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EPJ H Highlight - The Quark Model: A Personal Perspective
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- Published on 15 November 2023
The properties of hadrons - both protons and neutrons, and heavier short-lived particles - are explained by the quark model. This was introduced by André Petermann (whose 1963 paper, in French, went unnoticed for 50 years); Murray Gell-Mann (whose insistence that they are purely mathematical entities discouraged take-up of the idea); and George Zweig.
The idea that protons and neutrons were composed of even smaller particles, with non-integral electric charges, was proposed in 1963/64 by Andre Petermann, George Zweig and Murray Gell-Mann, who dubbed them ‘quarks’. It was not until the mid-1970s, however, that the quark model became widely accepted. Chris Llewellyn Smith, now an emeritus professor at the University of Oxford and formerly the Director-General of CERN who put together the proposal to build the Large Hadron Collider, has published a ‘personal perspective’ on the development of the quark model and of the theory of the force that holds them together (quantum chromodynamics or QCD) in EPJ H: Historical Perspectives on Contemporary Physics. He had a ringside seat as a student in theoretical particle physics at Oxford from 1964-7, as a post-doctoral Fellow at CERN and at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center where experiments that confirmed the reality of quarks were performed.
EPJ E Topical review - Lift at low Reynolds number
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- Published on 14 November 2023
In hydrodynamics, a lift phenomenon arises when a force acts on an object perpendicularly to its initial motion. In everyday life, we are familiar with this effect allowing for instance planes to take off or soccer balls to follow bent trajectories. For such big and fast objects, inertia combines with symmetry breaking (wing shape profile or ball rotation) to give rise to lift. However, lift forces are also at play at low Reynolds numbers, i.e. for small objects or slow flows where fluid viscosity dominates over inertia.
EPJ D Topical Issue: Physics of Ionized Gases and Spectroscopy of Isolated Complex Systems: Fundamentals and Applications
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- Published on 06 November 2023
Guest Editors: Bratislav Obradović, Jovan Cvetić, Dragana Ilić, Vladimir Srećković and Sylwia Ptasinska
This EPJ D Topical Issue presents selected papers covering a wide range of topics from fundamental studies to applications of ionized gases: Atomic Collision Processes - Electron and Photon Interactions with Atomic Particles, Heavy Particle Collisions, Swarms and Transport Phenomena; Particle and Laser Beam Interactions with Solids - Atomic Collisions in Solids, Sputtering and Deposition, Laser and Plasma Interaction with Surfaces; Low Temperature Plasmas - Plasma Spectroscopy and other Diagnostic Methods, Gas Discharges, Plasma Applications and Devices; General Plasmas - Fusion Plasmas, Astrophysical Plasmas and Collective Phenomena.
EPJ Plus Highlight – Magnetic Shielding for Particle Detectors
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- Published on 06 November 2023
Carefully positioned wire coils can improve photodetector efficiency by counteracting Earth’s magnetic field
Particle physicists who hunt for neutrinos, cosmic-rays, and other charged particles rely on sophisticated instruments that detect very faint bursts of light given off when incident particles interact with a medium. The most common such instruments, called Cherenkov detectors, use photomultiplier tubes to capture as much of this light as possible. This provides a meaningful signal from which to glean information about the particle from whence it came. But their efficiency drops when subjected to Earth’s magnetic field.
In a study published in EPJ Plus, Sara Rodriguez Cabo, of the University of Oviedo, Spain, and her colleagues, now describe how specific arrangements of current-carrying wire coils around large cylindrical detectors can compensate for natural magnetic disturbances and shield photodetectors from it.
EPJ H Highlight - Acquitting a Physicist Accused of “Obscurantism”
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- Published on 06 November 2023
A reanalysis of letters and publications show that David Bohm’s contemptuous contemporaries were misinformed and politically driven.
American-born British theoretical physicist David Bohm made many significant contributions to physics. But he’s most famous for challenging convention and interpreting quantum mechanics in terms of nonlocal or hidden variables. Several eminent contemporaries accused him of defending outdated ideals based in deterministic physics, rather than embracing his contemporaries’ non-deterministic views. In a study published in EPJ H: Historical Perspectives on Contemporary Physics, Andrea Oldofredi, of the University of Lisbon, Portugal, revisits Bohm’s private correspondences and academic works to reconstruct the evolution of his philosophical trajectory. The analysis indicates that bias against Bohm was mostly not based on scientific grounds, and instead underlines the originality of his ontological reflections.
EPJ E Topical Issue: Novel Molecular Materials and Devices from Functional Soft Matter
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- Published on 03 November 2023
Guest Editors: Jean-Marc Di Meglio, Aritra Ghosh, Orlando Guzmán, P. Lakshmi Praveen.
