Conference Overview

Plenary Session

Ten plenary talks will be adressing latest advancements in different research fields.

• Louise Harra, Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Obser­va­torium Davos / World Radiation Center (PMOD / WRC): A journey to the Sun: why, how and what is being discovered
• Felix Mayer, Sensirion AG, Stäfa: Sensirion: From start-up to a global player
• Karina Morgenstern, Ruhr-Universität Bochum: Tailoring the environment to steer laser-driven reactions at surfaces: Solvation, confinement, and more
• Peter Puschnig, Universität Graz: Photoemission orbital tomography: imaging molecular orbitals at intrinsic length and time scales
• Sascha Schmeling, CERN: Science Education in an International Context
• Anna Sfyrla, Université de Genève: Looking forward to new physics with the LHC
• Markus Valtiner, Technische Universität Wien: High-resolution and operando analysis for understanding surface and interface processes
• Bodo Wilts, Universität Salzburg: Amorphous photonic networks in insects
• Christian Wüthrich, Université de Genève: Out of nowhere: The emergence of spacetime in quantum gravity
• Anton Zeilinger, Universität Wien: Classical and Quantum Information

The following parallel sessions will be scheduled:

• Accelerator Science and Technology *
• Applied Physics, Acoustics
• Atomic Physics and Quantum Photonics
• Biophysics, Medical Physics and Soft Matter
• Condensed Matter Physics (KOND)
• Gravitational Waves
• History and Philosophy of Physics
• Nanotechnology: From Hype to Application
• Neutron Science **
• New prospects in ARPES for quantum materials
• Nuclear, Particle- & Astrophysics (TASK) *
• Plasma Physics
• Quantum Computing ***
• Spintronics and Magnetism at the Nanoscale
• Surfaces, Interfaces and Thin Films

* in collaboration with CHIPP; ** in collaboration with the Swiss Neutron Science Society (SGN); *** in collaboration with NCCR SPIN

Depending on the number and contents of the contributed papers, each topical session will be split into special thematic sub-sessions.

As every year outstanding scientific works will be honoured with the SPS awards, in the respective fields of General Physics (sponsored by ABB Research Center), Condensed Matter Physics (sponsored by IBM Zürich Research Laboratory), Applied Physics (sponsored by Oerlikon Surface Solutions), Metrology (sponsored by METAS), in Computational Physics (sponsored by COMSOL) and Energy Technology (sponsored by Hitachi Energy Switzerland). Each award is granted with CHF 5000.-.

The ÖPG will also award their various winners. Furthermore the winners of the Charpak-Ritz award and the SGN Award will also be honored.

The award ceremony will be held on 5 September at 11:00h.

The general assembly is scheduled for 4 September. The agenda will be published in the SPG Mitteilungen No. 70. We encourage all members to actively participate and contact the committee if special points of interest should be discussed at the assembly.

An exhibition with scientific devices, equipment, software and literature will be organized in parallel to the sessions. An invitation letter has been mailed to interested companies. If your company would like to join the exhibition, but did not receive the letter by the end of March, please contact the SPS Secretariat.

A conference dinner is scheduled for the evening of 7 September. You can select the dinner during the normal registration procedure. The price is CHF 90.- per person (further details will follow shortly).

Important: Since we have to plan ahead with the restaurant, it is not possible to register for the dinner on site.

The dinner fee must be paid and transferred to our account at latest by 21 August in order to guarantee your meal. We will keep only a small fraction of the unpaid dinner places, which will be assigned to persons paying cash upon arrival on a first come - first serve base.
Unfortunately we are forced to take this measure because of experiences made in previous years where too many unpaid last-minute cancellations occurred for which we still were indebted to the restaurant. We hope for your understanding.

Nanotechnology: From Hype to Application

Nanotechnology was enabled by our ability to see at the nanoscale with novel microscopy techniques, namely scanning electron microscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy. For their invention Ernst Ruska, Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer were awarded the Nobel prize in Physics 1986. This marked the beginning of huge excitement and significant hype both in research and industry, raising high expectations for ubiquitous nanotechnology applications.
In this year’s Physics in Industry session, we want to bring together presentations from a broad range of companies that have managed to persevere beyond the initial hype and are applying nanotechnology today.
If you are interested in presenting a talk in this session please contact the section heads.

