We are very proud to present this years’s invited speakers to you. They are coming from all over the world to present their research in various topics, from solid state physics to astrophysics and cosmology. Here you can find out who they are and what they will be talking about. We encourage you to get to know them even better during the conference.

Klaus von Klitzing
Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart, Germany

Title: "Modern Nanoelectronics"

Time: Thursday, August 13th, 12:00h


Abstract:
   After the nanotechnology initiative in the US many countries started a nanoscience program with the result that the number of patent applications with the appendix “nano” increased drastically. An analysis of patent families in this field show that nanoelectronics plays an important role. The talk will concentrate on experimental techniques which may be important for nanoelectronic devices supplementing the roadmap in microelectronics.
   It is generally accepted, that the scaling law for the miniaturization of microelectronic devices breaks down if the wave nature and the discrete charge of electrons or tunneling phenomena dominate the electronic properties. These quantum phenomena, which are typical for nanodevices, do not mark the end in the miniaturization of devices but open the possibility to create new devices with new functions where for example the energy quantization of electrons in confined structures, tunnel phenomena through barriers and single electron charging of small islands play an important role. The roadmap in nanoelectronics mentions new devices like resonant tunneling diode, single electron transistor, quantum cellular automata or nanotube devices. Up to now it is not clear, whether the top-down process in miniaturization will be successful in nanoelectronics or whether molecular systems and self-organized structures will be combined with standard CMOS technology.
   Carbon based materials (nanotubes, buckey balls, graphene) seem to be an interesting building block for applications in nanoelectronics and some new developments in this field will be presented. The main part of the talk will discuss the most important technologies for the preparation of semiconductor nanostructures and the new properties of these devices if quantum phenomena become important.

About our speaker:
   Klaus von Klitzing is a Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart (since 1985). He was born in 1943 in Schroda, studied physics at Braunschweig Technical University, and received his doctorate at Würzburg University in 1972.
   He was awarded the 1985 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of the quantized Hall effect". In his honor, the fundamental constant h/e^2 has been designated as the Von Klitzing constant.
   His research focuses on experimental semiconductor physics, low dimensional electron systems, nanoelectronics and molecular quantum structures.

Leandra Vranješ Markić
University of Split, Split, Croatia

Title: "Fascinating superfluidity: from nanoscopic clusters to supersolids"

Time: Monday, August 17th, 12:00h


Abstract:
   Helium clusters are very weakly bound quantum systems, especially interesting because they can be used as cold matrices for molecular spectroscopy and because they serve as microscopic probes of superfuidity. The talk will review some of the progress in the field and give some examples on the studies of stability limits of small quantum clusters performed at the University of Split.
   New properties of matter result as a consequence of confinement. Examples will be given for helium adsorbed in carbon nanostructures.
   Finally, the evidence for a "supersolid", an exotic state of matter that behaves simultaneously as a solid and a friction-free superfluid, will be reviewed.

About our speaker:
   Leandra Vranješ Markić is assistant professor of physics at the Department of Physics, Faculty of Science in Split. She works in the field of quantum fluids and solids using Quantum Monte Carlo simulations. Her main focus are stability limits of quantum clusters, as well as properties of bulk liquid helium and isotopes of spin-polarized hydrogen. She has also been studying properties of quantum fluids under confinement, achieved by adsorption on surfaces and in carbon nanostructures.

Daniel Denegri
Atomic Energy Commission, Saclay, France

Title: "The LHC project, final preparations and the expected first physical results"

Time: Friday, August 14th, 12:00h


Abstract:
   With the start-up of the LHC being imminent, we present the current status of the machine, with the modifications and improvements done over the last year, and the expectations for the near future. The CMS experiment is in the very final stages of commissioning and is ready for a long cosmic rays run over the summer and will be fully ready for data taking in October.
   The present status of the detector will be discussed as well as the potential upgrades considered and work initiated for the Super-LHC phase foreseeable for ~ 2015.

About our speaker:
   Professor Daniel Denegri began his career in the United States after graduating physics in Zagreb in 1964. He has worked at the Centre for Atomic Energy at Saclay since 1976. His most important scientific contributions are those related to CERN: he contributed in the discovery of W and Z bosons and in the design of the CMS detector for the LHC accelerator. His work made it possible for the University of Split to enter some of the projects at CERN. In 1989 he was awarded the "Prix Joliot Curie" prize for his scientific contributions. He continues to work not only as a scientist but a big promotor of physics in everyday life.

