Today’s News from the University of Kansas
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KU researchers announce odderon observation, hunted for 50 years by particle physicists
LAWRENCE — High-energy experimental particle physicists from the University of Kansas stand at the forefront of a major discovery by the D0 and TOTEM collaborations from tests at the Large Hadron Collider and the Tevatron at Fermilab. The new paper describes experimental evidence for the existence of a three-gluon compound dubbed the “odderon,” which could shed light on the fundamental makeup of all matter in the universe.
Jewish studies researcher sees nation-state law as turning point in Israel’s history
LAWRENCE – If Israel wants to regain the loyalty of its crucial Arab Druze minority, it will have to scrap the controversial 2018 nation-state law and recommit to the democratic principles of its Declaration of Independence. That tall order is laid out in a recent scholarly article by an Israeli Druze assistant professor of Jewish studies at the University of Kansas.
Research events to explore human behavior around COVID-19
LAWRENCE – University of Kansas social sciences researchers will offer their expertise in a two-part series, “Mapping Behavior Around the Virus: Behavioral Scientists Examine Activity amid COVID-19 Pandemic,” to explore lessons from the past year. The free public events will take place over Zoom at 4 p.m. March 18 and 25.
KU Law, Applied English Center launch program for international students
LAWRENCE — A new program offered by the University of Kansas School of Law and KU’s Applied English Center will help international students improve their English skills while learning about the U.S. legal system. The Legal English Program is a one-month intensive program designed to help students develop specialized training, presentation, legal research and legal writing skills to prepare them for law school coursework and for legal practice.
KU Debate qualifies 3rd team for National Debate Tournament
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas has qualified a third team for the National Debate Tournament. Mickey McMahon, a sophomore from Leawood, and Michael Scott, a sophomore from Glenview, Illinois, have received an at-large qualification for the NDT. KU is one of only six schools to qualify three teams for the national tournament, which Harvard University will host online March 26-30.
Full stories below.
Contact: Brendan Lynch, KU News Service, 785-864-8855, [email protected], @BrendanMLynch
KU researchers announce odderon observation, hunted for 50 years by particle physicists
LAWRENCE — High-energy experimental particle physicists from the University of Kansas stand at the forefront of a major discovery by the D0 and TOTEM collaborations from tests at the Large Hadron Collider (the world’s largest particle accelerator, situated in a 17-mile circular tunnel beneath the border of France and Switzerland) and the Tevatron at Fermilab in Illinois.
The findings shed light on the fundamental makeup of all matter in the universe.
In a new paper submitted to Physical Review Letters by the D0 and TOTEM collaborations, corresponding author Christophe Royon, Foundation Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy at KU, describes experimental evidence for the existence of a three-gluon compound dubbed the “odderon.” The observations come from experiments where protons are smashed together at near-light-speed as scientists carefully parse the results.
The odderon was hypothesized in 1973 under the Regge theory of strong interactions. In “quantum chromodynamics,” the theory of quark and gluon interaction, this is represented by a compound of three gluons. But, until now, the odderon’s existence has remained conjectural and considered by some as a mere academic discussion. The new findings carry a high standard of evidence or observation (5 sigma, where “sigma” among particle physicists is used as a measure of the statistical probability of the evidence).
“This means that if the odderon did not exist, the probability that we observe an effect like this in the data by chance would be 1 in 3.5 million,” said Cristian Baldenegro, a KU graduate student in Royon’s group.
“There were many attempts to look for the odderon at all accelerators since the 1950s, but none of them could get 5 sigma,” Royon said. “There was an effect between proton-proton and proton-antiproton collisions seen already at CERN in the ISR (the Intersecting Storage Rings, an earlier particle accelerator active in the ’70s), but it was less than 3 sigma. It was not more than a possible indication and might have been due to other reasons at lower energies, for instance, meson exchanges.”
The new findings concern hadrons — the family of particle that includes protons and neutrons. Hadrons are formed by quarks “glued” together with gluons. Previously, scientists have observed collisions involving only an even number of gluons exchanged between the protons. In these collisions, protons remain intact after the collision, a process known as elastic scattering.
Now, Royon and his colleagues show 5 sigma observation of an odd number of gluons, without any quarks, exchanged in the collisions. The measurements confirm earlier evidence by Royon and his collaborators from the TOTEM experiment.
Royon, who leads the analysis group from both TOTEM and D0 collaborations, said conclusively establishing the odderon’s existence after years of research required many technological developments that down the road could lead to breakthroughs in everyday life. For instance, the detectors used to discover the odderon could have medical uses.
“There are technological developments that are used in the proton detectors nowadays,” he said. “Silicon pixel detectors to measure the proton positions, and ultrafast silicon detectors that are also developed at KU, that are used every day in these proton detectors. They have many applications such as the measurement of radiation during cancer treatments. We submitted a publication in collaboration with a hospital in Dublin, Ireland, that shows how these detectors can revolutionize the measurement of radiation in medicine, as well as the measurements of radiation that we perform in collaboration with NASA in the AGILE project.”
