexperimenters at Munich in Germanyand the University of Glasgow inScotland began to build prototypes thatwere 30 oo 40 mefres long. The leaderof ttre Scottish group, Ron Drever, waslater scooped up by Caltech in Californiato research graviational waves there. Asinlerest has grown, physiciss in France,Italy and Japan have also started to testprototype detectors. These groups arenow confident that they can constructfull-scale gravitat ional wavetelescopes—several kilomeres in s i z e -that are capable of detecting gravitationalradiation if our present theories areanywhere near correcL

All the new detectors work in thesame simple way: a laser beam is usedto measure the distance between twomirrors, fixed !o separate masses. Whena gravitational wave passes through thedetector, the distance between the massesalters, leading to a change in the time ittakes for the laser beam to return. Thegravitational wave also affects thepropagation of the light, but the twoeffects do not cancel each other oul

In practice, it is easier !o measure thedifference in 0re time taken for the light!o travel in two different directions, atright angles: the gravitational wavemakes one of the,se distances increase andthe other diminish. Even moreim.portant, you do not actually have !otime the light. You let the beamsinterfere with one another, and thechanging lengths of the arms appe:rs asa change in the interference fringes.This is, in essence, a Michelsoninterferometer, of the type thatundergraduate physics students quickly

come to swear a[.By making the arms of the

interferometer as long as possible, youcan make it more and more sensitive !ogravitational waves. But you also runinto practical problems. First, the laserbeams cannot simply ravel through air.Changes in the refractive index of airwould easily mask the effect beingsought. So the path of light, along botharms, must be enclosed in long metaltubes that are pumped to a very highvacuum.

According to the theory, we needarms that are hundreds of kilometreslong if we hope to detect a reasonablenumber of weak bursts of radiation.Clearly this is not feasible, especiallywhen the beams have to travel inevacuated tubes-—-+ven for arms a fewkilometres long, these tubes and thepowerful vacuum pumps account formost of the cost of the instrumenL Theanswer is to bounce the light back andforth within erch tube, up to a hundredtimes. In some of the prototypes, aniurow laser beam reflects off differentparts of the mirrors each time, until itescapes back through a small hole in themirror at the centre of the device. Thegroups at Glasgow and Caltech havetaken a slightly different approach.Their mirrus form a Fabry-P6rot 6talon:the distance betwe€n the minors is anexact number of wavelengths, so thereflected light sets up a pattern ofstanding waves.

Either way, the researchers depend onhighly reflective mirrors to reflect thelaser beam up to a hundred timeswithout it becoming significantlydimmer. These instruments could nothave been built at all without thedevelopment of mirrors that absorb lessthan one ten-thousandth of the lightfalling on them. These mirrors are aspin-off from the development of laser-ring gyroscopes, used in the navigationsystems of military aircraft and cruisemissiles, where a beam of light reflectedround and round acts :ls a steady referenceagainst which the electronics canmeasure the motion of the craft.

Another imporlant component is thelaser itself. It must produce light that isalways precisely the same wavelength.Drever, at Glasgow and then Caltech,has pioneered ways of conrolling thelaser so that the wavelength it produces

is extremely stable. The laser must alsobe bright enough for its light to undergomany reflections and still be detectable.The prototype instruments generally useargon lasers, with an output of a fewwatts, but the groups are now workingon much more powerful neodymium-yttrium-garnet lasers, which shouldproduce about 100 watrs.

The research groups that are about tobuild full-scale gravitational wavedetectors arc not so much in competitionas in a loose collaboration. Althoughthere will be a certain kudos attached lothe first definite detection ofgravitational waves, it is an honour thatno group expects to have to itself. Thehistory of the subject has taught theexperimenters that other scientists willbe sceptical of a claimed detection unlessit is backed up by results from acompletely independent instrument.

The other advanoage of workingtogether is that a single gravitationalwave detector can tell astronomers verylittle about tre direction from which theradiation has come. As the wave sw@psthrough the Earth, at the speed of light,it will, however, pass different detectorsat different times. If the experimenterscompare notes of the exact times whenthe waves are passed through eachdet@tor, they can calculate the directionin which it was tavelling.

The more spread out the deteclors are,the more accurately the researchers candetermine the direction of the source ofthe gravitational waves.. With a set ofdetectors spanning the Earth, they shouldbe able to pin down the direction of thesource to within a few arcminutes (abuta quarter the apprent size of the Moon).For sources beyond our own Galaxy,this should be good enough for theastronomers to identify the galaxy thatproduced the radiation. This accuracywill also allow astronomers to check ifthere was a burst of electromagneticenergy at the same time— as would bethe case with a supernova.

For direction-finding, the best way oflocating the source of the radiation is touse four det€ctors at the corners of aterahedron. More by luck than anythingelse, the research groups interested inbuilding the detectors are spread out inroughly that way: on the east and westcoasts of the US, in Europe and inAustralia

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The American groups at Caltech andMIT have formed a consortium, theIaser Interferometer Gravitational WaveObservatory, to construct a pair ofidentical instruments, one on each coast.The western detector may be at theEdwards Air Force Base in California(where the space shuttle lands) and theeastern one in Maine or Louisiana. Erchwill have arms that are four kilomeEeslong, with their light paths side by side,so that several different gravitationalwave detectors can work simultaneously.These could be of slightly differentdesign, or respond to differentfrequencies. Both the National ScienceFoundation and hesident Bush havebacked the proposal, worttr $192 million(about f l l 8 million) and it is awaitingapproval from Congress later ttris year.

All being well, Europe will alsohave two gravitational wave detectors,though these are being built by separateteams. A French-Italian consortium isplanning a gravitational wave detectorwith arms three kilometres long, thatwill be sited near Pisa. Researchers atthe University of Glasgow and the MaxPlanck Institule for Quantum Optics atGarching are also designing a deleclorwith three-kilometre arms. Jim Hough,at Glasgow, has already located asuitably flat and rccessible piece of landin Tweedsmuir Forest, near St Andrews,and the instrument has been gantedplanning permission. But the locationwill almost certainly be decided by therelative financial contributions from thetwo countries. In July, the BritishScience and Engineering ResearchCouncil allocated f,5.5 million to thetelescope. Researchers expect that theGermans will soon commit themselvesto providing the rest of the f30 millionrequired. The contributions will be splitbetween the Max-Planck Institute, ttreFederal Ministry for Research andTechnology (BMFT) and the localgovernment of Lower Saxony.

All these detectss are in the northernhemisphere, and at much the samelatitude. In order to tell accuralely howfar n&th or south a source lies in thesky, hstronomers must also use adetector in the southern hemisphere. Tocomplete the "tetrahedron" at itssouthern corner Ausfalian and Japanesescientists are planning to build aninstrument near Perth. The Japanese

research group at ISAS, near Tokyo, hasalready built a prolotype, with arms 10metres long. They will work with thePerth group that already operat€s acooled bar detector and with opticalexperts from the Ausralian NationalUniversity. Although the Australianfederal government has yet to approvethe project, the state government ofWestern Ausralia has already p'romisedA$5 million (about f2 million) ofsupport, in the form of land, rods andelecricity.

All the groups are confident that theirexperience with the small prototypes hasironed out all the major problems. Itwill take about three years !o build afull-scale instrumenl and another two ormore years to test it out and get itrunning smoothly.

By the late 1990s, then, astronomersshould have ploughed well into the newfield of graviational wave astronomy.

Every year, the detectors should bepicking up several bursts of radiationfrom supernovae in other galaxies, outto a distance of perhaps 100 millionlight years. There should be dozens of"chimrps" per year from neuron starstlnt are running together and coalascingin galaxies up !o 300 million light yearsfrom us. Bernard Schutz has calculatedthat by measuring the gravitationalwaves alone we can work out how far itis to such a coalescing star pair: byidentifying the parent galaxy andmeasuring its speed away from us,astronomers will be able o calculate therate at which the universe is expanding(the Hubble constant). This will helpastronomers locale more precisely moreremote galaxies and quasars, and providenew evidence on the age of the Universe.

Still in the realm of cosmology,some theorists have predicted that thebig bang produced "cosmic strings"—discontinuities in space-time that act likelong, thin strings with a stronggravirational pull. Loops of cosmicstring could have acted as seeds aroundwhich the galaxies formed. If this werethe case, the loops of string would getsmaller and eventually disappear,producing a burst of gravitational wavesin the process. The new detectors maywell find this radiation forming abackground o their other measurcments.

And, at the most basic level,detecting gravitational waves at all is an

important test of general relativity. Theexperimenters will also be able to t€st ifthe polarisation of the wave matches upwith the predictions of relativity.

But the most exciting prospect isthat a new window on the Universeopens up the chance of unexpecteddiscoveries. Radio astronomersstumbled upon quasars, and X-rayastronomers were unprepared for blackholes. Who knows what objecs mayexist in the Universe that choose toreveal themselves only by their outputof graviational radiation.

How to obtain hot results fromcold ne ta l

The heart of the first gravitationalwave telescope was a bar of aluminium,1.5 metres long. A passinggraviational wave would alter its lengthby less than the diameter of atomicnucleus. Its designer, Joe Weber of theUniversity of Maryland, fitted verysensitive electronic transducers to theends of the bar, to record changes in itslength. He knew that the transducerswould show that the bar wascontinuously shrinking and expandingby small amounts, just because of therandomly changing vibrations of theatoms. Normally, such vibrationswould have swamped any disturbancefrom a gravitational wave.

This was where the choice ofaluminium came in. If you hit asuitably supported bar of aluminium, itwill keep on ringing for r very longtime, perhaps for hours. Each randomvibration of an atom acts like a minutehammer blow, and sets the bar ringing,so the changes in length from thesevibrations is averaged out over a periodof hoprs. A gravitarional wave producesa much smaller signal in the detector,but because it changes the length of thebar in only a fraction of a second thissignal will stand out from the muchIarger but very gradual changes caused bythe vibrating atoms.

In 1969, Weber confidentlyannounced the discovery of graviationalradiation: his bar was detecting onegravitational wave burst per year. Thisresult was astonishing. The srength ofthe signal Weber claimed to havemeasured meant that our Galaxy wasdesroying a star like the Sun every year.At that rate; one-tenth of its matter

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would have been destroyed since theGalaxy was born.

