image credit: University of Basel

22nd September 2023, University of Basel
Original publication: Website of the Swiss Physical Society

The event is intended to honor Daniel Bernoulli (1700-1782, a member of the world-renowned Bernoulli family of mathematicians and scientists that had been based in Basel since 1623), especially for his role in the development of physics in Switzerland, Europe, and the world, by making the original site of his research in Basel, the Physics Cabinet in the Stachelschützenhaus, an EPS Historic Site.

Daniel Bernoulli (1700-1782) studied initially medicine in Basel, Heidelberg, and Strasbourg, concluding with a thesis on respiration (containing experimental and mathematical approaches). During his scientific life he worked across many disciplines (with a focus on physics and its mathematical foundations). In 1725 he was appointed to the St. Petersburg Academy. In 1726 Leonhard Euler followed him to St. Petersburg. Later on Bernoulli intended to return to Basel for a chair in physics. But only after a vacancy in 1733 he was first successful in obtaining a professorship in anatomy and botany, being offered finally a professorship in physics in 1750. He then taught physics until 1776.

His most comprehensive work, the "Hydrodynamica" of 1733/1738 achieved a fundamental advance in hydrodynamics and laid the foundation for later progress, which included the well-known "Bernoulli Principle", relating the speed of a fluid to its potential energy. He published 74 papers and won a total of 10 Grand Paris Academy Prizes for topics in astronomy, physics, and applications to nautical problems. He was a pioneer in the development of mathematical physics by using the powerful calculus of Leibniz in Newton’s theories.

Bernoulli's predecessor as professor of physics at the University of Basel, Benedict Staehelin (1695-1750), had started a collection of physics devices and instruments that he had acquired for demonstration purposes. These pieces were set up in the 'Physics Cabinet' (the south wing of the "Stachelschützenhaus", built in 1729). Bernoulli added many more apparatuses for his research and lectures on physics – among them the experiment for the "Demonstration of the Hydrostatic Paradox" – which demonstrates that the pressure in a liquid is independent of the shape of the vessel and depends only on the height of the liquid column. Bernoulli had thus significantly expanded the collection of Basel's 'Physics Cabinet'.

While the "Stachelschützenhaus" has later been used by various other University Institutes (presently it hosts the Clinical Virology), it was the place, where Daniel Bernoulli worked for a quarter of a century, undertook research and gave his public experimental physics lectures that enjoyed great popularity. For this reason the EPS has accepted our proposal to make the "Stachelschützenhaus" an EPS Historic Site. The inauguration will take place on 22nd September 2023.

Organisation: Philipp Treutlein, Chair of the Physics Department, Ernst Meyer, President Platform MAP/SCNAT, Friedrich-Karl Thielemann, Prof. emer.

Overview of the program

The Quantum Electronics and Optics Division (QEOD) of the European Physical Society is happy to announce its 2021 and 2023 prizes. The following prizes are attributed:

• EPS-QEOD Quantum Electronics Prize
  Miles Padgett, Vahid Sandoghdar and Giulio Cerullo

• EPS-QEOD Fresnel Prizes
  Xiaochun Gong and Zuo Chao

• EPS-QEOD Thesis Prizes
  Andrea Schirato, Shima Rajabali, Gur Lubin and Sebastian Ecker

Download the complete announcement with all prizes and biographies of the winners here. The prizes were awarded at CLEO®/Europe-EQEC 2023 on Tuesday 27th June 2023 in Munich, Germany.

More info

• Press release
• Website of EPS QEOD
  

Images by Stefan Heigl - more on the CLEO©Europe/EQEC website

Author: Nadav Katz

On 19th April 2023, the Racah Institute of Physics at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel, was declared as an EPS Historic Site by the European Physical Society (EPS). Luc Bergé, EPS president, inaugurated the site in the presence of invited guests.

This is the first EPS Historic Site distinguished in Israel. Prof. Hanoch Gutfreund and Prof. Eliezer Rabinovici, of the Hebrew University, initiated the nomination of the institute.

Guilio Racah (1909-1965) joined the Hebrew University in 1940 when he was forced to leave Italy due to anti-Semitic persecution. Racah brought with him up-to-date knowledge of modern physics from the European scientific community which he acquired by working closely with world leaders such as Enrico Fermi and Eugene Wigner. For twenty-five years after his arrival, Racah led a revolution in the theoretical understanding of atomic spectroscopy and developed advanced group-theory based tools for the analysis of nuclear systems and elementary particles. Racah educated generations of Israeli scientists and is considered one of the fathers of theoretical physics in Israel.

