physics

Kathryn Moler

Kathryn Moler is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Kathryn Moler rather than just read about it. In short: Kathryn Ann Moler (born c. 1966) is an American physicist, and current dean of research at Stanford University. She received her BSc (1988) and Ph.D.

Key takeaways

Kathryn Moler belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
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Connect Kathryn Moler to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kathryn Moler from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Kathryn Ann Moler (born c. 1966) is an American physicist, and current dean of research at Stanford University. She received her BSc (1988) and Ph.D. (1995) from Stanford University. After working as a visiting scientist at IBM T.J. Watson Research Center in 1995, she held a postdoctoral position at Princeton University from 1995 to 1998. She joined the faculty of Stanford University in 1998, and became an Associate in CIFAR's Superconductivity Program (now called the Quantum Materials Program) in 2000. She became an associate professor (with tenure) at Stanford in 2002 and is currently a professor of applied physics and of Physics at Stanford. She currently works in the Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials (GLAM), and is the director of the Center for Probing the Nanoscale (CPN), a National Science Foundation-funded center where Stanford and IBM scientists continue to improve scanning probe methods for measuring, imaging, and controlling nanoscale phenomena. She lists her scientific interests and main areas of research and experimentation as:

Single vortex dynamics in classical and high temperature superconductors, Spontaneous currents and vortex effects in highly correlated electron systems, and Mesoscopic superconductors and currents in normal metal rings, with an increasing interest in the spin properties of such small structures.

Career Early in her career, with John Kirtley from IBM, their research demonstrated that one of the predictions of a popular theory for high-temperature superconductivity was inaccurate by a factor of 10. In 2011 her research group placed two non-magnetic materials (complex oxides) together and discovered an unexpected result: The layer where the two materials meet has both magnetic and superconducting regions. These are two properties that are normally incompatible, since "superconducting materials, which conduct electricity with no resistance and 100 percent efficiency, normally expel any magnetic field that comes near them." Exploration of this phenomenon will be aimed toward discovery of whether the properties co-exist uneasily, or this marks the discovery of an exotic new form of superconductivity that actively interacts with magnetism. In May 2018, Moler was named vice provost and dean of research at Stanford University, effective September 1, 2018.

Awards Member of the U. S. National Academy of Sciences. Carrington Award for Excellence in Research and Teaching Stanford Centennial Teaching Assistant William L. McMillan Award for outstanding contributions in condensed matter physics Packard Fellowship Leigh Page Prize Lecturer at Yale University R.H. Dicke Postdoctoral Fellowship at Princeton University Frederick Terman Fellowship Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship Richtmyer Memorial Award 2011 NSF CAREER Award

Publications "Scanning Probe Manipulation of Magnetism at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 Heterointerface" — Beena Kalisky: Julie A. Bert, Christopher Bell, Yanwu Xie, Hiroki K. Sato, Masayuki Hosoda, Yasuyuki Hikita, Harold Y. Hwang, and Kathryn A. Moler; "Critical thickness for ferromagnetism in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterostructures" — Beena Kalisky: Julie A. Bert, Brannon B. Klopfer, Christopher Bell, Hiroki K. Sato, Masayuki Hosoda, Yasuyuki Hikita, Harold Y. Hwang & Kathryn A. Moler; "Scanning SQUID susceptometry of a paramagnetic superconductor" — J. R. Kirtley: B. Kalisky, J. A. Bert, C. Bell, M. Kim, Y. Hikita, H. Y. Hwang, J. H. Ngai, Y. Segal, F. J. Walker, C. H. Ahn, and K. A. Moler; "Calculation of the effect of random superfluid density on the temperature dependence of the penetration depth" — Thomas M. Lippman: Kathryn A. Moler; "Direct imaging of the coexistence of ferromagnetism and superconductivity at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3interface" — Julie A. Bert: Beena Kalisky, Christopher Bell, Minu Kim, Yasuyuki Hikita, Harold Y. Hwang & Kathryn A. Moler; "Behavior of vortices near twin boundaries in underdoped Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2" — B. Kalisky: J. R. Kirtley, J. G. Analytis, J.-H. Chu, I. R. Fisher, and K. A. Moler; "Local Measurement of the Superfluid Density in the Pnictide Superconductor Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2across the Superconducting Dome" — Lan Luan: Thomas M. Lippman, Clifford W. Hicks, Julie A. Bert, Ophir M. Auslaender, Jiun-Haw Chu, James G. Analytis, Ian R. Fisher, and Kathryn A. Moler;

Papers listed at Stanford Evidence for a Nodal Energy Gap in the Iron-Pnictide Superconductor LaFePO from Penetration Depth Measurements by Scanning SQUID Susceptometry Terraced Scanning SQUID Susceptometer with Sub-Micron Pickup Loops Temperature dependence of the half-flux effect Fluctuation Superconductivity in Mesoscopic Aluminum Rings Mechanics of Individual, Isolated Vortices in a Cuprate Superconductor Enhanced superfluid density on twin boundaries in Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 A limit on spin-charge separation in high-Tc superconductors from the absence of a vortex-memory effect Persistent Currents in Normal Metal Rings Images of interlayer Josephson vortices in Tl2Ba2CuO6+d Magnetic field dependence of the density of states of YBa2Cu3O6.95 as determined from the specific heat

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kathryn Moler

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kathryn Moler claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kathryn Moler before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kathryn Moler ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kathryn Moler

In research: Kathryn Moler appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Kathryn Moler in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Kathryn Moler is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1960s births, 21st-century American physicists, 21st-century American women physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kathryn Moler outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Kathryn Moler in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kathryn Moler means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Kathryn Moler out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kathryn Moler in simple terms?

Kathryn Ann Moler (born c. 1966) is an American physicist, and current dean of research at Stanford University. She received her BSc (1988) and Ph.D.

Why does Kathryn Moler matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kathryn Moler?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kathryn Moler.