This extraordinary claim spurredother scientists to build similardetectors, to see if they could duplicateWeber's result. In the end, no one could.To this day, it is not clear what Weberwas detecting—most probably somekind of noise in the apparatus. But theepisode had important consequences. Itopened researchers' eyes to the fact that agravitational wave detector could bebuilt. But they would needsimultaneous detections from at leasttwo different detectors before otherscientists would be convinced of thediscovery of a burst of gravitationalwaves. Weber's work also promptedtheorists to take a closer look at thegeneration of gravitational waves. Theyconcluded that the waves would be evenweaker than first believed.

Clearly, the experimenters needed toimprove the sensitivity of theirdetecton.

Since the main problem is noisefrom the natural vibration of the atoms,it helps to cool the bar down to just afew degrees above absoluta zero. Severalgoups around the world have now builtsuch "cooled bar" detectors. There is anItalian detector at the European particlephysics laboratory near Geneva (CERN)and there are detectors in Japan and inLouisiana in the US. Physicists atStanford in California have beenoperating the largest such "telescope", analuminium bar weighing five tonnes: themore massive the bar, the better itresponds to both gravity andgravitational waves. This instrumentwas damaged in the Californianearthquake last year, focusing the group'swork on a new and even more sensitivealuminium bar detector.

At the University of WesternAusEalia in Perth, David Blair has gonefor quality rather than quantity. Insteadof using larger amounts of aluminiumhe has investigated which materials will"ring" for longest when struck. The bestis sapphire, but it would be difficult too-btain a lump of pure sapphire weighinga tonne or more. So Blair has opted fora 1.5 tonne bar of niobium, the metalthat will ring for longest. Because themetal is not consumed in theexperiment, the bar worth A$500 000(about f200 000) is owned by the

university's investments board. Blair isstill sorting out problems in preventingvibrations from reaching the bar fromthe outside world; later this year heexpects to reach the same sensitivity asthe biggest aluminium bars.

Japanese researchers have taken adifferent tack. Their detec8ors are tunedto the frequencies of some nearbyrotating neutron stars that are powerfulemitters of electromagnetic radiation,such as the neutron star in the centre ofthe Crab nebula. By looking for justone frequency that is known in advance,they can filter out most of the noise.

The supernova and the warm barAt the moment, the most sensitive

detectors are ttre big cooled ban: they areabout l0 times better than the prototypelaser interferometers. The cooled barsshould certainly be able to detectcataclysmic events in our Galaxy or ourclosest neighbours, although such eventsare mre.

By a srange irony, one such eventdid occur recently: supemova 1987A inthe k r g e Magellanic cloud. At the timeof the outburst, however, none of thecooled bar detectors was running. Theyoperate for only a few months a year,with the rest of the time being spent inimprovements, or simply in coolingdown and warming up the tonnes ofmetal.

But the supernova saga has a strangefootnote. There are a few bar detectorsthat are not cooled at all. These aremuch less sensitive than the cooled ban,and few scientists expect them to detectanything asfionomical. But two "roomtemperature bars", in Maryland andRome, were operating when thesupernova exploded, and seemed to haveregistered a signal.

If this signal was real, the wave wascarrying the energy equivalent ofthousands of Suns, while the star thatexploded was only as heavy as 20 Suns.The Rome group think their "signal"was probably just noise that happened tooccur at the right time. Weber, inMaryland, believes that it was a realsignal, and that the theory of thedetection of gravitational waves iswrong: he claims that bar detectors arethousands of times more sensitive thanany one had preliously thought.

The Need for Mathematics

by Quaivr Mushtaq

Courtesy o/The Muslim,Islanabad, Pakistan.

The advancetnent and Perfectionof matlumatics

ue intilnatelY contwctedwith tlrc prosperity of the sate.

Nryoleon I

The world is going ttrrough a periodof major political, economic, militaryand technological changes. Thesechanges present unique bhallenges andopportunities. Countries are becomingsuperpowers on the basis of theireconomies alone.

The world's geopolitical polarity isshifting. Old alliances are moderatingon both the Soviet and US sides, newforces are emerging, overPoweringmilitary force is appearing less usefulthan before, and communist countries arecleady concerned about what their pooreconomic condition portends for theirlong-term power and status.

Like many other Third Worldcountries, Pakistan is coPing withcomplex fiscal and technical efficiencyproblems which challenge our work andmarket ethics and our competitiveabilities.

The challenges that we face today aredaunting. We need, today, to deal withvast quantities of data in an efficientmanner. We need to distinguishimportant objectives from theunimportant ones, supporting decisionmaking in time critical environments,converting complex situations andproblems into simplif,red, understandableideas and improving communicationsand information management. All thisinvolves mathematics.

These changes cannot be understoodnor these challenges met by relyingsolely on the theories of the Past.Rather, we must have fresh insights,new ideas, and a deeper understanding ofthe way the world works. These aretasks uniquely suited for thematlematically nained mind. Yet ournation lacks a sufficient number of suchminds.

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We have 22 universities in Pakistan,but the total number of mathematiciansin tlrese universities in only 124. Thereare about 55 mathematicians in Pakistanwith Ph.D degrees. Since 1947, only 7Ph.D's in mathematics have beenproduced here.

Great Britain, for instance, which hashalf the population of Pakistan, boastsabout 2,500 high-class Ph.D's inmathematics in its universities alone. Atiny country like Singapore, whosepopulation is 2.6 million and which hasonly one university, has approximately60 mathematicians.

The condition in Pakistan is thuspractically hopeless. All mathematicsdepartments in the country areunderstaffed. Pakistan is devoid ofmathematically skilled manpowereverywhere — in DESTO, PAEC,PINSTECH, KRL, HMC, thE PAKiSIANarmed forces, etc.

On the other hand, the world hasbecome more mathematical in recentyears, and this change can onlyaccelerate. Modern technology andscience demand a comfortable commandof discrete mathematics, statistics andmathematical modelling — and these arejust the entrylevel requirements.

When we cannot find mathematicallyliterate workers, when the governmentcan no longer recruit the mathematicallyskilled, and when we must finally relyon the scientihc insights and advances ofother nations, then we will have entereda sad period of technological sagnationand decline. This will result in morereliance upon foreign aid and moredependence upon the technological andscientific knowledge of others. We willspend huge amounts of foreign exchangebuying necessary and importantequipment and expertise.

There is also a great need to movebeyond the artificial divisions ofmathematics: pure versus applied;defence versus civilian; industrial versusacademic; research versus teaching. Wemust realise that what is good formathematics in its broadest sensebenefits every user, no matter hownarrowly focused the application may be.

There are plenty of reasons forpromoting mathematics. I-et us considera few examples of the broad applicationof mathematics. In the 1800s,mathematicians expended a lot of energy

on the wave equation — a partialdifferential equation arising from thephysical properties of waves in a sringor in fluid.

Despite the physical origin, theproblem was one of pure mathematics:nobody could think of a practical use forwaves. In 1864, Maxwell laid down anumber of equations o describe elecficalphenomena. A simple manipulation ofthese equations produces the waveequations. This led Maxwell to predictthe existence of elecrical waves.

In 1888 Hertz confirmed Maxwell'spredictions experimentally, detectingradio waves in the laboratory. In 1896,Marconi made the first radiotransmission.

This sequence of events is typical ofthe way in which pure mathematicsbecomes useful. The same sequence ofevents occurred in the development ofatomic power; or in matrix theory ofCayley (used in engineering andeconomics); or in iniegral equations,which took about 30 years to develop,from the point where Courant andHilbert developed them into a usefulmathematical ool to the point wherethey became useful in quantum theory.

Nobody could have realised at thetime of Galois that group theory wouldturn out to be needed later in almostevery branch of science. This meansthat all mathematics, howeverunimportant it may seem now, shouldbe encouraged on the off chance that itwill be needed later.

Overall, mathematics is becomingeven more essential to our defence, toour industrial competitiveness and [o ournation's academic research. The role ofmathematics in the future of Pakistan'seconomy and government will becentral, crucial and inescapable.Mathematics will be one of the skillsthat separates service c,areers from thoserequiring imagination, creativity andoriginality.

Supporting and improvingmathematics can no longer be merely aslogan, goal or platitude. It must nowbecome an essential objective of anyindustry, scientific organization,government, or academic institution thatexpects to remain competitive in thefuture.

We simply niust ensure that adequatesupport for mathemaiics research is an

accepted narn, that our standards f a pre-college education are equal to ourcapabilities and needs, and that thestandard of mathematics and teaching ofmathematics at these levels is improved.The decline must s0op now, and we eachhave a role to play.

In the past, our government and theprivate sector have taken a limited andnarow approach to rnathematics. If thework in question is not 'missionoriented', if it does not increase profits,if it does not have an obviousapplication, then it is not worthy ofsupporL

Mathematical research benefitseveryone, because it creates a fertile fieldof ideas from which we can drawsolutions o our problems. Mathematicseducation is the only hope that we haveto continue our work: if there is not asufficient mathematically educated labourpool in the future, then our work todayis for naught. Despite the restrictionswe believe may limit our action, wemust ensure the future of mathematics inPakistan.

Responsibility for promoting andimpoving mathematics in Pakistan restsprimarily with academies.

If mathematics is to be properlysupported by society, thenmathematicians must not forget theirobligations. Universities must gobeyond measuring success only in termsof grants or publications, and researclenmust recognise their larger obligations.If we cannot convince our grdatest mindsto tackle the vial problems of edtrcation,government and business, then societywill invest elsewhere, and everyone willbe the loser in the long run.

Mathematics also suffers from apublic relations problem. Pakistaniresearchers solve problems and advancetheory on every frontier, but the generalpublic (and often the government) doesnot appreciate ttese rchievemenB.

If academics cannot convince thepublic that they are doing useful workand are solving problems that directly orindirectly affect everyone, then theirother efforts will be in vain.

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Can Japan MakeEinsteins Too?

Courtesy of The Econotnist,August 11, 1990.

In a bid to become a leder in the sortof research that makes history, not iustproftts, Japan is spending more on basicscience tlan ever before.

The Japanese are less creative thanwesterners. So say some Japanese, andsome westerners, in an attempt toexplain why a country that can makesome of the world's most advancedelectronic products has won fewer Nobelscience prizes since the war thanSwitzerland. Japanese scientists, so theargument goes, lack the inventiveness toproduce insight i no the workings ofnature. That ability seems to be reservedfor European and American researchers.

