So what is the site about?
Nanoscale Views is a blog written by physicist Douglas Natelson, who heads the physics and astronomy department at Rice University in the US. The blog has a catchy strapline – “A blog about condensed matter and nanoscale physics. Why should high energy and astro folks have all the fun?” – that essentially describes why Natelson began blogging in mid-2005. Indeed, in his first post, he describes hunting around the Internet for atomic, molecular and optical physics blogs, only to come up empty-handed. Since then, Natelson’s blog has been regularly updated, at a rate of four to five posts a month, and examines a myriad of topics.
What are some of the topics covered?
As the blog’s title suggests, condensed-matter posts are a regular feature: from quantum computing to metasurfaces. These are often in-depth, but Natelson keeps the contents and his language as simple as possible, making all his writing enjoyable. He often covers a topic in a series of posts over a week or two, so no individual post is onerously long. He also regularly follows up on previous research news and topics, even a few years on, providing a swiftly developing field with the necessary context. Apart from research, Natelson also writes a variety of posts on everything from conference and workshop reports, collections of short and interesting news briefs and job postings. He often writes about academic life – be it career advice or academic publishing or even occasionally funding and policy news. Interestingly, Natelson also reports on general big physics news – for example, the discovery of a terrestrial exoplanet around habitable zone around Sun’s nearest neighbour – that does not lie strictly in the AMO field, but is of definite interest to anyone in physics.
Who is it aimed at?
The vast variety of topics covered means that the blog’s readership is wide. While a healthy interest in condensed-matter physics would benefit regular readers, it is not at all a prerequisite. In fact, the blog would be a good place for anyone looking for a solid introduction to the field (especially thanks to Natelson’s wide archive of topics, which he links to in most posts), as well as for those who wish to keep up to date with developments within it.
Can you give me a sample quote?
From a February 2016 post introducing “density functional theory”: “Let me try an analogy. You’re trying to arrange the seating for a big banquet, and there are a bunch of constraints: Alice wants very much to be close to the kitchen. Bob also wants to be close to the kitchen. However, Alice and Bob both want to be as far from all other people as possible. Chairs can’t be on top of each other, but you still need to accommodate the full guest list. In the end you are going to care about the answers to certain questions: How hard would it be to push two chairs closer to each other? If one person left, how much would all the chairs need to be rearranged to keep everyone maximally comfortable? You could imagine solving this problem by brute force – write down all the constraints and try satisfying them one person at a time, though every person you add might mean rearranging all the previously seated people. You could also imagine solving this by some trial-and-error method, where you guess an initial arrangement, and make adjustments to check and see if you’ve improved how well you satisfy everyone. However, it doesn’t look like there’s any clear, immediate strategy for figuring this out and answering the relevant questions.”
- Enjoy the rest of the January 2017 issue of Physics World in our digital magazine or via the Physics World app for any iOS or Android smartphone or tablet. Membership of the Institute of Physics required
