Report on the RIKEN mission to Hanoi

(October 16 - 22, 1997)

by Nguyen Dinh Dang

This was the third RIKEN mission to Vietnam within the framework of the RIKEN - VAEC cooperation agreement. The RIKEN delegation this time consisted of four members: Dr. T. Ebisuzaki - the director of the Computer Science Laboratory (CSL) of RIKEN, Dr. H.Shimizu - researcher of the Cosmic Radiation Lab. of RIKEN, Mr. H. Furusawa - contract researcher of the CSL, and Dr. N. Dinh Dang - STA fellow of the Cyclotron Lab. of RIKEN and staff-member of the INST-VAEC.

(From left to right) Dr. Shimizu, Dr. Dang, Dr. Ebisuzaki, and Mr. Furusawa in front of the Hanoi University of Natural Sciences

The purpose of this visit is to inspect the work in the setting period of the CCNS and to select the PhD students on computer science, nuclear theory and nonlinear optics to come and conduct research in Japan under the supervision of Dr. T. Ebisuzaki (computer science), Dr. N. Dinh Dang (nuclear theory) and Dr. Ph. Le Kien (nonlinear optics) (Dr. Pham Le Kien is from the university of natural sciences of Hanoi. He is currently working at the Laser Science Lab. of RIKEN).

We arrived in Hanoi on October 16 just in the hot spot of the SEA Games 1997, when Vietnam had entered the semi-finals of the soccer tournament. At the Hanoi airport we saw many airport employees sitting in front of a TV in the middle of the lobby. At 4:00 PM the Hanoi streets were unusually empty as all people were watching the match between Vietnam and Thailand. In the next day, when Vietnam won the bronze medal in the match with Singapore, I witnessed the biggest party, which Vietnam had seen for years. Thousands of people took the streets in Hanoi. An estimated 10,000 revelers, many of them on motorbikes, brought the city center to a standstill.

Soccer fans after Vietnam entered the semi-finals of the SEA games soccer tournament Tuesday night October 14, 1997 (photo from theVietnam Investment Review).

On October 17 we held a one-day lecture at the Institute of Nuclear Science and Technique (INST). Dr. Ebisuzaki lectured on the modern computer science and the research of his group at the CSL. Mr. Furusawa presented the network computing. Dr. Shimizu explained his research in superconducting detector. Finally, I gave a talk on my recent work with Prof. A. Arima on the quantal and thermal dampings of the hot giant dipole resonance. Each lecture was about 1 hour plus about 30 minutes for questions and answers.

On October 18 in the morning we visited the University of Natural Sciences in the outskirts of Hanoi. I was impressed by the changes this university was undergoing. The front building of this university is reconstructed into a massive block with a large lobby. The students look handsome and are well dressed. We were received in a large meeting room by the deputy-director of the university Prof. Nguyen Can, the director of the post graduate faculty Ass. Prof. Nguyen Hoan, many other professors and senior students. After our representations professors and students asked many questions. I have the feelings that our students are more active and self-confident as compared with those of three years ago, when we held the International Conference on the Perspectives of Nuclear Physics in the Late Nineties in Hanoi in March 1994. After the meeting we visited some laboratories and discussed with the professors and students of the department of physics about the selection of PhD students in nuclear theory.

RIKEN delegation visits the Cryogenic laboratory at the Hanoi University of Natural Sciences

In the afternoon of October 18 we had a meeting with Mr. Hung - a 23 year-old technician from the VDC (Vietnam Data Communication Co.), which is the internet provider of the CCNS and also the only internet provider in Vietnam. During the discussion we figured out the solution for a smooth FTP, e-mail and home page services for the CCNS in the condition of a firewall at the VDC. We were impressed by the experience and the smart behavior of Mr. Hung. I believe that the future of science and technology of our country will be bright as we have such people like him.

Discussion with Mr. Hung (left) from VDC. From left to right: Mr. Hung, Dr. Shimizu, Dr. Ebisuzaki, Mr. Furusawa, Mr. N. Hao Quang (CCNS).

The test was held only on Tuesday because of some troubles with the line between CCNS and the VDC. After the connection was restored, the electricity was down. We all were sitting in the darkness during almost four hours. Mr. Furusawa finally figured out how he could check the Internet connection using his laptop, the UPS (with batteries inside) and... a candle. I was about to take a photo of this and was sure that I would win a Guineas record, because may be nowhere in the world we can see that people can set up the internet connection with a candle. But at this very moment the electricity was restored! I lost the chance to win a big prize! This evening was very memorable for us. It was the first time we had a normal internet connection with an acceptable speed at the CCNS. I even called to RIKEN and waked up a Japanese colleague at the Radiation Lab, asking him to check whether he could see our home page at CCNS. We finished our work at around 10:00 PM. If we have in mind that CCNS is the only institute in the whole country wich has its own DNS, then this evening was the first time the scientific community in Vietnam received a normal connection to the world via the internet. Now the rest is on the side of the VAEC and INST, who will have to figure out how to renew the contract on the Internet with the VDC so that the CCNS has a continuous internet connection with the international scientific community, without which the international collaboration between Vietnam and the world using CCNS would be impossible.

