Carolyn Wheat

210-999-8406

cwheat@trinity.edu

Nobel Prize Winning Physicist to Discuss His Research at Trinity University

March 14, 2000  - Nobel Prize winning physicist Steven Chu will discuss his research in a lecture at Trinity University on Tuesday, April 4, at 8 p.m. in Laurie Auditorium.  Chu is professor of physics and applied physics at Stanford University.  His presentation, "Watching Enzymes Unfold and Refold, One Molecule at a Time," is the DeCoursey Nobel Lecture.  Admission is free. Chu was one of the first scientists to figure out how laser beams could be used to exert forces on a small particle, such as a biological cell.  Known as "optical tweezers," this method is used to trap microscopic particles in water and is having major implications in biology and medicine. Chu also invented optical "molasses" in which laser beams can be used to slow individual atoms down to such a slow speed that they acquire a temperature only a very small fraction of a degree above absolute zero.  His work on optical molasses, which led to a Nobel Prize, allowed researchers to make atoms so cold that a completely new state of matter was observed.  This peculiar state of matter, known as the Bose-Einstein condensate, represents one of the most important discoveries in physics in the last 50 years.  Chu has also developed methods to simultaneously visualize and manipulate single bio-molecules. The recipient of numerous awards, including a Humboldt Senior Scientist award and a Guggenheim Fellowship, Chu was co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997.  He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The DeCoursey Nobel Lecture is made possible by a gift from the late General Elbert DeCoursey and Mrs. DeCoursey of San Antonio.

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Last updated on November 8, 2000 by the Office of Public Relations