The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Bogolyubov Institute of Theoretical Physics has awarded an honorary doctorate to Prof. Horst Stöcker.

Theoretical physicist first woman and youngest member of FIAS Faculty

Neutron stars are extremely dense inside: They reach masses comparable to twice that of the sun - having a size equivalent to the city of Frankfurt (10-14 km radius). Therefore, these compact objects serve as unique laboratories for studying the properties of dense matter. A research group at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS) now deployed deep learning techniques to add further constraints on the stars’ interiors.

A significantly improved model for earlier earthquake detection is described in two recent publications of Nishtha Srivastava’s group at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS). Their model detects earthquakes more reliably and faster than previous studies, which can simplify advance warnings, especially in less developed regions of the world.

The FIAS Seismology and Artificial Intelligence group used the Italian volcano Stromboli in the Mediterranean Sea as an example to develop a powerful module for immediately detecting and creating more complete seismo-volcanic event catalogs. These catalogs not only enable the evaluation of volcanic hazard but also the in-depth investigation of possible precursors based on the historic instrumental data.

The Alfons and Gertrud Kassel Foundation awards the "Scientist of the Year" prize every second year to a scientist who, in addition to outstanding scientific achievements, is also committed to the work of young scientists. This year, FIAS Fellow Prof. Dr. Hannah Elfner receives the award, which is endowed with 25,000 euros.

Earthquakes regularly cause devastating destruction in many regions around the world. Even though analysis and measurement methods have steadily evolved over the past decades, reliable prediction is still not possible. The occurrence of earthquakes within the stable interiors of tectonic plates is still an enigma. Gujarat, in northwest India, is one such region that witnessed two devastating earthquakes in a span of 200 years. FIAS and the Institute of Seismological Research (ISR) in Gandhinagar have now agreed on long-term research cooperation using novel artificial intelligence methods to understand the earthquake occurrence in the region.

In his new book, Luciano Rezzolla takes us on a voyage of discovery to black holes. In doing so, he manages to reach readers of all knowledge levels and to draw a fascinating arc from the basic principles of gravity to the modern research results of relativistic astrophysics. The popular science book is published in German by C. H. Beck, the English version by Cambridge University Press is available since March 2023.

In order to make better use of the amount of data generated by high-energy experiments, scientists at FIAS have developed a new Deep Learning (DL) analysis method. The models based on the PointNet architecture enable a fast online analysis of collision events at event rates of several million collisions per second. For this purpose, the determination of the centrality of heavy ion collisions at the Compressed Baryonic Matter Experiment (CBM) of the FAIR facility, which is currently under construction at the GSI Helmoltzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, was exemplarily investigated.