An international physics conference “Frontiers of Quantum and Mesoscopic Thermodynamics”, taking place in Prague in August 2022, dealt with small nanosystems with sizes from tents to hundreds of nanometres in non-equilibrium conditions. The behaviour of such systems is thought to have a significant impact on the future of nanotechnologies, quantum computers development but also on the future of chemistry and medicine.
This conference, which is widely recognised for linking theoretical and experimental research and application in physics, has attracted two hundred global experts from various fields of physics such as solid matter physics, quantum optics, quantum computer physics, nuclear physics as well as biophysics and astronomy. Apart from the attention paid to it by expert audience, the conference has also been popular with the public for its public lectures.
“The study of very small systems in generally non-equilibrium conditions is crucial for the future development in chemistry, and primarily, in biology and medicine, as the systems play a central role in terms of how biological systems behave at the molecular level,” said the organiser of the conference Václav Špička, explaining the interdisciplinary outreach of the event. “It is very likely that this year’s conference, just like in the previous years, will stimulate the further development in the research of the systems, and will lead to deepening the existing collaborations and to establishing new ones,” he added.
This year’s conference, marking its ninth anniversary, provided its participants with a unique opportunity to listen to the lecture “Astronomy, God and the Search for Elegance” given by the astronomer and the Director of the Vatican Observatory Guy Consolmagno. The next speaker, the astronaut and the geologist Harrison Schmitt, a member of the Apollo 17 crew, gave a lecture called “From Coyotes to Moonbeams”. During the conference both scientists received commemorative medals for their merits for scientific inquiry and their work for the society from the Czech Senate’s President Miloš Vystrčil.
The detailed science programme along with the accompanying concert schedule is available at: https://fqmt.fzu.cz/22/.
9th Frontiers of Quantum and Mesoscopic Thermodynamics, FQMT’22 conference, was held in Prague between 1 and 6 August 2022. The event was co-organised by the Czech Senate’s Education, Science, Culture, Human Rights and Petitions Committee. It was the ninth year in a successful FQMT series. More about their history and their programmes is available at: https://fqmt.fzu.cz/.
The conference was also attended by the professor of physics, and a jazz legend Allen Hermann; playing the trombone, he has performed with a number of the world’s jazz top musicians, such as, among others, the Ella Fitzgerald’s orchestra. During the FQMT22 conference, he, Bob Montgomery (a jazz trumpet legend), and several Czech musicians played a concert for the other participants and the public. The accompanying concert programme also included a classical music concert at the St. Vitus Cathedral, a classical and popular music concert at the Pyramida Hotel in Prague, and a classical music performance at the Strahov Monastery.