Time travel through attosecond physics
Following the Nobel Symposium, Ferenc Krausz's Attoworld group organised a two-day alumni event.
Presentations, poster sessions, lab tours – and above all, a reunion of old and new friends. On 22 and 23 February, former and current members of the Attoworld team, many of whom are now scattered around the world, met at MPQ. During the two-day alumni symposium, the participants looked back on important milestones in attosecond physics, co-founded by Professor Ferenc Krausz, who was recently awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions. The current state of research and future projects were also the subject of lively discussion. Additionally, there was ample opportunity for cozy and informal socialising, especially during the closing dinner at a local restaurant in Garching.
"Frontiers of Ultrafast Science: From Fundamentals to Applications" – the two-day Attoworld alumni meeting was entirely dedicated to the topic of attosecond physics. Some speakers took the audience on a journey back in time to the early beginnings of this field of research – as did, for example, Dr. Ernst Fill, who reported on one of the first research experiments at the MPQ, the large-scale laser ASTERIX. Other talks, such as the joint final presentation by Mihaela Zigman, Alexander Weigel, and Nicholas Karpowitcz on the first day, offered the Attoworld community insights into the current state of research and outlined future research priorities.
However, the two days were also intended to encourage personal and direct scientific dialogue. Lab tours at MPQ and CALA (Center for Advanced Laser Applications) were organised for alumni and alumnae, many of whom had travelled from all over the world to the event. Additionally, participants exchanged ideas about current scientific developments during the poster session on the first day of the symposium. And at the closing dinner at Neuwirth restaurant in Garching, both old and new Attoworld friends had the opportunity to wind down after the event – and to toast once again to the freshly appointed Nobel laureate Ferenc Krausz.
