Interview with Michèle Leduc
The first in a series of features, e-EPS has posed some questions, on the state of physics today, to the Honorary Members of the European Physical Society. This month, we interviewed Michèle Leduc.
Please describe what, in your opinion, are the main challenges in physics research. This can include discoveries to be made, questions to be answered, contributions to society and the economy, obstacles to overcome, etc… What advice would you give to physics students today?
It is risky to name the main challenges and discoveries to be made; prospective statements by Nobel laureates very often turned out to be wrong. Who could foresee laser cooling and Bose Einstein condensation in the 70s, when atomic physics was considered dying? Today, however, cold fermions in optical lattices offer model systems for understanding supra-conductivity.
For the great challenges of black holes, dark energy and dark matter I see more potential in astrophysics observations than from accelerators (the LHC being the last big one) or from string theories, possibly a dead-end. As for linking gravity and quantum mechanics: the future observation of gravitational waves could provide a completely new insight for physics, cosmology and beyond.
Quantum mechanics might remain opaque for the mind, but the general movement from the microscopic towards the macroscopic will open the frontiers between the quantum and the classical world. Entanglement between photons, particles or objects; mastering the decoherence problems; could make the dream of a ‘quantum internet’ come true.
Closer to us, one expects wonderful surprises from the assembly of nano-bricks into complex structures resembling living, intelligent systems. Also, physics will provide ways to image very heterogeneous systems, like biological tissues. It is inevitable that physics will spread well beyond its traditional territory.
To students I would like to say that studying physics is hard, abstract and sometimes dull’ but it can be very rewarding at the end, just like how one has to learn to read the notes before you can enjoy playing music. It is a basic training which can lead to a lot of different activities, from research to engineering; basic physics and its applications should not be viewed as disconnected.
The needs of society for well-educated young people in science and technology are immense and unfulfilled – in particular, more women are in demand. The great challenges of our century are to do with renewable energy and the environment; population growth and fast communication: physics has a lot to bring in close coupling with the social and human sciences.
I would also recommend that students be prepared to consider all the ethical aspects of their future work; they will have to respect good rules of moral behaviour, both inside and outside of their circle of activity. They should spread their knowledge and expertise to the public all along their career – as this is both a duty and a pleasure. School children have to be interested in science and a minimum level of scientific knowledge is needed for citizens to make sensible democratic choices.
Physics research is a global activity. What in your opinion can be done to enhance cooperation at the European/International level? What do you consider to be the main benefits from European/international cooperation in physics research?
The training of PhD students and postdocs via international exchanges is a tremendous progress from the last 30 years. It diversifies the scientific and social culture of the younger generation and increases the research potential of laboratories. The cooperation at the European level was wonderfully enhanced by the ERC program, which should be comforted and extended – dealing more with starters than seniors, in my opinion.
Is physics research only for countries that can afford it? What is the role that physics plays in economic and social development? How can physics research and training be used to help developing countries?
Clearly the importance of top level research is a key factor worldwide for the development of the economy. The competition is getting tougher with leading developed countries and today with emerging continents such as China: this requests a closer cooperation throughout Europe, in particular regarding sensible choices for large scale infrastructures, avoiding duplication and associating the Eastern countries.
It is crucial for developing countries to be integrated into the mainstream of research activities. I suggest a new chart for all the European laboratories offering to reserve a significant part of their activity (10 per cent, for instance) to the cooperation with laboratories of the south countries, in particular opening to them participation in European large equipment or to observational programs at the international scale.
