Gonzalo Muga, researcher at the University of the Basque Country in Spain, is the new editor-in-chief of EPL, the journal of physics letters owned by the EPS and 16 other national physical societies.

He first served the publication as a deputy editor for 4 years. This mandate, as a support to the editor-in-chief, allowed him to better know the intricacies of the journal. Now at the head of more than 60 co-editors and 3 deputy editors, Gonzalo Muga wishes to « improve the journal in all aspects, which may sound obvious but it really implies hard work » . He will continue the improvements  started by his predecessor Bart van Tiggelen on the setup of Scholar One, a digital publication tool. He also aims at making sure the new classification PhySH (Physics Subject Headings) replacing the PACS (Physics and Astronomy Classification Scheme) runs smoothly.

Other goal is to push further the « Perspectives ». Launched in 2014 by EPL, they are « mini reviews » with a letter format. This publication gives the authors a wide range of possibilities on how to cover a subject. Their reflection can concentrate on their own work or address an entire field. The scheme has encountered quite a success up to now and also brought new readers.

The way to physics

As a teenager, Gonzalo Muga was fascinated by biology. His interest for this field lead him to study chemistry, which at its turn lead him to physical chemistry and in the end brought him to defend a thesis in quantum mechanics, a pure physics domain. He considers all this way a logical track to follow, driven by the will to understand.

Gonzalo has explored since then different topics, in particular non-Hermitian physics and asymmetric devices, such as atom diodes and Maxwell demons,  or the formalisation of time observables in quantum theory.

In the last twelve years  he specialised in shortcuts to adiabaticity (STA), a set of techniques pioneered by his group that are instrumental in implementing new quantum technologies by speeding up processes (for example transport of particles, cooling, or quantum gates) to mitigate or avoid decoherence.  

He is a theoretical physicist oriented towards possible applications. He conceives models and works with laboratories where these models have a chance of being developed and of serving fundamental science, industry or medicine. He believes for instance that investigating in valves (asymmetric devices) at a microscopic level will one day be useful : « I feel like an explorer discovering an uncharted territory. Science should be fun, it should be an adventure. »

Physics in times of SARS-COV-2

When mentioning the pandemic that started in 2020, Gonzalo Muga is clear about the consequences it had on his work. During the first months of lockdown in Spain, he could concentrate on the writing of papers, taking advantage of extra time and a quiet environment. In the long run, he realised however that the productivity went down and that the exchanges with his peers were precious.

Now he combines both ways of working: he continues to write articles while remote working and he spends the rest of the time at University. For him, researchers need to discuss, exchange ideas and they progress much faster when they meet face-to-face : « Scientists need interactions ! » 

More info

• Editorial by Gonzalo Muga in the EPL journal
• STA: shortcuts to adiabaticity
• Time in Quantum Mechanics, Springer, by Gonzalo Muga: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-540-73473-4 and https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-642-03174-8
• View the editorial board of the EPL journal
• Submit your manuscript to EPL :)

Author: Krzysztof Petelczyc

In Poland, 2022 has been announced as the year of Mieczyslaw Wolfke by Polish Physical Society, Warsaw University of Technology, Photonics Society of Poland and the Committee of Physics of Polish Academy of Sciences. Mieczyslaw Wolfke (1883-1947) was a notable Polish physicist, inventor, and advocate of technical physics. In 1920 he published the first ever idea of two-step imaging which is today treated as a pioneering work in holography. In 1927 together with Willem Keesom in Leiden (NL) he discovered a new form of liquid helium, which later was turned out to be superfluid.

This year, we celebrate with many activities popularising the life, achievements, and scientific profile of Prof. Wolfke, aiming to inspire young people with his enthusiasm for science and technology. Our initiatives are based on six key values, the first letters of which form the word WOLFKE: wideness, openness, logic, functionality, knowledgeability, efficiency. On May 27, we will organize a Symposium
combined with the Wolfke Science Picnic on May 28-29. We will create a set of competitions for school students covering art, literature and physical experiments, and a special edition of the "CanSat" challenge under the patronage of ESA. We would like to offer innovative and pro-entrepreneurial workshops "From idea to invention" and complete sets of experimental materials as "do-it-yourself" physics lessons in schools. We will organise special technical research grants from the Centre for Advanced Materials of the Warsaw University of Technology.