Nonsense. Before the second worldwar Japan had excellent researchers. In1935 a theorist called Hideki Yukawa,working at the prestigious RikenInstiurte near Tokyo, proposed a theoryabout the forces in the atomic nucleusfor which he later won Japan's firstNobel prize. The reason that Japan hasbeen lagging in basic science since thenhas little to do with the peculiarities ofBuddhist thought or the Japanese groupethic. It has a lot to do with the waythat insti0rtes like Riken were starved ofresources for years after ttre war.

The government's postwar plans hadno room for dreamy boffins. TheMinistry of International Trade andIndustry (MITI) ensured that money forR&D was aimed at tangible results. TheMinistry of Education, Science andCulture geared the universities toproducing an army of competent but dullscientisls and engineers for industry.These were the people who raised thestatus of "made in Japan" from thepejorative to the superlative. Now,having shown that it can use westerntechnology, and in many areas outdo it,Japan wants to prove that it can makesiientific breakttroughs too.

Research yenAt first sight the statistics look rosy.

In the 1980s Japan overtook America tobectjme the country which spends the

largest proportion of its GNP onresearch and developmdnt. This yearR&D investment will increase !o over2.9Vo of GNP, while Americaninvesunent has fallen steadily since 1985to 2.5Vo. Further, about half ofgovemment-financed research in Americais military: in Japan practically none ofit is.

But in America, government moneyaccounts for over half of R&D, whereasin Japan the figure is only aboul. 20%.And since the Japanese government'sR&D money most often winds up inprojects where there is liule research andmuch development, Japan ranks as oneof the stingiest supporters of basicscience in the industrialised world.Researchers at Japan's universitiesstmggle to keep abreast of developmentsin the West. According to Dr AkioHorikoYamamoto of the Tokyo Institute ofTechnology, govemment supPort foruniversity researchers has fallen 20Vover t le past 20 years, to about Y8m($53,000) per scientist.

Things have started to look up.Thanks partly to pres$re from America,the finance ministry has let the scienceand technology budget increase in realterms for two years running—afternearly a decade of keeping in line withinflation. This year the increase in thebudget was about 4% in real terms;bureaucrats are already talking ofdoubling government R&D funds toabott l%o of GNP during the 190s.

The money goes mainly to threegovernment bodies: MITI, the educationministry and the Scierpe and TechnologyAgency (STA), which runs JaPan'snuclear-energy research, but has alsobranched out into space and otherambitious progrirmmes. Although theeducation ministry gets about 457o ofthe government's R&D budget, most ofit is used to keep the universities tickingover. The STA's share is a quarter,MITI's about 107o. In principle theR&D investment of the three bodies isco-ordinated by a Science andTechnology Council. In practice theyvie with each other to back the mostattention-catching science initiatives—abureaucratic game many scientists feelthey can turn to their advantage.

Projects galoreOne of the STA I most ambitious

iniliatives is a series of projecs calledExploratory Research for AdvancedTechnologies @RATO), each of whichgives an outstanding Japanese scientist afive-year chance to set up a researchgroup and develop a zany idea, withpractically no regard to cost. Most ofthese projects have only a distant bearingon practical technology. Consider twoexamples.

The "superbug" project of Dr. KokiHorikoshi at the Tokyo Institute ofTechnology racked down all sors of oddbacteria that live in unPleasantenvironments. One of them, ariangular-shaped organism that thrivesin water eight times as salty as tle sea at37°C, turns out to be a fairlY closerelation of one of the oldest bacteriaknown from fossil records. Dr.Horikoshi wants to isolate the genes thatallow such bugs to survive, so that thisresilience can be ransferrcd to other bugsused in biotechnologY. His goalremains a long way off.

Dr Humio Inaba and his team atTohoku University have measured forthe first time the extremely faint lightproduced by a germinating soyabean.Such "biophotons" are not the same asthe glow from chemical reactions seen infireflies. Much research remains to bedone to understand the phenomenon.But a spin-off of Dr Inaba's effors is anultra-sensitive light detector bound tofind applications elsewhere.

ERATO has been a roaring success,not just for the scieqtific results itproduces, but because it supports thesort of western-style mavericks whomthe Japanese feel they lack. Four newprojects will be launched this year;ERATO's budget is now Y5 billion($33rn), tp 6OVo in four Years.

One of MITI's pet Projects is theInternational SuperconductivityTechnology Centre (ISTEC), based inTokyo and Nagoya, which the ministryruns in collaboration with 80 Japanesecompanies. ISTEC was created in thefrenzy of excitement that followed thediscovery of a new tYPe ofsuperconducting material in 1986.

Superconductors carry electricalcurrent without wasting energy, whichmakes them ideal for applications asdiverse as micro-circuitry and industrialelectromagnets. Normally they workonly at extremely low temperatures,

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which are costly to maintain. The newvariety works at t€mperatures which canbe reached more cheaply. Much of theY5 billion that MITI will spend onsuperconductors this year will be aimedat technological developmenfi the newhigh-temperature variety is a brittleceramic in its raw state, and has to bemade more pliable. But manyresearchers at ISTEC are also probingthe whys, as well as the hows, ofsuperconductivity. Too little is knownto predict which combination ofmaterials will make a goodsuperconductor. For this work, themuch-vaunted ability of Japaneseresearchers to slog away for years tomake incremental improvements may bea boon.

One example is a promising varietyof superconductor made of large organicmolecules. Although the first organicsuperconductors were discovered over adecade ago, they worked only atabysmally low temperatures. InAmerica and Europe initial excitementabout organic superconductms died awaywith the discovery of the ceramicvariety. But Japanese researchersplugged on, and discovered l l differentorganic superconductors in 1988 alone.That year Dr Hatsumi Mori, now atISTEC in Nagoya, synthesised anorganic superconductor that worked at atemperature 2"C higher than the previousworld record: quite a step, though it maynot sound so.

Beyond WalkmenJust when western companies have

begun to extol the virtues of Japan'spatient approach !o technology, Japanesefirms have been trying to inculcate theirresearchers with daring. Deciding howmuch corporate R&D money goes onfundamental research is difficult:Japanese companies sensibly eschew thedistinction between basic and appliedscience. By government estimates,though, the investment was y400billion ($3.1 billion) in 1987—upfourfold in a decade.

C-ompany directors give severalreasons for their new willingness tosuppod basic rcisearch. There are claimsof a noble desire 0o repay the West inkind for the ideas Japan bonowed o fuelits economic miracle. There is thepragmqllc view that Japan cannot rely on

western innovation for ever. And thereis the cynical view that investingindustry's profits in basic science canhardly be worse than seeing them eatenaway by taxes. Whatever the truth—itis no doubt a mixture of all three—theconsequence is that today about l0% ofthe R&D staff in the biggest high-techcompanies are involved in research solong-term and risky that it can safely becalled basic.

Perhaps the clearest indication of theJapanese change of heart is tlre AdvancedResearch Laboratory which Hitachiestablished in Saitama prefecture in1985. The laboratory, with a staff of100 scientists, is devoted to the sort ofesoteric basic research that makesproduct managers shudder (see Hitachi'squontum lnlograms). Ironically, Hitachihas built the laboratory, which is clearlyin the style of AT&T's famous Belllaboratories, at the same time manyAmerican companies are trying toemulate the Japanese by integrating ttreirbasic and applied research.

Sunrise on science cityMore typical of most Japanese

companies' investrnent in fundamentalresearch is a laboratory that NECrecently opened in Tsukuba science city,outside Tokyo. Over half the scientiststhere are involved in long-term research.One group interested in artificialintelligence has beeh peering downmicroscopes at the nematode worm,Caenorlabditis elegans. Many artificiat-intelligence researchers are captivated bythe idea of computers based on the"neural networks" of the brain. NEChopes that the nematode will prove anexample simple enough to show howsuch networks operate.

At the beginning of the 1980sTsukuba consisted of some 50government research institutestransplanted to paddy fields outsideTokyo. Companies were slow tofollow, but the infrastructure built for aScience Expo held in Tsukuba inI985—shopping malls, restaurants andso on—made the place more attractive.In the past five years over 60 companies,both Japanese and foreign, haveestablished R&D labs there.

Encouraged by its success, and eagerto spread resgargh institutes more €venlyacross th_e. coun@:+—at pesent about half

of all Japanese researchers are in theTokyo area—the government is trying todevelop a second science city betweenOsaka and Kyoto in the Kansai regron.It is less a city than a sprawlingconstellation of institutes; one of themore arnbitious plans is for an Instituteof Advanced Studies, modelled on thearchetypal ivory tower in Princetonwhere Einstein spent his later years,which should open next year. Thedirector, Dr Azuma Okada, has raisedY7.5 billion ($50m) from industry andprivate investds.

Making historyDespite the investment by

government and industry, Japan still hasa lot of catching up to do, and someingrained habits to change. Dr SusumuTonegawa, who won Japan's first Nobelprize in medicine in 1987, but works inAmerica, shocked his countrymen withscathing comments about thegerontocmcy that runs their universities.Many Japanese scientists would agree,but-—another problem—few dare say soopenly.

On the bright side, Japaneseresearchers raced ahead of their Britishand West German colleagues in the1980s to become the second mostprolific in the world, with about 25,000scientific publications a year (ust undera quarter of America's output). Many ofthese are in Japanese, but the number ofarticle-s published by Japanese rasearctnrsin American journals is now up !o aboutl0%o of the total, from 2% a decade ago.Cautiously, Japanese scientists are alsolearning to be more critical. OneAmerican scientist at a recent conferencein Osaka was amazed by the progressmade in the five years since his lastvisil Instead of the stone-faced silencethat used to fill up the question timeafter talks, there was lively discussion.

Among the scientists now reachingthe upper rungs in Japan's researchestablishment, many spent theirformative years at top Americanlaboratories. They ny to inculcate amore independent spirit in their youngercolleagues. Ideally, many Japanesescientists would like to see the wholeeducation system reformed to encourageIess rote-learning and more originality.But -the chances of the staunchlyconservative education minis6y allowing

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that to happen soon are slim. Instead,Japanese science bureaucrats shouldprobably tackle the problems that can befixed quickly.

Some of the most frequently heardcomplaints might surprise westerners.There are too few laboraory technicians:in the universities the number has fallenfrom nearly one to each scientist 20years ago to about one to three.Computer software is inadequate, partlybecause Japan lacks the myriad softwarestart-ups American scientists rely on.The same goes for much of the morespecialised experimental equipment,which must be impcted. And then thereis the dearth of young scientists andengineers. As in the West, Japan'sbrightest are attr:rt€d by larger salariesin the financial world.

