Observation of Scissors Modes in solid state systems with a SQUID

The occurrence of scissors modes in crystals that have deformed ions in their cells has been predicted some time ago. The theoretical value of their energy is rather uncertain, however, ranging between 10 and a few tenths of eV, with the corresponding widths of 10^-7, 10^-6 eV. Their observation by resonance fluorescence experiments therefore requires a photon spectrometer covering a wide energy range with a very high resolving power. We propose and discuss a new experiment in which such difficulties are overcome by measuring with a SQUID the variation of the magnetic field associated with the excitation of scissors modes.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Introduction: synchrotron radiation time resolved concurrent experiments—a new Italian route to China

On November 11, 2010 in Shanghai qualified Chinese and Italian scientists met for the first Bilateral Italo/Chinese Workshop on Synchrotron Radiation Time Resolved Concurrent Experiments: Advantages and Future Applications. The workshop had been conceived to increase the scientific exchange between Italy and the P.R. China with the main goal to promote the development of new and unique methods of investigation by the means of synchrotron radiation. From its discovery in 1947 the development of synchrotron radiation sources and the growth of the related applications have been impressive and continuous all over the world, in particular in the major industrialized countries. In more than 50 years since its discovery, facilities around the world constantly evolved to provide beams in different forms, at different energies and with different properties for an incredible number of applications. Experimental researches based on this technology involve many academic disciplines and synchrotron radiation is nowadays an essential tool in many frontier disciplines. Because of its outstanding features, synchrotron radiation is a high-level multidisciplinary experimental platform that plays an essential role in many researches and technological applications, being universally acknowledged by the scientific community, the society as well as the governments. Actually, with more than 50 operational storage rings existing all over the world, laboratories based on synchrotron radiation sources are the most widely operated large-scale facilities with a total investment in the range of billions of dollars. Synchrotron radiation helped to push forward a huge number of researches that led to important discoveries. The reconstruction of the atomic structure of many proteins or of the local structure of high critical temperature superconductors may give just an idea of th

IKNO, a user facility for coherent terahertz and UV synchrotron radiation

IKNO (Innovation and KNOwledge) is a proposal for a multi-user facility based on an electron storage ring optimized for the generation of coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) in the terahertz frequency range, and of broadband incoherent synchrotron radiation ranging from the IR to the VUV. IKNO can be operated in an ultra-stable CSR mode with photon flux in the terahertz frequency region up to nine orders of magnitude higher than in existing thirdgeneration light sources. Simultaneously to the CSR operation, broadband incoherent synchrotron radiation up to VUV frequencies is available at the beamline ports. The main characteristics of the IKNO storage and its performance in terms of CSR and incoherent synchrotron radiation are described in this paper. The proposed location for the infrastructure facility is Sardinia, Italy

AI, Neuroscience and Aging

The booklet collects the contribution of the bilateral workshop on Artificial Intelligence applied to neurosciences: applications of new technologies in Italy and Sweden Co-organized by the Scientific Office of the Embassy of Italy, the Karolinksa Institute and the University of Gothenburg, the ”AI, Neuroscience and Aging Symposium” was held in Stockholm on 27 and 28 November 2023. The aim of this symposium was to bring together Swedish and Italian researchers engaged in neuroscience research, encouraging a dynamic exchange of pioneering ideas thanks to new technologies based on the use of artificial intelligence and to promote interdisciplinary bilateral collaboration. The objective was to explore new opportunities to leverage artificial intelligence to deepen our understanding of neural mechanisms, while trying to explore new applications in cognitive functions and healthcare. The event provided an opportunity to create a lasting partnership and identify possibilities for competitive joint research initiatives to improve the understanding of intelligence, both human and artificial. The work of this bilateral meeting was coordinated by Augusto Marcelli, scientific attaché in Stockholm, JoanaB. Pereira, associate professor of the Karolinska Institute, and Giovanni Volpe, professor at the University of Gothenburg. The public event hosted at the Karolinska Institute.was attended by 200 researchers and students. There were contributions from Swedish and Italian Universities as well as two swedish companies: Sectra and Mabel AI

Foreword

The investment in space activities may be estimated in hundreds of billion of Euro and involves all G20 and BRIC countries. Why there is such a large interest, and why so many investments are allotted to space programs? Space is definitely an essential driver of economic growth. Aside from the obvious impact onto high-technology industry, many disciplines benefit from the development of space technologies. Climatology, environmental science, various medical sciences as well as telecommunication and—off course—military applications are just few areas that need space technologies and justify the launch of satellites. Nearly a thousand satellites are currently in orbit with the aim of observing the Earth and are used for telecommunications, navigation and positioning in addition to specific scientific research and to space exploration, with missions funded by many space agencies. Man is exploring the solar system by means of satellites in orbit around Mars and Venus, and exploration is now active on the surface of Mars. China, India, Japan, Europe and United States launched spacecrafts in orbit around the Moon and the International Space Station is inhabited ever since 2003. More than 50 nations are participating in this ''colonization'' of space; they all benefit from space technologies and information gathered by satellites. Italy is participating since 1963 with a significant contribution to the activities of the International Space Station (ISS). The Chinese space program accounts for tens of launches with many satellites placed into orbit already. The successful mission of Shenzhou–X has confirmed China advances in space technologies and its ambitions for the future. In the next few years, China will launch its own Space Station, where many challenging scientific experiments in the fields of astronomy, microgravity, medicine and radiobiology will be performed. This contribution is the written, peer-reviewed version of a paper presented at the workshop ''Cosmic Rays and Radiobiology in a SinoItaly Network Strategy: First Bilateral Workshop COSMIC-RAD'' held at Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academic of Science, in Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China on September 3–4, 2012