What follows is not really an editorial but most a description of ongoing activities based on a presentation I gave at the EPS Council on 7^th of April in Paris.

With a series of events and actions, the EPS remembers this year its foundation that took place in 1968 at the University of Geneva. Under the impulsion of the Italian physicist Gilberto Bernardini, the creation of this truly international cooperative venture in physics became reality with the aim to contribute to the strength of European cultural unity. Initially consisting of 62 individual members representing 20 countries the EPS has grown to become the large learned society and umbrella organisation of today, grouping 42 national physical societies in Europe.

Thinking about it, 1968 was in fact a year of big turmoil: Vietnam War, assassination of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King in the USA, the invasion of Prague, student revolts in France and worldwide political and social protest movements. The new hippie and baby boomer generation was up. In science and technology 1968 was dominated by space exploration, with the Soviet space craft Zond 5 and the Apollo missions heading around the moon Breakthroughs happened in computer science with the ‘Mother of all Demos’ made in Stanford by Douglas Engelbart [1], or in physics with the first use of a multiwire proportional chamber for particle detection by Georges Charpak and in medicine with the second successful human heart transplant performed by Dr. Christiaan Barnard in South Africa.

Well, the world has changed quite a bit since then! And not always for the better.

The first action decided by the EPS50 organisation committee for 2018 was to create a logo. The final version illustrates the deformation of space-time by a heavy mass according to Einstein’s general relativity theory. It is also a reference to the newly created Gravitational Physics Division. The second action was to collect as many documents as possible tracing the history of EPS in order to write several contributions from its foundation to today in two separate issues of Europhysics News (EPN). The first EPN 49/2 issue has already appeared with 11 short chapters covering among others, the respective developments of Member Societies, Divisions and Groups, and Associate Membership or discussing the Eat-West relations, the Hungarian connection and the move to Mulhouse. Another series will be published in EPN 49/3. A third action was the creation of twelve banners covering several topics of Physics in YOUR life, from the invention of the lasers, the GPS or MRI to the application of physics to the analysis and preservation of our cultural heritage. A pin was also created with the sentence “Responsible science for a better world”. Why responsible? Because today scientists, like their learned societies, have important roles to play in promoting research and innovation but also in producing objective scientific evidenceto positively influence politicians, policy makers and the public on the actual grand societal challenges.

Several EPS50 events have already been or will be organised by divisions and groups or national societies. One session took place in March during the joint DPG-EPS CMD27 Spring meeting in Berlin, a second one at EPS Council on 7 April in Paris, another one will be organised in June during the SEENET-MTP (South European Network in Mathematics and Theoretical Physics) workshop or school at the University of Nis, Serbia. But the next important official event will be the ‘Festakt’ on the 28 September in the Aula Magna of the University of Geneva where it all started. A nice program is being prepared with four high-level invited speakers and many invited VIPs. The following day an EPS Forum on Physics and Society will be organised on the topic ‘Physics and ethics for society in the Horizon 2050‘, using this opportunity to look into the future of EPS and physics in general. The EPS History of Physics group will meet in October for a workshop in San Sebastian (ES) and by the same token will have a session devoted to EPS50 and participate in the inauguration of the Laboratorium in Bergara, a new EPS historic site celebrating the discovery of wolframium or tungsten in 1783 by the Elhuyar brothers.

An interesting project is the preparation of a booklet summarizing all the EPS historic sites that have been inaugurated up to now and which will be presented at the ‘Festakt’ in Geneva. The EPS Young Minds sections will also contribute with specific activities to the EPS anniversary, in particular with a photography contest. Last but not least, the EPL Association has decided to set aside a special fund for activities related to the EPS anniversary.

Now it is evident that the celebration of this EPS 50th anniversary can be shared by all National Physical Societies and all Individual Members willing to contribute in any manner. Ideas and new initiatives are still welcome.

Christophe Rossel
chair of the EPS 50th Anniversary Planning Committee

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mother_of_All_Demos

The meeting kicked off on Friday, May 4, with welcome words from Prof. Igor Jex, Dean of the Faculty, and Dr. Jaroslav Bielčík, head of the Physics Department of the Prague Section of  UCMP. Afterwards, during the Action Committee welcome, Ms. Roberta Caruso was announced as the new YM chair. The morning programme continued with a lecture on the quark-gluon plasma by Dr. Jana Bielčíková, head of the Nuclear Spectroscopy Department of the Nuclear Physics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences and talks from YM delegates about their activities. After lunch, the delegates from the different sections had a chance to present the most interesting activity of their section in a poster session to compete for a prize sponsored by the Europhysics Letters journal. Although it was very difficult for the YM Action Committee to pick the best activity, in the end, the first place was awarded to the YM section of Kharkiv in Ukraine, and the second went to the YM section of Trieste in Italy.

