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EPJ A Highlight - The power of resolution in charge-exchange reactions

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Spectra of the 76Ge(3He,t)76As reaction unveiling an enormous number of resolved states at low excitation energies. Five color-coded spectra are stacked on top of each other showing the angular dependences. The isobaric analog state (IAS), GT resonance (GTR) and spin-dipole resonance (SDR) are indicated.

This review highlights the extraordinary power of the hadronic charge-exchange reactions at intermediate energies and at highest spectral resolution, as exemplified by the (n,p)-type (d,2He) and the (p,n)-type (3He,t) reactions. The review shows how areas of nuclear physics, astrophysics and particle physics alike benefit from such enhanced resolution. A major part of this review focuses on weak interaction processes in nuclei, especially on those, where neutrinos play a pivotal role like in solar neutrino induced reactions or in ßß decay. Unexpected and even surprising new features of nuclear structure are being unveiled as a result of high resolution. (See figure).

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EPJ A has a new Editor in Chief for Theoretical Physics II

David Blaschke

From October 2018 David Blaschke succeeds Tamás S. Biró as Editor in Chief of EPJ A for the section Theoretical Physics II: Hadron Physics and Quark Matter.

David Blaschke is Professor for Theoretical Physics of the University of Wroclaw and leading scientist at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna. His research interest is in developing quantum field theoretical models of strongly interacting matter to describe the transition from hadronic matter to the quark gluon plasma in the QCD phase diagram. He studies applications of these models to the physics of compact stars, their mergers and to relativistic heavy-ion collisions.

EPJ Plus article on climate change and safety implications selected for Springer Nature Grand Challenges Programme

In modern times, assessing the impact of climate change on the vulnerability of radiological practices is necessary to implement risk management policies and secure facilities.

Global warming goes hand in hand with increasing instances of climate-related natural disasters such as storms, droughts, floods, and rainfalls. The effects of climate change, beyond having a tremendous impact on ecosystems, are also remarkable risk factors for anthropogenic systems (some examples include infrastructure, agriculture, and tourism).

In Europe, flooding events have increased in the last few years, particularly in the Mediterranean region, which has a high climatic risk because of its complex orography and the presence of human activities.

In the European Physical Journal Plus, G. M. Contessa et al. analyze the influence of climate change on human activities involving ionizing radiation in Italy.

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EPJ E Highlight - Bacteria-inspired motility could power a new generation of mini-robots

Diagram depicting the orientational configuration of the helix in the laboratory.

Physicists develop a model to explain how deforming a helix could generate additional locomotion for some microorganisms and mini-robots

Many microorganisms rely on helices to move. For example, some bacteria rotate a helical tail, called a flagellar filament, for thrust and deform these tails during rotation. In addition, some types of bacteria, named Spirochaetes, rely on the deformation of a helical body for their motion. To better understand such locomotion mechanisms, scientists have created mathematical models of mini-robots with helical structures, referred to as swimmers. In a recent study published in EPJ E, Lyndon Koens from the University of Cambridge, UK, and colleagues, identify the factors enhancing the agility of deforming helix swimmers.

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EPJ B Colloquium - A retrospective on Hardy Gross’ work

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In this EPJ B Colloquium, Carlos Fiolhais offers a brief retrospective on the important scientific contributions of Hardy Gross during 25 productive years of his career, from 1976, when he published the first paper his doctoral years, until 2000, when he moved from Würzburg to Berlin. Fiolhais traces all of Gross’ publications and points out the most impressive scientific achievements, punctuating the physics with episodes from the life of Hardy Gross and other physicists in his circle, which adds extra colour to this piece.

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EPJ B Highlight - Freeloaders beware: incentives to foster cooperation are just around the corner

Rewards can convince people to cooperate in society. Photo by Hanny Naibaho on Unsplash

Numerical simulations show that it is possible to coerce people to collaborate for the common good

In our society, there are always a certain percentage of people who adopt a freeloader attitude. They let other members of society do all the work and do not do their part. By not contributing their share of effort, to the detriment of the rest of society, freeloaders pose a serious social threat, and can even lead to social collapse. In a new study published in EPJ B, Chunpeng Du from Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, Kunming, China, and colleagues show that it is possible to incentivise members of society to cooperate by providing them fixed bonuses and, thus, prevent freeloader behaviour from becoming prevalent.

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EPJ Plus Highlight - Statistical method recreates the history of a long-abandoned village

General view of the early medieval occupation of Zornoztegi.