His work put the Hebrew University and the Racah Institute of Physics on the world map of physics.

From left to right: Prof. Tamir Shefer (Rector of the Hebrew University), Dr. Luc Bergé (EPS president),
Profs. Eliezer Rabinovici, Hanoch Gutfreund and Nadav Katz (Hebrew University).

Images: Racah Institute

Author: EDP Sciences

We are pleased to share the latest news from EDP Sciences.

News from the European Physical Journal (EPJ)

Joint meeting of the Scientific Advisory and Steering Committees of the European Physical Journal

Image credit: Maria Sutter

For two days in April, more than 40 representatives of national physical societies and of the EPJ publishers and many of the journals’ Chief Editors gathered at EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology) near Zurich under the chairmanship of the Swiss Physical Society to discuss all aspects of modern scientific publishing - ranging from individual journal development to improving support for early career researchers and the implementation of DEI principles at all levels.

In particular, the EPS Young Minds’ invited talk provided some excellent insights into what the next generation of scientists feels in terms of constraints and opportunities in this context. 2023 marks the 25^th anniversary of the launch of the EPJ and, as part of this year’s special initiatives, EPJ expressly invites young career researchers organizing, specifically, meetings for their peers to apply for sponsorship.

EPJ Applied Physics – topical issue

EPJ AP is pleased to announce completion of the special issue on “Amorphous alloys and multiscale materials: Fundamental aspects and Energy applications” edited by Zhao Zhankui, Wang Hongli and Tai Cheuk-Wai. We hope you enjoy the articles which include “Micro- and nano-sized materials for solar evaporators: a review”.

EPJ Photovoltaics – Editorial Board

EPJ Photovoltaics is pleased to share its updated Editorial Board under Editors-in-Chief Prof. Pere Roca i Cabarrocas, Laboratoire de Physique des Interfaces et des Couches Minces, and Dr. Jean-Louis Lazzari, Centre Interdisciplinaire de Nanoscience de Marseille. Editors from Europe are joined by international colleagues from Qatar, Australia and Japan.

EPJ N Nuclear Sciences & Technologies – new ‘Key Summary’

“Optimising spent nuclear fuel storage in Europe” is the latest ‘Key Summary’ from EPJ N and looks at an extensive review in EPJ N by members of the EURAD consortium. The review explores the parameters involved in choosing safe long-term storage solutions for spent radioactive fuel and recommends best practice for the industry. The ‘Key Summary’ also hears from author Dimitri Alexandre Rochman.

Astronomy & Astrophysics and Subscribe to Open (S2O)

Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) recently announced that it will continue to publish its research in open access for the second consecutive year under Subscribe to Open (S2O). In contrast to other core astronomy journals that have transitioned or will transition to open access via the Gold (APC) route, A&A has chosen S2O to achieve immediate open access while minimizing any potential disruption to authors or subscribers. Find out more.

Société Française de Physique 150^th anniversary – Master classes itinérantes

The first in a series of five Masterclasses on “Science publishing and Open Science” recently took place in Nice. Next stop Lyon for which registration is still open!

German Physical Society Spring Meeting - Europhysics Letters

There were four winners of the “EPL best poster prizes” at the Spring Meeting of the German Physical Society (DPG) that took place from 26-31 March 2023 at the Technical University Dresden. Congratulations to Anna C. Jäkel, Aleksandr Kostarev, Nico Schramma and Laura Strampe.

Book news - The Basics of Electron Transport in Spintronics

‘The basics of electron transport in Spintronics – Textbook with lectures, exercises and solutions’ by Vincent Baltz, CNRS researcher and group leader at SPINTEC. Based on a series of lectures given to MSc and PhD students, this book will appeal to a wide range of readers, from students at the graduate level to researchers and engineers. It allows the reader to navigate easily between concepts and to gain a broad view of spin-dependent electron transport. Learning is supported by ten extended exercises with complete solutions. Order directly from the EDP Sciences Bookstore or via your favourite online book shop.

Don’t forget our SFP anniversary books discount code - PHYS234 - valid until the end of June 2024! We are delighted to offer a 5% discount on EDP Sciences books in the following series: Savoirs Actuels / Une introduction à / Sciences & History / Enseignement Sup Physique.

With our best wishes from ‘Paris in Spring’

EDP Sciences