Celebrating and revealing the beauty of the science that we use daily to connect with the world, light our homes, fight disease, and scan our groceries.

The United Nations has declared 2025 to be the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology.

Australia’s physicists are inviting scientific, cultural and industry organisations across the country to join them in a national celebration of the impact of quantum science.

Register your interest at quantum2025.org.au.

“Quantum science is both fascinating and beautiful. It only seems mysterious because it’s far from our everyday experience and intuition,” says Professor Nicolas Menicucci, a quantum physicist at RMIT and Chair of the Australian Institute of Physics’ Quantum Science and Technology Topical Group.

“The Quantum Year will showcase the impact of once-esoteric fundamental physics on our everyday lives,” says Professor Nicole Bell, President of the Australian Institute of Physics.

The laws of quantum mechanics were discovered in 1925, allowing scientists to explore Nature at the subatomic scale, where fundamental particles behave as both waves of energy and particles of matter.

“During the Quantum Year, we invite all Australians to learn how this fascinating branch of science has transformed our understanding of Nature and the Universe – and how the technologies built on these principles continue to transform our world,” Professor Menicucci says.

We use quantum science every day in devices that are central to modern life, including:

• The LEDs that light our homes and our TV screens in the 21st Century
• The lasers that scan our groceries and correct our vision
• The microchips at the heart of every smartphone, computer and modern car
• The medical imaging devices that have saved countless lives in the fight against cancer and other diseases
• The solar panels and batteries that will enable us to live at net zero

Today, Australia is at the forefront of the race to develop new quantum technology that will enhance our lives. We’re developing navigation systems that don’t require satellites. We’re creating miniaturised sensors that can detect disease, monitor metal fatigue and find critical minerals. We’re inventing cheaper and more efficient solar and battery technologies, and racing to create quantum computers.

“2025 will be a year where we, as scientists, hope to share and illuminate the beauty of quantum physics, and inspire the public with what new promising technologies quantum physics could enable in the next 100 years,” says Dr Xanthe Croot, a researcher and Lecturer in Quantum Science at the University of Sydney.

Advances in quantum technology will enable new computing and communication models with the potential to accelerate innovations in materials science, medicine, and cybersecurity, among other fields. In this way, quantum science and technology is poised to help address the world’s most pressing challenges — including the need to rapidly develop renewable energy, improve human health, and create global solutions in support of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

“This second quantum revolution is leading to breakthroughs in using quantum effects like superposition and entanglement for new applications,” said John Doyle, Henry B. Silsbee Professor of Physics at Harvard University, co-director of the Harvard Quantum Initiative, and president-elect of the American Physical Society. “When these phenomena can be applied broadly to control and engineer matter at the level of single quanta, and even single atoms, they will spark transformations in a multitude of technologies.”

“Over the coming months, the Australian Institute of Physics (AIP) will hold briefing events across Australia, starting in Canberra and Sydney in July, about the exciting events to come during the Quantum Year of 2025. The AIP will run our own program of events, and we invite museums, artists, media, industry and others to celebrate the Quantum Year in your own unique way – with events of born of your own imagination and excitement about quantum science and technology,” says Professor Menicucci.

To find out more about plans in Australia for the Quantum Year or to get involved, visit quantum2025.org.au.

Would you like to grow your network across the Australian physics community and make connections with those working in many physics sub-disciplines?

The Australian Institute of Physics is looking for a new volunteer to join the national AIP Executive.

AIP Executive is making strategic decisions to grow the Australian physics community.

Each member of the AIP Executive focuses on one area, ranging from industry engagement, advocacy, the development of policy statements, to AIP finance and the day-to-day running of the AIP.

It is expected that Executive members would perform this role for 2 to 3 years, attend national Executive meetings (currently virtual and monthly), and take on the responsibility for one area.

If you are interested in finding out more, please contact us at executive@aip.org.au today.

We welcome Dr Karen Siu to the role of AIP Operations Manager.

Karen holds a PhD in X-ray physics and has been an avid user of synchrotrons across Europe, Japan, the UK, and USA. More recently, she has been working in research strategy and support across industry and academia.

Karen takes over the Operations Manager role from Nicole Reynolds, who recently finished her work with the AIP after four years of dedicated service.

"I am very much looking forward to engaging with the physics community again on a daily basis and supporting the Institute in all its endeavours."

We cannot predict when solar storms or flares will occur.

The recent intensification of the aurora australis in Earth's atmosphere over the weekend of 11/12 May 2024 caused much conversation and photo sharing.

The AIP's solar physicists and space science researchers have written a number of explainers:

Why are auroras so hard to predict? And when can we expect more? (The Conversation)

Will we see more intense auroras this year? The science of solar storms explained (ABC News)

Expert Commentary: What caused so many auroras this weekend, and could we see more? (CSIRO)

The submission deadline for the C. N. Yang Award 2024 is 3 June 2024. Submissions must be made to the secretary of AAPPS and the administrative office of APCTP at award@apctp.org.