Royon has been involved with the D0 Collaboration at Fermilab since 1999 and in the TOTEM collaboration since 2014. Other KU personnel involved in the D0 project include Alice Bean, University Distinguished Professor of Physics & Astronomy; Graham Wilson, professor of physics & astronomy, and Phil Baringer, professor of physics & astronomy. KU researchers at the TOTEM experiment at the LHC include doctoral students Baldenegro, Justin Williams, Cole Lindsey and Tommaso Isidori.
“Searching for signatures of the odderon is a very different task in comparison to what is traditionally done in particle physics,” Baldenegro said. “For instance, in searching for the Higgs boson or the top quark, one looks for a ‘bump’ over a smooth invariant mass distribution, which is already very challenging. The odderon, on the other hand, has much more subtle signatures. This has made the hunt for the odderon so much more challenging.”
The official university Twitter account has changed to @UnivOfKansas.
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Contact: Rick Hellman, KU News Service, 785-864-8852, [email protected], @RickHellman
Jewish studies researcher sees nation-state law as turning point in Israel’s history
LAWRENCE – If Israel wants to regain the loyalty of its crucial Arab Druze minority, it will have to scrap the controversial 2018 nation-state law and recommit to the democratic principles of its Declaration of Independence.
That tall order is laid out in a recent scholarly article by an Israeli Druze assistant professor of Jewish studies at the University of Kansas. But Rami Zeedan said even strongly Zionistic Jewish audiences are open to hearing his critique these days.
They understand that the new, quasi-constitutional law enshrining Israel as the national home of the Jews alone threatens the social contract between Israel’s Jewish majority and its model Arab minority, he said.
In “Knesset Basic Law: Israel as the Nation State of the Jewish People,” Zeedan recounts the history of that social contract from the Druze point of view and the way it was broken in 2018 by the passage of what Israel terms a Basic Law.
The Druze are a non-Muslim religious minority in the Arab world, stateless and spread across several Middle Eastern countries, including Syria and Lebanon. Within Israel, and unlike Arabs who identify as Palestinian, the Druze have traditionally been supportive of the Jewish state as such, serving in its armed forces.
But they are a small minority, even within Israel’s Arab minority. The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics shows its population – including Jerusalem and the Golan Heights but omitting the West Bank and Gaza Strip — is 74% Jewish and 21% Arab. There are nearly 2 million Arabs living in Israel, of whom just 143,000 are Druze.
Yet despite their small numbers, the Druze have always played a crucial role in Israel’s socio-politico-religious bargain.
That is because, Zeedan wrote, “Druze accept the ‘Jewishness’ of the state and do not challenge it. Moreover, unlike (other) Israeli Arabs, they accept the symbols of the state. In both respects, the Druze perspective contradicts that of the Arabs, who oppose the Jewishness of the state and its symbols. However, the Druze ask to be compensated for this compromise by retaining the democratic component of the definition of the state alongside the Jewish component in order to ensure equality for all citizens.”
The Nation State Law enacted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition shifted this delicate balance away from democracy and toward Judaism, according to Zeedan.
“Despite evident discrimination against them and other Arabs, they had continued to hope,” he wrote, “but the new legislation left no room for the hope of a more equal and inclusive Israel. On these grounds, the Druze outcry after the approval of the law should come as no surprise.”
Indeed, he wrote, “It was perceived by the Druze as a blow to their dignity and sense of identity as Israelis … it destroys the very basis of the Israeli Druze consensus, which has, in fact, collapsed.”
The Jewish studies researcher asks rhetorically: What then?
“The suggested solution to this situation is made up of two steps,” Zeedan wrote. “In the first, as a confidence-building measure, the Nation-State Law must be rescinded. In its place, the ‘Declaration of Independence’ must be enacted as a basic law. The advantage of the ‘Declaration of Independence’ is that it secures a primary demand for each side, the Jewish character of the state … and the democratic character of the state, as it promises individual and collective rights to Arabs.
“However, in order to solve the more complex issue of identity along with the other contradictory demands, a second step is necessary, the revitalization of a social contract for the state of Israel achieved through negotiations between all segments of society through a consideration of their demands and by making compromises to reach an agreement that will secure a long-lasting peaceful co-existence between Jews and Arabs in Israel.”
Zeedan said many people seem to understand this legal milestone as something important and are open to his critique.
“There is a growing interest to hear me. I’ve been invited to many places to talk about this,” he said. “I sense that, even with among people who do know a little bit more — maybe Jewish Americans, maybe Jewish Israelis — they are struggling to understand.”
As a scholar, a Druze and a veteran of the Israel Defense Forces, Zeedan said, he is able to “connect that to my experiences and my expertise on the Zionist movement and on Israel’s history and society. I can say that the Nation-State Law is a turning point in Israel’s history. It’s unprecedented.”
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Contact: Emily Ryan, The Commons, 785-864-6293, [email protected], @TheCommonsKU
Research events to explore human behavior around COVID-19
LAWRENCE – In the year since COVID-19 was designated a global pandemic, individuals and groups have found new ways to engage in thoughtful decision-making. University of Kansas social sciences researchers will offer their expertise in a two-part series, “Mapping Behavior Around the Virus: Behavioral Scientists Examine Activity Amid COVID-19 Pandemic,” to explore lessons from the last year.
