Kolloquien

Densities in neutron star cores can reach up to ten times the density of a normal atomic nucleus, and the stabilising effect of gravitational confinement permits long-timescale weak interactions. This generates matter that is neutron-rich, and opens up the possibility of stable states of strange matter.   more...

Over the past 25 years, extensive R&D has been carried out on Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors based on CMOS technology. This has brought the technology to the level where it is now, a viable option for vertexing and tracking detection systems in particle and nuclear physics experiments exposed to radiation fluencies of up to 10¹⁵  1MeV neutron equivalent per square centimeter, reaching impressive performance in terms of signal/noise ratio, spatial resolution, material budget and readout speed.   more...

Light can hold, move and measure micro- and nano particle without touching. Optical tweezers exploit focused laser light to measure forces at the nanoscale and quantify elasticity. Complex tailored light field based on holographic priniciples allow extending this application range, making holographic optical tweezers to an extraordinary metrology tool for analysis in biophysics and biophotonics. This way, three dimensional configurations of micro- and nano particles can be generated in parallel and dynamically modified, creating spatially selective sensors.   more...

Which features make the brain such a powerful and energy-efficient computing machine? Can we reproduce them in the solid state, and if so, what type of computing paradigm would we obtain?   more...

Die moderne Theorie komplexer Systeme trägt immer mehr zum Verständnis der Kräfte und Wechselwirkungen bei, welche die verwirrende Dynamik des globalen Klimasystems auf allen Zeitskalen bewirken. Insbesondere ist es kürzlich gelungen, die quasi periodischen Vereisungen der Nordhemisphäre während der letzten 2,5 Mio. Jahre weitgehend aufzuklären.   more...

If black holes represent one of the most fascinating implications of Einstein's theory of gravity, neutron stars in binary system are arguably its richest laboratory, where gravity blends with astrophysics and particle physics.   more...

All living organisms consist of cells, and all cells are built up from the same molecular species and supramolecular assemblies. Furthermore, as far as we know, the complex behaviour of these living cells obeys the fundamental laws of physics and thermodynamics.   more...

This talk is devoted to versatile studies, whose common point is the fact that beta or gamma decay from polarized radioactive nuclei is anisotropic in space.
The experimental setup devoted to laser polarization of short-lived nuclei is located at the CERN-ISOLDE facility.   more...

Local realism is the principle of locality (no instantaneous action-at-a-distance) joined to realism (the world and its properties exist whether or not we observe them). While it is typical for philosophers to question realism, in physics (as in common sense), realism was implicitly assumed until Niels Bohr and Wehner Heisenberg introduced the anti-realist Copenhagen Interpretation in 1927. Einstein's 1927-1935 arguments in support of local realism showed how Bohr's position describes a radically different understanding of physics and our relation to the physical world. In 1964 John Bell gave local realism a mathematical form, and showed that it was in principle testable. The first such Bell test was reported in 1970, and by now several generations of physicists have grappled with the problem of how to rigorously test a claim at the boundary of physics and philosophy.   more...

The presentation will discuss current motivation and results of recent work on Li-free systems for electrochemical storage.   more...

Hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation have now reached sufficient physical fidelity to allow detailed predictions for their formation and evolution over cosmic time.   more...

We investigated different kind of π–conjugated molecules in a combined scanning tunnelling (STM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). Whereas both measurement channel s show features with sub-molecular resolution, the information they can provide is truly complementary. For example, STM allows the direct imaging of the unperturbed molecular orbitals [1], whereas the AFM channel directly reveals the molecular geometry. When applied to STM-based single-molecule synthesis and on-surface chemistry, the combination of these techniques enables a direct quantification of the interplay of geometry and electronic coupling in real space   more...

Rechnerarchitektur ist eine Disziplin, die das Verständnis über die Funktionsweise und die Struktur von Rechnern bearbeitet. Beginnt man mit den Betrachtungen der von Neumann Architektur mit ihrer Idee des minimalen Hardwareaufwands, so erkennt man sehr schnell, dass dieser grundlegenden Idee einige wichtige Elemente fehlen.   more...

In this colloquium the focus will be on the dynamics and formation of the Milky Way and its satellites.   more...