Contact: Thilo Stöferle, Andreas Fuhrer, Peter Korczak, Christian Teissl

Theoretical Physics

As in the previous years, theoretical contributions are highly encouraged and will be included directly in a corresponding topical session. This way, the sessions will profit from a broad range of experimental, phenomenological, and theoretical advancements that are relevant in the specific topical field and thus can engage in broader and deeper discussions.
Please submit your abstract to the session which best matches your topic. You can optionally mark your contribution as "theoretical" in the submission interface.

Contact: Philippe Jetzer

Gravitational Waves

For this special session contributions covering all aspects of gravitational wave physics are welcome, in particular those connected with the Einstein Telescope (ET), the LISA mission, and the ongoing LIGO-Virgo detectors.
Relevant topics include data analysis, theoretical aspects, and experimental challenges of ET and / or LISA.
We particularly encourage PhD students and postdocs to submit abstracts and to join the meeting. Depending on the number of proposed contributions, the session will take place on one or two afternoons. Poster contributions are also welcome.

Contact: Steven Schramm, Philippe Jetzer

Quantum Computing (by NCCR SPIN)

The quantum computing session will combine presentations on recent scientific advances in the field of quantum computing with various qubit platforms. Contributions from ion traps, neutral atoms, superconducting qubits, spin qubits and other hardware platforms are welcome, as well as presentations that address progress on scalable qubit control, error correction, novel quantum algorithms and software applications. Both Austria and Switzerland are important players in this thriving area of research with many groups contributing to European and other important international research programs. The session is organized by the NCCR SPIN: Spin qubits in Silicon, and wishes to bring together the quantum computing communities from Austria and Switzerland. We welcome oral and poster contributions from both senior and junior researchers.

Contact: sps-qc[at]nccr-spin.ch

History and Philosophy of Physics

Our session is open to any topic in the history and philosophy of physics. A special focus will be on astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology. Since ancient times, the study of the sky has fascinated human beings. In the last few decades, astrophysics and cosmology have seen spectacular breakthroughs, e.g. the discovery of exoplanets or the confirmation that the expansion of the Universe is accelerated. We thus invite contributions that consider astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology from a historical or philosophical perspective.

Contact: Claus Beisbart, Bruno Besser

Condensed Matter (KOND)

The condensed matter program welcomes contributions from all topics within Condensed Matter Physics, including magnetism, superconductivity, semiconductors and more. Investigations by advanced experimental techniques, e.g. by using synchrotron radiation, are highly welcome. Where relevant, we encourage participants to submit their abstracts to the respective focus sessions described below.

Contact: Henrik M. Rønnow, Ilaria Zardo, Alberta Bonanni, Roland Resel

New prospects in ARPES for quantum materials

Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) is one of the most powerful techniques to measure the momentum-resolved electronic structure of materials. In the recent years, the development of high brilliance synchrotron facilities, as well as stable laser technology, have allowed new possibilities like micro- and nano-ARPES, in-operando ARPES on tiny devices, as well as versatile time-resolved ARPES to cite a few of them.
This special session is dedicated to review the recent ARPES developments and highlight the most advanced achievements in systems ranging from quantum materials, correlated systems and complex devices. The session will bring together the ARPES research groups and serve to elaborate novel perspectives and collaborative development.

Contact: Claude Monney, Luc Patthey

Neutron Science

Neutrons produced at large-scale research facilities provide key insights in topics ranging from particle to solid state physics, to quantum materials, to soft matter, to functional and engineering materials. Together with our colleagues from the section Physics with Neutron and Synchrotron Radiation (NESY) within the Austrian Physical Society, the Swiss Neutron Science Society welcomes abstract submissions from all topics where neutron experiments have contributed, or may contribute in the future.

Contact: Roland Resel, Marc Janoschek

Spintronics and Magnetism at the Nanoscale

This focus session concerns the latest advancements in the fabrication, measurement, and exploitation of novel functionalities in spintronic and nanomagnetic materials. We aim to showcase recent work conducted by experimentalists and theorists from Switzerland, Austria, and neighboring countries who are researching the magnetic properties of thin films, interfaces, and nanostructures. Hans Hug (Empa) and Santa Pile (JKU Linz) will present invited talks during this session.

Contact: Jeffrey Brock, Aleksandr Kurenkov, Laura Heyderman

Accelerator Science and Technology

Particle accelerators play an important role in high energy physics, materials and life sciences. They are used to create a very special state of matter — beams of particles (protons, electrons, photons, neutrons, muons, neutrinos etc.). Contributions are encouraged on all aspects of accelerator development for future high energy frontier electron, proton and muon colliders, high brightness synchrotron light sources as well as high intensity neutron sources. 

Contact: Leonid Rivkin

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