News
EPJ B Colloquium - Ballistic annihilation in one dimension: a critical review
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- Published on 09 February 2022
In a new Colloquium published in EPJB, S. Biswas (Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico) and F. Leyvraz (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico) review several related systems. In the simplest, all particles move in a straight line at constant velocity in one dimension, and upon meeting, irreversibly react to an inert species. The simplest approach to such systems involves the “law of mass action” which leads, for large times, to a concentration decay of 1/t. The model described above for which all particles move with two possible distinct velocities only, has been solved exactly. In this case, it is shown that the concentration decay goes as t-1/2, so that the law of mass action is strongly violated.
EPJ ST Highlight - A new era of research into laser-matter interactions
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- Published on 08 February 2022
A new collection of papers provides new experimental and theoretical perspectives on the interaction between matter and intense laser beams
Studies of laser-matter interactions are an important and rapidly growing area of physics. This special issue of EPJ ST, edited by Sivarama Krishnan at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and Marcel Mudrich at Aarhus University, Denmark, contains a set of 21 articles in this field, encompassing a broad range of experimental and theoretical approaches. The collection provides researchers with useful insights into this burgeoning area of science, and the exciting applications it may soon lead to.
EPJ Web of Conferences Highlight - vConf21: A Virtual Tribute to Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectrum
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- Published on 31 January 2022
Drawing on the state-of-the-art in remote conferencing and amended by a rich outreach program, this virtual event was organized as substitute for the postponed 14th Confinement conference by the Institute for Mathematics and Physics at the University of Stavanger, Norway, between August 2-6 2021.
The Confinement conference series was inaugurated in 1994 and has since become an important forum for scientists working on strong interactions, stimulating exchange among theorists and experimentalists, as well as across adjacent fields.
EPJ Web of Conferences Highlight – EOSAM 2021: EOS Annual Meeting
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- Published on 27 January 2022
The European Optical Society Annual Meeting, EOSAM, took place onsite in Rome from 13th to 17th September 2021, bringing back the awaited in-person EOS events.
EOSAM is a major international scientific conference covering all aspects of optics and photonics. It is attended by top researchers, key leaders, students, and industry experts.
EPJ B Highlight - Understanding changes in a non-equilibrium economy
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- Published on 25 January 2022
A novel theory can link abrupt, non-equilibrium changes to the state of the economy to a central principle of dynamics and thermodynamics
Equilibrium is a fundamental concept in economics: describing situations where the many interacting variables governing the state of the economy are static and perfectly balanced. Yet in reality, the inherent uncertainty and randomness associated with these variables, combined with the fragility of economists’ expectations, mean that the economy can never really be in true equilibrium. In new research published in EPJ B, a research team led by Kun Zhang from the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Jin Wang at State University of New York at Stony Brook, use new mathematical theories to capture the economy’s true non-equilibrium nature and to show how it can be quantified.
EPJ D Highlight - Assessing and optimising the quality of sensor networks
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- Published on 25 January 2022
A new method for optimising the arrangements of complex sensor networks could lead to improvements in a variety of cutting-edge experiments: including the ongoing search for Dark Matter
Rather than using a single, centralised sensor to gather data, many experiments deploy multiple sensors in complex networks. This offers numerous advantages: including higher sensitivities and resolutions in experimental measurements, and the ability to catch and correct errors more effectively. Yet with all the complexities involved in managing each sensor, and collecting all of their data streams at once, it can be extremely challenging to determine how the sensors should be arranged to obtain optimal results. Through new research published in EPJ D, Joseph Smiga at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz proposes a new way to quantify the quality of sensor networks, and uses his methods to suggest improvements to existing experiments.
EPJ Plus Highlight - Reassessing radon as a reliable groundwater tracer
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- Published on 25 January 2022
A widely used technique for tracing natural radioactive atoms within flowing groundwater may not be as accurate as previously thought.
All radioactive materials which naturally occur in water will produce at least one isotope of radon as a decay product. As radioactive atoms are transported through groundwater aquifers in the form of gaseous radon, they are eventually transferred to the atmosphere. Measurements of the rate of this transfer can, in theory, be used to trace the infiltration of water into the surrounding soil. Yet in a new study detailed in EPJ Plus, researchers in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, led by Elsayed Elmaghraby at the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority, show that this technique could have a significant flaw.
EPJ H Highlight - A shifting approach to modelling phase transitions
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- Published on 25 January 2022
Between the years 1937 and 1970, physicists went from taking a ‘naturalistic’ approach to modelling phase transitions, to a ‘caricature’ approach – which incorporated far less realistic models. New analysis of this period provides new insights into this profound shift in thinking.
Models of complex physical systems are a central aspect of theoretical physics. Yet despite their importance, there isn’t a single, overarching approach to the practice: meaning researchers in separate branches of physics will rarely use the same methods to construct their models. In one particularly interesting case, approaches for modelling phase transitions underwent a drastic transformation, between the years of 1937 and 1970. In a new paper published in EPJ H, Martin Niss at Roskilde University, Denmark, characterises this fundamental change in thinking.
EPJ Plus has two new Editors-in-Chief: Beatrice Fraboni and Gastón García López
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- Published on 21 January 2022
The publishers of The European Physical Journal Plus (EPJ Plus) are pleased to announce that on January 1, 2022 Beatrice Fraboni and Gastón García López took over the Editor-in-Chief role from Paolo Biscari and now share responsibility for papers submitted across the scope of the journal.
We would like to congratulate Prof Fraboni and Dr García López on their appointments as EiCs, and also take the opportunity to thank Prof Biscari for his long and highly dedicated service to EPJ Plus.
EPJ Web of Conferences Highlight - mm Universe @ NIKA2 - Observing the mm Universe with the NIKA2 camera
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- Published on 20 January 2022
The mm Universe conference is the second edition in a series of biennial workshops.
This international conference is mainly dedicated to the scientific exploitation of the NIKA2 camera installed at the 30-m telescope of IRAM located in Pico Veleta (Spain). The conference focused on scientific topics such as the environmental impact on dust properties, the star formation processes at low and high redshifts, the evolution of large-scale structures and the use of galaxy clusters for precision cosmology.
