According to Wikipedia, an editorial is an ‘opinion piece written by the senior editorial staff ’ and supposed ‘to reflect the opinion of the periodical’. This editorial is then somewhat different, as it opens the floor to a new journal, which has not yet any periodicity. However, this new journal deserves an introduction, and an editorial ever more. EJNMMI Physics was launched in late 2013 at the Annual Meeting of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine in Lyon [1]. It pairs with the already existing EJNMMI Research journal, edited by Angelika Bischof-Delaloye. Both, the Research and the Physics journal, are open-access associates to EJNMMI that is edited by Ignasi Carrio and recently reported an impact factor of 5.113 [2]. EJNMMI Physics is far away from any impact factor, yet. We appreciate the appeal and the need of impact factors, and we are certain that together we can build this journal into a scientific platform for applied physics, which in due course can be awarded an impact factor. Our certainty stems from the fact that physics, while being an integral part of medicine, and nuclear medicine in particular, is underrepresented in the relevant medical journals. Therefore, EJNMMI Physics intends to support the presentation of physics and physics-related matters as an integral part of nuclear medicine in particular. It aims at providing a forum to scientifically minded people engaged and interested in nuclear medicine and associate imaging and therapeutic applications. As such, EJNMMI Physics complements its partner journal EJNMMI Research and supports EJNMMI, which focuses mainly on clinical perspectives of nuclear medicine. EJNMMI Physics welcomes original materials and studies with a focus on applied physics, mathematics, as well as imaging system engineering and prototyping in nuclear medicine. This includes physics-driven approaches or algorithms supported by physics that foster early clinical adoption of nuclear medicine imaging and therapy regimens. More specifically, we introduce a number of manuscript categories to better reflect the current scope of physics-driven research in this particular field of medicine: ‘Original articles’ are manuscripts that describe unique scientific contributions, starting with a hypothesis, clearly defined materials and methods, presenting results and an unbiased discussion and conclusion. A special category of this type of manuscripts is ‘Short communications’ which describe unique scientific contributions based on an abbreviated study presenting first results of promising nature that appeals to the field of physics in nuclear medicine. Further to this, it is planned to introduce a category of
At the 2013 Annual Meeting of the European Nuclear Medi-cine Association (EANM) in Lyon, Springer launched a newcompanion journal to the European Journal of Nuclear Med-icine and Molecular Imaging (EJNMMI):the EJNMMI Phys-ics journal. EJNMMI Physics will be a partner journal ofEJNMMI Research, of which Angelika Bischof Delaloye hasbeentheeditor-in-chiefsince2011[1]. Thewell-versed readermay stop here with a grunting sound: “YAJ! ” (“yet anotherjournal”). However, there is more to this announcement.The development of nuclear medicine is indebted to manycontributions from physicists, including the discovery of ra-dioactivity by Henri Becquerel, the isolation of radioactiveisotopes by Marie Sklodowska-Curie, the discovery of thepositron by Carl David Anderson and the discovery of theneutron by James Chadwick, subsequently leading to thediscovery of artificial radioactivity by Irene and FredericJoliot-Curie, who received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in1935.Itisperhapssurprising,therefore,thatatpresentthereisno journal dedicated to the field of physics in nuclear medi-cine, and it is very noticeable that such papers are scatteredacross a range of journals that either cover general physics inmedicine or are more focussed on clinical issues. With theincreasing emphasis on molecular imaging and personalisedmedicine, physics can only become more central to futuredevelopments, and a platform is needed to focus such ideas.EJNMMI Physics will fill that gap by providing a publica-tion platform for the exchange of scientifically sound infor-mationonphysicsand physics matters inthe realm ofnuclearmedicine. In recognition of today’s multi-disciplinary ap-proach to nuclear medicine and nuclear medicine physics,the journal will publish original materials and studies with afocus on applied physics, mathematics and multi-modalityimaging instrumentation as well as imaging system engineer-ing and prototyping in nuclear medicine. This includesphysics-drivenapproachesoralgorithmssupportedbyphysicsthatfosterearlyclinicaladoptionofnuclearmedicineimagingand therapy regimens.The journal is open for a variety of contributions, rangingfrom original articles and short communicationsto, for exam-ple, artefact reports that will describe both a methodologicalproblem leading to a visual or quantitative distortion of nu-clear medicine imaging and a solution to the problem. Inaddition, opinion papers, pictorial assays and review articlesaddressing controversies and timely developments will bepublished, relevant to both nuclear medicine physics andinstrumentation. One section, “Young Investigator Reports ”,will provide young medical physicists with a submissioncategory suitable for summary reports of their research activ-itiesaspartoftheirthesiswork.Thisjournalisnotintendedtoreplace theEJNMMIas the publication of choicefor physics-related articles that are of interest to the wider clinically