In the afternoon, delegates continued presenting their sections’ activities. This was followed by team-building activities and a talk on the publication process in the scientific world, given by the editor-in-chief of the Europhysics Letters journal, Dr. Bart van Tiggelen.

The highlight of the meeting was a panel discussion named “Importance of Science in Society”, which broached many stimulating topics, such as the relation of science and politics, or how scientists can react to “fake news”. The panellists were Dr. Rüdiger Voss, president of the European Physical Society, Dr. Vojtěch Petráček, rector of CTU Prague, Prof. Vlastimil Růžička, rector emeritus of the University of Chemistry and Technology, and Prof. Jan Řídký, vice-president of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The day pleasantly concluded with the conference dinner in a venue with picturesque views of the Prague castle and the night-time city.

The second, and last, day of the meeting started with a talk about quantum walks by Prof. Igor Jex, and continued with more sections’ presentations. In the afternoon the delegates had an opportunity to discuss the future of YM with the AC members.

To close the programme, a physics-focused Prague tour named “Prague Mathematical, Physical and Astronomical Rambles” took place, organized and guided by Dr. Alena Šolcová from UCMP.

Photos from the 7th EPS YM Leadership Meeting can be found on the Facebook page of the Prague EPS Young Minds section: https://www.facebook.com/EPSYMPrague/

The event at UNESCO headquarters was inaugurated by the Director-General of UNESCO Audrey Azouley who highlighted the important role of light sciences in sustainable development, and who also stressed how UNESCO was delighted to continue strengthening its collaboration with the international scientific community around the important theme of light. The celebration at UNESCO included a wide range of presentations, including two talks by Nobel Laureates, and two roundtables that saw discussion of topics such as the importance of light in science and culture, and the need for improved science-policy dialogue.  A special message in support of the International Day of Light was received from the International Space Station, and teacher-student representatives from one of UNESCO’s Associated Schools spoke on the importance of UNESCO support for their learning activities. A live science show from Brussels Photonics showed hands-on the importance of optical fibre technology. 

Interactive artwork at the IDL2018 exhibition

Cultural events also marked the inaugural celebration, with exterior illumination of the UNESCO headquarters by Kari Kola, and an immersive light show by Nono Maya and OCUBO.  And in what was a first for UNESCO, artists, diplomats and scientists combined together to create a massive light-painting mural inside the UNESCO auditorium. The theme of light was also central to musical performances by soprano Katerina Mina, and indeed, she opened the celebrations with a new composition by Linda Lamon especially written in homage to Stephen Hawking. Accompanying the presentations in the auditorium was an exhibition from the Museum of Light in Mexico, which traced the impact of light on humanity through the ages.  Other exhibits included artistic works from the Light Painting World Alliance, a Virtual Reality demonstration, and the interactive light sculpture PYRAMIDION by Milène Guermont. For pictures from the event, please visit the UNESCO Flickr page.

Light painting with the audience of IDL2018

The International Day of Light was widely celebrated worldwide with hands-on activities in schools, festivals, scientific conferences, light-painting installations, open labs, night-sky observations, workshops, competitions, online activities, lectures and more.  To illustrate the diversity of these activities, we can highlight a small selection:

• The Parliaments of Sweden and the Republic of Korea organised events to commemorate the International Day of Light.
• Signify (formerly known as Philips Lighting) announced the ‘Light for Better Learning’ Campaign which will light up over 90 schools around the world in partnership with UNESCO.
• Ghana inaugurated its first Museum of Light and Light-based Technologies at the Museum of Science and Technology to mark the observation of International Day of Light.
• UNESCO schools around the world joined the International Day of Light by organising a range of educational activities.
• The Auckland Harbour Bridge (New Zealand) was lit at 12.01 am on the 16 May, representing the first commemoration of the International Day of Light anywhere in the world.
• The European Physical Society, member of the IDL Steering Committee, exhibited a series of posters “Physics in YOUR life” at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris to celebrate the Society’s 50th anniversary.

​“Together, we have made the first International Day of Light 16 May celebration a success,” says the IDL Steering Committee Chair John Dudley. “Now it is time to keep working together and start thinking about the 2019 edition to make this a celebration that will pave the way for the years to come.”  The enthusiasm for the International Day of Light goes well-beyond May 16th and different organisations are still launching activities in the coming months. Check the IDL Event programme for more information about activities.

