The
CNRS Mathematics and Physical Sciences Department has published a
new issue of
"Images de la physique 2000" (Images of Physics 2000), illustrating
the key contributions made by CNRS scientists in a research field
that covers nuclear physics, particle physics, sciences of the universe,
engineering sciences and physical and mathematical sciences, carried
out in many cases in collaboration with biologists and chemists.
The
contents include:
Unraveling
the mysteries of the aurora borealis ;
Researching
comets to discover the chemical composition of the primordial universe
;
The
fascinating properties of Bose-Einstein condensates and the route
to coherent atomic matter ;
Using
statistical physics methods to study disorder trapping, finding
that superfluid helium meniscus propagation can be described in
the same way as magnetic wall motion ;
Novel
measurements of the friction between polymer fluids and surfaces
;
Modelling
the function of motor proteins in muscle fibers transforming chemical
into mechanical energy ;
The
influence of the architecture of amphiphilic molecules on self-assembly
properties ;
Using
spectroscopic methods to identify the chirality of molecular complexes
;
Projects
for synthesizing more powerful magnets ;
Information
technology research, including a study of optical anistropies induced
by broken symmetry in semi-conductors, and electron spin phenomena
in magnetic nanostructures associating ferromagnetic materials with
metals, insulators or semiconductors ;
Spectacular
advances in imagery, including acoustic interferometry to locate
coherent structures in turbulent flow, and X ray radiography using
the spatial coherence of third generation synchrotron radiation
to provide phase contrast images ;
Recent
nuclear physics research, including de-excitation of radioactive
ions to reveal a new internal conversion process between the nucleus
and its electron cloud ; studies into the diffusion of electrons
onto deutons are probing the short range element of the nuclear
interaction.
Images de la physique 2000, 116 pages.
Available from the CNRS Mathematics and Physical Sciences Department:
Anna DA COSTA
tel. +33 1 44 96 48 25
fax: +33 1 44 96 53 20
e-mail: anna.dacosta@cnrs-dir.fr