Discovery of the J Particle at Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Physics of Electrons and Positrons; The Standard Model Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow; The Rise of Gauge Theories: From Many Models to One Theory; From Charm to CP Violation; When the Standard Model Was Ignored; The Discovery of the W and Z Bosons at the CERN Proton-Antiproton Collider; A Personal History of CERN Particle Colliders (1972-2022); The Age of Gravitational Wave Astronomy; Precision Physics in the Era of (HL)LHC; Recent Developments in Flavor Physics, the Unitary Triangle Fit, Anomalies and All That; About BSM Physics, with Emphasis on Flavour; The Discovery of the Antiproton between Rome and Berkeley; Raoul Gatto and Bruno Touschek: the Rise of $e+e^-$ Physics; From ADONE's Multi-Hadron Production to the J/$Ψ$ Discovery; From Bjorken Scaling to Scaling Violations
Physics is introduced as a basic matter in the curricula of professional schools (i.e. schools for agriculture, electronic or chemistry experts). Students meet physics in the early years of their training and then continue in vocational subjects where many physics' topics can be useful. Rarely, however, the connection between physics and professional matters is quite explicit. Students often feel physics as boring and useless, i.e. very far from their interests. In these schools it is almost always required the physics lab, but it does not always exist. The physics teachers of a local Agricultural Technical Institute asked us to realize a learning path in laboratory for their students, since in their school the physics lab was missing. This institute is the only public school in the Chianti area specializing in Viticulture and Enology, and attending a further year post diploma, allows the achievement of the qualification of Enologist. We report a learning path realized starting from thermal equilibrium to a full understanding of the measures made with the Malligand's ebulliometer, used for determining the alcoholic strength (alcohol concentration by volume) of an alcoholic beverage
The detection of out-of-distribution data points is a common task in particle physics. It is used for monitoring complex particle detectors or for identifying rare and unexpected events that may be indicative of new phenomena or physics beyond the Standard Model. Recent advances in Machine Learning for anomaly detection have encouraged the utilization of such techniques on particle physics problems. This review article provides an overview of the state-of-the-art techniques for anomaly detection in particle physics using machine learning. We discuss the challenges associated with anomaly detection in large and complex data sets, such as those produced by high-energy particle colliders, and highlight some of the successful applications of anomaly detection in particle physics experiments.
Nowadays, there has been a growing trend in the field of high-energy physics (HEP), in both its experimental and phenomenological studies, to incorporate machine learning (ML) and its specialized branch, deep learning (DL). This review paper provides a thorough illustration of these applications using different ML and DL approaches. The first part of the paper examines the basics of various particle physics types and establishes guidelines for assessing particle physics alongside the available learning models. Next, a detailed classification is provided for representing Jets that are reconstructed in high-energy collisions, mainly in proton-proton collisions at well-defined beam energies. This section covers various datasets, preprocessing techniques, and feature extraction and selection methods. The presented techniques can be applied to future hadron-hadron colliders (HHC), such as the high-luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) and the future circular collider - hadron-hadron (FCChh). The authors then explore several AI techniques analyses designed specifically for both image and point-cloud (PC) data in HEP. Additionally, a closer look is taken at the classification associated with Jet taggin
Through the last three decades, accurate simulation of the interactions of particles with matter and modeling of detector geometries has proven to be of critical importance to the success of the international high-energy physics (HEP) experimental programs. For example, the detailed detector modeling and accurate physics of the Geant4-based simulation software of the CMS and ATLAS particle physics experiments at the European Center of Nuclear Research (CERN) Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was a determinant factor for these collaborations to deliver physics results of outstanding quality faster than any hadron collider experiment ever before. This review article highlights the impact of detector simulation on particle physics collider experiments. It presents numerous examples of the use of simulation, from detector design and optimization, through software and computing development and testing, to cases where the use of simulation samples made a difference in the precision of the physics results and publication turnaround, from data-taking to submission. It also presents estimates of the cost and economic impact of simulation in the CMS experiment. Future experiments will collect orde
To date, there is a lack of research on learning environments for pre-service physics teachers that allow them to learn and practise diagnosing students' conceptions that are (currently) not covered in physics education textbooks (e.g. students' conceptions about viscosity). In this study, we developed and piloted such a learning environment, which was implemented and piloted twice in a seminar for pre-service physics teachers. As coping with a diagnostic process is particularly demanding for pre-service physics teachers, our accompanying research aims to identify learning barriers within our developed learning environment. The results indicate that the participants experience the learning environment with varying degrees of difficulty. One main difficulty for pre-service physics teachers seems to be in interconnecting their content knowledge with their pedagogical content knowledge in the diagnostic process.