Peter L. Biermann
Max Planck Institute for Radioastronomy, Bonn, Germany

Title: "Ultra high energy particles and cosmic ray electrons/positrons, from massive star explosions"

Time: Sunday, August 16th, 12:00h


Abstract:
   Particles near 10^20 eV are the most energetic particles known to us in the Universe, also called ultra high energy cosmic rays. Events have been detected of an energy up to 3x10^20 eV, which is a macroscopic energy. Independently, new components of cosmic ray electrons and positrons have been detected. Here we attribute all of these particles to the acceleration of charged particles in magnetic stellar winds. Considering all of 4*pi around a star with such a wind, over most of 4*pi the magnetic field is nearly tangential, while in the polar cap the magnetic field is radial. This leads for the polar cap component to a flatter spectrum, and also to more interaction. This in turn gives enhanced production of secondary particles such as positrons. The now abundant observations are readily and quantitatively interpreted with the action in magnetic stellar winds.
   On the other hand, when two galaxies merge, and their central black holes then also merge, the resulting spin of the final black hole is flipped around: Then a newly oriented relativistic jet can race through a region of a starburst induced as a first stage of the merger, when many massive stars form and explode. This propels the polar cap components of cosmic rays to very much higher energy, while obeying at the same time the Poynting flux limit constraint for active galactic nuclei. This then may explain the Auger data as due to the action of the relativistic jet in the radio galaxy Cen A. Coming from both low energy and high energy, we thus may have a contribution to a coherent and quantitative physical theory for the origin of cosmic rays.
   This work is a collaboration with many other people, as listed in the papers below.
[1] Active Galactic Nuclei: Sources for ultra high energy cosmic rays?, Biermann, P. L., Becker, J. K., Caramete, A. Curutiu, L., Engel, R., Falcke, H., Gergely, L. A., Isar, P. G., Maris, I. C., Meli, A., Kampert, K. -H., Stanev, T., Tascau, O., Zier, C., invited review for the conference CRIS2008, Malfa, Salina Island, Italy, Ed. A. Insolia,Nucl. Phys. B, Proc. Suppl. 190, 61 - 78 (2009); arXiv: 0811.1848v3
[2] Neutrinos from active black holes, sources of ultra high energy cosmic rays, J.K. Becker & P.L. Biermann, ApP 31, 138 (2009); arXiv:0805.1498
[2] Supermassive black hole mergers, L.Á. Gergely, P.L. Biermann, ApJ 697, 1621 - 1633 (2009); arXiv:0704.1968v3
[3] Active Galactic Nuclei with Starbursts: Sources for ultra high energy cosmic rays?, P.L. Biermann, J.K. Becker, L. Caramete, L. Á. Gergely, I. C. Mari¸s, V. de Souza, T. Stanev, invited talk, "High-Energy Gamma-rays and Neutrinos from Extra-Galactic Sources", Heidelberg Jan 2009, (in press) 2009; arXiv:0904.1507
[4] New limits on Sterile Neutrinos from Suzaku Observations of the Ursa Minor Dwarf Spheroidal galaxy, M. Loewenstein, A. Kusenko, P.L. Biermann, ApJ 700, 426 - 435 (2009); arXiv:0812.2710
[5] Cosmic Ray Electrons and Positrons from Supernova Explosions of Massive Stars, Biermann, P.L., Becker, J.K., Meli, A., Rhode, W., Seo, E. -S., Stanev, T., in press Phys. Rev. Lett (2009); arXiv:0903.4048
[6] No observational constraints from hypothetical collisions of hypothetical dark halo primordial black holes with galactic objects,M. A. Abramowicz, J.K. Becker, P.L. Biermann,A. Garzilli, F. Johansson, L.Qian, submitted toApJ (2008), arXiv:0810.3140
[7] Cosmic Rays VI - Starburst galaxies at multiwavelengths, J.K. Becker, P.L. Biermann, J. Dreyer & T.M. Kneiske, submitted to AA (2009); arXiv:0901.1775

