On Monday, December 2, 2024, it was exactly 50 years to the day since a single issue of Physical Review Letters published three articles, announcing a discovery that fundamentally impacted the further development of our understanding of the laws of the microworld. The first reached the editors on November 12, 1974, the second a day later, and the third on November 18. I will get back to this time sequence later.
On 18th and 19th November 2024, a traditional workshop organized by the Department of Spintronics and Nanoelectronics of FZU took place in Villa Lanna. The program was divided into thematic lecture blocks encompassing not only the recently discovered family of altermagnetic materials but also superconductivity and terahertz and antiferromagnetic spintronics from both theoretical and experimental points of view.
In the presence of Her Excellency Ms Jarmila Povejšilová, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Argentina, her deputy Filip Kanda and the Head of Unit for Research Infrastructures of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic Marek Vyšinka, the Director of the Institute of Physics Michael Prouza signed an agreement to extend the operation of the Pierre Auger Observatory for another 10 years.
As part of the Week of the Academy of Sciences the staff of the Institute of Physics present groundbreaking research to students and the curious public. This year was no exception. The opportunity to get a glimpse into the world of scientific experiments and cutting-edge technologies that scientists work with on a daily basis has been taken by 1348 visitors.
Did you know that the displays of the future could be brighter and more colourful, yet more energy efficient? This technological advancement is made possible by quantum dots – objects so small that they behave according to the laws of quantum physics that govern the behaviour of the microworld.
Where does science end and art begin, and vice versa? This is the question posed to visitors by the new exhibition Reflections, which brings together the works of four leading Czech and Polish artists, scientific perspectives on their artworks and new works inspired by these scientific analyses. Science turns its gaze to art, which returns it, and the cycle of inspiration unfolds.
It is our sad duty to announce to the physics community and the wider public that the eminent plasma theorist and research organizer Karel Jungwirth has passed away.
