Schramm S., Schäfer M. (Eds.) New Horizons in Fundamental Physics

Springer International Publishing, 2017 — 389p. — (FIAS Interdisciplinary Science Series) — ISBN: 978-3-319-44165-8 (eBook), 978-3-319-44164-1 (Hardcover).This volume presents the state-of-the-art in selected topics across modern nuclear physics, covering fields of central importance to research and illustrating their connection to many different areas of physics.
It describes recent progress in the study of superheavy and exotic nuclei, which is pushing our knowledge to ever heavier elements and neutron-richer isotopes. Extending nuclear physics to systems that are many times denser than even the core of an atomic nucleus, one enters the realm of the physics of neutron stars and possibly quark stars, a topic that is intensively investigated with many ground-based and outer-space research missions as well as numerous theoretical works. By colliding two nuclei at very high ultra-relativistic energies one can create a fireball of extremely hot matter, reminiscent of the universe very shortly after the big bang, leading to a phase of melted hadrons and free quarks and gluons, the so-called quark-gluon plasma.
These studies tie up with effects of crucial importance in other fields. During the collision of heavy ions, electric fields of extreme strength are produced, potentially destabilizing the vacuum of the atomic physics system, subsequently leading to the decay of the vacuum state and the emission of positrons. In neutron stars the ultra-dense matter might support extremely high magnetic fields, far beyond anything that can be produced in the laboratory, significantly affecting the stellar properties.
At very high densities general relativity predicts the stellar collapse to a black hole. However, a number of current theoretical activities, modifying Einstein’s theory, point to possible alternative scenarios, where this collapse might be avoided.
These and related topics are addressed in this book in a series of highly readable chapters. In addition, the book includes fundamental analyses of the practicalities involved in transiting to an electricity supply mainly based on renewable energies, investigating this scenario less from an engineering and more from a physics point of view.
While the topics comprise a large scope of activities, the contributions also show an extensive overlap in the methodology and in the analytical and numerical tools involved in tackling these diverse research fields that are the forefront of modern science.Intertwining of Greiner’s Theoretical Works and Our Experimental Studies
Eighty Years of Research on Super-Heavy Nuclei
Perspectives of Heavy and Superheavy Nuclei Research
Superheavy Element Chemistry—New Experimental Results Challenge Theoretical Understanding
25 Years of FRS Experiments and New Horizons
SHE Research with Rare-Isotope Beams, Challenges and Perspectives, and the New Generation of SHE Factories
Multi-modal Collinear Ternary Fission
From the Stable to the Exotic: Clustering in Light Nuclei
Towards Laser Spectroscopy of Superheavy Elements
Chemical Freeze-Out Conditions in Hadron Resonance Gas
The QCD Phase Diagram and Hadron Formation in Relativistic Nuclear Collisions
Degrees of Freedom of the Quark Gluon Plasma, Tested by Heavy Mesons
Electromagnetic Emissivity of Hot and Dense Matter
Heavy-Ion Collisions: Status of Chemical Equilibrium
Novel Developments of HYDJET++ Model for Ultra-relativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions
Jet Tomography in Heavy-Ion Collisions—Challenges, Results, and Open Problems
Probing QED Vacuum with Heavy Ions
Laser Assisted Breit-Wheeler and Schwinger Processes
A Method to Measure Vacuum Birefringence at FCC-ee
Unifying Quantum Electro-Dynamics and Many-Body Perturbation Theory
Simulations of Accretion Disks Around Massive stars
Neutron Stars—Possibilities and Limits for Exotic Phases
The Case for an Underground Neutrino Facility in South Africa
Covariant Hamiltonian Representation of Noether’s Theorem and Its Application to SU(N) Gauge Theories
Infrastructure Estimates for a Highly Renewable Global Electricity Grid
Power Flow Tracing in Complex Networks
Patent Protection of High-Level Research Results