The C. N. Yang Award has been established to honour young researchers with prominent research achievements and to promote the development of leaders in physics in the Asia Pacific region.

Each division chair from each member society with divisional structure is invited to nominate one (1) candidate who has obtained a Ph.D. in physics or an equivalent degree for no more than 10 years. The president of each member society without divisional structure is invited to nominate up to three (3) candidates.

Nominees should demonstrate a commitment to both excellence in scientific research, as evidenced by scholarly publication and cooperation with scientists in physics in the Asia Pacific region.

Please visit the C. N. Yang Award website for more details, including:

• Eligibility
• Channels of Nominations
• Nomination Package
• Prize
• Procedure for the final selection process
• Information on past winners

The Australian Institute of Physics is kicking off a new event this year, our annual National Careers Fair. This event will be scheduled to run concurrently across our branches at 6:30pm AEST on 29 May.

Events will be run in-person in Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, ACT and Queensland. State branches will provide more details in the coming weeks regarding plans for local events.

We are excited about this opportunity to showcase the incredible career prospects for physicists to our student cohort and increase awareness of the important role physicists play in industry.

There are still opportunities to advertise roles (current or upcoming) at both the state and national level. If you would like to be involved, please reach out to outreach@aip.org.au.

Images are from AIP SA Branch’s local job fair in 2023.

It is with sadness that we share the news that Emeritus Professor Robert “Bob” Leith Dewar FAA, FAPS, FAIP passed away this April. A long-time AIP member (since 1974) and AIP fellow, Bob made a significant impact on the physics community, locally and abroad.

Bob was a giant in the field of theoretical plasma physics, with important contributions in Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and in dynamical systems. These include MHD equilibrium and stability, MHD ballooning modes, Taylor relaxation and Hamiltonian maps. Bob worked closely with computer simulation and with experimentalists and has made important contributions to magnetic fusion research and to astrophysics.

Recently he has been instrumental in the development of a multiple region relaxed MHD model to describe general stellarator fields, and he was presently working on a generalisation of such models to systems that preserve magnetic helicity with a weak ideal Ohm’s law constraint.

He initiated several major collaborations across physics and mathematics, including the National Plasma Fusion Research Facility, the Australian Research Council Complex Open Systems Research Network, and led the ANU’s plasma theory and modelling group until retirement in 2011.  Perhaps most importantly, he has left a legacy in both research and teaching, spanning 5 postdocs, 16 PhD, and many Masters and Honours students.  Many of these now hold prominent positions in the field.

Read more about Vale Professor Bob Dewar’s life and tributes made in his honour on the tribute page. Information about a service or a research symposium celebrating his contributions will also be included on that site as details come to light.

Registrations for the Congress open on 20 May. Early bird registrations close 28 August. The abstract submission deadline is 7 June.

We will be calling for Focus Session suggestions in the coming weeks. We encourage all delegates to engage in this process, so that we can provide focused sessions aligned with the interests of the community.

Stay in the Congress loop by subscribing for the latest notifications at
aip-congress.org.au, or directly via this link.

The Women in Leadership Medal application deadline has been extended to Tuesday 30 April. Nominate yourself or someone you know to recognise excellent contributions to Australian physics.

Second Circular : XVIth Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectrum Conference

We are pleased to announce that the "XVIth Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectrum Conference” will be held between 19-24 August 2024 at the Cairns Convention Centre in Queensland, Australia. Please see the linked conference poster for more details.

Conference web sites

The important dates and the list of conveners for the scientific program, as well as additional information on travel, accommodation and the conference social program can be found at the conference webpage: www.confinement24.org.au and this page is regularly updated. The Indico webpage for the conference can be reached at https://indico.cern.ch/event/1293041/

Scientific Topics

Session A: Vacuum Structure and Confinement

Focus Subsection: “Topology and confinement at borderlines of particle physics and condensed matter: emergent confinement in cold atoms and Anderson criticality in the QCD deconfinement transition”

Session B: Light Quarks

Session C: Heavy Quarks

Session D: Deconfinement

Session E: QCD and New Physics

Session F: Nuclear and Astro-particle Physics

Session G: Strongly Coupled Theories

Session H: Statistical Methods for Physics Analysis in the XXI Century 

The important dates and the list of conveners for the scientific program, as well as additional information on travel, accommodation and the conference social program can be found at the conference webpages linked above.

Registration and abstract submission are now open

Abstract submission opening:	29 January 2024
Abstract submission deadline:	29 April 2024
Abstract acceptance notification:	13 May 2024
Registration opening:	29 January 2024
Deadline for paying early registration fees:	03 June 2024
Registration deadline:	01 July 2024
Deadline for student support applications:	03 June 2024
Decisions on student support applications:	10 June 2024

Registration and conference fees

Registration for the conference is through the conference website https://indico.cern.ch/event/1293041/registrations/101933/.

