Easy electrical conduction in metals is usually attributed to the regularity of metallic crystals. Why then does the conductivity remain when a crystal melts? Pseudopotentials provide an answer.
IT IS REMARKABLE how much of the basic description of electrons in metals was made available to us 40 years ago in the doctoral thesis of Felix Bloch. He not only explained how electrons can travel through perfect crystals without colliding with the constituent atoms, but he also discussed the scattering of those electrons when the crystal lattice is vibrating. The origin of this scattering is now called the “electron‐phonon interaction,” but the calculation came some 20 or 30 years before the word “phonon” was even coined. He also evaluated the electronic contribution to the specific heat.
Technical knowledge and skills are only some of the considerations that managers have when hiring physical scientists. Soft skills, in particular communication, are also high on the list.
Research exchanges between US and Soviet scientists during the second half of the 20th century may be instructive for navigating today’s debates on scientific collaboration.
The Eisenhower administration dismissed the director of the National Bureau of Standards in 1953. Suspecting political interference with the agency’s research, scientists fought back—and won.
Alternative undergraduate physics courses expand access to students and address socioeconomic barriers that prevent many of them from entering physics and engineering fields. The courses also help all students develop quantitative skills.
Defying the often-perceived incompatibility between the two subjects, some physicists are using poetry to communicate science and to explore the human side of their work.
September 01, 2025 12:00 AM
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Physics Today - The Week in Physics
The Week in Physics" is likely a reference to the regular updates or summaries of new physics research, such as those found in publications like Physics Today from AIP Publishing or on news aggregators like Phys.org.
