Full Autumn2009 3



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FEN

OMEN


NEWSLETTER OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

Recent publications

Materials Science



Fast-moving glass 

Windows are made of  liquid silica, where 

molecules are moving so slowly that they 

seem to be solid to our eyes. Astonishingly 

enough, molecules 

in glasses also 

perform some 

kind of  fast mo-

tion, whose mi-

croscopic origin is 

not known. A generally accepted explana-

tion is that some molecules are sitting in 

“holes” where the density is lower than the 

average, and thus move faster than most 

molecules. Experiments by the Group of  

Characterization of  Materials have now 

shown that this “hole” theory may not be 

universal. Their results were published in 



Physical Review Letters in Aug 2009. 

Meteorology



Emissions model

Photochemical simulations provide essen-

tial information for understanding pollu-

tion processes and making policy decisions, 

with the goal of  improving air quality. Sara 

Ortega and Marta Alarcón, together with 

UPC and UB colleagues, have developed a 

new emissions model, MNEQA, to be ap-

plied to the specific case of  tropospheric 

ozone pollutants. Their work was published 

in Atmospheric Environment on April 2009. 

Photonics



Anomalous dispersion

Light propagation in photonic crystals at 

the high energy range is known to display 

surprising behaviors, such as an anomalous 

group velocity.  Muriel Botey, Jordi Mar-

torell and co-workers have observed that 

this leads to an enhancement of  second-

harmonic generation of  light in the pre-

seence of  nonlinearities. The work was 

published in Optics Express in July 2009. 

Chemical physics

Polarizable salts

Molten copper and silver halides, which 

exhibit fast ionic conduction before melt-

ing, present some structural properties 

different than molten alkali halides, be-

cause of  the anionic polarizability.  V. Bi-

trián, O. Alcaraz and J. Trullàs have de-

rived the fluctuation-dissipation theorem 

for the static dielectric response function of 

systems of  ions with inducible point di-

poles, and have shown that this function is 

determined by spatial correlations of  both 

charge and dipole-moment density fluctua-

tions. This work was published in the Jour-



nal of  Chemical Physics in June 2009.

Quantum Liquids



Excitation spectrum 

of dipolar gases

In the recent years, cold gases with long-

range interactions have attracted much 

interest. Such gases are highly impurity-

free, can be cooled to form Bose-Einstein 

condensates, and their shape is highly con-

trollable. Grigory Astrakharchik and col-

leagues have studied the excitation spec-

trum of  two-dimensional gas with repulsive 

dipolar interactions at zero temperature. As 

the density is increased, the excitation spec-

trum ceases being monotonous and a “ro-

ton” minimum is formed. The work was 

published in Physical Review Letters in March 

20, 2009.

DEPARTAMENT DE 

F

ÍSICA I 


E

NGINYERIA 

N

UCLEAR 


NÚM. 7, TARDOR 2009

UNIVERSITAT POLITÈCNICA DE CATALUNYA

www.fen.upc.edu

NEWS

2009 FEN POSTDOC-

TORAL FELLOWSHIP 

AWARDED

The Research Commission of the 

Department has awarded financial 

support for a postdoctoral fellowship. 

The recipient of the grant this year is 

Dr. Alistar Ottochian, who will join the 

Group of Characterization of Materi-

als to study relaxation processes in 

complex liquids. 

OPEN POSITIONS

• PhD fellowship in meteorology 

(

marta.alarcon@upc.edu



• PhD fellowship in nonlinear and 

stochastic dynamics 

(

jordi.g.ojalvo@upc.edu



)

 

VISITING SCHOLARS

• Alain Barrat (ISI, Turin, Italy)

• Marvin Girardeau, Univ. Arizona, USA

• Yurii E. Lozovik, Institute of Spec-

troscopy, Troitsk, Russia

• Arturo Martí, Univ. de la República, 

Uruguay


• Marco Masia, Univ. di Sassari, Italy

• Mario Natiello, Lund Univ., Sweden

• Reynald Pain, Univ. Paris, France

• Géza Ódor, Hungarian Academy of 

Sciences, Hungary.

• Gordon Pipa and Raúl Vicente, Max 

Planck Institute, Frankfurt, Germany

• Osvaldo Rosso, Newcastle Univ., 

Australia

• Ekkehard Ullner, Aberdeen Univ., UK

• Alessandro Villa, Univ. Joseph Fourier, 

Grenoble, France

• Evgenii Volkov, Lebedev Physical Insti-

tute, Moscow, Russia

• Joachim Wuttke, Jülich For-

schungszentrum, Munich, Germany




Our postdocs

Erell Bonnot, materials scientist

“I joined the Group of  Characterization 

of  Materials to investigate the barocaloric 

effect associated with the martensitic 

phase transition in Ni-Mn-In magnetic 

shape-memory alloys, by means of  high-

pressure dilatometer. 