Mieczysław Wolfke was a member of the Polish, German, French and Swiss Physical Societies. He was a friend of many European physicists, including Albert Einstein and Luis de Broglie. We invite all physicists in Europe to learn about the history and scientific achievements of Mieczysław Wolfke. We wrote a complete biography of this extraordinary individual - maybe someone is ready to publish an English translation on this occasion.

More info about the Year of Mieczyslaw Wolfke:

• Official website for the celebrations: https://wolfke.fizyka.pw.edu.pl/en
• Article about Wolfke for Photonic Letters of Poland: https://doi.org/10.4302/plp.v13i4.1107

Mieczysław Wolfke (image: National Digital Archives of Republic of Poland)

Author: Luc Bergé

The official centenary celebration of the Niels Bohr Institute took place on the morning of the 3rd of March 2022 in Copenhagen City Hall. Invited guests included the Mayor of Copenhagen, the Danish Crown Prince, the Minister of Higher Education and Science of Denmark and no fewer than 5 Nobel laureates in Physics.

The celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Niels Bohr Institute and the 100th anniversary of the first Danish Nobel Prize in Physics - awarded to Niels Bohr in 1922 – allowed the organisers to pay tribute to Niels Bohr and his legacy. Niels Bohr's atomic model from 1913 was fundamental for the development of quantum theory. Soon after its founding in 1921, the Niels Bohr Institute became one of the world's major centres for physics research. Scientists from around the world collaborated in a unique research community that created the basis for significant advances with a new understanding of quantum mechanics in the 1920s and the origins of nuclear physics in the 1930s.

Luc Bergé, President of the EPS, was invited to this celebration that paid tribute to Niels Bohr's life, work, and legacy, and where the different speakers, politicians or scientists, increased the public awareness of the contributions of physics to our society, and its role in meeting the challenges of the future. He recalled that the EPS declared the Niels Bohr Institute as an EPS Historic Site with great international importance for developments in physics and research in 2013. Since science is a fundamental part of our culture, the EPS has declared particularly important sites as a "Historic Sites" for science. The Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen was selected on this basis: "This is where the foundation of atomic physics and modern physics were created in a creative scientific environment inspired by Niels Bohr in the 1920s and 1930s.

During the official celebration at Copenhagen City Hall, Tomas Bohr, Niels Bohr’s grandson and Aage Bohr’s son, recalled 100 years of physics at the Niels Bohr Institute while reporting touching anecdotes and photos about his family life. The Niels Bohr Institute hosted four Nobel laureates. Niels Bohr won the Nobel Prize in 1922 for his pioneering model of the atom, George de Hevesy received the Nobel Prize in 1943 for his pioneering work in nuclear medicine, and in 1975 Aage Bohr and Ben Mottelson received the Nobel Prize for their model of the structure of the atomic nucleus.

Complete information about the Niels Bohr celebrations in 2022 can be found here: https://nbi.ku.dk/english/about/nbi-celebrations-2022/

The Niels Bohr Institute at Blegdamsvej in Copenhagen (image: Niels Bohr Institute)

The official celebration of the Niels Bohr Institute held at Copenhagen City Hall included three Nobel prize winners: Sheldon Glashow (1979, 1st from the left), Gerard ‘t Hooft (1999, 3rd from the left),  Klaus von Klitzing (1985, 3rd from the right). Maria Leptin (President of the European Research Council, 2nd from the right) and Luc Bergé (EPS President, 1st from the right) were also invited to the celebrations.

