New member of the Physikalisches Institut and Bethe Center doing research in mathematical physics

New high-tech measurement methods are required to detect new phenomena sought after in particle physics. The University of Bonn Research and Technology Center for Detector Physics (FTD), thanks to its research groups, is a leading developer of such detector technology, employed at research institutions around the world. A ceremony was held for operational start-up of the scientific equipment, attended by numerous high-profile guests. 

The Belle II cooperation project at the Japanese research center KEK is helping researchers from all over the world to hunt for new phenomena in particle physics. The international experiment has now reached a major milestone after a team successfully installed a new pixel detector in its final location in Japan. The size of a soda can, the detector was developed in order to make out the signals coming from certain types of particle decays, that can shed light on the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry that has been observed in the universe. The installation ran without a hitch and is a key milestone in the evolution of the experiment and German-Japanese research collaboration.

Many substances change their properties when they are cooled below a certain critical temperature. Such a phase transition occurs, for example, when water freezes. However, in certain metals there are phase transitions that do not exist in the macrocosm. They arise because of the special laws of quantum mechanics that apply in the realm of nature’s smallest building blocks. It is thought that the concept of electrons as carriers of quantized electric charge no longer applies near these exotic phase transitions. Researchers at the University of Bonn and ETH Zurich have now found a way to prove this directly. Their findings allow new insights into the exotic world of quantum physics. The publication has now been released in the journal Nature Physics.

The North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts welcomed 14 new members at its annual ceremony, including mathematician Prof. Dr. Catharina Stroppel and physicist Prof. Dr. Dieter Meschede from the University of Bonn. The nine men and five women are united by exceptional research work and creative excellence in their area of expertise.

The “MS Wissenschaft” is setting sail from Berlin, and the University of Bonn is among those on board. A team from the University has designed and built an exhibit for this exhibition ship that dovetails perfectly with the topic chosen for Science Year 2023 - “Our Universe.” Entitled “Dem Universum auf der Spur” (“Tracking Down the Universe”), the exhibition gives visitors, especially schoolchildren, the opportunity to discover various research areas and methods associated with the universe in an interactive way. 

Prof. Dr. Simon Stellmer has been awarded a Proof of Concept Grant by the European Research Council (ERC) as part of a program designed to help researchers translate their ideas from previous ERC projects into commercial applications. The grant is endowed with €150,000.

From 22 - 25 March, the Physics Show of the University of Bonn made a guest appearance at the University of Tübingen.