Music & light performance with singer Katerina Mina and songwriter Linda Lamon

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Solar flares are caused by magnetic reconnection in space and can interfere with our communications satellites, affecting power grids, air traffic and telephony. Now, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have found a new way to imitate and study these spectacular space plasma phenomena in a laboratory environment. Image: NASA/SDO/AIA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Solar flares, cosmic radiation, and the northern lights are well-known phenomena. But exactly how their enormous energy arises is not as well understood. Now, physicists at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have discovered a new way to study these spectacular space plasma phenomena in a laboratory environment. The results have been published in the renowned journal Nature Communications. Scientists have been trying to bring these space phenomena down to earth for a decade. With our new method we can enter a new era, and investigate what was previously impossible to study. It will tell us more about how these events occur,” says Longqing Yi, researcher at the Department of Physics at Chalmers.

The research concerns so-called ‘magnetic reconnection’ – the process which gives rise to these phenomena. Magnetic reconnection causes sudden conversion of energy stored in the magnetic field into heat and kinetic energy. This happens when two plasmas with anti-parallel magnetic fields are pushed together, and the magnetic field lines converge and reconnect. This interaction leads to violently accelerated plasma particles that can sometimes be seen with the naked eye – for example, during the northern lights.

Magnetic reconnection in space can also influence us on earth. The creation of solar flares can interfere with communications satellites, and thus affect power grids, air traffic and telephony.

In order to imitate and study these spectacular space plasma phenomena in the laboratory, you need a high-power laser, to create magnetic fields around a million times stronger than those found on the surface of the sun. In the new scientific article, Longqing Yi, along with Professor Tünde Fülöp from the Department of Physics, proposed an experiment in which magnetic reconnection can be studied in a new, more precise way. Through the use of ‘grazing incidence’ of ultra-short laser pulses, the effect can be achieved without overheating the plasma. The process can thus be studied very cleanly, without the laser directly affecting the internal energy of the plasma. The proposed experiment would therefore allow us to seek answers to some of the most fundamental questions in astrophysics.

“We hope that this can inspire many research groups to use our results. This is a great opportunity to look for knowledge that could be useful in a number of areas. For example, we need to better understand solar flares, which can interfere with important communication systems. We also need to be able to control the instabilities caused by magnetic reconnection in fusion devices,” says Tünde Fülöp.

The study on which the new results are based was financed by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundation, through the framework of the project ‘Plasma-based Compact Ion Sources’, and the ERC project ‘Running away and radiating‘.

Portrait pictures: Peter Widing (Tünde Fülöp) and Mia Halleröd Palmgren (Longqing Yi)

A new way of studying magnetic reconnection. The picture shows the experiment setup. The laser (the red triangle on the right) hits the micro-scale film (the grey slab), which splits the beam like a knife. Electrons accelerate on both sides of the ‘knife’ and produce strong currents, along with extremely strong, anti-parallel magnetic fields. Magnetic reconnection occurs beyond the end of the film (the blue frame). The magnetic field is illustrated with black arrows. The boomerang-like structures illustrate the electrons in the different stages of the simulation. The rainbow colours represent the electron transverse momenta. Illustration: Longqing Yi

The scientific article was published in the journal Nature Communications.

‘Relativistic magnetic reconnection driven by a laser interacting with a micro-scale plasma slab’

More Information:

Tünde Fülöp, Professor, Department of Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, +46 72 986 74 40, tunde [dot] fulop [at] chalmers [dot] se
Longqing Yi, Postdoctoral researcher,Department of Physics,Chalmers University of Technology,+46 31 772 68 82, longqing [at] chalmers [dot] se

The 2018 Kavli Prize in Astrophysics for 2018 is awarded to Ewine van Dishoeck, Leiden University, Netherlands, “for her combined contributions to observational, theoretical, and laboratory astrochemistry, elucidating the life cycle of interstellar clouds and the formation of stars and planets.”

The Kavli Prize in Nanoscience for 2018 is shared between Emmanuelle Charpentier, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin, Germany, Jennifer A. Doudna, University of California, Berkeley, USA, Virginijus Šikšnys, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania, “for the invention of CRISPR-Cas9, a precise nanotool for editing DNA, causing a revolution in biology, agriculture, and medicine.”

The Kavli Prize in Neuroscience for 2018 is shared between A. James Hudspeth, Rockefeller University, New York, USA, Robert Fettiplace, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA and Christine Petit, Collège de France/Pasteur Institute, Paris, France, “for their pioneering work on the molecular and neural mechanisms of hearing.”

Read more about the laureates and the prize ceremony on the website of the Kavli Prize Foundation.

Anna Martinez explains the human eye functioning

That’s why the Physics Department “Ettore Pancini” together with the Department of Industrial Engineering, both of the University of Naples Federico II, and the Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent Systems of the National Research Council proposed “Light, Colour and Vision”, a full day dedicated to both the celebrations. The event, made possible thanks to the participation of several sponsors including the European Physical Society, was structured in two sessions aimed at different audiences.

