- news - Mailing lists@ IFISC

IFISC News - TFG directed by IFISC researchers is awarded by the UIB
by ifisc＠ifisc.uib-csic.es 12 May '23

12 May '23

TFG directed by IFISC researchers is awarded by the UIB The Social Council of the Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB) has held the sixth edition of the "Premios a los trabajos de fin de grado" aimed at students from all undergraduate studies at the UIB.The end-of-degree project "Partículas y campos en un condensado de Bose-Einstein" carried out by the student Jorge Valencia Gómez has been one of the winners in the category of Physics. The work was supervised by IFISC researchers Emilio Hernández-García and Cristóbal López.The "Premios a los trabajos de fin de grado" aim to give academic recognition to the completion of undergraduate studies, to give value to overcoming personal and economic difficulties through university studies and to encourage the continuation of academic life at the UIB.Photo: UIBEl diari de la UIB http://ifisc.uib-csic.es/en/news/tfg-directed-ifisc-researchers-awarded-uib/

1 0

IFISC News - "Women in Quantum" meeting unites senior physicists to address gender equity
by ifisc＠ifisc.uib-csic.es 09 May '23

09 May '23

"Women in Quantum" meeting unites senior physicists to address gender equity The "Women in Quantum" workshop, held from May 1 to 4 in Illetes (Mallorca) has joined women researchers coming from all Europe and Japan and working in quantum physics topics ranging from quantum information, to foundations, and atomic, molecular, and optical systems. The event brought together 19 principal investigators to share their professional experiences and present the results of their theoretical and experimental research as well as in the private sector. Despite efforts to encourage young girls to pursue STEM fields, and initiatives aimed at supporting female scientists, gender equity remains a significant challenge in many disciplines, including physics. Furthermore, the percentage of women physicists decreases at every career stage, and it is unclear how to promote the presence of women to senior positions, both in academia and industry. The "Women in Quantum" meeting aimed to assess the current situation of women in quantum physics and discuss solutions for achieving gender equity in the field with a focus on a senior career stage. The intense program of two full days included research presentations, discussions on personal experiences and debates towards strategies for advancing women in quantum. The organizers Roberta Zambrini (IFISC, UIB-CSIC), Christiane Koch (Humboldt University of Berlin), and Sabrina Maniscalco (AlgorithmiQ and Helsinki University) hope that this event will serve as a catalyst for a coordinated activity towards achieving gender equity in physics and related fields. Women in Quantum website http://ifisc.uib-csic.es/en/news/women-quantum-meeting-unites-senior-physic…

1 0

IFISC News - Twitter lexical analysis reveals the existence of distinct cultural regions in the U.S.
by ifisc＠ifisc.uib-csic.es 20 Apr '23

20 Apr '23

Twitter lexical analysis reveals the existence of distinct cultural regions in the U.S. An international team of researchers, led by scientists from IFISC (UIB-CSIC), has mapped the different cultural regions in the United States of America through a lexical analysis of the content that citizens themselves post on their social networks. The results show a clear separation between Northern and Southern cultures, the latter influenced by the African-American population, as well as subtler differences between the East-West axis and urban or rural populations. To obtain the extent of these regions, they calculated the occurrence frequency of words within 3.3 billion geolocated tweets, published between 2015 and 2021. This allowed them to find the hotspots where discussions or debates on specific topics were held. These results have been recently appeared in Nature’s Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. The idea of the existence of cultural areas in the United States of America is used as a case study in various fields of social sciences. However, the selection of common characteristics that make up a cultural region can be arbitrary and influenced by prejudices and biases. Therefore, an approach is needed to identify these cultural regions in an unbiased and more objective manner. Taking advantage of the enormous amount of data generated on the internet, especially through social networks, represents a relatively new opportunity with high potential. The researchers decided to analyze the case of the United States for several reasons, including having a huge set of geolocated Twitter data. In addition, the vast majority of Americans speak the same language (English), which is crucial for using the analysis tools. Another relevant aspect, the authors explain, is that the history of the USA is relatively recent but rich and varied, so the formation of different cultural regions within the same national territory is possible. The method presented in this paper is based on the principle that cultural affiliation can be inferred from the topics that people discuss with each other. The more messages sent from a region, the greater the interest of the population of that area in the topics contained in the tweets. Specifically, the authors measured regional variations in written discourse in U.S. social networks, using frequency distributions of content words in geolocated tweets to find those regional hotspots where certain topics appeared more frequently than others. From there, principal components of regional variation were derived and hierarchical clustering analysis was applied to derive the distinct cultural areas and the topics of discussion that define them. The study found a clear North-South separation influenced primarily by African-American culture, as well as other divisions that provide a complete picture of modern American cultural areas. While the work has confirmed that factors such as ethnicity and religion are important in defining American cultural regions, it has also found substantial variations in the relevance of these factors across the country. In other words, the study not only mapped cultural regions, but also identified the cultural factors that are important in defining these regions. In addition, the analysis identified other subtler cultural patterns such as attention to social interaction, interest in outdoor activities, family or leisure. The identification of these patterns is a novelty in the analysis of the U.S. society, as they are difficult to capture through analysis of traditional sources. The authors of the study conclude that, although their method has only analyzed one genre of American English, it could also be applied to any big data resource with linguistic value and provide a basis for a more complete picture of the cultural landscape, both for the U.S. case and for different nations.Louf, T., Gonçalves, B., Ramasco, J.J. et al. American cultural regions mapped through the lexical analysis of social media. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 10, 133 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01611-3El Diari de la UIB http://ifisc.uib-csic.es/en/news/twitter-lexical-analysis-reveals-existence…