On Monday October 20 we held the interview for the candidates to the research work on the PhD. There were about 15 candidates. They were asked to answer the questionnaires during 1 and a half an hour. The questionnaire in computer science was issued by Dr. Ebisuzaki. The questionnaire in nuclear theory and nonlinear optics was prepared in advance in RIKEN by Dr. N. Dinh Dang and Dr. Ph. Le Kien. In the latter there are two parts. In the first part we asked some questions about the autobiography of the student. In the second part of the questionnaire we gave five questions to check the basic knowledge in quantum mechanics, statistical physics and programming ability of the student. I should confess that even though almost all the students (except one) could communicate in English and were rather active, I was disappointed by their background. The candidates to nuclear theory and nonlinear optics came from the Hanoi University of Natural Sciences, Hanoi university of Technology, Institute of Physics, university of Hue. No one from them could answer all the five questions. Even though there were several master students, only one student could write down a program to calculate the product of two matrices. Ironically, this student will be graduated only in the next year. He does not know FORTRAN but he was able to write down the program in PASCAL. Given the fact that all students seemed to be rather smart but did not remember or even understand the elementary questions in quantum mechanics, I think there is some defect in the program of teaching quantum mechanics and statistical physics in our universities. After coming back to RIKEN and discussing with my friend and colleague Dr. Ph. Le Kien, we regret that we could not select them this time, except only one student, whom I asked to revise his knowledge in quantum mechanics and statistical physics by the end of this year so that I would be able to interview him for a second time sometime in the beginning of next year if I could come again to Hanoi. The situation with students on computer science seemed to be better as Dr. Ebisuzaki finally could select one young lady, who has a MSc in computer science and who wanted to earn a PhD in this field. Dr. Ebisuzaki asked her advisor Prof. N. Huu Cong of Hanoi university to organize a colloquium on parallel processing using a book he left at the CCNS. The CCNS staff will also participate in the colloquium. We have discussed this matter with the directorate of the INST and we hope to receive their strong support on this activity.

The candidates to PhD students in computer science, nuclear theory and nonlinear optics answer the questionnaires.

In the afternoon of October 21 after a short visit to the Center of Nuclear Physics (National Center for Natural Sciences) we had a final meeting with the deputy director of the INST professor Hoang Dac Luc and other staff-members of the INST. At this meeting we have agreed on the following points:

1) The troubles of the CCNS with the Internet connection via VDC have been resolved in a tight collaboration with the VDC. The internet connection of the CCNS can now work with a normal speed. The email, Telnet, FTP and home page services are normal. From now on it is the responsibility of the INST and VAEC to renew the contract with the VDC to provide the CCNS with a continuous internet connection, without which the international cooperation between Vietnam and the world via the CCNS would be impossible.

2) The period of establishing the CCNS has been finished. From now on the INST and VAEC as well as other research institutes and universities in Vietnam are recommended to propose various and concrete research projects with RIKEN in order to take the advantage of the CCNS. The administrative structure of the CCNS must also be decided in order to achieve a more effective management of the center. Some of these projects are already going to start. We are looking forward to the arrival of Dr. Le Hong Khiem of the Institute of Physics in RIKEN as a Nishina Memorial Fellow. Dr. Khiem will be involved in a program on data analysis, initiated by Dr. I. Tanihata - the director of LINAC of RIKEN. With the participation of Dr. Khiem we hope to be able to open a project on data analysis in Vietnam using the CCNS.

The RIKEN mission left Hanoi on October 22. Before ending this report, I would like to express our gratitude to the CCNS, INST, VAEC, Hanoi university of Natural Sciences and the Center of Nuclear Physics (NCNS) for the warm hospitality extended to us during our stay in Hanoi. We also thank the VDC and Hanoi Central Telecommunication for their constructive cooperation in testing the internet connection. Special thanks are due to the CCNS staff: Mr. Nguyen Tien Dung, Dr. Le Chi Dung, Mr. Nguyen Hao Quang, and Miss Hai Ninh for their hard work in keeping the CCNS in the good working condition as well as their effort in getting the CCNS connected to the Internet.