In the morning, eight speakers from very different fields, from neuroscience to the psychology of perception, from the lighting design of environments to optometry, alternated in the church of the Monumental Complex of the SS. Marcellino and Festo in front of an audience of two hundred students, from university and the last year of high school. Prof. Antonio Sasso opened the session with an overview of the last 50 years of optics.

In the afternoon, the event moved to Piazza San Domenico Maggiore with a host of activities for the general public, aimed to show how light and photonic technologies play a central role in daily lives. Students of physics, engineering, and optics and optometry have carried out hands on experiments. Among them are also the members of the EPS Young Minds section of Naples. The beauty and fascination of optical illusion has attracted the public, thanks to a 13 panel exhibition.

Combining these two celebrations gave the audience a measure of how scientific research can lead to wonderful developments in 50 years, such as the laser or applications of quantum optics.

For more information, visit the event website: http://www.fisica.unina.it/dayoflight2018

Volunteers on the Piazza San Domenico Maggiore

SPS Bulletin

We mention the article of Gino Isidori about ‘Lepton Flavor Universality Violations’, indicating that new measurements may question our understanding of elementary interactions within the Standard Model. Further interesting are two articles with respect to Gravitational Waves: the first one describing the long and hard road of the detector development to circumvent all the noise contributions, and a second one reporting on a symposium ‘100 years of Applying and Interpreting General Relativity’, organized by a group of Physics historians and philosophers.

The Network has since grown to include 23 institutions from 11 different countries, as well as more than 450 individual members. There are also 13 partner institutions worldwide supporting the Network’s efforts.

The main objectives of the SEENET-MTP are: providing a regional framework for institutional capacity-building in Mathematical and Theoretical Physics; strengthening the cooperation among faculties, research institutions, groups and individual scientists in South-East Europe; fostering joint scientific and research activities – regional and interregional, in a both European and worldwide context; promoting the exchange of students and encouraging communication between gifted pupils; promoting physics and science in general.

Over the course of 15 years, the Network has implemented or is currently implementing more than 18 projects. The main patrons and partners of the Network in this period were UNESCO (Paris and Venice Office), the CEI and ICTP Trieste, EPS, CERN, DAAD and DFG, as well as the Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics, University of Niš and the Serbian and Romanian Ministries of science.

The cooperation between the EPS and SEENET-MTP dates back to a decade ago and had a further reinforcement at the Kick-off Meeting of the EPS Committee of European Integration (EPS-CEI) during the Balkan Workshop BW2013 (Vrnjačka Banja, Serbia). The EPS-CEI and SEENET-MTP have ever since collaborated in domains of mutual interest and activities, such as supporting exchanges of physicists across South-Eastern and Central-Eastern Europe and training of the new generation of physicists, supported at a pan-European level. In 2017 the two parties initiated a process of signing the Memorandum of Agreement.

Scientific collaboration in the SEENET-MTP framework resulted in the publication of more than 225 joint papers, as well as around 15 monographs and Network conference proceedings. More than 300 scientific exchanges (both researchers and students) were realized in this period, and 30 Network meetings took place, with about 1500 participants in total. The Network is also involved in training activities for teachers and students.

The joint CERN – SEENET-MTP PhD Training Program (2015-), actively supported by the EPS and EPS-CEI, as well as the ICTP, is approaching the finalization of its first cycle. Four Schools were held so far. The fifth School – BS2018 “High Energy and Particle Physics: Theory and Phenomenology”, is to be held in Niš, Serbia, 3-10 June 2018. More than 80 PhD and MSc students already took part in this program.

The SEENET has an active role in the education of high-school students. Members of the Network played a crucial role in the creation of the Specialized class for high-school students gifted in physics in Niš in 2003, which produced many quality physicists.

The Network will mark the 15 years of its existence during its central events – the BSW2018, which consists of the aforementioned School and the BW2018 Workshop, entitled “Field Theory and the Early Universe”, June 10-14, 2018, Niš, Serbia. The Workshop topics will cover open problems in particle physics and cosmology, and, as always, in (inter)regional cooperation. The BSW2018 is organized by the SEENET and its Office and Centre in Niš, Faculties of Sciences in Niš and Craiova, with a close cooperation and support from CERN, CEI and ICTP Trieste, EPS, as well as a logistical support from Physical Society Niš. Around 40 students will take part in the School, while the Workshop will number more than 50 participants.

The EPS 50 year jubilee will be marked along with the SEENET-MTP anniversary during the BW2018, with the EPS President Rüdiger Voss, EPS Secretary General David Lee, leaders of the Balkan Physical Union and numerous guests partaking in the event.