| CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF PHYSICISTS |
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ASSOCIATION CANADIENNE DES PHYSICIENS ET PHYSICIENNES |
PRESS RELEASE / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2003 CAP/DCMMP Brockhouse Medal
(for Outstanding Experimental or Theoretical Contributions to
Condensed Matter and Materials Physics)
will be awarded to
DR. LOUIS TAILLEFER
"It is a tremendous honour to be recognized as part of Canada’s great tradition of condensed-matter physics, epitomized by such outstanding researchers as the pioneer who gave his name to this medal and its inaugural recipient."
Ottawa, March 10, 2003 - The Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) is pleased to announce that the 2003 CAP/DCMMP Brockhouse Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Condensed Matter and Materials Physics is awarded to Dr. Louis Taillefer, Université de Sherbrooke for pioneering work on the use of heat transport to determine the symmetry of superconducting order parameters and probe the nature of new states of matter.
Louis Taillefer is recognized as one of the top condensed-matter experimentalists in North America and is internationally renowned for innovative research in magnetism and superconductivity. He was first to directly measure the giant electronic masses in a heavy-fermion material, and first to discover multiple superconducting phases in any material. He pioneered the use of heat transport at temperatures close to absolute zero to determine the symmetry of the superconducting order parameter and probe the vortex state. Recently he showed that the long-accepted universal law whereby charge and heat currents in a metal are equal broke down in high-temperature superconductors. His experimental studies have often driven the research of theorists.
Taillefer himself is gifted as a theorist, and has an exquisite ability to make clear the new physics that flows from his work, and he is in high demand as a speaker. He has trained several students and postdoctoral associates who invariably do extremely well. His brilliance has lead to his appointment by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research as the youngest Director of one of their Programs, on Superconductivity, where he displays exceptional leadership.
The Brockhouse medal was introduced for the first time in 1999 and is sponsored jointly by the Division of Condensed Matter and Materials Physics (DCMMP) and the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP). It is named in honour of Bertram Brockhouse, whose outstanding contributions to research in condensed matter physics in Canada were recognized by the 1994 Nobel Prize for Physics. The medal is awarded annually. Dr. Taillefer will receive the 2003 Medal during the CAP's awards banquet to be held at the University of Prince Edward Island on June 10th, 2003.
The Canadian Association of Physicists, founded in 1945, is a professional association representing over 1600 individual physicists and physics students in Canada, the U.S. and overseas, as well as a number of Corporate and Departmental Members. In addition to its learned activities, the CAP also undertakes a number of activities intended to encourage students to pursue a career in physics.
For more information, please contact:
Canadian Association of Physicists
Tel: (613) 562-5614
Fax: (613) 562-5615
E-mail: cap@physics.uottawa.ca