Even if more money can ease manyof these problems, some westerners mayask why the Japanese bother, sincefundamenal research is too far removedfrom the production line !o be of directeconomic value to the country ttrat doesit. But as the Japanese are only tooaware, the quality of fife is not measuredin colour televisions alone. There ismore to national pride than running alarge trade surplus. Westemers take itfor granted that the illustrious figures ofmodern science are European orAmerican. It would do wonders forJapanese self-esteem if Japan couldcontribute more to the next century'shistory books than pichres of Walkmenand video cameras.

Hitachi's quantum hologramsDr Akira Tonomura of Hitachi's

Advanced Research Laboratories hasmade a name for himself by studying anoddity of quantum physics known as theAharanov-Bohm effect. For a researcherin a Japanese corporate laboratory, thisis unusual work—about as pure asscience can get without impinging onmetaphysics. In the process ofinvestigating this obicure effect, though,Dr Tonomura developed a technique formakiqg holograms of magnetic fieldsusing electron beams. This promises !oshed ,light on. the workings of high-temperaturc supercondrctors.

The effect was p'redicted more than 30years ago by Dr. Yakir Aharanov and DrDavid Bohm, both then at BristolUniversity in England. They had

thought up a way !o measure one of themost ephemeral entitied in physics, themagnetic vector potential. Magneticvector potentials were originallyintroduced into the theory ofelectromagnetism as a sort ofmathematical shorthand, to simplifycomplicated calculations aboutelectromagnetic fields. In classicalelectromagnetic theory, the strength ofthe magnetic vector potential at anypoint is arbirary; only the way it variesfrom point o point matters. It was longbelieved that the magnetic vectorpotential was just an expedienttheoretical tool.

However, when quantum mechanicswas developed, the magnetic vectorpotential turned out to play anindispensable role. If this curiousquantity is so important, Dr Aharanovand Dr Bohm reasoned, there must becircums[ances in which it acts evenwhen no magnetic or electric fields arepresenL The Aharanov-Bohm effect is alot easier !o sketch on the blackboardthan to demonstrate in the laboratory.The main problem has been to convincesceptics that stray magnetic or electricfields are not affecting the experiments.

Dr. Tonomura and his team haveprovided the crrrcial prmf. Ttrcy fired anelectron beam at a minute magnetic ringencapsulated in a superconductingmaterial. One of the properties ofsuperconductors is that they are perfectshields against magnetic fields, thoughnot against the magnetic vectorpotential.

According to quantum mechanics,particles can be consideled as waves; DrTonomura's electron beam, then, can beconsidered as a set of ripples runningdown a stream. The magnet in thesuperconductor disturbs the ripples,thanks !o the magnetic vector potential,like a rock in the stream. Downstreamof the disturbance, the disturbed andundisturbed ripples start !o affect eachother. They produce an interferencepattern of electron waves similar to theinterference of light waves whichproduces the illusion of depth inholograms. The magnetic vectorpotential produces just. the sort ofhologram Aharanov and Bohm predicted

For the experiment to produceu n a m b i g u o u s r e s u l t s , thesuperconducting ring had to be as small

as possible. Here Dr Tonomura couldrely on Hitachi's fancy chip-makingequipment to fabricate one tlnt was onlya couple of microns across. AlthoughHitachi's R&D managers admit thatthere is no obvious practical value indemonstrating the Aharanov-Bohmeffect, they like to boast about DrTonomura's achievement, which manyscientists reckon is worth a Nobel prize.

The benefits of his work are notpurely academic. Since his technique issensitive enough to detect the elusivemagnetic vector potential, measuringordinary magnetic fields, even tiny ones,is easy. So Dr Tonomura has used hisdevice to look at what happens when asuperconductor starts !o let magneticfields leak through. This happens if thesuperconductor is not kept cool enough,or if the magnetic field is extremelystrong.

The magnetic field appears in theholograms like a landscape of tomadoesabove the superconductor's surface. Fachtornado is known as a flux line.Researchers can watch how the lineschange while the superconduclor carriesan electric current. If the lines slidealong with the current, they dissipateenergy, lirniting the performance of thesuperconductor. This has proved to be areal hurdle for the rnany scientists tryingto develop the high-temperaturesuperconductors into useful products.Now the scientists can judge directlyhow successful they are in their attemptsto "pin" the flux lines in place byvarious trial-antl-error chemical tricks.Dr Tonomura's tale will delight thoseboffins who are keen to point out thatrecondite research can bring practicalrewards.

Development of Scienceand Technology in India

by Dr. Sabra Klntoon,Aligarh Muslim University.

Science is not an unknowncommodity in India. The ancient Indianshad made significant contributions inastronomy, mathematics, mstallurgy andmedical science including surgery.However, science in the modern sensewas introdrrced into India after ttre Britishoccupation of our country. They had

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established universities at the threemetropoli0an towns of Bombay, Madrasand Calcuua in 1857.

Sporadic research started in Indiamainly due to two individuals. They areJ.C. Bose and P.C. Ray. P.C. Ray canbe described as the torch bearer ofscientific research in India. Thescientific research was originallyinitiated in Calcutta, in its differentinsdnrdons, such as Presidency College,Cdcutta University, Indian Associationfor the Cultivation of Science and BoseInstiute. The Indian Satistical Instinrtewas later added o this list. There areseveral other institutions where notablescientific research had been carried outand is still being canied on.

India gain€d independence in t%7. Itwas fortunate that Jawahar Lal Nehruwrs our first prime minisler. He and hissuccessors have given tremendoussupport !o the advancement of scienceand technology. We have now 150universities and almost as many otherresearch institutions of diverse kinds inthe country. There are several bodieswhich are supporting science. Thenames of the Council of Scientific andIndustrial Research (ICMR), IndianCouncil of Medical Research (ICMR),Indian Council of Agricultural Research(ICAR), Department of Science andTechnology (DST), the Atomic EnergyCommission etc. might be cited asexamples. Active research work is beingcarried out in many institutions whichare directly associated with theseorganizations. The University GransCommission is a major body supportingacademic and scientific activities in theUniversities.

Science continues to play usefulroles in India.

1. Development of basic researchThe Variable Energy Cyclotron at

Calcutta is getting upgraded, the GiantMeter-Wave Radio Telescope (GMRT)that is being set up at Khodad near Pune.When completed in 1992, GMRT willbecome the most powerful facility in theworld for research in astronomy in themeter and decimeter wave bands. A radiotelescope is being developed at Ootywhich has a large collecting area and isone of the important elements of theVery Long Base-Time Interferometry(WBI) antenna system.

The largest optical telescope, theVainu Bappu Telescope in the countrywith 234cm primary mirror wascompleted and became operational in1985 at Kavalur. It even surpasses the188cm telescope at the Tokyoobservatory, in perfcrnance.

The Indian Middle AtmosphereProgramme (IMAP) began on January1982 and was continued till March 1989.IMAP was the most comprehensiveIndian programme on the atmosphericenvironment since it involved thepaticipation of some 200 scientists.

A major goal for IMAP was todevelop modelling capabilities.Unfortuna0ely, this has not ma[erialized.Modelling of ions and of several minorspecies has, however, been a$empted.

Yet another project of significance isthe design and development of anelectron synchrotron at the Centre forAdvanced Technology (CAT) at Indore.Planned in phases, in the first phaseINDUS I is expected to deliver 450 MeVelectron beam to generate UV radiation,subsequently o be upgnded to INDUS trto deliver 2 GeY electron beam to coverthe X-ray region of the synchrotronbeam for spectroscopic and condensedmatter research as well as beams forvarious applications.

Two large projecs which are recentlycommissioned are the Dhruva Rerctor atTrombay and the Aditya TokamakDevice at Ahmedabad.

Anotler major experiment in basicscience in the highly competitive field ofparticles is in progress at Kolar goldfields.

Research and development incomputer being in its infancy all overthe world, India has a good chance ofbecoming world leader in software, withgreat export potential.

The physicist has continued o play avery important role because of hisexperimental quest 0owards a variety ofrrcw techniques and new instruments; thevistas continue to open up withdevelopments in other fields likecomputer technology, robotics andmaterial science. It is our hope thatIndian physics and Indian science willforge ahead with greater rigour in thisinterdisciplinary interactive rctivity.

2. InstrumentationThe well known physicist Rabi once

observed that everything is to the left ofphysics. This is an arrogant s0atementbut certainly true so far the question ofinstrumen0ation is corperned. In the lastcentury there was not much of aninstrumentation industry in India, but inthe middle part of this century, our owninstrumentation industry is at par withthe western world in quality, thoughperhaps not in quantity.

3. Aircraft industryThere is a growing aircraft industry

which, besides producing, under license,balches of British and Russian aircraft,the Gnats and Migs, has also broughtinto service an Indian designed jetfighter, the HF-24. Indian designedradars and sophisticated electroniccommunication and otler equipments arenow in production in India. A Side-Looking Airborne Radar (SLAR) hasbeen developed and has been fitted to anaircraft and test flights.

4. Nuclear energyIn some ways we seem to have done

reasonably well in the field of nuclearenergy. India was the first country inAsia, outside the USSR, to produce fuelelements for atomic reactors. It coverstle entire nuclear cycle from exploration,mining, extraction, purification, andconversion of nuclear materials;production of fuel elements for reactors;the design and construction of powerreactors and their control systems forunits of 235 MW capaciry; production ofheavy water, health and safetyinstrumentation; reprocessing of spentfuel and wasie management.

India's first nuclear reactu which hasthe name Apsara, went into operation aslong ago as 1956. Other reactorsfollowed in quick succession.

5. TelecommunicationsTelex service was first inroduced in

India between Bombay and Ahmedabadin 1956. But India started the R&D onelectronic swirching technology as earlyas 1965. In 1981 a "Committee onTelecommunications" was set up by theGovemment of India. It recommendedthe use of digital electronic technologyboth for transmission and switching forfuture development of India telecomnetwork. Hence a beginning was madeto modernise the telex network.

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Accordingly, the Centre forDevelopment of Telematics (C-DOT)was established in August 1984 todevelop digital electronic switchingsystem.

