The Joy of the Search for Knowledge

The following sections are included:

• Preface

• Contents

The following sections are included:

• Information

• Electrons in New Guises

• Quantum effects become visible

• A new type of quantum fluid

• Direct demonstration of quasiparticles

• Further Reading

This additional background material is written mainly for physicists.

The experimental discovery of the fractional quantum Hall effect, by Horst L. Stormer and Daniel C. Tsui, implied the existence of a previously unknown kind of collective behaviour of electrons. It showed that the physics of electrons in strong magnetic fields is far richer than anyone could have anticipated. The subsequent theoretical explanation of the phenomenon by Robert B. Laughlin, in terms of a new type of quantum fluid, started a major and still active trend in theoretical condensed matter physics. It has had implications also for other fields. The work of Laughlin, Stormer and Tsui has lead to a breakthrough in our understanding of macroscopic quantum effects and to the emergence of an extremely rich set of phenomena with deep and truly fundamental theoretical implications.

我們家在豫(河南省)西寶豐縣一個偏僻落後的小村莊。猶記村外有條 河(或稱渠)像一條玉帶環繞，垂柳夾岸，是村童嬉戯的好地方。夏日游泳 消暑，春秋季節則不論白日月夜，他們或談天説地，或鬥智鬥勇。幼年的 他曾在此留下不少蹤蹟。直到如今，他游泳及太極拳都很熟練，就是在繁 忙工作生活中還常偷閒，以此健身。…

I have to smile when I glance at the latest Pui Ching classmate publication, whose thickness approaches book status. While at first glance the volume might suggest older-age reminiscing or philosophizing, in reality I sense a strong urge to communicate more deeply with classmates who are now lifetime friends. It is remarkable to me that Pui Ching has developed people who, now reaching 60, would envision a book called “The Joy of the Search for Knowledge.” It is a tribute not just to Daniel Tsui, but to Pui Ching, and to each Pui Ching graduate…

I like to think of D. C. Tsui not as an accomplished scientist, nor even so much as a thoughtful teacher, but above all as a man of certain specific and genuine enthusiasms, the object of which might initially seem surprising. As one of his two daughters, I have seen my father wax enthusiastic in everyday yet memorable moments of domestic conversation…

本人移民美國已有多年，適逢十月十五日晚到港準備參加聖公會成立教省大典與探望年老雙親。 一下機已有朋友報導，雙親見報，相問之下，原來崔琦得了諾貝爾獎。 由於家父曾在培正中學任崔琦初中時的中文老師(軍倫理老師)，記者前往訪問，拍照片，而且都以頭條新聞報導。 得知崔琦得了諾貝爾獎，我真是高興得大聲叫起來了，“啊！他是我的同學呢！太好了 ”心裏便靜靜的爲他祷告，求主賜他健康的身體，更有力量，作 出更多的貢獻…

一九九八年十月，崔琦同學等獲諾貝爾物理學槳。 消息公佈，舉世知名，我們培正同學與有榮焉。 崔同學在一九五二年入香港培正中學就饋， 一九五七年畢業，乃輝社同學。 筆者五十年代在香港培正中學任教, 與部份輝社同學有兩年朝夕相處的時間(當時執教初中數學科)。 畢業後彼此常有往還，感请融洽。 五十年代時香港市面不算繁榮，培正乃屬不牟利之私立學校，教職員薪金較香港官立學校爲低。 部份學生家長對學费之負搶亦重, 故學校當局設有助學金，以減輕家長負擔…

培正培正何其光榮，百多年來以教育爲本。 桃李盈門多俊傑。 一九五七年級辉社同學崔琦博士，爲榮獲一九九八年度諾貝莆物理學獎人之一。 爲歷年來第六名華人得此榮譽。崔琦同學畢業培正中學後到美進修，在芝加哥大學獲物理系博士銜。 先在著名的貝莆實驗室研究工作，時有貢獻, 後至普林斯頓大學任教席至今，一心致力高深研究工作。 爲人謙虚誠懇， 潇灑温文，學者風度，品德高尚。 辦事認真不苟且，甚得學校及研究生所器重和敬仰。 崔琦教授苦心研究出新準粒子，形成量子流體，以及半導體物理學運用，於各科技方面，爲量子物理學一大突破。 對將來物理學研究工作創一新境域，是受到全球科學界各方面棰爲重視的發展…

