News

EPJE Topical review - Advances in the study of supercooled water

Details: Published on 29 November 2021

Water connects to life at many levels, from biology to human activities, health, climate, and technology. And it is the most peculiar simple liquid on our planet. In fact, water presents several anomalies as compared to other simple liquids. These anomalies become more conspicuous at low temperatures within the metastable supercooled regime, that is, the region below its melting point where the stable form is the ordered solid. In this regime water can also exist in the liquid state while at lower temperatures it can also be found in the amorphous (glassy) solid state. In the supercooled state liquid water displays polymorphism displaying both a high density and a low-density structure. The two possible structures that water can choose, and their interplay, are connected with the possible existence of the terminating (critical) point of a line that separates a low-density region from a high-density region and above which the liquid exists in a single phase.

EPJ ST Highlight - An exploration of tipping in complex systems

Details: Published on 22 November 2021

This special issue examines the extensive landscape of research into tipping within complex systems, and provides guidance as to where the field will likely be headed in the future.

Complex systems can be found in a diverse array of real-world scenarios, but are unified by their ability to suddenly transition between drastically different patterns of behaviour. Known as ‘tipping,’ this type of transformation is generally triggered by small changes in the parameters of individual systems – whose effects can rapidly cascade to alter entire networks of interacting subsystems. This special issue of EPJ Special Topics explores the nature of tipping in complex systems through 21 new articles. Together, the studies reveal recent trends and directions of research within the field, and highlight the pressing challenges it will face in the future.

EPJ E Topical review - Structure and dynamics of nanoconfined water and aqueous solutions

Details: Published on 16 November 2021

Water, regarded as the matrix of life, is an ubiquitous and peculiar liquid that exhibits a plethora of anomalous properties, both in its stable and metastable bulk states, which fostered a lot of experimental and theoretical studies. Less explored is the field of water and aqueous systems confined in nanoporous materials that, in addition to its fundamental interest, are present in a number of practical situations, including biological and separation processes and energy generation and storage, among others. These facts have triggered a vast amount of research that, so far, has not been conveniently reviewed.

EPJ ST Highlight - Examining the dynamics of complex networks

Details: Published on 15 November 2021

A new collection of papers focuses on the theories and methodology of dynamical networks with a focus on neuroscience and Earth sciences, and climate systems.

A special issue of EPJ Special Topics, edited by Jürgen Kurths (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research), Elbert E. N. Macau (Federal University of São Paulo), Antonio C. Roque (University of São Paulo) and Serhiy Yanchuk (Humboldt University Berlin) brings together a collection of papers focusing improving our understanding of the collective dynamics of complex systems. The special issue pays particular attention to the applications of this understanding in the diverse fields of neuroscience, climate modelling, and Earth science.

EPJ C Highlight - Hubble tension: Showing the cracks in Gaussian Processes

Details: Published on 12 November 2021

alt — Tensions emerge through measurements of H₀. Figure source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/ wikipedia/commons/0/0b/ Planck_satellite_cmb.jpg

Today, Gaussian Processes data reconstruction is viewed as a vital tool in cosmology. Yet through new analysis of tensions in the value of Hubble’s constant, two researchers suggest that the approach may not be as valid as currently thought.

The technique of Gaussian Processes (GP) is widely used to reconstruct cosmological parameters, most notably the expansion rate of the universe, using observational data. For many cosmologists, the crowning achievement of this approach is its ‘model independence’ – meaning it can be applied universally across all models. Through new analysis published in EPJ C, Eoin Ó Colgáin at Sogang University, Seoul, and Mohammad Mehdi Sheikh-Jabbari at IPM, Tehran, use the Hubble constant (H₀) to show that this may not be the case – and that it may be time to question the validity of model independence itself.

EPJ A Highlight - Celebrating the impacts of Jacques Raynal’s work in the development of nuclear reaction formalism, codes and analysis

Details: Published on 08 November 2021

This topical article edition of EPJ A is dedicated to the memory of French nuclear physicist Jacques Raynal, who passed away on April 10th, 2020.