About our speaker:
   Peter L. Biermann is retired, and was head of the theory group at the MPI for Radioastronomy in Bonn. He is also professor at the University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany, at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA, as well as at the University of Alabama at Huntsville, AL, USA (in all three cases as an adjunct).
   He also works closely with the colleagues in Karlsruhe. His web-page is www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de /div/theory, which outlines the research activities. The group and its scientific activities continue now in a networking mode: this is easy since many of his former academic pupils are now professors, teach at a university or research institution and have their own research groups. This is a worldwide distribution, with about half of them outside Europe. To use a family metaphor, he is scientific great-grandfather already in two countries, and one can expect this to widen and deepen further over time.
   Just the 2009 papers from him and his collaborations involve dark matter, primordial black holes, general relativity, galaxy physics, and cosmic ray physics at all energies. His latest paper will soon appear in Physical Review Letters, on cosmic ray electrons and positrons.

Stuart A. Cunningham
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, United Kingdom

Title: "Oceans of Opportunity (Tickling the dragon’s tail)"

Time: Tuesday, August 11th, 19:00h


Abstract:
   Equatorward of 30° latitude the Earth gains heat from the sun. The most significant manifestation of our climate is the combined atmosphere-ocean circulations transporting energy poleward, balancing the net radiative heating in the equatorial regions. Rates of atmosphere-ocean circulation and their interaction determine our local climates. In this talk I focus on the ocean circulation. In the Atlantic Ocean warm surface waters flow poleward and are converted to cold dense waters in the Arctic Ocean, which then flow equatorward, at depths between one and five kilometres. This is known as the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) and is sometimes known colloquially as the conveyor belt circulation. One consequence of the MOC is that western Europe has a mild climate for its latitude, influenced at seasonal and longer timescales by the Atlantic ocean circulation. Rapid changes in MOC strength are evident in the historical climate record (particularly during glacial times) and these have a profound impact on climate, locally and globally. Energy transports associated with the equilibrium circulation are modulated by atmosphere-ocean interactions at high latitudes where worryingly ice melt, increasing precipitation, river run-off and heating are acting to reduce the strength of the overturning. State-of-the art coupled climate models suggest a slowing of the MOC by 25% over the next five decades, with a proportional decrease in the northward energy flux.
   In 2004 we began a novel and ambitious observational programme across the full width of the Atlantic at 26.5°N. Our goal is to continuously measure the strength, structure and energy transport of the MOC providing baseline observations against which future changes may be identified and providing initial conditions for decadal climate forecasts.
   I hope that this talk will introduce you to the large-scale ocean circulation, explore one aspect of its interaction with climate, and leave you with an appreciation of important and exciting opportunities in oceanography.

About our speaker:
   Dr. Cunningham’s personal research interest is the role of oceans in climate. He is a physical oceanographer and specialises in making observations of ocean circulation at sea. He has participated in around thirty scientific research cruises - about 2.5 years at sea over the past fifteen years in the Altantic, Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans as well as marginal seas like the Mediterranean. He finds seagoing exciting and challenging and most of all he enjoys working with oceanographers from all round the world.

Hendrik Ferdinande
Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

Title: "A discipline approach to the Bologna reforms: the case of physics"

Time: Wednesday, August 12th, 12:00h


Abstract:
   The physics discipline has been quite active in student mobility even before the start of the Bologna process. Indeed a successful ’European Mobility Scheme for Physics Students’ (EMSPS) was established already in 1992 in the frame of the Erasmus programme with the support of the EPS. Hence more than 100 participating institutions gained quite good insight into the structure of the physics studies when organising the student exchanges. A thematic evaluation conference in 1995 gave start to a sustainable network, European Physics Education Network (EUPEN) of more than 100 physics departments in more than 30 countries to co-operate in different projects [EUPEN (1996/2003), STEPS (Stakeholders Tune European Physics Studies)(2005/2008) and STEPS-TWO (2008/2011)] taking along the aims and goals of the Bologna declaration. Close collaboration with the ’Tuning Educational Structures in Europe’ initiatives subject specific competences were developed and ’Reference Points for the Design and Delivery of Degree Programmes in Physics’ were obtained. A recent (2008) investigation by EPS, executed with the help of INCHER, Universität Kassel (DE), ’The implementation of the Bologna Process into Physics Studies in Europe’ gave the status of the degree structure in the physics bachelor programmes in more than 150 institutions in some 24 Bologna signatory countries. This project will be continued looking at the masters programmes in 2009 and with the doctorate studies in 2010. Recently a document was drafted ’Specification Description for European Physics Bachelor Studies’ describing the characteristics of the physics study programmes in a European dimension. Results of the preliminary outcomes will be presented in the frame of the follow-up beyond 2010.