January 2022

Luc Bergé had the following activities:
6 January: Meeting with the EPS Secretariat
10-11 January: Interview of the candidates for the position of EPS Secretary General in Mulhouse
18 January: (Short) participation in the IYBSSD 2022 Steering Committee meeting + 7th Preparatory meeting of the EPS Forum
20 January: Interview of candidates for the position of Conference Manager’s assistant
26 January: Participation in the EPS Extraordinary Council at Mulhouse
27 January: Meeting with the Organisation Committee’s members of the EPS Forum + Attending the APS Leadership Meeting + Meeting with Joachim Burgdörfer on EPS Publication issues.

February 2022

Luc Bergé had the following activities:
2 February: Online meeting with Sorbonne University (EPS Forum)
16 - 17 February: Meetings with the EPS Secretariat
17 February: Participation in the TIG Board meeting
18 February: Participation in the Steering Committee Meeting of the IYBSSD 2022.
24 February (morning): Organisation and participation in the 11th WG1 Meeting (link with industry)
24 February (afternoon): Organisation and participation in the 8th preparatory meeting of the EPS Forum
25 February: Organisation and participation in the 10 WG3 Meeting (Physics for development & actions for Eastern Europe)
26 February: Writing of the EPS Statement on the Ukrainian crisis with the Executive Committee Members.
28 February: Relay of the EPS Statement on the social networks and exchange with the Divisions, Groups and EPS Member Societies.

March 2022

28th March: Kees van der Beek, chair of the Equal Opportunities Committee, remitted the Winter 2020 Emmy Noether Distinction to Prof. Maria Garcia Parajo of ICFO (Casteldefells, Spain).

April 2022

April 6 : Interview for PhoenixD Cluster of Excellence - Hannover University
April 8: Point with the EPS Secretariat on the stands at EPS Forum.
April 13: Participation to the Executive Committee, Mulhouse.
April 14: Meeting the EPS Secretariat + Meeting at CICSU, Sorbonne University, Paris for the EPS Forum.
April 19: 10th Preparatory Meeting for the EPS Forum.
April 25: Meeting with EPS Secretariat for the EPS Forum + WG4 Meeting for the recruitment of the next Secretary General 

May 2022

5th May 2022: Kees van der Beek met with IOP representatives in Manchester, U.K. in the framework of the preparations for the CMD29 conference.
25th May: Petra Rudolf inaugurated the Zeeman Laboratory as an EPS Historic Site in Amsterdam.

June 2022

June 2-4: Petra Rudolf was at the EPS Forum and gave a talk on "The landscape of Physics graduates’ career tracks" in the Young Minds Leadership meeting.
June 28: Petra Rudolf gave a talk on "Best practices to improve diversity & inclusion" at the Women in Plasma Physics lunch of the EPS Plasma 2022 Online conference.
June 28-29 Petra Rudolf represented the EPS as observer at the 40th Sesame Council Meeting in Ankara.

September 2022

Luc Bergé had the following activities:
1-2 September: Plenary talk on THz science given in the framework of the BPU11 Congress in Belgrade, Serbia. Attending the closing ceremony of BPU11 Congress with the signature of a cooperation agreement between EPS and the Balkan Physical Union (BPU).
6 September: Attending the Kavli prizes banquet in Oslo, Norway.
8 September: 2nd WG5 meeting on the revision of the EPS constitution and by-laws.
14 September: Meeting DPG about the 2nd EPS Forum.
16 September: Inauguration of the Physics Department of Milan University (Aldo Pontremoli), Italy, as EPS Historic Site.
20-22 September: Attending the IYBBSD 2022 World Conference on Sustainable Development in Belgrade, Serbia (moderation of Session 2).
23 September: Inauguration of the Croatian meteorological and hydrological institute of Zagreb, Croatia, as EPS Historic Site.
29-30 September: Attending the Executive Committee Meeting, Mulhouse, France (online).