Over the past decades, the diversity of areas explored by physicists has exploded, encompassing new topics from biophysics and chemical physics to network science. However, it is unclear how these new subfields emerged from the traditional subject areas and how physicists explore them. To map out the evolution of physics subfields, here, we take an intellectual census of physics by studying physicists' careers. We use a large-scale publication data set, identify the subfields of 135,877 physicists and quantify their heterogeneous birth, growth and migration patterns among research areas. We find that the majority of physicists began their careers in only three subfields, branching out to other areas at later career stages, with different rates and transition times. Furthermore, we analyse the productivity, impact and team sizes across different subfields, finding drastic changes attributable to the recent rise in large-scale collaborations. This detailed, longitudinal census of physics can inform resource allocation policies and provide students, editors and scientists with a broader view of the field's internal dynamics.
Defining interdisciplinary physics today requires first a reformulation of what is physics today, which in turn calls for clarifying what makes a physicist. This assessment results from my forty year journey arguing and fighting to build sociophysics. My view on interdisciplinary physics has thus evolved jumping repeatedly to opposite directions before settling down to the following claim: today physics is what is done by physicists who handle a problem the "physicist's way". However the training of physicists should stay restricted to inert matter. Yet adding a focus on the universality of the physicist approach as a generic path to investigate a topic. Consequently, interdisciplinary physics should become a cabinet of curiosities including an incubator. The cabinet of curiosities would welcome all one shots papers related to any kind of object provided it is co-authored at least by one physicist. Otherwise the paper should uses explicitly technics from physics. In case a topic gets many papers, it would be moved to the incubator to foster the potential emergence of a new appropriate subfield of physics. A process illustrated by the subsection social physics in Frontiers in physic
This report summarizes a study of the physics potential of the CLIC e+e- linear collider operating at centre-of-mass energies from 1 TeV to 5 TeV with luminosity of the order of 10^35 cm^-2 s^-1. First, the CLIC collider complex is surveyed, with emphasis on aspects related to its physics capabilities, particularly the luminosity and energy, and also possible polarization, γγand e-e- collisions. The next CLIC Test facility, CTF3, and its R&D programme are also reviewed. We then discuss aspects of experimentation at CLIC, including backgrounds and experimental conditions, and present a conceptual detector design used in the physics analyses, most of which use the nominal CLIC centre-of-mass energy of 3 TeV. CLIC contributions to Higgs physics could include completing the profile of a light Higgs boson by measuring rare decays and reconstructing the Higgs potential, or discovering one or more heavy Higgs bosons, or probing CP violation in the Higgs sector. Turning to physics beyond the Standard Model, CLIC might be able to complete the supersymmetric spectrum and make more precise measurements of sparticles detected previously at the LHC or a lower-energy linear e+e- collider: γγ
There is no doubt that the field of Fundamental Constants in Physics and Their Time Variation is one of the hottest subjects in modern theoretical and experimental physics, with potential implications in all fundamental areas of physics research, such as particle physics, gravitation, astrophysics and cosmology. In this Special Issue, the state-of-the-art in the field is presented in detail.
I believe that most teachers develop a belief in a set of pedagogical practices. As we teach, we try different ways to teach topics and then judge how successful the methods were. After several years, we have a compilation of techniques in our teaching toolbox. New teachers are at a disadvantage because they have fewer prior experiences to draw upon. Luckily, there is a group of physicists and physics educators who are researching how students learn physics, and have been able to show evidence of effective education practices in physics. They field of study is called PER: Physics Education Research. I asked Chandralekha Singh, one of the leaders in PER, to summarize some of the most relevant PER findings and her response follows.
The present issue of the series <<Modern Problems in Mathematical Physics>> represents the Proceedings of the Students Training Contest Olympiad in Mathematical and Theoretical Physics and includes the statements and the solutions of the problems offered to the participants. The contest Olympiad was held on May 21st-24th, 2010 by Scientific Research Laboratory of Mathematical Physics of Samara State University, Steklov Mathematical Institute of Russia's Academy of Sciences, and Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University) in cooperation. The present Proceedings is intended to be used by the students of physical and mechanical-mathematical departments of the universities, who are interested in acquiring a deeper knowledge of the methods of mathematical and theoretical physics, and could be also useful for the persons involved in teaching mathematical and theoretical physics.
