What Have I Been up to?

People often wonder about what I do.  Physics professors such as me are eternally busy, often doing self-imposed work at all hours of the day, including weekends.  One of the advantages of a faculty position is the flexibility to take some little bits of time off here and there to recharge ones batteries.

When I pay myself summary salary from a grant, usually for no more than two months out of the three summer months, I end up working all of the time.  Summer provides the opportunity to catch up on research backlog, which builds up during the academic year due to teaching and service commitments.

A week ago, I took Monday off to drive up to our wilderness north of Spokane to work on installing a solar power collection system.  Even though I had worked through the weekend, it was difficult to pull myself away from all the accumulated commitments;  I had considered cancelling the trip several time until I got behind the wheel of my car.

The outing was worth it.  Working in the wilderness under blue skies and pure air rejuvenates the body and mind.  It's the only activity that completely removes even the slightest pang of anxiety from the pile-up of work demanding my attention.  Upon my return, I am more efficient and approach the tasks at hand with a reduced level of anxiety.

A glimpse of my recent activities can be gleaned for a narrative I was required to provide with my annual review materials.  It is reproduced below in its raw and unedited form.  Please excuse all of the typos and awkwardness, which is partially due to my distaste for having to write about my activities -- a process akin to holding one's breadth while trying to quickly empty the trash at the county landfill.

Here it is:

As described below, much of my work integrates teaching and research, making a fuzzy demarcation between the two, such as turning our research-grade apparatus into one that can be built by a high school student.

Research

Since the last review, I published 10 papers in six distinct refereed journals, all of them in the top tier of their specialty.  The work spans from fundamental quantum mechanics to applications and covers cutting-edge research, pedagogy, and broad-interest topics.  Highlights of the work follows.

The highest impact paper was a massive 170-page invited review article/tutorial that appeared in Advances in Optics and Photonics and covers the new emerging field of photomechanics.  A related invited paper, which included new research results, appeared in Journal of the Optical Society of America B.  Most recently we published a definitive paper on the mechanisms of the photomechanical effect in dye-doped polymer optical fibers, which appeared in Applied Sciences.  The latter work combines several experiments and varying conditions and two independent theories that together pin down the mechanisms with more confidence than would be possible with a single measurement and theory.  These three papers together position our group at WSU as a leader in the field.

On the pedagogy front, we published several articles in the American Journal of Physics.  One paper describes using a mobile phone for collecting data at home, enabling isolated students to do labs remotely.  A more fundamental paper elucidates subtle concepts underlying the Quantum no-cloning theorem and entanglement.  Finally, the paper on quantum length introduces new ideas and paradoxes that challenge our understanding of quantum mechanics and measurement.

A fundamental paper that describes a new method of using a proxy state to account for the quantum continuum appeared in Optics Letters while an applied paper on distributed Bragg fiber lasers that self-heal after burning out appeared in Applied Physics Letters, earning an Editors Choice recognition.  A  unique paper on how the nonlinear-optical response of novel hybrid quantum systems can be controlled with topology appeared in Journal of the Optical Society of America B.

Our visibility in the field of photomechanical materials and devices continues to increase with increased international exposure.  I gave the Keynote Address on the topic at the SPIE meeting in San Diego and presented an invited seminar at the Abu Dhabi Campus of New York University in the United Arab Emirates.  I have also been invited to speak at an international meeting in Cetraro, Italy on this topic.

I have been invited to guest-edit a special issue on photomechanical materials and applications for Applied Sciences and have already assembled an international team of co-editors.  This will enhance our visibility in the field. 

The quantum work continues to generate interest.  I presented our work on quantum NLO theory at the Foundations of nonlinear Optics as an invited speaker held at the Air Force Institute of Technology in Dayton, OH.

My work in fundamental quantum mechanics and pedagogy was presented in two Colloquiums: one at Colgate University and one at Skidmore College.  In addition to the technical presentation, I also presented an overview of our department and graduate program for recruitment purposes.

Our work over the past 10 years has focused on the physics of photomechanical materials and their applications, understanding the mechanism behind self-healing in dye-doped polymeric materials, and studying the quantum origins of the nonlinear-optic response.  We are in the process of transitioning into new areas while fortifying existing research strengths.

Taking advantage of the NLO Lab’s present strength in photomechanics, we are pursuing single-PI grants to support work with collaborators who make materials.  The near-term goal is to reinforce our interactions with international colleagues such as the exceptional groups at Tempere University in Finland and others in Morocco and Japan.  The long-term goal is to compete for larger grants.  The self-healing work, on the other hand, is attractive based on our past dominance in the field.  We have submitted a white paper to AFOSR, who share an interest in the topic.  However, we have experienced delays due to personnel changes at AFOSR.  Our group is still competitive in quantum nonlinear optics, so I plan on sending a proposal to NSF.  My efforts in the near future will focus on getting at least one of these three viable projects funded.