Petra Rudolf had the following activites:
9th September: Closing the gender gap: avoid dropout in the postdoc and junior professor phase", DPG-Tagung der Sektion Kondensierte Materie, Regensburg, Germany, September 9th, 2022.
27th September: The EPS Young Minds programme and how to avoid dropout in the postdoc and junior professor phase ", 71th Annual Meeting of the Austian Physical Society, Leoben, Austria, plenary opening talk.
29th-30th September 29 & 30: participated in the EPS ExComm meeting in Mulhouse

October 2022

Luc Bergé had the following activities:
7 October: Inauguration of the Institute of Scientific Studies (IES) Cargèse, France, as EPS Historic Site
11 October: Attending the 12th WG3 Meeting
14 October: Attending the TIG Meeting
19 October: Attending the 13th WG1 Meeting
25 October: First WG Meeting on the EPS publications

28th October 28th: Petra Rudolf gave a lecture on "Molecular Motors and Switches at Surfaces" at the 2nd Physics for Physicists (P4P) Students Conference, organized by the Skopje Young Minds

November 2022

5 November: Petra Rudolf chaired the EPL Board of directors meeting, in Bilbao, Spain

December 2022

Luc Bergé had the following activities:
5 December 2022: Online meeting with Eugenio Nappi, ExCom member.
6 December 2022: 2nd Meeting of the EPS Forum Committee
8 December 2022: Inauguration of the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory as EPS Historic Site
9 December 2022: 2nd Meeting for the organisation of a Working Group on the EPS publications
14 December 2022: Online meeting with Dr. Christiane Koch, Freie Universität Berlin for hosting the 2nd EPS Forum
16 December 2022: Visit to the EPS Secretariat, Mulhouse, and discussion with IAPS board members.

Luc Bergé (president), Petra Rudolf (vice-president), Andreas Schopper, Cornelis van der Beek, David Lee, Eliezer Rabinovici, Eugenio Nappi, Gertrud Zwicknagl, Ian Bearden, Mairi Sakellariadou, Roberta Caruso, Stuart Palmer, Teresa Peña and Ursel Fantz.

Members of the EPS Staff:
David Lee (secretary general), Manon Couqueberg, Xavier de Araujo, Ophélia Fornari, Patricia Helfenstein, Gina Gunaratnam and Ahmed Ouarab.

Members of the EPL Staff:
Frédéric Burr (staff editor), Kevin Desse and Tomy Zede.

Author: Duarte Esteves

On the evening of October 9, 2021, the Lisbon YM section, with the support of the Portuguese Physics Society, organised the very first edition of the “Young Minds Movie Night”. The event took place in the beautiful cloister of the Lisbon Museum of Natural History and Science. This outreach activity targeted a broad and general audience, and the main goal was teaching Physics to everyone in a fun way.

The event consisted of two parts. First, the classic 1985 science fiction film Back to the Future was screened in a familiar and relaxed atmosphere. The participants were invited to bring their blankets and watch the movie with their friends while enjoying complimentary popcorn and beverages provided by us. Besides greatly contributing to the atmosphere, the outdoors setting was essential in order to adhere to the sanitary regulations in place.

Afterwards, Dr Marina Cortês, a researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences of the University of Lisbon and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Canada, gave an exciting lecture entitled “What does time travel have to do with puppets?”. Given the diversity of the audience, Dr Cortês sought clarity while explaining the nature of time as it is currently understood by theoretical physicists, taking the opportunity to dispel some commonly disseminated misconceptions. Of course, inspired by the movie, the (im)possibility of time travel was also examined, which led to a discussion on the concept of free-will under the theory of Einstein’s block universe. In the end, the participants also had the opportunity to ask questions, bringing several other interesting topics to the table in an informal conversation.

Thus, under the pretext of screening a fun movie, it was possible to introduce stimulating and fundamental concepts of modern Physics to our audience, whose ages ranged from 11 to 72 years old. In the end, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with everyone agreeing that it was definitely a very pleasant event which certainly merited a second edition to take place in the near future!

https://www.facebook.com/EPSYoungMindsLisbon

https://www.instagram.com/youngmindslisbon/

image: Afonso Caçador