Registration fee type	Early Registration	Late Registration
	until 03 June, 2024	until 01 July, 2024
Full	AU$1150 ~ €690	AU$1300 ~ €790
Student	AU$900 ~ €540	AU$1060 ~ €650
Accompanying Person	AU$200 ~ €120	AU$200 ~ €120

The full and student Conference registrations include: Welcome Reception, Conference Dinner, morning and afternoon teas, lunch on Monday-Friday inclusive, poster session, public lecture and a concert, proceedings, printed programme, and the conference pack. The fee for accompanying persons includes the conference social dinner and welcome reception.

Support for students

There will be a finite capacity for providing partial financial assistance for student attendance at the Conference. Please note that this is indeed limited to students - it is not possible to provide support for general participants. Support is intended only for students who will be making a presentation (either oral or poster). 

Applications for student support can be submitted by sending an email to

ayse.kizilersu@adelaide.edu.au and cc it to cssm@adelaide.edu.au by 3^rd of June 2024.

Please make sure your email contains the following information:

• email subject line
• • QCHSC2024 student financial support application - YOUR NAME - YOUR INSTITUTION
    
• email body
  
• • First name
    
  • Surname
    
  • Institution (i.e. your affiliation)
    
  • Submitted talk type (oral or poster)
    
  • Talk/poster title
    
  • Talk/poster abstract
    
  • A reference letter
    
  • Additional information that you feel is relevant
    

If you apply for a student support please postpone payment of your fee until a decision is made, by 10th June 2024.

 

Accommodation

Conference participants are requested to book their accommodation individually. A variety of hotel options are available in the Cairns city centre within pleasant walking distance of the conference venue.

Reduced rates have been negotiated for the conference participants and those

special accommodation deals for QCHSC2024 are listed at the conference webpage https://confinement24.org.au/#accommodation

Conference Excursions

We offer three conference excursion options – “Outer Reef”, “Oldest Rainforest”, and “Rainforest with Aboriginal Experience” on Saturday August 24th. As a conference participant, you and your accompanying guests are able to choose one of these three during the registration process. 

The details of all excursions and their costs are available on the webpage at https://confinement24.org.au/#conference_excursions and your preferred trip should be selected at registration.

Please note that some options have limited capacity and we apologise in advance if your preferred excursion is not available.

Social Programme

The welcome reception will be held in the evening of Monday, the 19^th of August. There will be a public talk and a concert on Tuesday, the 20^th of August. The poster session will take place on Wednesday, the 21^stof August. The conference dinner will be on Thursday the 22^nd of August. 

Travel

Cairns Airport is one of Australia’s leading tourist destinations, providing air links to a range of domestic and international locations and is just 7 kilometres from the centre of Cairns.

Cairns Airport has direct flights from Tokyo, Osaka, Singapore, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Bali, Auckland and Port Moresby. There are also seasonal flights from Shanghai and Seoul.

Detailed travel information can be found on the conference website https://confinement24.org.au/#information

 

Cancellation Fee and Refund Policy 

For delegate registrations:

• Before 10th June, 2024: Full refund minus $30 administration fee;
• After 11^th June, 2024: 50% of payment refunded;
• After 4th August, 2024: no refund.

For accompanying person registrations:

• Before 3^rd August, 2024: Full refund minus $20 administration fee.;
• After 4^th August, 2024: no refund.

 

Visa information

All travellers to Australia need a valid passport. Visas are required by all visitors travelling to Australia except for New Zealand passport holders.

We advise all international travellers to consult the link below or contact the Australian Consulate in your country to organise the visa that best suits your travel plans.

Visa Information at the Department of Immigration and Citizenship

Depending on the country of issue of your passport, you may be eligible to apply for an eVisitor or ETA via the internet. Please see the following link for more information.

Online Applications at the Department of Immigration and Citizenship

It is also important to note that Australia is an island of immense ecological diversity and takes customs very seriously. To protect its natural ecosystems and agriculture interests, Australia employs strict customs regulations. Organic items such as plants, food, animal products, timber and anything contaminated with dirt or sand may be restricted or even prohibited. Before you set out to Australia, it may be useful to check up on these restrictions at the link below.

Customs Information at the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service

If you require a Letter of Invitation for the conference, please contact us via email.

Please address requests to ayse.kizilersu@adelaide.edu.au and cc it to cssm@adelaide.edu.au

We are looking forward to seeing you at CONFINEMENT2024! 

Sincerely yours,

The local organising committee:

Ayse Kizilersu (University of Adelaide, Chair) and Nora Brambilla (TU Munchen, Co-chair)

Anthony W. Thomas (University of Adelaide, Senior Adviser and organiser)

Derek B. Leinweber (University of Adelaide)

Wally Melnitchouk (JLAB & University of Adelaide)

Martin White (University of Adelaide)