崔琦得一九九八年諾貝爾獎的消息，雖然不出乎物理學界的意外，仍然給我帶來了極大的歡欣。 我相信這是所有華裔人士的共同感受…

1998年的諾貝爾物理學獎得主是美國華裔物理學家崔琦教授。 這一舉世瞻目的獎項頒發給了一位美藉華裔，這則消息着實在華人圈内引起了轟動，尤其在香港更加引人注目，成爲報章的頭條新聞。 崔琦教授出生於中國河南省，十二歲時從大陸遷到香港，就讀於中文學校–培正中學。 高中畢業後赴美國留學深造。 崔教授能獲得科學界的最高榮譽獎項，在亞洲引起這麼大的轟動，與他的成長背景有關。 他的父母都是農民，他十二歲雜開了他在河南的家鄉，拜别了他的父母，孤孤零零地跟随他的姊姊們遠路到香港求學。 在這樣的家庭背景下長大，還能有這樣高的成就, 自然就成了大家議論的一件事情。 而美國是一個移民社會，也是世界上唯一的超級强國，它有今天的成就跟移民的貢獻是分不開的。 本文想籍此討論亞裔， 尤其是華裔在北美留學及深造，並在科學研究與教育界取得成就的背景以及人才回流的問題…

When I first heard the news about Dan Tsui’s Nobel Prize, I was very happy and excited. I was all the more elated to learn that he graduated from Hong Kong Pui Ching Middle School, which is also my alma mater. It goes without saying that the school environment provides the fertile ground for intellectual development of young people. But, what kind of school environment was there in Pui Ching which allowed a great scientist like Dan Tsui to grow and to develop? What are the qualities of the school and the learning experience which helped the students to bring out their creative abilities? What were the political and social conditions in China and Hong Kong which accompanied Dan Tsui as he grew up in his childhood?…

紐約的華爾街聞名於世。它附近的昌巴街Chamber Street卻是每個中國留學生在夏天找工作必到之地。那兒有大大一座建築物，內裹全是職業介紹所，有數十多間公司。其中有一華僑，周重民專爲華人找工作。這對舉目無親的學生們實是唯一的明燈。那年我從田納西州坐巴士到紐約，在李澤洲同學家過宿一晚。翌早便蒙李同學指點到周重民介紹所去找工。 進了周氏的辦公室，填妥申請表格後，我便在室内的數行長椅中坐下。 有人從後拍拍我的肩膊，回頭一看，原來是崔琦同學，趕快起來到他旁邊坐下。我倆異地相逢自是十分興奮快樂。他説我用“廣東話”和辦事人求職是十分明智之舉。他一早來用“普通話”和他相求，蒙以“冷淡”的招待。稍後另有一我們在培正同級的同學來到，用英語求職。這同學坐下後，那辦事人對附近在座的華僑用三字經説，最可憎的是用英語説話的中國人。那同學聽後深知不妙，衹好悄然而離去。崔琦告訴我，據他在這介紹所内短短一小時多的觀察，最受招待的是能説“台山話”的鄉親，其次是“廣東話”，説國語普通話的“撈鬆”則更次，要是以“英文拋”則大概不用希望有所介紹了！但是餐館找人最需要的卻是要熟諳英語的人員，對此顯然的矛盾我倆爲之强笑不已。我們倆那時都是來美國衹一年，靠大 學的獎學金讀書。但其他生活費用得靠夏天工作來維持，實在是有點徬 徨。即如是，在崔琦笑語中使我對人生的樂觀態度更加增强了在介紹所 坐了大半天兩人溜了出來，在唐人街到處看有無“亊求人”的招貼。 結 論還是翌日得回那介紹所比較有希望。 第二天又等了大半日，説“廣東話”的我便蒙介紹到四十二街的一個餐館去當短工。 稍後，崔琦告訴我，他也給介紹到布碌崙去工作了他人緣好，工作勤快，整個暑期便在那兒賺錢了—這是一九五九年六月的事！…

此文原寫於一九九二年，是追憶少年的好時光，和我的同班同學們同歌共笑的生活, 也是我首度和崔琦共在一起上學的時刻。 那時候老師們的循循善誘，對優劣學生一視同仁，培養和增長了我們對知識的渴求。衹是春夢秋雲太匆匆，回頭再看恍如夢。 但崔琦的樂観和客愛有創作性的活動，卻是我數十年來不能忘掉的, 我們的人生，極需要有像崔琦那樣的天真爛漫的樂観精神，才能不懈的去尋找新的知識和純真的生活…

