Meeting Briefs

Division of Nuclear Physics, 20-23 October 1999, Asilomar, CA
The APS Division of Nuclear Physics (DNP) held its annual fall meeting in October at the Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, CA. In addition to invited sessions on a wide range of topics in nuclear physics - such as neutron physics, short-lived nuclei, broken symmetries and frontiers in the composition of matter - there were four mini-symposia focusing on such topics as next generation cold neutron experiments, and science with the next generation of radioactive beam facilities, as well as two parallel workshops: one on quark and lepton mixing, and the other on structure functions of heavy nuclei at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC).The conference also featured a special plenary session summarizing results of a recent survey by the National Research Council ["Physics in the New Era," conducted by the late David Schramm] of the status of physics research in the US A panel of distinguished speakers reviewed the current status of research in elementary particle physics, nuclear physics, atomic, molecular and optical science, condensed matter and materials physics, and astrophysics and cosmology.

Gaseous Electronics Conference, 5-8 October 1999, Norfolk, VA
The 52nd annual Gaseous Electronics Conference (GEC), held in October in Norfolk, VA, is an official topical conference of the APS run under the auspices of the Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (DAMOP). The program included a GEC Foundation lecture by Alex Dalgarno of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics on the historical evolution of cross section calculations in atomic and molecular collision theory, as well as a one-day workshop on non-coherent light sources, covering such topics as electronic stabilization of high density discharge (HID) lamps, low pressure discharge light sources, and advanced X-ray diagnostics using HID lamps.

In addition, there was a special memorial session honoring Will Allis, a co-founder of the GEC and honorary chairman since 1996, who died after a brief illness in March 1999. The session featured three distinguished speakers. Mark Kushner of the University of Illinois summarized Allis' landmark contributions to the theory of electron and ion transport in low-temperature plasmas, along with his other academic, technical and administrative accomplishments. James Lawler of the University of Wisconsin focused on resonance radiation transport in low-pressure discharges in atomic gases. And Graeme Lister of Osram Sylvania Inc. summarized recent developments in the modeling and diagnostics of fluorescent lamps.