Contents - Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme
Contents - Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme
Contents - Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme
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introducedattheworkshop.Thepresentedresultsappeartobeverypromisingintermsofspectroscopic<br />
studies;thisdirectionwillsurelydevelopinthenearfuture.<br />
Oneofthemaintopicsofthemeetingwasthetheoreticaldescriptionofthehelium–impurityinteraction<br />
leadingtotheformationofweaklyboundandevenexoticaggregates(”Thesmallestdropletofacid“,<br />
acceptedaspublicationinScience2009). Differentapproacheswerecontroversiallydiscussedbetween<br />
theoristsapplyingi.e.densityfunctionaltheory,pathintegraltechniquesaswellasquantumMonto–Carlo<br />
simulations.Here,ManuelBarranco(UniversityofBarcelona,Spain),FrancescoGianturco(Universityof<br />
Rome,Italy),MassimoBoninsegni(UniversityofAlberta,Canada)andRobertZillich(UniversitätLinz,<br />
Austria)presentednewresults.IntermsoftheoreticaldescriptionsJoshuaJortner(TelAvivUniversity,<br />
Israel)gaveanexcellentoverviewpresentation. Inordertocommunicatetheresultsoftheworkshop<br />
toabroaderaudience,colleaguescomingfromnearbyfields,e.g. E.Rabani(TelAviv,Israel)andR.<br />
Hinde(Knoxville,USA)havebeeninvited.Furthermore,theconferencebroughtupnewtopicsandadded<br />
promisingfutureresearchareas:<br />
1.Superfluidityofhydrogenclusters<br />
2.Embeddedclustersexposedtointenselaserfields<br />
Fouroutoftheelevensessionsweredevotedtothesetopicswhichhaveattractedconsiderableinterest<br />
inrecenttimes.Clearlyevidentfromtheconference,thefieldofquantumfluidclusterscangiveamajor<br />
impacttothisnewdirectionsinphysicsandchemistry. Concerninghydrogenclusters,TakamasaMomose(UniversityofBritishColumbia,Canada),PeterToennies(<strong>Max</strong>-<strong>Planck</strong>-<strong>Institut</strong><strong>für</strong>Dynamikund<br />
Selbstorganisation,Göttingen)andAndrejVilesov(UniversityofSouthernCalifornia,USA)highlighted<br />
recentactivities. Youngscientistswereinparticularencouragedtojointheworkshop. Roughlyone<br />
quarteroftheparticipantshavebeenDiploma,MasterandPHDstudentsprovidingarichandstimulatingdiscussionduringthepostersessiononMondayevening.TwooralcontributionweregivenbyPHD<br />
students.Inconclusion,thefocusworkshophasproven,thatthephysicsandchemistryofquantumfluid<br />
clustersisstillrelevanttodayandanactiveareaofexperimentalaswellastheoreticalresearch. The<br />
organizersliketothankthe<strong>Max</strong>–<strong>Planck</strong>–<strong>Institut</strong>eforthegratefulfinancialsupportandforhelpingus<br />
makingthisworkshoppossible.<br />
ComplexDynamicsinLarge-ScaleInteractingBrainSystems:TowardsPhysicalModelsofSleep<br />
andConsciousness,SeminarandWorkshop<br />
Scientificcoordinators:P.Achermann,E.Olbrich,T.Wennekers<br />
Theworkshopwasattendedby65participantsandbroughttogetherscientistsworkinginmultipledisciplinesasdiverseasexperimentalbrainresearch,medicine,psychology,complexsystemsscience,data<br />
analysis,andlarge-scalecomputationalmodelingofthenervoussystem.Themaingoalwastoadvance<br />
anintegratedunderstandingofthecomplexdynamicsofthebrainthatunderlydifferentbrainstates<br />
likesleepandconsciousness. The5-dayworkshopcontained21invitedandninecontributedtalks. It<br />
featuredworld-leadingexpertsinexperimentalsleepandcognitionresearch(e.g.,P.Maquet,V.Crunelli,<br />
S.Bressler),modelers(e.g.,A.Destexhe,M.Bazhenov,P.Robinson,M.Wilson,S.Hill),theoreticians<br />
(e.g.,J.Kurths,J.Jost),anddataanalysts(e.g.,P.A.ValdesSosa). Amajortopicwasthephysical<br />
originoftheslowoscillation,amostfundamentalprocesscharacterizingsleep. Itwascoveredbypresentationsofnewexperimentalresults(V.Crunelli,I.Ulbert)anddifferentmodellingapproaches(J.-C.Claussen,M.Bazhenov,S.Hill).Sleephasfurtherbeensuggestedtobeinvolvedinmemoryconsolidationformanyyears.Severaltalksaddressedrecentexperimentsinvestigatingthishypothesis(J.Fell,R.<br />
Huber). Complexityphysicsprovidesamajornoveldirectioninsleepresearchbecausethebraincanbe<br />
consideredacomplexnetworkofcellsandtheirconnections.Presentationsinthisareaexplorednetwork<br />
topologiesofneuralnetworksandtheirimpactonnetworkdynamics,especiallysynchronizationphenomena(J.Kurths,J.Jost,C.Zhou).Afurtherstrandofresearchcoveredintheworkshopwaslarge-scale<br />
modelingofthebrainasverydetailedmodelsofbiologicalneuralnetworkscannowbesimulatedonhigh<br />
performancecomputers. Thisenablesdetailedstudiesofneurophysiologicalprocessesrelatedtosleep<br />
controlandsleeposcillations(D.Forger,P.Robinson,M.Bazhenov,S.Hill).Onecurrentchallengein<br />
thefieldofsleepresearchandneuroscienceistheintegrationofdifferentexperimentalapproacheslike<br />
macroscopicmeasurementssuchasEEGandfMRIwithmoremicroscopicdatasuchaslocalfieldpotentialsormulti-unitrecordings.Tocombinethesetechniquesmathematicalmodelsbasedonstatistical<br />
WorkshopReports 121
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