About eight years ago, my husband, Burt, was taking a sabbatical to the Mathematics Department of the University of California at Los Angeles. Since I had received my many degrees in the same department many years ago, we were acquainted with quite a few people in the Department. At that time a member of the faculty was also a Pui cling graduate. A friend commented that my high school seemed to produce a huge number of Ph.D’.s. I mentioned that amonga Pui Ching alumni there were also a lot of M.D’,s, researchers, and people successful in other endeavors. After I heard the news that Dan had been awarded the Nobel Prize, I called my friend and added that any high school had also produced a Nobel Prize winner. Needless to say, I have been very proud to be a Pui Ching graduate and feel very fortunate that I knew Dan as a classmate and a good friend in those Pui Ching years…

我和崔琦在一九五二年同時就讀香港培正初二，那時我是從澳門培正中學轉到香港, 在一九五七年我們舉業的那一年, 李政道、揚振寧獲諾貝爾物理獎, 轟動一時，凡我中國人, 無不興奮，連任教國文的“蟹佬”也寫文章來歌頌揚李“名賢”, 真想到四十年後那時自己同級的同學能與楊李並駕齊驅。 常人都以爲傑出人才出衆，是難能可貴的，每每謂萬中無一, 而在十二億的中國人口中衹有6位諾貝爾獎得主，平均二億中國人才有一位…

崔琦獲諾貝爾獎，不能不說對我有相當大的衝擊。 高興、感嘆、興奮，爲他感到自豪。 朋友同亊也有點不解，説：“原來你們是同班同學！ ”，不知言下之意是不是爲何你毫無建樹？正如王曦光、何汝顯開玩笑地説“我們和崔琦祗差一點點“ 但這一點點”卻有天壤之别，這一點點卻令自己想了好一陣子, 一方面想起自己的真正碌碌無爲, 虚度歲月，但同時也回億起高中時的歡樂歲月。 大部份同學那時的聲音笑貌，仍能模糊地活躍於記憶之中。 崔琦的幾十年如一日的憨厚純樸的笑容，他那沉默踏實的性格，他那孜孜不倦、锲而不捨的追求真理的精神，仍歷歷在目。 樓永靜談到愛班的那種互助小组，三五成群，不但促成共同的學業進步，也造就不少幾十年不渝的友誼…

聽到你獲得諾貝爾獎的時候，我相信我和其他同學一樣, 都有一種不可形容的興奮、 高興和自豪，尤其是我這個在“物理王”教導我們的年代裏常常要徘徊在“補考”邊緣的學生, 因爲我們輝社“愛班”终於也有一位可以和愛因斯坦平起平坐的人物…

崔琦同學榮獲一九九八年諾貝爾獎金，給辉社，培正母校，甚至中華民族都帶來了光彩。 相信各種恭喜的話都有人説過了。 愚見以爲與其晝蛇添足，不如扯東拉西雜談比較來得暢快，大家也省些精力…

盧遂業、黄卓然同學： 您們好！我們近四十年没見面了。這次收到您們的來信，真高興啊！ 何況又是報喜的哩。在此讓我向崔琦同學道賀：極物窮理，盡心知天，科技巔峰，喜見炎黄子孫又奪新高點；母語授課，雙語兼優，求知路上，莫怪紅藍兒女竟是帶頭人！我和崔琦同學並非同級，對他的求知樂所知不多。但作爲培正中學的畢業生，又當了中學教師廿二年，對中學階段如何幫助同學立志上進卻深有體會。 在這方面，“崔琦效應”有啓迪作用, 崔琦同學獲諾貝爾獎有兩重意義：作爲華人，他爲炎黄子孫爭了光；作爲香港培正中學畢業的紅藍兒女，又一次證明中學階段母語授課並不妨礙造就世界級的科技人才…

It was not a surprise to me what Daniel had achieved today — the Nobel Prize. Daniel shares the same dedication and undivided attention to the pursuit of the truth with many of the other scientists and Nobel Prize winners whom I had the good fortune to know during my graduate school years at Harvard University. Although we went to the same school, the Pui Ching Middle School, we were not in the same class. It was only after we graduated from high school that we studied chemistry together at the Special Classes Center, an institution to prepare us for the matriculation of the University of Hong Kong.

I never knew Daniel well, but I can always remember that he is one of the friendliest people and always has a smile hanging on his face — never tense, but relaxed. He seems to me a man of few words, but when he speaks, there is always a sense of humor. Daniel is the greatest person to have around in the chemistry laboratory. Indeed I am sure that all of us who shared classes with him are so proud of his achievement today and so proud of our schools and teachers.