The first event, at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 18, will feature four members of the Faculty Advising on COVID Team (FACT), whose research addresses the following questions:
1. What did we know before March 2020 about trends in human behavior amid natural disasters?
2. What did we learn in the course of the last year with COVID-19, locally and globally?
3. How can policymaking be responsive to prevent future problems?
4. What are the implications for the fall 2021 semester, based on data?
The presenters are Ward Lyles, associate professor of public affairs & administration; Derek Reed, associate professor of applied behavioral science; Tim Pleskac, professor of psychology, and Donna Ginther, Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor of Economics.
A second event, at 4 p.m. March 25, will focus on ways to build interpersonal understanding and compassion, inspired by KU research. The event will cover these topics:
1. What can we learn from behavioral sciences during this pandemic?
2. What is participatory modeling, and how is it used?
3. How does this work offer ideas for interpersonal understanding and policymaking?
4. How has this work engaged communities, and how does it serve them?
5. Where are opportunities for compassionate community on campus?
Presenters will be Vincent Francisco, Kansas Health Foundation Professor of Applied Behavioral Science; Kyle Metta, KU postdoctoral fellow in community systems, Center for Community Health and Development; Lyles; and Megah Shah and Radhia Abdirahman, both KU students.
Hosted by the Institute for Policy & Social Research and The Commons, both events are free and open to the public.
Link to Zoom Webinar Registration for March 18.
Link to Zoom Webinar Registration for March 25.
Don’t miss new episodes of “When Experts Attack!,”
a KU News Service podcast hosted by Kansas Public Radio.
https://kansaspublicradio.org/when-experts-attack
Contact: Ashley Golledge, School of Law, [email protected], @kulawschool
KU Law, Applied English Center launch program for international students
LAWRENCE — A new program offered by the University of Kansas School of Law and KU’s Applied English Center will help international students improve their English skills while learning about the U.S. legal system.
The Legal English Program is a one-month intensive program designed to help students develop specialized training, presentation, legal research and legal writing skills to prepare them for law school coursework and for legal practice.
The Legal English Program is available to students who have been admitted or provisionally admitted to the LL.M., S.J.D., Two-Year J.D. for Foreign-Trained Lawyers or J.D. programs at KU Law. Participation in the Legal English Program does not guarantee acceptance to the law school. The program is also open to visiting scholars.
“Law school is a challenging endeavor for native English speakers. For non-native speakers, mastering technical legal terms is even more challenging,” said Steven Freedman, assistant dean of admissions at KU Law. “For this reason, we hope international students will join the program.”
Participants must demonstrate some proficiency in English; however, taking an English proficiency standardized test is not required.
The 2021 program is scheduled for July. The program application deadline is April 15.
“We are excited to launch the Legal English Program, designed to prepare students linguistically and academically for the types of tasks they will encounter in their first-year law courses and in their profession,” said Valerie Pierce, director of the Applied English Center. “This program introduces students to the types of reading, presentation style and writing structures they will use in the School of Law and will help prepare them for a fast-paced learning environment.”
The program aims to provide students with essential terms and language concepts needed to be successful in law school. Courses include Introduction to Legal Writing, Active Listening and Participation for Law Students, and Legal Reading and Research Skills.
To learn more or sign up for the program, visit the Applied English Center’s website.
The official university Twitter account has changed to @UnivOfKansas.
Refollow @KUNews for KU News Service stories, discoveries and experts.
Contact: Scott Harris, KU Debate, 785-864-9878, [email protected], @KansasDebate
KU Debate qualifies 3rd team for National Debate Tournament
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas has qualified a third team for the National Debate Tournament later this month.
Mickey McMahon, a sophomore from Leawood, and Michael Scott, a sophomore from Glenview, Illinois, have received an at-large qualification for the NDT. KU is one of only six schools to qualify three teams to the national tournament. The other five schools are Dartmouth College, Emory University, Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wake Forest University.
This is the sixth consecutive year that KU has qualified three teams for the NDT.
McMahon and Scott qualified for the NDT based on an excellent performance in the regular season, which ended with the duo ranked in the top 25 teams in the country. It is the second time that they have qualified for the National Debate Tournament. They were unable to compete at the NDT as freshmen when the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19.
McMahon and Scott will join the KU teams of Azja Butler, Lansing, and Ross Fitzpatrick, Leawood, as well as Nathan Martin, Lansing, and Graham Revare, Shawnee, who had previously qualified for the national tournament. The NDT will be hosted online March 26-30 by Harvard University.
Last week KU had four additional teams compete at the American Debate Association National Championship tournament. Three of the KU teams qualified for the elimination rounds at the tournament. The team of senior Jon Mantis, Glenview, Illinois, and sophomore Jimin Park, Topeka, defeated Georgetown University in the first elimination round and advanced to the final 16 where they lost a 2-1 split decision to the University of Michigan.
The team of first-year student Raina Peter, Topeka, and sophomore Jet Semrick, Prairie Village, and the team of freshmen Zaki Mansoor, Overland Park, and Will Soper, Overland Park, were defeated in the first elimination round with close losses to Michigan State and Michigan.
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