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Nobel 2012: trapped ions and photons¹
by Michel Brune, Jean-Michel Raimond and Claude Cohen-Tannoudji

The 2012 Nobel prize in physics has been awarded jointly to Serge Haroche (Collège de France and Ecole Normale Supérieure) and David Wineland (National Institute for Standards and Technology, USA) “for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems.”

A Tribute to Max von Laue ²
by Henk Kubbinga

Just an idea: take a crystal, surround it with photographic plates, and direct a pencil of X-rays at it, perpendicularly. It was one of those thrilling ideas that made new science. Max Laue was the proponent, in April 1912. The experiment as such had been tried out before by Röntgen himself, but without avail. Friedrich and Knipping, however, took their time and waited long enough. Overnight, the atomic variant of lattice theory—which had worked its way at the outskirts of crystallography—became fashionable. And, not to forget, X-rays proved to be wave-like indeed.

Sensitive magnetometers based on dark states³
by Luigi Moi and Stefka Cartaleva

So-called Dark States provide another example of fundamental research which yields unexpected applications. Here is an all-optical magnetometer that can detect tiny fields even in an unshielded environment. As an obvious application a human magneto-cardiogram (MCG) has been recorded. And there are more promising applications.

Paleomagnetic investigation of the great egyptian pyramids⁴
by Igor Túnyi and Ibrahim A. El-hemaly

The great Egyptian pyramids present one of the greatest mysteries of mankind. Despite continuous scientific investigations, these monuments of antiquity still hide many secrets. Unresolved remains the question regarding the material and building technology of the pyramids. There are two opposing views.

Advances in radiotherapy with external beam X-rays: from 3D to 4D⁵
by Montserrat Ribas Morales

Radiotherapy (RT) is the medical use of ionizing radiation, generally as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells. About 50 to 60% of all cancer patients in Europe receive RT either as curative therapy alone, or as an adjunct to surgery and/or chemotherapy, or as palliative therapy.

Shocks in fragile matter⁶
by Vincenzo Vitelli and Martin van Hecke

In ordinary solids, only the most violent impacts lead to acoustic shocks. Soft materials, such as granular media, are different. They can be prepared in a state of vanishing rigidity, where even the tiniest perturbations create shock waves. Such materials are not just soft, they are fragile.

1. Michel Brune, Jean-Michel Raimond and Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Nobel 2012: trapped ions and photons. EPN, Vol. 43, No. 6 (November-December 2012). DOI: 10.1051/epn/2012601 [↩]
2. Henk Kubbinga, A Tribute to Max von Laue . EPN, Vol. 43, No. 6 (November-December 2012). DOI: 10.1051/epn/2012602 [↩]
3. Luigi Moi and Stefka Cartaleva, Sensitive magnetometers based on dark states. EPN, Vol. 43, No. 6 (November-December 2012). DOI: 10.1051/epn/2012603 [↩]
4. Igor Túnyi and Ibrahim A. El-hemaly, Paleomagnetic investigation of the great egyptian pyramids. EPN, Vol. 43, No. 6 (November-December 2012). DOI: 10.1051/epn/2012604 [↩]
5. Montserrat Ribas Morales, Advances in radiotherapy with external beam X-rays: from 3D to 4D. EPN, Vol. 43, No. 6 (November-December 2012). DOI: 10.1051/epn/2012605 [↩]
6. Vincenzo Vitelli and Martin van Hecke, Shocks in fragile matter. EPN, Vol. 43, No. 6 (November-December 2012). DOI: 10.1051/epn/2012606 [↩]

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