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PHYSICS MATTERS — On-line Colloquia Series

as a “Physics for Development” initiative in COVID times

The APS Forum on International Physics (FIP) is pleased to announce the PHYSICS MATTERS on-line colloquia series. The main goal of these on-line colloquia as part of the “Physics for Development” program of FIP is to support international engagement for APS among students and early career physicists, targeting developing country audiences, especially in a time when, due to the COVID pandemic, travel is difficult or even impossible.

Watch the PHYSICS MATTERS trailer below

Credits: @CERN, video editor and director: Samuel Hertzog, authors: Paola Catapano and Luisa Cifarelli

The first phase of the PHYSICS MATTERS series is planned in the fall of 2020 from November to December, with weekly colloquia. We will start with recorded video colloquia that will be made available without registration. The speakers will talk in a way that stimulates curiosity and creates a flow of ideas that is both educational and interesting to a broad community.

In 2021 we plan to continue the PHYSICS MATTERS series including also live on-line colloquia that will primarily involve some test centers, selected from within the SESAME project partner countries, a project supported by the APS. Our goal is to enlarge the audience in the future to as many developing countries as possible.

2020 PROGRAM

23 November 2020
 Paola Catapano
(CERN, Geneva Switzerland – Head of the Audiovisual Production Service for the CERN Communications Group and Project Leader of Polarquest)
Luisa Cifarelli
(University of Bologna, Italy – FIP Chair and past President of the Centro Fermi, Rome, Italy) 
POLARQUEST – A sailing expedition to measure cosmic rays (and not only) beyond the Arctic Circle  

30 November
Diederik Wiersma
(University of Florence, Italy – President of the Italian Metrology Institute, Turin, Italy) 
Metrology and inspiration for science: The new International System of Units  

7 December 
Petra Rudolf
(University of Groningen, The Netherlands – President of the European Physical Society) 
Playing Lego with layered materials

14 December
 Sergio Bertolucci
(University of Bologna, Italy – Past CERN Director of Research and Scientific Computing, Geneva, Switzerland) 
Governing the digital transformation  

21 December
Patrizia Tavella
(Bureau International des Poids et Mesures, Sèvres, France – Director of the Time Department)
The adventure of physics in timing and positioning – From a cesium atom to the Global Navigation Satellite Systems

5th PHYSICS MATTERS on-line colloquium

The fifth PHYSICS MATTERS recorded colloquium will be made available for broadcasting by the APS from Monday, December 21.

To have access to the video, please use this link.

The adventure of physics in timing and positioning - From a cesium atom to the Global Navigation Satellite Systems

The lecture will be delivered by Patrizia Tavella (Bureau International des Poids et Mesures, Sèvres, France – Director of the Time Department). The whole duration will be about 45 mn.

synchronizing clocks image Precise timekeeping and navigation systems have a lot in common. Both are based on ultraprecise atomic clocks, the capacity to measure and synchronise clocks, and the realization of a common reference time, kept in agreement with the international standard time UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). UTC is computed by comparing clocks with navigation systems, and navigation systems disseminate UTC to many users. The fundamentals of navigation systems and timekeeping are described showing how each field has been enriched and continue to progress, thanks to the progress and needs of the other field in a cross-fertilization and mutual benefit liaison.

Patrizia Tavella Patrizia Tavella – Degree in Physics and PhD in Metrology, she is the Director of the Time Department of the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures, after 30 years at the Italian Metrology Institute INRIM. Her main interests are mathematical and statistical models applied to atomic time scales. She was deeply involved in the development of the European Navigation System Galileo. In 2020 she was awarded the Enrico Fermi Prize by the Italian Physical Society.