History revealed by integrating multiple layers of clues from medieval village remnants

Archaeologists now have new tools for studying the development of medieval villages and the transformation of the historical landscapes surrounding them. In a study recently published in EPJ Plus, scientists have attempted to reconstruct the history of Zornoztegi, an abandoned medieval village located in the Basque Country, Spain. To do so they rely on the various analysis methods available to archaeologists, including radiocarbon dating, archaeological and historical records, archaeobotanical and optical microscope analyses of samples found on the site, together with a statistical analysis model. Paola Ricci from the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” in Italy and colleagues used this approach to establish the history of the village in the time leading up to the Middle Ages.

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EPJ B Highlight - Precise electron spin control yields faster memory storage

Top panel shows a 2D view of spin dynamics for bulk nickel..

New ultra-fast laser method aims to improve control over the electron’s degree of freedom, called spins, could enhance memory storage devices

Data storage devices are not improving as fast as scientists would like. Faster and more compact memory storage devices will become a reality when physicists gain precise control of the spins of electrons. They typically rely on ultra-short lasers to control spins. However, improvement of storage devices via spin control requires first to develop ways of controlling the forces acting on these electronic spins. In a recent study published in EPJ B, John Kay Dewhurst and colleagues, have developed a new theory to predict the complex dynamics of spin procession once a material is subjected to ultra-short laser pulses. The advantage of this approach, which takes into account the effect of internal spin rotation forces, is that it is predictive.

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EPJ Data Science Highlight - Listening to the changes in the urban rhythm

Photo: Pixabay, CC0 License

Cities evolve and undergo constant re-organisation as their population grow. This evolving process makes cities resilient and adaptive but also poses a challenge to analyse urban phenomena. For a long time, there has been evidence that suggests temporal and spatial regularities in crime, but so far studies about this have been based on the assumption that cities are static. A new study published in EPJ Data Science takes these factors into consideration and analyses spatio-temporal variation in criminal occurrences.

(Guest post by Marcos Oliveira & Ronaldo Menezes, originally published on the SpringerOpen blog)

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EPJ D Highlight - Attosecond pulse leads to highest molecular level probe resolution

Attosecond pulse.

A team of Chinese physicists has published a study explaining how to turn low-intensity infra-red beams into high-intensity X-ray beams, opening the door to ultra-fast pulsed energy sources for ultra-high time resolution probes

Attosecond pulses enable physicists to probe dynamic processes in matter with unprecedented time resolution. This means such technology can provide better insights into the dynamics of electrons in molecules. Devising a source of ultra-fast X-ray pulsating in the attosecond range is no mean feat. Comparing an attosecond is to a second is the equivalent of comparing a second to about 31.71 billion years. Now, a team of physicists from China has exploited an optical phenomenon, opening the door to creating high-order oscillations in existing light sources. This makes it possible to shift the frequency of the original source into X-rays with a laser beam source pulsating in an ultra-fast manner, to reach the attosecond range. The trouble is that yield of such higher order oscillations decreases as the source laser wavelength increases. In a new study published in EPJ D, Liqiang Feng and Yi Li from Liaoning University of Technology, Jinzhou, China, have developed a method to select, enhance and extend the higher order emission peak from a laser beam changing from ultraviolet to a mid-infrared.

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This was our first experience of publishing with EPJ Web of Conferences. We contacted the publisher in the middle of September, just one month prior to the Conference, but everything went through smoothly. We have had published MNPS Proceedings with different publishers in the past, and would like to tell that the EPJ Web of Conferences team was probably the best, very quick, helpful and interactive. Typically, we were getting responses from EPJ Web of Conferences team within less than an hour and have had help at every production stage.
We are very thankful to Solange Guenot, Web of Conferences Publishing Editor, and Isabelle Houlbert, Web of Conferences Production Editor, for their support. These ladies are top-level professionals, who made a great contribution to the success of this issue. We are fully satisfied with the publication of the Conference Proceedings and are looking forward to further cooperation. The publication was very fast, easy and of high quality. My colleagues and I strongly recommend EPJ Web of Conferences to anyone, who is interested in quick high-quality publication of conference proceedings.

On behalf of the Organizing and Program Committees and Editorial Team of MNPS-2019, Dr. Alexey B. Nadykto, Moscow State Technological University “STANKIN”, Moscow, Russia. EPJ Web of Conferences vol. 224 (2019)

ISSN: 2100-014X (Electronic Edition)

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