The barocaloric effect 

is the analogue, in 

pressure, of  the mag-

netocaloric effect that 

has received consider-

able attention in the 

recent years owing to 

its potential use for environmentally 

friendly refrigeration. It is defined as the 

isothermal change of  entropy or the adia-

batic change of  temperature that takes 

place when an external pressure is applied 

in a given material. This work, done to-

gether with Josep Lluís Tamarit and 

Maria del Barrio, is a collaboration with 

Lluís Mañosa from the University of  Bar-

celona.” 



Erell Bonnot obtained her PhD in physics 

from the Universitat de Barcelona in 2008 within 

the MULTIMAT network. She joined the de-

partment in December of  2008 and is currently 

funded by a postdoctoral grant of  the UPC.

Simon Campbell, astrophysicist

“My field of  research involves the evolu-

tion and nucleosynthesis of  low-mass 

stars. To do this I use computer codes that 

include the necessary 

physics to follow their 

entire lifetimes. In 

particular I focus on 

the evolution of  an-

cient stars, that 

formed soon after the 

Big Bang. These stars 

were the first to synthesise and release 

heavy elements into the universe. This 

material then went into the formation of  

other stars, planets - and lifeforms such as 

us! I also occasionally do some observa-

tions of  stars using optical telescopes. I am 

lucky to be sharing an office with two 

catalan colleagues, Dr. Gloria Sala and 

Jordi Casanova, in the historical EUETIB 

building.  I will be working with Dr. Jordi 

Jose and other colleagues of  the DFEN-

DFA Astronomy and Astrophysics Group 

(GAA) for another two years.”

Simon Campbell obtained his PhD at Monash 

Univeristy (Australia). His thesis won the Best 

Australian Astronomy PhD Thesis prize in 

2007. Before moving to Barcelona he held a 

postdoc position at the Institute of  Astronomy and 

Astrophysics, at the Academia Sinica (ASIAA) in 

Taiwan.

 

Side Note 



Noisy rhythm

generation

In  higher  organisms,  circadian 

rhythms are generated by a multicel-

lular  genetic  clock  that  is  entrained 

very  efficiently to the  24  hour  light-

dark cycle. While most studies  so far 

have  been  done  assuming  that  the 

clock is entrained by a perfectly peri-

odic  driving  by  light,  Jordi  García-

Ojalvo and colleagues from the Univ. 

Barcelona  have  discovered  that  the 

circadian rhythm shows a resonance-

like phenomenon as a function of  the 

noise  intensity.  The  work  was  pub-

lished  in  the  Biophysical  Journal  in 

May  2009,  and  was  awarded  the 

journal cover here shown.

DEPARTAMENT DE 

F

ÍSICA I 


E

NGINYERIA 

N

UCLEAR 


NÚM. 7, TARDOR 2009

UNIVERSITAT POLITÈCNICA DE CATALUNYA

www.fen.upc.edu

NEW MEC RESEARCH 

PROJECTS

The Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación 

(MEC) has granted these projects to FEN:

•  “Estudio del componente aerobiológico del 

material particulado atmosférico en Cata-

lunya y Canarias” (M. Alarcón)

•  "Nonlinear and stochastic dynamics in 

physical and biophysical systems" (J García-

Ojalvo)

• “Preparación y estudio de las propiedades 



físicas bajo confinamiento micro y 

nanométrico” (D.O. López)

• “Dos retos para la evolucion estelar mod-

erna: progenitores de supernova y estrellas 

AGB” (E. García-Berro)

• “Dynamic properties in liquid phases: mol-

ten salts, ionic solutions and molecular 

liquids” (E. Guàrdia)



GRUPS CONSOLIDATS

The Generalitat de Catalunya has recognized 

these Grups de Recerca Consolidats at FEN:

• Grup de transicions de fase, polimorfismes i 

dinàmica de la metaestabilitat (J.Ll.Tamarit) 

• Propietats dinàmiques i no lineals de materi-

als i sistemes fotònics, elèctrics i biològics (J. 

Garcia-Ojalvo) 

• Grup de recerca en la transmutació de re-

sidus radiactius (GRETER, G. Cortés)

• Nuclear engineering research group (J. Dies)

• Modelització i simulació discreta de sistemes 

biològics (D. López)

• Grup d’astronomia i astrofísica (E. García-

Berro)

• Grup de simulació per ordinador en matèria 



condensada (E.Guàrdia)

The following Grup de Recerca Emergent has 

also been recognized:

• Grup de caracterització física de materials 

mesogens i de memòria de forma (J. Salud)

PHD THESES

• Juanjo Fernández. Advisors: Ramon Vilaseca 

and Josep Ll. Font. June 11, 2009.

• Alina Hirschmann. FEN advisor: Eduard 

Bravo. July 3, 2009.

• Muriel Botey. Advisor: Jordi Martorell, July 24, 

2009.

Edited by

Dept de Física i Enginyeria Nuclear

2a planta Edifici B5, Campus Nord UPC

C. Jordi Girona Salgado, 1-3

08034 Barcelona

Tel.93 401 6973, Fax. 93 401 7100



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