First Announcment

This is the first announcement of the conference “Waltzing to the Nuclear Limits: Celebrating the contributions of Lee L. Riedinger”, to be held at Sea Pines Resort on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, Feb 25-27, 2011. Please mark these dates on your calendars.

The conference is occasioned by our desire to honor Lee Riedinger. Lee’s accomplishments range from a career in nuclear structure physics spanning over 40 years, to scientific leadership, including his service to the nuclear physics community, the University of Tennessee, and the nation.

The theme of “Waltzing to the Nuclear Limits” builds on Maria Goeppert-Mayer’s analogy describing nuclear single particle motion, and the roles that pairing and rotational motion play in collective motion. These nuclear degrees of freedom characterize stable nuclei, and exotic nuclei at the limits of angular momentum and stability. The theme also incorporates Lee’s talents in another venue.

The conference will start Friday late afternoon and end mid-day on Sunday. Saturday will have morning and late afternoon sessions. There will be a banquet with keynote address Saturday evening. There will also be a poster session. We encourage attendance by graduate students and post-docs.

A block of hotel rooms has been reserved at a discounted rate for the nights of February 25 and 26. Participants can arrive Thursday night and stay Sunday if desired. Thus, there should be ample time to enjoy the area before, during, and after the conference. For example, there might be a Friday afternoon softball game to showcase Lee's undiminished talents (well, that is what we would tell him).

Activities at Sea Pines include excellent tennis and golf facilities, biking, walking, beaches, alligator and bird watching, kayaking, dolphin watching, some low country historical sites, and the possibility to visit beautiful historic Savannah.

Hilton Head is easily reachable. It has its own small airport, Savannah has a much larger one and Charlotte, NC, is a major hub with international connections and with flights to Savannah and Hilton Head. Hilton Head is also within driving distance from a number of places in the Southeast.

Additional details, including information on how to register, will be sent in the second announcement.

We look forward to you joining us in Hilton Head in February, 2011 to celebrate Lee's achievements and discuss the current frontiers of nuclear structure physics.

Best regards,

Rick Casten (for the organizing committee: Ani Aprahamian, Mike Carpenter, RFC, Jolie Cizewski, Daryl Hartley, Filip Kondev, Witek Nazarewicz, and Mark Riley)