There are two basic ways commonlyused in telecommunications by which asignal can be encoded with the desiredinformation. They are analog anddigrtal. An analog signal is a one-to-onerepresentation of the originalinformation. The electrical signal isanalogous !o the varying patterns of theinformation. Digital signals carryinformation discontinuousl y in the formof a set of discrete symbols or pulseswhose value is determined by a code.More commonly, digital signals refer toa stream of pulse having only twovalues, T (pulse present) or '0' (pulseabsent). The ls and 0s represent abinary code, formed according to therules of binary arithmetics.

Any type of information can beencoded in either analog or digital butdigital signals are being increasinglypreferred because these signals have farless noise and disortion and hence betterquality than an analog signal. A digitalchannel can fansmit digitalised voice,computer data, encoded visualinformation, telex and many other digitalsignals. This will make the networks ofthe future economically feasible.

India has found its own solution inswirching systems technology. It hassuccessfully created a range of digitalswirching systems through the effors ofits telecom R&D cenre C-DOT. Allthe products by C-DOT such as PABX(hivate Automatic Branch Exchanges),RAX (Rural Automatic Exchanges) andMAX (Main Aulomatic Exchanges) areindigenously designed and developed. Itmay be possible that the technologydeveloped by India in the area of theswirching systems is the solution formany developing countries.

Installation of electronic telexexchanges is a boost to India's telexnetwork

India's first and the world's largestautomatic telecom surveillance andmonitoring system IMSS-2000 wascommissioned recently. This will beused for monitoring long distancenetworks. Satellites are also proving tobe appropriate solutions to many0elecom problems, especially regarding

long distance transmissiop and remotesensing. India's INSAT is useful forthis purpose.

India now has ambitious plans toexpand the lelecommunications networkin the country. It proposes tocommission about 2,111 rou&e kms offibre optic systems, 2560 route kms ofcoaxial cable systems, 2530 rou[e kmsof ulra high frequency (UIIF) systemsin the country. Also there is a plan toprovide STD facility to 138 districtheadquarters, covering all lle 47 disfictheadquarters in the country.

Developing country like India cannotafford to lag behind the developedcountries in the spread of fax culture.fax boom and explosion will occur inIndia, as the fax machines are becomingche4er.

6. SpaceIndia spends every year well over

$400 million on its space programmewhich has been to develop skills andcapabilities to design and buildingsatellites, and satellite launch vehicles;to define areas of application such astelecommunications, broadcasting andremote sensing and to design andfabricate instrumentation for suchapplication. The following are thevarious centres of the Indian spaceResearch Organization (ISRO) and theirroles in the country's space efforts.(a) The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre(VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram — Thelargest ISRO Centre. The VSSC'sprimary responsibility is thedevelopment of launch vehicles neededfor the spalce Fogxamme.(b) ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC),Bangalore — The ISAC is responsiblefor design, fabrication, testing andmanagement of all satellites. TheCentre has built as many as 11 satellitesfor various missions.

Aryabhata, the first satellite was putinto orbit using a Soviet launcher in1975. Then the two Bhaskara Satellitesand the Ariane Passenger Pay LoadExperiment (APPLE) were alsoexperimental satellit€s.

The Rohini was the first indigenoussatellite to be put into orbit using andIndian launcher, the SLV-3 (Satellitelaunch Vehicle). The three SLVs eachlofted the Rohini satellite into space.

The Stretched Rohini Series

(SROSS) satellites, carrying scientificpayloads are launched by the ASLV(Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle).The first of the IRS (Indian RemoteSensing) Satellites, the IRS-IA, was putinto orbit in March 1988. IRS-IB isexpected to be launched next year. Theenhanced IRS-IC and IRS-ID arescheduled for 1993 and 1995respectively.

The indigenous INSAT-I satelliteswill replace the current INSAT-I seriesmade by the American company, FordAerospace. The first of the INSAT-II isscheduled for launching towards the endof 1991.(c) Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre(LPSC), Valiamala and Bangalore. TheLPSC has to develop all the liquidengines required for the satellites andlaunch vehicles. The LPSC provides tleReaction Control Systems foriprligenous launch vehicles and satellitesto maintain correct orientation.(d) National Remote Sensing Agency,Hyderabad. It specialises in the practicalapplication of remote sensingtechniques.(e) Space Applications Cenre (SAC),Ahmedabad. The SAC provides manysystems and packages used in satellites,swh as the IRS cameras.( 0 SHAR Centre, Sriharikota. Allindigenous launch vehicles lift off fromSHAR. The solid motors used in thelaunch vehicles are cast at SHAR.Hence it has the Solid Propellent SpaceBooster Plant, the largest of i s kind inthe country.(g) ISRO Telemetry Tracking andCommand Network (ISTRAC). TheISTRAC, with its headquarters inBangalore and tracking station atSriharikota, Thiruvananthapuram,Bangalore, Lucknow and Car Nicobar,supports ISRO's launch vehicle andsatellite missions.

To sum up, we can say that in hightechnological skill and know-how, Indiacan compete with anybody in the world.This will pave the way for leading ahappy and comfortable life and bringingfood, energy, health, education andemployment within the reach of Indians.

Dr. Sabra Klatoon was a participantin the Condensed Matter Workshop1990.

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Appointments

News from ICTP welcomescommunications on appointments andnews on ICTP scientists for publication.

R.Z. Sagdeev Member of thePontifical Academy of Sciences

Prof. Roald Zinnurovich Sagdeev hasbeen appointed a Member of thePontifical Academy of Sciences. It isthe first Soviet member of the Academyever.

Prof. Sagdeev worked at ICTP in1965-65 as a research leader in plasmaphysics. He is now a Member of theICTP Scientific Council.

Prof. R.Z. Sagdeev at the ICTPScientific Courcil in 1989.

Enrique Martin del CampoDirector of ROSTLAC

We learn that Prof. Gustavo Malek isleaving his post of Director of theUnesco Regional Office for Science andTechnology fm latin America as well asthe post of Caribbean and UnescoRepresentative to Argentina, Paraguayand Uruguay. Mr. Enrique Martin delCampo, a very well-known anddistinguished Mexican engineer, willsucceed Prof. Malek as from I October.

Yisits to ICTP

V.V. KostioukProf. Valeri V. Kostiouk, Director of

Science and Technology Deparrnent andMember of the Board on State PlanningCommittee of the Russian Soviet

Republic and Professor (Doctor) ofTechnical Science, had a meeting withICTP and TWAS officials on 5September 1990.

He was accompanied by Dr. ClaesBrundenius, Associate Professor at theResearch Policy Institute in Lund,Sweden.

Prof. A.A.R. ElagibOn 13 September, Prof. A.A.R.

Elagib, Minister and President of theNational Research Council of Sudan,delivered the lecture "Some GreatChallenges in Physical Sciences".

Prof. Arnaud (France)hofs. P. Arnaud (Medical University

of South Carolina, USA) and G. Chazot(Scientific Director of CIO, UNESCO,and professor of neurology at H6pitalAntiquaille, Lyon, France) had a meetingwith ICTP officials on 19 September, todiscuss the possibility of establishing anew international cenfre for science inLyon.

IRFOPAs every year, the Trieste branch of

the Italian state-owned company forInvestment and Initiative for VocationalTraining (IRFOP) organized a visit tothe ICTP in the framework of its courseon "Organization and Management ofVocational Training". Sixteen managersin charge of vocational training andresearch in ministries and industries indeveloping countries visited tlre Centreon 3 October.

Liceo Lollino, BellunoAlso young students are in@rested in

the activities of the ICTP. The snrdentsof the schml "A. Lollino" in Belluno(norftern Italy) asked o visit the Centreon 17 October so as to complete theitvisit to the scientific institutions in theTrieste area.

Taka Hiraishi, UNEPMr. Taka Hiraishi, Co-ordinator of

the Support Measures in the Office ofthe Environment Programme of UNEP(United Nations EnvironmentProgramme) in Nairobi, Kenya, was atICTP on 26 October.

Conferences and Lectures

• Prof. Yu Lu, one of the permanentmembers of the ICTP Scientif,rc Staff incharge of the Condensed Mafier ResearchGroup, presented two papers at theInternational Conference on Low-Temperature Physics—LT 19, inBrighton, UK (16-22 August 1990): thefirst one, on "Competition and possiblecoexistence of flux and RVB phases inthe Y-J model", prepared in collaborationwith D.N. Sheng and Z.B. Su, and thesecond one on "Momentum transferbetween 3He quasiparticles and surfacevia 4He boundary layer", written incollaboration with Chengtai Wang.

hof. Yu Lu also took part in theIntemational Conference on Science andTechnology of Synthetic Metals —ICSM '90 (2-7 September 1990,Tiibingen, Germany) with the paper"Lanice relaxation studies of polaron andexcilon dynamics in M-X chains" whichwas prepared in collaboration with C.L.W * 9 , G.L. Gu and Z.B. Su.

• Profs. J. Eells and A. Verjovsky, theMembers of the ICTP Scientific Staff incharge of the Mathematics ResearchGroup, were invited by the MathematicsDepartment of the University of Porto(Portugal) to deliver lectures. Prof.Eells spoke on "Exponentialharmonicity", while Prof. Verjovskypresented paper on "Tocally geodesicfoliations on hyperbolic inanifolds".

• Prof. M. Tosi, in charge of theCondensed Matter Research Group, wasDirector of the Third InternationalBodrum School of Physics "Highlightsof Condensed Matter Theory" (26September - 5 October 1990, Bodrum,Turkey), during which he also presentedthree lecnres on the liquid state.

Prof. Tosi was also invited to the76th Annual Meeting of the ItalianPhysical Society (8-13 October 1990,Trento, Italy) to present the plenaryconference "The liquid-solid transition:theoretical developments".

• Drs. F. Brambila and A. Alonso,both visiting mathematicians at ICTPfrom Mexico, presented a paper on "IP-continuity of conditional expectations"at the Latinoamerican Congress on

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Probability, Mexico City, Mexico (24-29 September 1990). The paper waspublished as ICTP Preprint 90ll l7.

• Prof. A.A. Bakasov, a visitingmathematician from the Joint lnstitutefor Nuclear Research in Dubna, USSR,was invited, while in Italy, to giveseminars at three important Italianinstitutions — at the National OpticsInstitute @lorence), the Section ofApplied Theoretical Physics of MilanUniversity and at the Department ofPhysics of the Polytechnic in Turin.The titles of the seminars were:"Quantum fluctuations againstLyapunov stability", "New rigorousresults in standard laser models andoverlaps and differences between tlesemodels" and "On the phase transition intwo-photon system and on theposs ib i l i ty of two-photonsuperfluorescence".

