MINUTES OF THE 1994 SPRING MEETING OF THE NEW ENGLAND SECTION OF
THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY
8-9 April 1994; Cambridge, Massachusetts

GENERAL INFORMATION

The 1994 Spring Joint Meeting of the New England Sections of The American Physical Society and the American Association of Physics Teachers was held on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The meeting was organized by Professor Howard Georgi. There were 215 registrants, of whom 61 were APS member, 97 were AAPT members, 12 were emeriti, 36 were students, and 9 were non-members. 94 attended the banquet on Friday evening. There were 34 contributed papers, of which 21 were submitted for publication in the Bulletin.

The theme of the Friday tutorial session was "Science, Society, and Education." Howard Georgi (Harvard) was the chair. After welcoming remarks by Barbara Grosz, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science for Affirmative Action at Harvard, Eric Mazur (Harvard) spoke on "Understanding or Memorization: Are We Teaching the Right Thing?", and David Goodstein (California Institute of Technology) spoke on "Scientific Elites and Scientific Illiterates."

The theme of the Saturday tutorial session was "Quantum Mechnaics at Work," and was chaired by Howard Georgi (Harvard). David Nelson (Harvard) spoke on "2-D Superfluids and Physics of Braided Lines"; Ray Ashoori (MIT) spoke on "Energy Levels of an Artificial Atom"; and Sidney Coleman (Harvard) spoke on "Quantum Mechanics in Your Face."

On Friday morning the NES-AAPT High School Physics Olympics was held at the Harvard Science Center; it was coordinated by Kathy Kittredge (Souhegan High School, New Hampshire). On Friday evening a social hour and banquet were held at the Gutman Conference Center. Following this there was a physics lecture/demonstration Extravaganza at the Harvard Science Center.

The next meeting of the New England Section will be held 7-8 October 1994 at Brown University, Providence, RI under the direction of Richard Partridge, Department of Physics, Brown University [telephone (401)863-2634].

SESSION A

Friday afternoon, 8 April 1994 Science Center 109 at 17:00 (to 18:00)

A 1 Further study of actual and perceived satellite orbits in the near-exterior region of a Schwarzschild black hole. Joel Therrien and Eric Sheldon, University of Massachusetts-Lowell.

SESSION PA: POSTER SESSION

Friday afternoon, 8 April 1994 Science Center 120 at 17:00 (to 18:00)

PA 1 Completely Solid State Tunable Ti:Sapphire Laser for Lidar and Atmospheric Spectroscopy. D. Guerra, B. Coyle, National Research Council; D. Krebs, NASA-GSFC.

PA 2 Upconversion and Energy Transfer in Er:YSGG and Er:GGG. J.M. Collins, X. Chen, Wheaton College, Norton, MA; B.J. Dinerman, Schwartz Electro- Optics, Inc., Concord, MA; and B. DiBartolo, Boston College, MA.

PA 3 Sharp Pulsed, Diode Pumped, Nd:YAG Laser Transmitter (SPLT) for Airborne Laser Altimetry. B. Coyle, National Research Council; B. Blair, NASA-GSFC.

PA 4 Rate Equation Modeling in Nd:YAG Including Effects of Thermalization. J. Degnan and D.B. Coyle, NASA/Goddard and R. Kay, The American University.

PA 5 Efficiency Data and Models for X-ray Transmission Gratings. Y.S. Song, T.H. Markert, C.S. Nelson, M.L. Schattenburg, MIT; D.E. Graessle, SAO; R.L. Blake, R&D Services.

PA 6 Lower bounds to from Gram determinantal inequalities. P. Csavinszky, University of Maine.

PA 7 A Preliminary Analysis of Rich Cluster Redshift Survey Data for Large Scale Structure Studies. Kurt A. Slinglend, D.J. Batuski, S. Haase, U. Maine; J. Hill, Steward Observatory.

SESSION B

Saturday morning, 9 April 1994 Science Center 109 at 8:00 (to 9:00)

B 1 An Experimental Study of a Unidirectional Ring Resonator with a Photorefractive Crystal BaTiO 3. Sharon Bergman and Hong Lin, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Bates College, Lewiston, ME.

B 2 Unique Cuspidal Features In The Group Velocity Surface Of Piezoelectric Crystals. R.H. Beavis, T.H. Keil and A.K. McCurdy, Worcester Polytechnic Inst.

B 3 Quantum Mechanical Coupling Coefficients For Three-Phonon Interactions In Piezoelectric Crystals. R.H. Beavis, T.H. Keil and A.K. McCurdy, Worcester Polytechnic Inst.

SESSION C

Saturday morning, 9 April 1994 Science Center 116 at 8:00 (to 9:00)

C 1 Model of Athermal Interstitial Carbon Migration in Silicon. Jang-Hong Chang and Martin Wilner, Physics Dept., U. Mass-Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854.

C 2 The Empty Sphere Method in LMTO-MS-Xalpha Molecular Orbital Calculations. Yau-Chin Yang and Martin Wilner, Physics Dept., U. Mass-Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854.

C 3 Full Electrodynamic Modeling of A Photo Conducting Avalanche Switch. Chi-Chung Ai and Martin Wilner, Physics Dept., U. Mass-Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854.

C 4 Visual Appearance of a Rod at Relativistic Speeds. David W. Kraft and Timothy J. Creamer, US Military Academy.

SESSION D

Saturday morning, 9 April 1994 Science Center 122 at 8:00 (to 9:00)

D 1 Dispersion relation splitting of surface plasmons on a self-affine fractal surface. George Palasantzas, Northeastern University.

D 2 Diagnosing Misconceptions in Introductory Physics Problem-Solving. D.M. Smith, Jr., Northeastern Univ., Boston, MA 02115.

SESSION E

Saturday morning, 9 April 1994 Science Center B11a at 8:00 (to 9:00)

E 1 A Factor In The Failed Attempts To Replace Wetland Ecosystems May Be That EMF Conditions Are Not The Same In Different Locations. Michael Ann Ochs, Environmental Protection Agency, Boston, MA; David M. McLeod, An Wang Math/Science Middle School, Lowell, MA; Roger D. McLeod, Univ. Mass-Lowell.

E 2 The EMF, Manitou, Gods, Ghosts and Other Applied Physics Phenomena. David M. McLeod, An Wang Math/Science Middle School, Lowell, MA; Roger D. McLeod, Univ. Mass-Lowell; Michael Ann Ochs, Environmental Protection Agency, Boston, MA.

E 3 Earth's EMF Signals: Can We Recognize Them From The Past, Admit Seeing Them Now, and Use This Applied Physics Information To Prevent Future Tragedies As Some Of Our Ancestors Have? Roger D. McLeod, Univ. Mass-Lowell and a.k.a. Sagamo Pawa, Pawtucket Lodge, Merrimack River Drainage Basin Indian Council; David M. McLeod, An Wang Math/Science Middle School, Lowell, MA; Michael Ann Ochs, Environmental Protection Agency, Boston, MA.

E 4 Elastic Deformations Inducing Nearsightedness, Farsightedness, and Astigmatism Are Predictably Reversible. Roger D. McLeod, Univ. Mass-Lowell.