To leverage our unique abilities in quantum NLO, I am investing a significant effort in developing a framework for implementing quantum computing using nonlinear optics to color-entangle photons.  Given the large investment being made by the United States in quantum computing due to its importance to national security and competitiveness in the high-tech markets, the rewards are high but so are the risks.  I plan to focus most of my energy on this work throughout this calendar year and working on white papers with our larger physics-based team.

Teaching

I continue to teach undergraduate and graduate courses, advise graduate students in their masters and dissertation research, and advise undergraduates who are working on research and thesis projects.  Since 2018, I have graduated three PhD students and have served on numerous graduate thesis and dissertation committees.   Many of these students have been awarded mini-grants from within the university at the departmental and college level.  Traditional courses that I have taught over this period include Physics 320, Physics 533, Physics 534 and Physics 545.  I arranged for free licenses of Origin to be made available to students in Physics 320 and Physics 545 for class projects.  The first author in the American Journal of Physics publication on using cell phones for data was an undergraduate student whose research originated as a class project.  I also did similar projects with students taking the undergraduate seminar.

Service

I am active in service at all levels within the university and in my profession.  I advise the student chapters of OPTICA/SPIE, which do lots of outreach and run the laser maze during various university events.  I’m on the departmental committee for producing the APS video which will be used for recruitment, work with the College on undergraduate weekend recruitment presentations and have been involved in producing the departmental Comprehensive exam.

At the professional level I am on the editorial board or editor for several journals, act as a reviewer for more journals than I can count and have been awarded IOP trusted reviewer status.  The citation reads: “IOP trusted reviewer status acknowledges that you have demonstrated a high level of peer review competence, with the ability to critique scientific literature to an excellent standard.  You are one of our first reviewers to have achieved this status, so congratulations!”  I am active in organizing international conferences, two of which I founded: International Conference on Organic Nonlinear Optics (ICONO) and Foundations of Nonlinear Optics (FoNLO). 

An exciting discovery

A discovery is not always a eureka moment where the a puzzle resolves itself in a burst of insight.  As I realized tonight, we had made a significant discovery of the gradual kind.

A graduate student Sean Mossman, collaborator Rick Lytel and I had been working on a problem for over a year.  We got what we believed was a significant result, so we submitted our work to the best optics journal called Optics Letters.  The reviews came back positive so we started to diligently work on the required revisions.  It was only then that it hit me that this might be a more significant discovery than we had originality imagined.

We have the disadvantage of working in an esoteric branch of a very applied field, so there aren't many people out there that understand or appreciate the work.  Last year I organized a small conference on WSU's campus to bring together people that have worked in this area and have an appreciation for its nuances.  This year, the second meeting in what is becoming an annual event, was held at Lehigh University and organized by a talented experimental physicist, Ivan Biaggio, who was an early appreciator of the power of the sum rules and the guidance they provide in understanding how to make better materials.  The next meeting will take place at Tufts University, and will be hosted by a young and energetic theorist named Tim Atherton.

It is our job to get the word out about our work so that others can reap its benefits and this paper is the first step in the process.

I am too excited to sleep, so to unwind, I am wiring this post.  Below is an email that I sent to my coauthors (typos and all!) of our paper.  I hope it gives my readers some appreciation of the joys associated with doing physics.  Such reward come rarely in the midst of persistent failures.

Goodnight!

Dear All,

First, let me say NICE JOB!  Usually after I read through a manuscript a zillion times, I start feeling more and more insecure about the significance of the work with each reading due to becoming desensitized; the sublime becomes the mundane.  However, this is not so with this work.  I truly think it is fantastic.

I have spent a considerable effort on revising the manuscript to address the reviewers' comments and to bring out the wonderful physics that I think was buried in there.  Though I was aware of it  all, as I now you were too, the significance of phase disruption did not strike me until I rewrote the last 4 paragraphs of the paper.

Let me summarize my thoughts.  First, we have shown that phase disruption is associated with a significantly enhanced nonlinear response.  If we go back to our fundamental understanding of a quantum wave function, a kink is only possible where there is an infinite change in the potential; the two classic examples are infinite walls, from which one makes perfect reflectors and ideal boxes to confine particles, and the delta function, which represents the ultimately-bound system.  All such systems are impractical.  That is most likely why researchers have had such difficulty in improving the nonlinear response.

In essence, we have played a great trick on nature by adding a branch that can divert a small electron flux.  As far as the main direction of flow is concerned, the effect on the wave function is the same as one would expect for a delta function.  But, this is easy to do in a nano wire by fabricating a little wart on its surface, or by asking a chemist to add a side group to the bridge that carries electrons between two parts of a molecule.