• Prof. N.H. Anh, VisitingMathematician from Viet Nam, wasinvited at Nice Universiry (France) todeliver a lecture. The title was "Groupesde Lie unimodulaires ayant une s6riediscrbte: algbbres enveloppantes etformule & caractl.res".

Activities at ICTPin September-October 1990

Title: RESEARCH WORKSHOPIN CONDENSED MATTER, ATOMICAND MOLECULAR PHYSICS, 18June - 28 September 1990.

Organizers: Professors P.N.Butcher (University of Warwick, UK),H. Cerdeira (Universidade Estadual deCampinas, Brazil, and ICTP, Trieste,Italy), F. Garcia-Moliner (Instituto deCiencias Materiales, Madrid, Spain),LM. Khalatnikov (Landau Institute forTheoretical Physics, Moscow, USSR),S. Lundqvist (Chalmers University ofTechnology, Gdteborg, Sweden), ChiWei Lung (Institute of Metal Research,Academia Sinica, Shenyang, P.R.China), N.H. March (University ofOxford, UK), K.S. Singwi(Northwestern University, Evanston,USA), E. Tosatti (International Schoolfor Advanced Shrdies, ISAS-SISSA, andICTP, Trieste, Italy), M.P. Tosi(University of Trieste and ICTP, Trieste,

Italy) and Yu Lu (Academia Sinica,Beijing, P.R. China, and JCTP, Trieste,Italy).

Lectures: Group activity on defectsand mechanical properties: someapplications of the computer simulationof lattice defecs to the understanding ofmechanical performance; fitting ofexperimental log viscosity against logshear rate curves to constitutiveequations; unusual elasticity — isoropicsystem with a negative Poisson's ratio;the method of direct measuring thesurface stress tensor in thin crystallineplates; structural investigation ofmechanical alloyed Al-Fe system;hydrogen diffusion in metals withrapping at defects; ultradiffusion on

hierarchical structures; a study of fractaldimension of fracture surface formed bystress corrosion cracking in highstrength steels; anelastic relaxationsassociated with local disordering in grainboundaries; fractal crack growth. fast-neutron irradiation effects on thestructure of metallic glasses; local orderin amorphous alloys H f 1 - 1 T 1

ff=CuNi); thermodynamical model forpoling of ferroelectric ceramics; singlerctivation energy model: a new approachto radiation damage annealing; a gaugefield theory and a topological theory ofdislocation and disclination continuum;nucleation theory on liquid metals andalloys; dislocation model of zirconia-toughened ceramics; experimental andmolecular dynamic studies of grainboundary embrittlement for Bi-segregatedcopper bicrysrals. Group activity onatomic physics. Group actiYity onsemiconductor physics: screening insuperlattices; meal films; semiconductuLDS; Marree and exchange energies in aconfined electron gas; Bohm-Aharanoveffecc electronic structure of srainedlayer semiconductor superlattices;nonequil ibri um phonons insemiconductors; Coulomb blockade; theproperties of semiconductor/electroliteinterfaces; self-supporting acousto-electronic pulses driven by opticalexcitation of semiconductors; calculationof partition function as a nonlinearmapping problem; studies of temporalcharac[eristics of the resonant tunnelingin double-barrier quantum wells:electronic structure of Gen/Sin strainedlayer superlattices; magnetoconductanceof mesoscopic rings in a tight-binding

model; Auger recombination in low-dimensional systems; localization andthe integer quantum Hall effect;electronic structure of deep centres insemiconductors; magnetotransport in n-GaAs and n-Al*Ga1-*As in highmagnetic fields under hydrostaticpressure: effects of EL2- and DX-defectsnear tlp metal-insulaor transition; studyon properties of semiconductors usingdiamond anvil cell; spin fluctuations in3D metals in paramagnetic phase; theoptical nonlinearity and the effects ofelecton-elecron interaction on the bandstructure in semiconducting polymers;MIS solar cell — a brief review;phonons and polaron-pairphotoconductivity of conjugatedpolymers; self-consistent field effects andmany-particle interactions in tunnelSchottky-barrier junctions (theoryapproach and experimental results);electronic signature of metal-semiconductor int€rfaces; a technique fordistinguishing properties of Silicon andGermanium semiconductors. Groupactivity on surface physics: electronicstructure of chemisorbed molecules;prototype system: CO on meals; crystalgrowth by deposition processes; growthof rough surfaces: a large scalesimulation; extended versions of theFrenkel-Kontorova model; roughening of(l l0) surfaces of metals; perturbation ofthe electronic stucture of adsorbate bylocal surface fields; morphologicaltransitions in Laplacian growth;structural studies on adsorbed films; onthe possibility of photostimulated phasetransitions in structure of atoms adsorbedon semiconductor surfaces; numericalsolution of a s&ucture equation of crystalgrowth; surface electronic responsefunctions; on surface melting; kineticroughening transitions and crystalshapes; resonance image states at (ll1)metal surfaces; experiments on surfacemelring; thermal fluctuations of crystalshapes; simple growth models; electronproperties of adsorbed clusters (theory);avalanches, scaling and noise spectra;two fluid interface in porous media:experiment on kinetic surfaceroughening; inhomogeneous growth ofrough surfaces.

Plenary Seminars: Lattice staticcalculations of defects and a discussionon the embedded atom method (EAM)type interatomic potentials. Chaos in

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time-delayed systems. Bonding andatomic structure of Mgn clusters: adensity functional molecular dynamicsstudy. Thermoelectric power of high Ts

superconductors. Vibrational andelectronic properties of percolationclusters and quasicrystals. Growthkinetics in disordered systems.Maximum entropy principle in quantumoptics problems. Incommensurate-incommensurate phase transitions.Macroscopic quantum coherence andinstanton Aharanov-Bohm effect.Quanhrm chromodynamics for physicistsfar from it. Orientational ordering as apossible mechanism for viscosityenhancement of supercooled liquids.Asymptotic-time symmetry breaking inthe symmetric spin-boson model:rigorous results and discussion ofapproximations. Some aspects ofquasicrystals. Influence of quasiperiodicorder on physical properties. Electricfield induced solidification. Extension ofthe RPA theory of ferromagnetism in amagnetic field applicable at alltemperatures. Microscopic calculationson liquid He4 and He3. Elementarysymbolic dynamics. Decay of ametastable state (the Kramers problem).Quantum wave propagation throughrandom and incommensurate systems.Survey of experiments on expanded andnear-critical metals. Survey ofexperiments on metal-molten saltsolutions. Thermodynamics andionization kinetics of dense plasmas ofthe light elements. Defects in HCPcrystals. Orbitals, correlations, valenciesin high-Ts superconductors. Wignercrystallization with and withoutmagnetic field. High frequency transportin quantum wires and heterostructures.Spin-orbit interaction in 2D electrongas. Image, surface and quantum-wellstates in metals. Periodic resonances inelectron and photon spectra. Dissipativepolarization by slow electrons. Quantumtransport in ballistic microstructures.Superconductivity in dopedantiferromagnets . Magneticsusceptibility of many valley two-dimensional electron gas: an applicationof 2+l QED. Analytical theory ofdendritic crystallization. Fluctuationtheory of hydration forces and interactionof lipid membranes. Conductingpolymers: optical and magneticproperties. Four wave mixing in opaque

media (ocalization in nonlinear media).Correlation effects in rare-earthcompounds. Concentrated Kondosystems and heavy fermion bandmagnets. Dynamical properties ofquasicrystals.

M in i work shop on Low-density Metals: Wigner transition.Dielectric anomaly close to metal-insulator transition in low-densitymetals. Excess electrons in metal-metalhalide solutions. Are simple metals(alkalis) really all that simple? Theory ofexpanded fluid alkali metals. Metal-insulator transition in small Hgn

particles. Metal-molten salt solutions:survey of theoretical modelling. Clustersand magnetism of low-density metals.Quantum molecular dynamics study ofdense hydrogen systems: a newapprorh.

The Workshop w:rs attended by 408lecturers and participants (298 fromdeveloping counries).

Title: WORKING PARTY ONELECTROCHEMISTRYCONDENSED MATTER ASPECTS,27 August - 7 September 1990.

Organizer: Prof. A.A. Kornyshev(A.N. Frunkin Institule ofElectrochemisry of the Academy ofSciences of the USSR, Moscow,ussR).

Lectures: Electrochemistry as aphysical science. Electrochemicalphysics. Condensed matter physics forelectrochemistry. Molecular theory ofliquids and solutions. Concentrated ionicliquids. Nonlocal electrostatics forelecrochemisuy. Experimenta crucis insimulation of ionic solvation. Ion-molecular double layer. Molecularcompact layer. Electronic structure ofmetal surfaces and metal/adsorbatesystems: Kohn-Sham calculations.Metal electrons in the double layertheory. Electrochemical inlerface: newapplications of the jellium model. Insitu scanning tunneling microscopy.Theory of underpotential deposition.Many-body theory of specific ionicadsorption. Surface states and adsorptionat the metal-electrolyte interface. Thesemiconductor-electrolyte interface.Solvent a{sorption at theelecrode/elecrolyte interfrce. The role ofthe metal. The lst coordination shell of

Indium ions in very corcentrated aqueoussolution. Raman and X-ray diffractionstudies. Influence of dielectric frictionand electric saturation on the specificionic conductance. Structure ofpolyelectrolytes. Applications of laserinduced temperature jump inelecfochemisEy. Adsorption of water onmetal surfaces: what do we know fromhigh vrcuum measurements and quantumchemistry calculations? Experimentalstudies of molecular adsorption.Adsorption in electrochemistry.Electrodynamics of electrochemicalinterface. Optical studies ofe lec t rochemical interface.Electrodynamics of rough surfaces andinterfaces. Nonlinear optical phenomenaand photoemission at the electochemicalinterfrce. Second harmonic generation atmetal-vacuum and metal-electrolyteinterface: ttrcory and experiment. Chargetransfer in condensed media: anoverview. Solvent dynamics in chargetransfer. Quantum electrode kinetics.Experimental studies of the elementaryact of homogeneous and heterogeneousreactions. Electrochemistry atsuperconducting electrodes. Lowtemperature elecfochemisEy at normalconductor/frozen electrolyte interface.Fractal electrodes: interplay of physicsand geometry. Aspects of electrodemodification and electrocatalysis. Radio-tracers technique for adsorption studies.Power sources. Solar energy conversion.Convective mass transfer inelecrochemical cells. Electrochemistryfor the study of turbulence. A molecularpicture of e(k). Solvation dynamics inassociating liquids. A new model ofelectron transfer at semiconductor/elecrolyte inlerface. Adsorption isotermson fractal elecro&s. Ttp influence of theultrasound on electrode potential.Fundamental and appliedelecu,ochemistry versus alomi, molecularand condensed maser physics.