崔琦這次獲得諾貝爾獎，對物理界同行來說， 並不是一件意外之事；但作為一個中國人，一個香港人，和一個培正人，確實是感到興奮和驕傲的。 崔琦在香港的教育是在培正中學接受的，筆者也在培正唸了十年書，所以就談談培正的教育吧。…

Having passed the Chinese High School Certification Examination in 1957 with a distinguished record, Daniel Tsui spent one year at the Special Classes Center in Hong Kong. Our paths met as we went to study at the Center after graduating from the neighboring Clementi Middle School…

Fresh from graduate school and in a state of trepidation, I arrived in the middle of the 1958-59 academic year to take up the duties of a mathematics instructor at Augustana College. I first heard the name Dan Tsui at a dinner table conversation soon after my arrival. Morton Eliason, a recent Ph.D. in theoretical chemistry from the University of Wisconsin and a new addition to the chemistry department of the college, had been pressed into service as a teacher of several mathematics courses because my arrival had been delayed by a semester. The dinner invitation stemmed partly, I think, from a sense of relief and gratitude on the part of Eliason that his mathematics courses could now be handed over to this new instructor. Then Eliason could return to the chemistry courses he thought he had been hired to teach. At dinner Eliason mentioned that a student from Hong Kong was presently taking general chemistry. He thought this Dan Tsui was very good, and although Tsui wasn’t taking any mathematics at the time, Eliason thought we would soon see him in some mathematics courses…

I first met Dan Tsui in late 1958 when he came to study at Augustana College. I remember meeting him in Andreen Hall, the men’s dormitory. He was tall and slender, dressed in a light beige sports jacket and wearing dark brown corduroy pants. He had gold-rimmed eyeglasses on and smiled pleasantly when the house mothers, Mrs. Domeij and Mrs. Magnusson, introduced him to me…

In the fall of 1958, students walking onto the Augustana College campus as freshmen found a small but proud institution, approaching its centennial with a surprisingly wide array of academic programs and a skilled and highly dedicated faculty whose primary aim was the intellectual and moral development of the student. Among the new students was a remarkable young man from Hong Kong. Faculty and staff who were aware of the record and recommendations that accompanied his admissions folder knew that his gifts were profound and rare. He was a “phenom” whose limits, if there were any, would be tested in the laboratory and classroom. To those of us entering the college with him, he was perceived to be an intense, exceptionally kind, and sometimes extravagantly polite classmate — an international student with all of the mystery implied by that category who seemed eager for friendship and the full agenda of student life…

Dear Daniel, There have been many occasions when the pursuit of physics has provided me with moments of pure joy. One such moment occurred a few weeks ago when I read in the morning newspaper that you, the first of my graduate students to receive his Ph.D. — so to speak, my Number 1 son — had just been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. For that, I offer you my heartfelt congratulations. There is no higher award to be received for research in physics. My joy was enhanced by my personal belief that you should have received the prize a decade ago! Since our first association at the University of Chicago, I have taken pride in your achievements and I was instantly proud of this new one…

八年抗戦國難深…

今年冬，紐約市衹下了一場五寸雪，春天可卻是大雨、小雨連綿不絶地來。星期日的母親節(五月十日)也没例外，那天九時我們一行三人，太太少鳳和譚偉贊同學驅車向西南的普林斯頓去。由於車疏，還不到兩小時我們便抵李家樓，和樓館主人李小姐打了個招呼便往找崔琦夫婦的居所。 我雖然以前到過他們的住宅兩次，但因手頭没地圖，衹好停停問問。 幸好這是大學城，走路的人多一點，可惜是十問九不識。好不容易四十多分鐘後才準時到了這崔教授的家園。崔氏夫婦和千金愛蓮早在等待，告以恐餐館人多，“霸位”成問題，還是趕到李家樓後飲茶才談，改由蓮逹嫂帶頭去那茶樓。崔琦走進這美麗的中國酒樓中，才發現十多位的同學朋友已在恭迎，可把他驚異得不停在笑。各同學都是遠道來賀，最遠的是余日健夫婦和樓永靜偕夫婿從波士頓來…

When electrical engineering professor Daniel Chee Tsui won this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics, Princeton’s scientific history came full circle. For it was a Princeton physicist, Cyrus Fogg Brackett, who founded at Princeton the first department of electrical engineering in America in 1889, exactly one hundred years ago…