It illustrates, through a series of peer-reviewed articles, the various facets of what Raynal and his colleagues accomplished, as well as the profound influence of his results in several domains of nuclear reactions, both for theory formalism and for the analysis and understanding of experimental observables. The articles also demonstrate how his work paved the way for the future development of concepts and numerical codes for nuclear reaction calculations.

EPJ C Highlight - The first black hole image: A gravitomagnetic monopole as an alternative explanation

Details: Published on 04 November 2021

The first image taken of the compact object at the heart of M87. Researchers consider this to be a supermassive black hole, but a new research paper asks if the image have an alternative cause. Credit: Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration

The Event Horizon Telescope made science history when it captured the first image of the supermassive black hole in the galaxy M87. New research suggests alternative explanations for the massive compact object at the centre of this galaxy questioning if this could contain gravitomagnetic monopole.

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has recently mapped the central compact object of the galaxy M87 with an unprecedented angular resolution. Though the remarkable breakthrough has been interpreted based on theory that M87 contains a rotating or “Kerr” black hole. New research published in EPJ C by Chandrachur Chakraborty and Qingjuan Yu at the Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University (KIAA-PKU), Masoumeh Ghasemi-Nodehi and Youjun Lu, at the National Astronomical Observatories of China, looks at possible alternative explanations for the image.

EPJ Web of Conferences welcomes Paulo Limão-Vieira in its Editorial Board

Details: Published on 22 October 2021

Paulo Limão-Vieira has joined the Web of Conferences editorial board with particular responsibility for EPJ Web of Conferences.

EPJ Web of Conferences is glad to announce that Paulo Limão-Vieira has joined the Web of Conferences editorial board with particular responsibility for EPJ Web of Conferences.

Paulo Limão-Vieira is a Professor of Molecular Physics at NOVA School of Science, and full researcher at Centre of Physics and Technological Research, CEFITEC, also in Lisbon. At CEFITEC he founded in 2004 the Atomic and Molecular Collisions Laboratory where his research focuses on electron transfer processes in atom-molecule collisions and electron scattering from polyatomic molecules. He has developed a unique crossed molecular beam experiment and led several research grants training post-docs and allowing different generations of students to obtain their PhD degrees. Currently he is member of several international scientific and steering committees and has served from 2019-2021 as chair of the Electron International Advisory Committee for Electron, Molecule and Swarms (EMS).

EPJ ST: Shahriar Afkhami new Editor on board

Details: Published on 22 October 2021

The publishers of The European Physical Journal Special Topics are pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Shahriar Afkhami as new Editor in the board.

Shahriar Afkhami, is Professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at New Jersey Institute of Technology and his research interests lie at the interface of applied mathematics, chemical engineering, and mechanical engineering. He is particularly interested in computational and mathematical modeling of complex systems including viscoelastic liquids, electro/magnetohydrodynamics, interfacial flows in porous media, dynamic contact lines, and microfluidics. The main focus of his research is based on developing accurate and robust numerical methods for describing moving boundaries involving multiple phases and complex flows.

EPJ ST: Alfonso San Miguel new Editor on board

Details: Published on 22 October 2021

The publishers of The European Physical Journal Special Topics are pleased to announce the appointment of Alfonso San Miguel, professor at the University Lyon 1 and president of the Rhône section of the French Physical Society, who will support EPJ ST in Materials Science.

Alfonso San Miguel explores the physical properties of matter under extreme conditions of pressure and temperature including semiconductors, liquids or simple molecular systems. He presently focuses on the evolution of geometry, topology and dimensionality under extreme conditions, in particular in nanomaterials and low dimensional systems. He has a taste for instrumental development and interdisciplinary work combining theory and experience with specialists from different fields (physics, chemistry, mathematics, engineering).