The Working Party was attended by69 lecturers and participants (35 fromdeveloping counries).

Title: THIRD INTERNATIONALCONFERENCE ON ''APPLICATIONSOF PHYSICS IN MEDICINE ANDBIOLOGY" — MEDICALDIAGNOSTIC IMAGING (GIORGIOALBERI MEMORIAL), 4 - 7

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September 1990.During the Conference, the Third

World Association of Medical Physics— TWAMP — awarded the "FirstInternational Giorgio Alberi Prize",donated by the Giorgio AlberiFoundation, to the best postercontribution by a participant from adeveloping counbry.

I n t e r n a t i o n a l AdvisoryCommittee: Profs. J.R. Cameron(University of Wisconsin, Madison,USA), L. Dalla Palma (University ofTrieste, Italy), B. De Bernard (Universityof Trieste, Italy) and S. Lin (Unit}Sanitaria Locale, Trieste, Italy).

Organizing Committee: Profs.P. Baxa (University of Trieste, Italy), E.Castelli (University of Trieste, Italy), F.De Guarrini (Uniti Sanitaria Locale,Trieste, Italy), G. Moschini (Universityof Padua, Italy) and R. Renzi (Jniversityof Florence).

Course Directors: Dr. A.M.Benini (Ospedale Maggiore, Parma,Italy), Prof. L. Bertocchi (ICTP), Prof.R. Cesareo (Centro per I'ingengeriabiomedica, University of Rome, Italy),Prof. A. Farach (University of SouthCarolina, Columbia, USA) and Prof. S.Mascarenhas (Universidade de Sdo Paulo,Brazil), with the co-operation of theIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare(INFN, Italy) and SocietA Iraliana diFisica (SIF, Italy).

Lec tu res : Nuclear magneticresonance: state of the art. Nuclearmagnetic resonance: methodologicaldevelopments. Human in vivo localizedMR spectroscopy: approaches andvarious results. Image-guided in vivoMR spectroscopy. Nuclear magneticresonance: imaging. Nuclear magneticresonance: flow. The basic ideas ofacupuncture therapy. Digitalradiography: present detectors and futuredevelopments. Time and energysubtraction techniques in digitalradiography. Digital radiography: X-raylasers. Digital radiography: advanced CT.Advanced technology: ultrasound.Advanced technology: biomagnetism.SPECT: physical principles and futuredevelopments. Nuclear medicine: PET.Nuclear medicine: nuclear cardiology.Elecrical Impedence Tomography.

The Conference was attended by 167lecturers and participants (29 from

developing countries).

Title: COLLEGE ON MEDICALPHYSICS, l0 - 28 September 1990.

O r g a n i z e r s : Dr. A. Benini(Ospedale Maggiore, Parma, Italy), Prof.R. Cesareo (Centro per I'ingengeriabiomedica, University of Rome, Italy),Prof. A. Farach (University of SouthCarolina, Columbia, USA), Prof. S.Mascarenhas (Universidade de Slo Paulo,Brazil) and G.C. Ghirardi (University ofTrieste, Italy), with the co-sponsorshipof the Direzione Generale per laCmperazione allo Sviluppo (Ministry ofForeign Affairs, Rome, Italy).

Lectures: Introduction to theCollege. The programs of WHO.Interaction of radiation with matter.Principles of dosimetry. Technicalparameters of X-ray equipmenl Physicalprinciples of lomography. Physics ofradiological imaging. Interaction ofradiation with matter. Principles ofradioprotection. Physics of radiologicalimaging. Reconstruction methods.Dosimetric techniques andinstrumentat ion. Electre ts ,photoacoustics, piezoelectricity.Principles of radioprotection. Qualityassurance in X-ray units. Quantitativeanalysis of diagnostic images. Imagingtreatment. Physical principles of MRI.MRl-instrumentation. Introduction toMonte Carlo methods. Application ofMRI to arterial flow. Nuclear medicineequipment. QC on CT scanners.Radioprotection and QC in nuclearmedicine. Inroduction to MRI practicalwork. Physical principles ofbiomagnetism. Physical principles andinstrumentation of ultrasound scanners.Principles of ESR. ESR dosimetrictechniques and instrumentation. QC inmammography: a survey in Italy.

Laboratory sessions: Use of theRX tube. Operative measurements in X-ray diagnosis. Mini CT-scanner.Software for image reconstruction. QCof diagnostic radiography equipment.Dosimetry and instrumentation. Imageanalysis with MATROX card. QC of CTand RX instruments. MRl-spectrometer(PTLSCH).

The College was attended by l0llecturers an$ participants (38 fromdeveloping counuies).

T i t l e : SCHOOL ONQUALITATIVE ASPECTS ANDAPPLICATIONS OF NONLINEAREVOLUTION EQUATIONS, 10September - 5 October 1990.

Organizers: Profs. P. De Mottoni(University of Rome "Tor Vergata",Italy) and Li Ta-Tsien (FudanUniversity, Shanghai, China).

Lectures: Nonlinear evolutionequations as models in physics andapplied sciences. Function spaces andabstract linear evolution equations.Qualiative theory of ordinary differentialequations. One dimension compressibleviscous flows. Geomeric applications ofevolution. Linear evolution equations ofmathematical physics: well-posedness,regularity and asymptotic behaviour.Semilinear hyperbolic systems andequations with singular initial data.Uniform finite parameter a.symptotics ofsolutions of nonlinear evolutionaryproblems. Stationary states, travellingwaves, and their stability for reaction-diffusion systems. Singularity ofsolutions of the Navier-Stokes and vonKarman systems. A class of cooperativesys0ems which are structurally stable.Hyperbolic systems with dissipation.Existence and uniquernss of solutions ofMajdas model of dynamic combustion.On the Monge-Ampere equations. Onasymp0otic behaviour of solutions ofsome nonlinear equations at infinity.The role of multiple scales inperturbation expansions. Mathematicaldescription of viscoelasticity.Compactness and monotonicity fornonlinear evolution equations. Classicaland weak solutions of a viscoelasticitymodel. Asymptotics of the heatequation. Nonlinear waves in nondispersive media — basic equations andproperties. Nonlinear evolutionequations as field theoretical models insome low dimensional physical systems.On the Cauchy problem for parabolicequations. On the nonlinear stability ofdissipative fluids. Nonlinear evolutionproblems in geometry. Existence andnon-existence theorems for the Chipot-Weissler equation. Comparison pnnciplefor the porous media equation withabsorption. Asymptotic behaviour ofsolutions of the wave equation outsidetrapping obstacles. Propagation ofnonlinear optical waves in layeredstructures. A remark on three-surface

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News from ICTP - No. 38/39 - September/October 1990

theorem. Global behaviour of classicalsolutions: lifespan, blow-up, decay. Anintroduction to geometric theory of fullynonlinear parabolic equations. Theglobal smooth solutions and globalattractors for some dissipative nonlinearevolution equations. Compressibleviscous fluids. Enfopy consistency oflarge time step Godunov and Glimmschemes. Parametrically driven, dampednonlinear Schrddinger equation; stabilitydiagram for the phase-locked soliaons.Evolution problems of harmonic maps.A geometric theory for semilinearalmost-periodic parabolic partialdifferential equations on RN. Relativisticoscillator = q-oscillator. Lagrangianintegration of hydrodynamics equations(new general method and classes of exactsolutions). Some families of solutionsof the Vlasov-Maxwell sys0ems and theirstability. Existence, uniqueness anditerative approximation of solutions tononlinear Hammerstein equations. Anexistence theorem for nonlinear VolEerraintegral equation. Quasi-classicalapproach to ABC dynamics. Bifurcationsand nonstability of differential squatisns.Nonequilibrium problems in phase-changes. Monotonicity formula andpartial regularity results for the Yang-Mills flow. Well posedness and stabilityof initial-boundary value problems inatmospheric dynamics. Blow-up forequations with nonlinear dynamicalboundary conditions. Global solutions ofthe nonlinear Maxwell-Dirac equations.Group theoretical approach to nonlineardifferential equations. The existence ofpositive solutions for semilinear ellipticequations.

The School was attended by 200lecturers and participants (87 fromdeveloping countries).

T i t l e : COLLEGE ONNEUROPHYSICS: "NEURALCORRELATES OF BEHAVIOUR,DEVELOPMENT, PLASTICITY ANDMEMORY", I - 19 October 1990.

Organizers: Profs. A. Borsellino(International School for AdvancedStudies, SI'SSA, Trieste, Italy), J.H.Kaas (Vanderbilt University, Nashville,USA) and O. Siddiqi (tata Institute ofFundamental Research, Bombay, India),wittr the co-sponsorship of the DirezioneGenerale per la Cooperazione allo

Sviluppo (Ministry of Foreign Affairs,Rome, Italy) and the InternationalSchool for Advanced Studies (SISSA,Trieste, Italy).