After the Higgs boson discovery in 2012, the investigation of its properties and compatibility with the standard model predictions is central to the physics program of the LHC experiments. Likewise, the study of the top quark is still relevant at the LHC, more than two decades after its discovery at the Tevatron. Top quarks and Higgs bosons are produced at the LHC on a large scale and share a deep connection based on the large mass of the top quark. Both particles provide an excellent laboratory in which to search for new physics: the measurement of their properties tests the foundations of the standard model; and they feature prominently in a variety of exotic signals. The coupling of the Higgs boson to the top quark, a fundamental standard model parameter, can only be measured directly in processes where the two particles are produced together. The production of a Higgs boson together with one or two top quarks is also sensitive to several exciting new physics effects. A brief overview of the current experimental status of top quark and Higgs boson physics is presented using results from the CMS Collaboration.
The purpose of this paper is to show the magic of physics by showing the physics of magic. What usually makes magic tricks interesting is that something unexpected occurs. Similarly, demonstrations are interesting inasmuch as they produce something unexpected. Since expectations are linked to preconceptions, a demonstration making use of a flaw in a preconception will result in something unexpected. Given the numerous misconceptions in physics, many demonstrations can be dressed up as magic tricks. The first objective of this paper is to share with other physics teachers the excitement of creating and using magical classroom demonstrations. The second objective is to provide interested instructors with practical means to convert a classical demonstration into a magic trick. To illustrate the procedure, two classical demonstrations will be re-presented as the magic tricks we have presented in our courses. The final goal is to use current ideas in educational psychology to explain why using magic has worked so well in our courses in providing students with a new impetus to learn physics. This description is not meant to be formal, but proposes a theoretical model that fits our classr
A review is given on the foundations and applications of non-Hermitian classical and quantum physics. First, key theorems and central concepts in non-Hermitian linear algebra, including Jordan normal form, biorthogonality, exceptional points, pseudo-Hermiticity and parity-time symmetry, are delineated in a pedagogical and mathematically coherent manner. Building on these, we provide an overview of how diverse classical systems, ranging from photonics, mechanics, electrical circuits, acoustics to active matter, can be used to simulate non-Hermitian wave physics. In particular, we discuss rich and unique phenomena found therein, such as unidirectional invisibility, enhanced sensitivity, topological energy transfer, coherent perfect absorption, single-mode lasing, and robust biological transport. We then explain in detail how non-Hermitian operators emerge as an effective description of open quantum systems on the basis of the Feshbach projection approach and the quantum trajectory approach. We discuss their applications to physical systems relevant to a variety of fields, including atomic, molecular and optical physics, mesoscopic physics, and nuclear physics with emphasis on promine
The conclusions of the Physics Working Group of the international scoping study of a future Neutrino Factory and super-beam facility (the ISS) are presented. The ISS was carried by the international community between NuFact05, (the 7th International Workshop on Neutrino Factories and Superbeams, Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Rome, June 21-26, 2005) and NuFact06 (Ivine, California, 24{30 August 2006). The physics case for an extensive experimental programme to understand the properties of the neutrino is presented and the role of high-precision measurements of neutrino oscillations within this programme is discussed in detail. The performance of second generation super-beam experiments, beta-beam facilities, and the Neutrino Factory are evaluated and a quantitative comparison of the discovery potential of the three classes of facility is presented. High-precision studies of the properties of the muon are complementary to the study of neutrino oscillations. The Neutrino Factory has the potential to provide extremely intense muon beams and the physics potential of such beams is discussed in the final section of the report.
International research work for young people is common in physics. However, work experience and career plan of female workers in physics are little studied. We explore them by interviewing three international female workers in physics.
The goal of this paper is to summarise the first steps in developing a fundamentally new way of constructing theories of physics. The motivation comes from a desire to address certain deep issues that arise when contemplating quantum theories of space and time. In doing so we provide a new answer to Heidegger's timeless question ``What is a thing?''. Our basic contention is that constructing a theory of physics is equivalent to finding a representation in a topos of a certain formal language that is attached to the system. Classical physics uses the topos of sets. Other theories involve a different topos. For the types of theory discussed in this paper, a key goal is to represent any physical quantity $A$ with an arrow $\breve{A}_φ:\Si_φ\map\R_φ$ where $\Si_φ$ and $\R_φ$ are two special objects (the `state-object' and `quantity-value object') in the appropriate topos, $τ_φ$. We discuss two different types of language that can be attached to a system, $S$. The first, $\PL{S}$, is a propositional language; the second, $Ł{S}$, is a higher-order, typed language. Both languages provide deductive systems with an intuitionistic logic. With the aid of $\PL{S}$ we expand and develop some of