I first met Dan in 1985. He seemed like the model of a classical Chinese scholar, dressed informally, paying very little attention to anything outside of knowledge and learning, smiling and kind to everyone around him, and always speaking in a half-whisper. I saw a great deal of him and his wife, Linda, in the following years, and I was not surprised to discover that he is learned in many things outside of his field of physics. He never asked anything for himself, only for his students and research staff. They said that he had obtained wonderful research results, but that these were too complicated to explain. They also wondered if he would ever get recognized, as “nice guys finish last”!…

It is with great pleasure that I write to congratulate Dan Tsui on his Nobel Prize award. I first met Dan at a dinner party welcoming new faculty, including myself, to Princeton University. This was in September 1998, before he won the Nobel Prize. I had just come to Princeton from a very rewarding career as chief architect in computer systems at Hewlett-Packard. I was immediately attracted to Dan and his wife, Linda, and we ended up sitting next to each other at dinner. Dan and I chatted all night long on all manner of topics, including the transition from industry to academia, family and our children. I was impressed by Dan’s sensitivity to his daughter’s high school transition difficulties when he moved from Bell Labs to Princeton. It mirrored my situation, moving from Hewlett-Packard, California, to Princeton on the east coast. Dan shared experiences and good advice, and we really seemed to intuitively understand each other, even though we had just met…

“We are here for the Nobel Prize Ceremonies,” we said as the official smiled and stamped our passports. My wife, Virginia, and I were in Stockholm as guests of Daniel Tsui and his wife, Linda, as Dan had just won the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the “fractional quantum Hall effect.” We had always thought that engineers did not get Nobel Prizes, but Dan had shown that it could be done. It was 3 pm on December 7, and night had fallen in Stockholm, which is located 60° North. A snowstorm was swirling outside, in strong contrast to the 75° weather we had left in Princeton only the day before. We took a bus and a taxi to reach the Grand Hotel, which is very grand indeed. Our room had a view of the Royal Palace across the Stockholm harbor and a fleet of pleasure boats, and it had a marble bathroom and a heated towel rack. The Swedes said that this was the biggest snowstorm in three years, which slowed down traffic and caused us to miss a reception and the Literature Lecture…

因為專利出版英文諾貝爾文選之故，今年被諾貝爾基金邀請出席12月10日在斯德哥爾摩(Stockholm)舉行的諾貝爾頒獎的盛典。 同一天也在挪威的奧斯陸(Oslo)頒發諾貝爾和平獎。 在斯德哥爾摩頒的是物理學， 化學，醫學，文學及經濟學諾貝爾獎， 被公認為世界最高榮譽的獎項。 盛典除了獲獎人家屬和瑞典政要外，今年被邀請的貴賓包括了葡萄牙總理，美國及日本的教育部長等等…

Professor Daniel C. Tsui, along with his colleagues Horst Stormer and Robert Laughlin, has just been awarded the highest honor in Physics — the Nobel Prize (1998) — for the discovery of the fractional quantum Hall effect. This highest honor is extremely well deserved and its award represents a great occasion for the entire international scientific community, the young aspiring young scientists, and especially the Chinese scientific community. The fractional quantum Hall effect is observed in a completely new type of quantum fluid matter which contains particles carrying a fraction of the elementary electron charge; it has proven to be a tremendously rich physical phenomenon with potential ramifications reaching far beyond the limits of condensed matter physics. How Dan has been able to defy the odds by using his multifaceted talents and dedication to achieve this highest of all honors should serve as an inspiration to us all!…

The following sections are included:

• A discovery with a huge impact

• States of matters and the orders

• FQH liquids

• The global dancing pattern and the topological orders

• It’s going, going, and still going

• References

星期六下午六時左右，善社的馮天錫同學很辛苦地找回了何厚煌會長從香港不遠萬里帶來的同學通訊培正商學院中小學的報章剪輯的兩件行李，他畢挺的西服加上這兩件惹人注目的行裝沿着孔子大厦到麒麟金閣的短短五分鐘路上引來了不少華僑對他注目微笑、點頭和敬禮，使他有點飄飄然。當他抵逹餐館的電梯前，那招待的部長小姐微笑説：“恭喜崔先生！”馮同學方覺有點不對，回頭一看原來沿途緊跟着他背後的是面帶微笑的崔琦同學！…

各位老師，同學，來賓： 我們培正1957年級輝社同學今晚極之榮幸能參加崔琦同學獲得諾貝爾物理獎的慶祝會。…

寫崔琦，如果要寫他在物理學術上的成就，寫得學術味重一點我没有资格，我連聽他在幹什麼都聽不懂，寫得通俗點卻和其他千百篇報導他的文章大同小異，浪費紙張，因此不如寫寫他個人的一面，紅藍兒女的一面…