About our speaker:
   Hendrik Ferdinande (Belgium, 1940) studied engineering physics (1963) at Universiteit Gent, Belgium. He obtained an MSc degree from Stanford University, Stanford (US) in 1964 and was conferred an engineering physics doctor’s degree in 1973 at Universiteit Gent. From 1964 he performed research in experimental low- and medium-energy nuclear physics in Ghent (BE). During the academic year 1973/74 he was NATO visiting researcher at the National Research Council of Canada in Ottawa (CA). Since 1991 he is lecturer and senior lecturer at the Faculty of Sciences and the Faculty of Applied Sciences in Universiteit Gent. From 1996 till 2003 he was the chair of the SOCRATES Thematic Network Project EUPEN (European Physics Education Network) linking more than 150 physics departments in almost 30 European countries. Hendrik Ferdinande is a fellow of the Institute of Physics, London (UK) and fellow of the World Innovation Foundation. He has been active, both as expert in the Physics Area and as member of the Management Committee in the ’Tuning educational structures in Europe’ project since the start in 2000. He contributed to initiatives of Tuning in Russia, Latin America (Peru) and Georgia. In 2002 he received the doctor honoris causa degree from the Universitatea din Oradea in Oradea (RO) and was accepted there as associated professor. He retired from Universiteit Gent in October 2005. He co-ordinated also three-year SOCRATES Thematic Network Project (2005/2008), called STEPS (Stakeholders Tune European Physics Studies), run by the enlarged EUPEN Consortium of 161 physics departments from 37 European countries, plus 10 associated local, national or regional professional or student organisations.

Silvia Tomić
Institute of Physics, Zagreb, Croatia

Title: "Complex and nonlinear dynamics of charge and spin structures"

Time: Tuesday, August 11th, 12:00h


Abstract:
   Strong Coulomb interactions are essential for collective electronic states in synthetic conductors and superconductors, e.g. in organic (molecular) as well as in transition metal oxides, which are established in the wide temperature range from 250 K down to lowest attainable temperatures. These states, like charge and spin-density waves, charge orderings of various types and orbital orderings, show rich range of nonlinear properties and complex dynamics which connects them with self organized structures of biological makromolecules - biomaterials. Although biological molecular systems function in water environment at around room temperature, the recently developed understanding indicates that Coulomb interactions are so strong that the diversity of phenomena is comparable to the richness of the low-temperature physics. In this lecture, I will describe the conventional spin density wave phase stabilized in the quasi-one-dimensional organic superconductor [1] and the exotic charge density wave phase formed in the spin ladders of quasi-one-dimensional cuprates [2]; both of them showing complex and nonlinear dynamics in their response to the applied electric fields. At the end I will show how the characterization of complex dynamics displayed by biopolymers, like genomic DNA in aqueous solutions, gives information on their structure and associated biological activity [3].
[1] S. Tomić et al., Phys.Rev.Lett. 62 (1989) 462.; P. Zornoza et al., Eur. Phys. J. B 46, 223 (2005).
[2] T. Vuletić et al., Phys.Rev.Lett. 90 (2003) 257002. and Physics Reports 428, 169 (2006).
[3] S. Tomić et al., Phys.Rev.Lett. 97 (2006) 098303., Phys.Rev.E 75 (2007) 021905 and Europhys. Lett. 81, 68003 (2008).

About our speaker:
   Silvia Tomić is senior scientific advisor at the Institute of Physics in Zagreb and curently holds the position of the president of Croatian Physical Society. She studied physics at the Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, and received her doctorate at Université Paris-Sud in 1986. Her research focuses on strongly correlated systems with reduced dimensionality in experimental condensed matter physics and dynamics and structure of biopolymers in biological physics.