Lectures: Brain evolution. NeuralDarwinism. Motion computation andvisual orientation in insects. Neurons asmonads. Vision in Drosophila:conversion of the retinal image ino astack of sensory map. Models of primarypattern formation: the role of self-enhancement and long range inhibition.Gene activation and cell de0ermination,segmentation and formation of net-like,branching structures. Vision inDrosophila: flight control by evaluationof the movements of figure and ground.Selective attention. Computationalapproach. Learning and networks, andapplications. The formation ofsubstruchrres: the initiation of eyes, legsand wings. Interhemisphericcommunication and differentiation.Vision in Drosophila: functionalflexibility; search and choice. Auditoryinformation processing. Thehippocampal CA3 system as anautoassociator. Plasticity in olfaction.Parallel organization of the primatevisual system. Afferent influences onauditory system development.Specification of cortical areas. Binauralinteraction in the long-latency auditoryoff-responses: connection to soundlateralization by means of interauralintensity differences. Neural carelates ofattention in the visual system.Organization of the auditory system.Neuromagnetism. Remarks on spatio-temporal dynamics of EEG. On thespecral dynamics of EEG. Rules ofdevelopment deduced from misroutingsensory pathways. Plasticity of sensorymaps in adults. The role of trophicfactors in development. Thesomatosensory system. The formation ofsensory maps. The problem set byPascal's mother. Development ofprojections from the eye to the brain.Human vs. artificial intelligence — s0ateof the art. Optimal design principles.Development of the neocortex. Retinalcorrelates of visual development.Organization of agranular frontal corticalareas in primates. Organization of thevisual system. Mesial agranular frontalareas: their role in motor control.Psychophysics, signal detection theoryand information theorv. Functional

differences in On and Off retinalpathways. Colour and lopology in earlyvision. Inferior area 6: functionalorganization. Single cell recording andpsychophysics. Long term potentiation(LTP). Lateral masking and demaskingin vision. LTP and potassium channels.Specific protein phosphorylation.Synaptic plasticity and development.Strategies for perturbation of thefunction and the development of neuralnetworks. Task determined visualstrategies. Are there supgrprogrammes inthe brain?

The College was attended by 94lecturers and participants (31 fromdeveloping counries).

Title: COLLEGE ON "THEDESIGN OF REAL TIME CONTROLSYSTEMS", I - 26 October 1990.

O r g a n i z e r : Mr. C. Verkerk(CERN, Geneva, Switzerland). Prof. A.Colavita (Argentiny'ICTP) acted as Headof the laboratory. Co-sponsorship of theDirezione Generale per la Cooperazioneallo Sviluppo (Ministry of ForeignAffairs, Rome, Italy) and United NationsUniversity (Tokyo, Japan). In co-operation with the International centrefor Science and High Technology (ICS,Trieste, Italy).

Lectures: Recall of 6809, Rosy.Programming in C language. Real-timeoperating systems and OS-9 for the6809. D-A, A-D conversion. Sructureddesign. Project hardward and software.Interfacing to IBM-PCs — hardware andsoftware. UNIX. Analysis andvisualisation of results. MINIX. Casestudy from telephony. Parallelprocessing. Extensions to OS-9. Casestrrdy. Review of DSPs, RISCs erc.

Laboratory exercises: Getacquainted with OS-9. Exercises in C.Exercises in C using Colombo 84. Startof project work. Project

The College was attended by 79lecturers and participants (48 fromdeveloping cornries).

T i t l e : WORKSHOP ONATMOSPHERIC LIMITED AREAMODELLING, 15 October - 3November 1990.

Organizers : Profs. G. Furlan(University of Trieste, Italy), A.D.

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News from ICTP - No. 38/39 - September/October 1990

Moura (Instituto de Pesquisas Espaciais,Stro Jos6 dos Campos, Brazil), R.P.Pearce (University of Reading, UK) andS. Tibaldi (University of Bologna,Italy), in co-operation with theInternational Centre for Science (ICS,Tireste, Italy) and rhe WorldMeteorological Organization (WMO,Geneva, Switzerland), and with the co-sponsorship of the Direzione Generaleper la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo(Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rome,Italy) and of the Italian NationalResearch Council (CNR, Rome, Italy).

Lectures: Primitive equations.Vector machines. Numerical techniquesfor solving the primitive equations. Theconcept of parameterization in numericalmodels. Convective parameterization.General overview of limited areamodelling. Dynamical adaptation.Statistical adaptation. Surface transferand turbulence. Objective analysis.Large-scale versus meso-scale

predic tab i l i ty . Convectionparameterization problems. Semi-Lagrangian integration techniques andvariable mesh. Lateral boundaryconditions. Finite-elements' methods(horizontal and vertical). Tropicalcyclone rack predictions with LAMs.Application of an economical split-explicit time integration scheme to amulti-level LAM. ICE pilot activities.LAM activities in India. Convection:new topics and open questions. Currentstand of land surface modelling and air-sea reactions. Spectral methods.Enhanced orography. Tropical dataassimilation. General problems of dataassimilation. Specific problems ofLAM/meso-scale. Vertical coordinates.Advection schemes: semi-Lagrangian,shape preservation, positive definiteness.Advanced surface treatrnent. Radiation.

Practical computer sessions:Numerical techniques for solving theprimitive equations. Differential

equ,ations.Seminars: The LAM experience in

Kenya. LAM usage for short-rangeprediction of Asian summer monsoon.Down-stream semi-Lagrangian method.New approaches to future models inAusfalia. LAMs in developing countrieswith computers of limited power.Technology transfer activities. The LAMexperience at ERSA-SMR of EmiliaRomagna. Technology transferactivities. Transfer of LAM lechnologyto developing countries. New appoachesto future models in Japan. Newapproaches to future models in Canada.A frontier debate: where should LAMsgo?

The Workshop was attended by 76lecturers and participants (32 fromdeveloping counuies).

College on medical physics, 1A - 28 September 19X).

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Nee"s frorm dCT'f - l\o. 38139 - Septemher/Getoher X99{}

College on neurophysics: "Neural conelates of belnviow, development, plasticiry and memory", I-19 October 1994.

College on "The design of real time control systems", I - 26 October 1990.

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Workshop on atmospheric limiled area modelling, 15 October - 3 November 1990.

Activities at ICTP in 1990-91

I990Third autumn course on mathematical ecology 29 October- 16 NovemberWorkshop on earthquake sources and regional lithospheric structures from seismic wave d a t a . . . . . . . 1 9 - 30 NovemberWorkshop on composite materials 26 November - 7 DecemberExperimental workshop on high+emperature superconductors and related materials(advanced activities) 26 November - 14 DecemberFirst International School on Computer network analysis and m a n a g e m e n t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 - 14 December

1991Second college on theoretical and experimental radiopropagation physics 7 January- 1 FebruaryFifth international workshop on computational condensed matter physics 1 6 - 18 JanuaryWinter college on "Multilevel techniques in computational physics (Physicsand computations with multiple scales of lengths) 21 January- 1 FebruarySecond training college on physics and technology of lasers and optical fibres 21 January - 15 FebruaryExperimental workshop on high temperature superconductors and related materials (basic activities) 11 February- 1 MarchWinter college on ultrafast phenomena 18 February - 8 MarchSecond ICTP-INFN course on basic VLSI design techniques 18February-15MarchWorkshop on mathematical physics and geometry 4 - 15 MarchICTP-WMO international technical conference on long-range weather forecasting research 8 - 12 AprilSpring school and workshop on string theory and quantum gravity 15 - 2 6 AprilCourse on "Oceanography of scmienclosed seas" 15 April - 4 MayFifth workshop on perspectives in nuclear physics at intermediate energies 6 - 10 MaySpring college in materials science on "Nucleation, growth and segregationin materials science and engineering" 6 May - 7 JuneTrieste Conference on quantum field theory and condensed matter physics 13 - 16 MayThird ICFA school on instrumentation in elementary particle physics 2 0 - 3 1 MayStructural and phase stability of alloys (Adriatico Research Conference) 21 - 2 4 May

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News from ICTF - No. 38/39 - September/October 1990

Spring school on plasma physics 27 May- 21 JuneChemical evolution and the origin of life (Adriatico Research C o n f e r e n c e ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 8 - 3 l MaySecond school on non-accelerator particle astrophysics 3 - 14 JuneWorking party on initiation and growth of cracks in materials 3 - 14 JuneWorking party on simulation of materials degradation 3 - 1 4 JunePhysics of inhomogeneous materials {Adriatico Research Conference) 11 - 14 JuneMiniworkshop on nonlinearity: fractals, pattern formation 11 June —6 JulySummer school in high energy physics and cosmology . 17 June- 9 AugustResearch workshop in condensed matter, atomic and molecular p h y s i c s . . . . . . . 1 7 June - 27 SeptemberInternational conference on complex systems: fractals, spin glasses and neural networks .......2 - 6 JulyMiniworkshop on strongly correlated electron systems 8 July - 2 AugustOpen problems in strongly interacting electron systems (Adriatico Research C o n f e r e n c e ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 - 12 lulyCourse on ocean-atmosphere interactions in the T r o p i c s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 9 July - 17 AugustCourse on path integration „ 19 - 30 AugustCollege on singularity theory 19 August - 6 SeptemberWorking party on surface phase transitions 2 - 1 3 SeptemberWorkshop on matierials science and physics of non+onventional energy s o u r c e s . . . .....2-20 SeptemberPath integration and its applications (Adriatico Research Conference) 3 - 6 SeptemberSchool on dynamical systems 9 - 2 7 SeptemberConference on recent developments in the phenomenology of particle p h y s i c s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 0 September-4 OctoberWorkshop on soil physics 30 September-25 OctoberWorkshop on stochastic and deterministic models 7 - 11 OctoberSecond international workshop on radon monitoring in radioprotection and earth science 7 - 18 OctoberCollege on microprocessors-based real time control — principles and applications in physics 7 October- I NovemberTraining college on the applications of synchrotron radiation 14 October- 8 NovemberThird workshop on telematics 4 - 2 2 NovemberConference on major problems of the atmospheric system and the developing c o u n t r i e s . . . . . l1 - 16 NovemberWorkshop on "The progamme on training and interdisciptinary research in atmospheric p h y s i c s . . . . . . . 1 8 - 2 I NovemberSchool on materials for electronics: growth, properties, and a p p l i c a t i o n s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 8 November-6 DecemberWorkshop on non-linear dynamics and earthquake prediction 25 November- 13 December

For information and applications to courses, kindly write to the Scientific Programme Office.

International Centre for Theoretical PhvsicsofIAEA and LINESCOSuada Costiera, l lP.O. Box 58634136 TriesteItalv

Telephone: (40) 2U0lCable: CENTRATOMTelex: 460392 ICTP ITelefax: (40)2U163

Bitnec POSTOFFICE@)ITSICTP.BITNET

Decnet YKCPI ::POSTOFFItapac: 022224.110125

EDffORIAL NOTE - News from ICTP rs not an official document of the International Cenue for Theoretical Physics. Its purpose is to keepscientists informed on past and future activities at the Centre and initiatives in their home countries. Suggestions and criticisms shouldbe addressed to Dr. A.M. H amende. Scientific Information Officer.

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