This Topical issue focusses on soft matter materials and devices. Soft matter can be defined by a large response to weak external perturbations, with physical properties governed by local internal dynamics. It may contain ordered structures at mesoscopic scales, but appear disordered at molecular scales. Because of this, the ordered and disordered aspects of soft matter can be combined to manufacture innovative and original functional materials and devices. The most ambitious course of action is then to develop multi-functional materials and devices that exploit two or more rheological, electrical, electronic, photo-physical, quantum chemical or opto-electronic responses of soft matter. Solving grand challenges for new generations of functional materials demands. The aim of this Topical Issue is to provide an inspiring platform for the dissemination of the latest developments and discoveries in the design, simulation, modeling, synthesis, construction and characterization of soft matter structures for functional materials and devices. The emphasis of this Topical issue is on physical methodologies and characterizations to resolve multi-disciplinary issues.
All articles of this collection are available here and are freely accessible until 31 December 2023. For further information read the Editorial.
EPJ H Highlight – Would Matrix Mechanics Win Recognition Today?
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- Published on 31 October 2023
A re-evaluation of contributions to the development of quantum mechanics suggests that a belated Nobel Prize was a product of its times.
Albert Einstein, best known for his work in relativity, won the Nobel Prize for his formula for the photoelectric effect, which often surprises modern physicists. He’s not the only physicist whose Nobel award misaligns with the winner's modern claim-to-fame. In a study published in EPJ H: Historical Perspectives on Contemporary Physics, John Heilbron of the University of California, Berkeley, USA, and Carlo Rovelli of Western Ontario University, Canada, analyze why the Nobel Prize in 1954 recognized Max Born’s interpretation of the quantum mechanical wave function, while ignoring his leadership in the development of matrix mechanics. The researchers conclude that assessments made by historical actors can serve as a barometer of the changing consensus of interpretations of quantum mechanics.
EPJ C: Emilian Dudas new Editor-in-Chief for Theoretical Physics III: Quantum Field Theory and Gravity - Fundamental and Formal Aspects
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- Published on 31 October 2023
The publishers of The European Physical Journal C – Particles and Fields are pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Emilian Dudas as new Editor-in-Chief for Theoretical Physics III: Quantum Field Theory and Gravity - Fundamental and Formal Aspects, replacing Professor Kostas Skenderis as of 1 November 2023.
Emilian Dudas is Directeur de Recherche at CNRS at the Centre de Physique Théorique of Ecole Polytechnique in France, where he is also teaching at graduate level. He is working in String Phenomenology, String Theory and their applications to Particle Physics and Cosmology.
EPJ E Topical Issue: Quantitative AI in Complex Fluids and Complex Flows: Challenges and Benchmarks
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- Published on 30 October 2023
Guest Editors: Luca Biferale, Michele Buzzicotti and Massimo Cencini.
The collection addresses open problems, challenges, and benchmarks for data-driven and equation-informed tools for data assimilation, prediction, (subgrid-scale) modeling, inpainting, classification, and (optimal) control of Eulerian and Lagrangian problems in complex flows.
The goal is to move from proof-of-concept to quantitative benchmarks and grand challenges, including scaling of algorithms and complexity of datasets.
The original research papers, presented in a colloquium format, focus on the latest experimental, theoretical, or computational advances and address the interpretability, superiority, and usability of data-driven tools when applied to realistic fluid dynamics problems in engineering, geophysics, biophysics, and other fields. Key topics covered include: (i) Modeling and controlling complex flows with data-driven methods. (ii) Prediction and data-assimilation of multiscale flows. (iii) Reconstruction, super-resolution of fluid flows with data-driven and physics-informed tools. (iv) Optimization of navigation and other tasks in complex flows. (v) Animal behavior in flows.
All articles of this collection are available here and are freely accessible until 27 December 2023. For further information read the Editorial.
EPJ Web of Conferences Highlight - EOSAM 2023: European Optical Society Annual Meeting
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- Published on 23 October 2023
EOS Annual Meeting, EOSAM 2023, brought together photonics experts. The European Optical Society Annual Meeting, EOSAM, took place in Dijon, France from 11th to 15th September 2023, organized by the European Optical Society and La Société Française d'Optique.
EOSAM is a major international scientific conference covering all aspects of optics and photonics. It is attended by over 500 attendees: top researchers, key leaders, students, and industry experts.
As an integral conference on photonics in Europe, EOSAM has always provided a valuable opportunity for presenting and discussing work, stimulating contact between colleagues, from young researchers to seasoned experts. EOSAM is where research meets industry and education.