This may all seem an academic exercise because the original idea was implemented with one electron and there is another requirement that phase disruption must dominate the states near the ground state.  In the case of many electrons, this requires that the phase disruption be concentrated in the states near the Fermi level, which corresponds to the single partial states just below and above the Fermi level.  The problem is that an arbitrary quantum graph will not have this property.  However. all we need to do is to move the little side branch to the right place, and voila, we have a huge nonlinear-optical response.  All this time chemists have been synthesizing all sorts of structures made of all sorts of atoms, and it appears that all that we need to do is move one simple part.

Finally, we propose a very simple molecule that has the right properties to have a huge nonlinear response.  This makes it possible for our ideas to be tested.  I do not expect that the molecule we propose will end up being so great because we have not taken electron interactions into account.  It would indeed be a miracle if this one turned out to work given how everything needs to fine tune in just the right way.  But, with slight modifications of the prong position or length, a project for a seasoned synthetic chemist, and heavy duty calculations by quantum chemists, I think that the right geometry and topology can be identified and experimentally tested.

I will most likely have difficulty sleeping tonight, but I will try to hit the sack soon.  As for the paper, I am passing it along to you for your revisions.  Please keep in mind the ideas above, which I think should be stressed.  So if you make changes, please make sure that they preserve or enhance this narrative.

The response to the reviewers may need more work since I did not get a chance to proof it very carefully.  We need to make sure that we carefully answered all the reviewers comments in the way they intended.  Also, please make sure that our responses match up with the actual changes we made in the manuscript and that we didn't miss anything.

I am willing to read through it all before we resubmit unless you both are comfortable with the final product.  Given that grading is piling up, meetings continue to chew up my time, and I still need to do quite a bit of work for my presentation in DC, any relief from proofing burdens is greatly appreciated!

All the best!

-- 
Mark G. Kuzyk
Regents Professor of Physics
Meyer Distinguished Professor of Sciences
Washington State University
Pullman, WA 99164-2814

Phone: 509-335-4672
Fax: 509-335-7816

Web Page: www.NLOsource.com

The Ugly World of Plagiarism

Science is based on the honesty and integrity of its practitioners.  Even a small fraction of dishonest acts such as fudging data or plagiarism can be very costly.  As such, we all need to be vigilant to punish those who break the rules.

This hit close to home when over a decade ago, one of my papers was plagiarized.  (Click here for an example of how an academic who had plagiarized my work was punished by loosing his job.) I was impressed by the actions taken by the journal that had received the tainted manuscript, and the administrators at the perpetrator's institution who took decisive actions.

Just this morning, I got a letter from a colleague who just discovered that a paper recently appeared in a prestigious journal that basically copied his work and lifted whole sections from his previous paper without acknowledging him or citing his papers.  He wanted my opinion on the topic, and here was my response:

Dear Prof. Colleague,

Plagiarism is a horrible corruption of the scientific process, that like a cancer, could compromise science if it is not dealt with vigilance.  You might want to check out my case (http://www.nlosource.com/PlagiarismCase.html) to see how I responded and how the ordeal was settled.  In your case, the other paper has already appeared, and journals might be reluctant to accuse the offending parties in fear of a lawsuit.  In my case, the act of plagiarism was caught by an astute postdoc that reviewed the offending manuscript and alerted the editor before it was published.
 
If I were to find myself in your situation, I would probably contact both Journal A and Journal B editors to get their opinion on a course of action that they are willing to take.  At minimum,Journal A  should at least print some sort of correction that includes citations to your work.  That way, you would at least get credit in the citation indices.  You might also want to write the authors to confront them; but, you may want to check with your university's legal department first.
 
Note that I was not able to open the links to the papers since one was to a server from your university that requires a password.  However, from your description, I think that you should take action.
 
Thanks for sending me a copy of your pre-print on two-photon absorption.  This is a beautiful paper that I would like to read carefully when I have some more time.  Once the paper appears, can you send me a copy?  Since it will undoubtedly be very useful to my group, I want to add it to my database of references.  I have skimmed through the manuscript and was wondering if you took cascading into account and if the concentration dependence might be telling you something about it.  I apologize in advance if this is a stupid question based on my cursory reading.
 
Finally, have you given any thought to hosting a "sum rules and scaling" meeting at your university?  I am thinking about keeping it small, perhaps with a dozen attendees, so that we could concentrate on bouncing around new ideas.  Let me know your thoughts.
 
Always glad to hear from you, though it would have been better under happier circumstances.  Keep in touch.

Best,
Mark