1 0

IFISC News - Design of a method to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in airports
by ifisc＠ifisc.uib-csic.es 21 Mar '23

21 Mar '23

Design of a method to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in airports CSIC researchers lead the development of a mathematical model that identifies the areas with the highest risk of contagion in means of transport. Implementing disinfection measures in crowded areas of airports, such as bars or restaurants, could reduce the risk of spreading viruses such as SARS-CoV-2. In 2022, more than 61 million people transited through Europe's busiest airport, London Heathrow. That means that, every day, more than 160,000 people from different parts of the world shared the same space. To prevent the first undetected cases of viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 or H1N1 influenza from becoming an epidemiological problem, a study led by the Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Physics and Complex Systems (IFISC, CSIC-UIB) proposes a mathematical model that identifies the areas with the highest risk of contagion in means of transport and provides recommendations to prevent its spread. The results are published in the journal Nature Communications. When a person coughs, speaks, and even breathes, emits small respiratory droplets into the surrounding air. These airborne particles, known as aerosols, can carry viral particles from an infected person. Thus, the relationship between the number of people and the space available is critical when it comes to curbing the spread of contagious diseases. "Close social interactions are critical in the transmission of infectious pathologies, so crowds and crowds are a serious risk for triggering super-propagation events. There are occasions when maintaining interpersonal distance can be a challenge, such as, for example, in transportation hubs," highlights José Javier Ramasco, IFISC researcher who participated in the study. As the researcher points out, "these places are designed to optimize logistical efficiency, not to reduce crowding," so identifying the busiest areas can be key to mitigating the risk of spreading new infectious diseases. According to the study, this objective is achieved through a mathematical model capable of detecting those spaces within the airport most likely to transmit diseases. The researchers applied the new system to study how viruses such as H1N1 flu, SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2, which caused the covid-19 pandemic, spread. By analyzing the itineraries of more than 200,000 anonymous individuals, collected at London's Heathrow airport between February and August 2017, they determined the areas with the highest risk of contagion: bars and restaurants. This is caused by connecting many people, in the same place and for long periods of time. "The dangerousness of the areas for contagion arises as a balance between the number of people passing by and the time they stay together. Those places are not always the most crowded, but it takes time in contacts to transmit the disease," Ramasco explains. Once the hot spots of contagion have been identified, it is possible to develop a spatial immunization policy to prevent or reduce the risk of the pathogen spreading beyond the first undetected cases. This would be achieved through the use of ultraviolet rays, surface disinfection or air filtering. In addition, the researchers point out that the method can be applied to control any other uncharacterized pathogen (emerging diseases) and is generalizable to other modes of transport. "It can be used in train stations, subway stations, bus stations or other crowded places where it is not possible to maintain interpersonal distances, such as shopping malls or convention centers," he remarks. The project is the result of an international multidisciplinary collaboration developed within the Plataformas Temáticas Interdisciplinares del CSIC Salud Global i Mobility 2030. Along with IFISC, a joint center of CSIC and the University of the Balearic Islands, the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm), the Bruno Kessler Foundation in Italy, and the company Cuebiq Inc, which collects users' locations and integrates them anonymously, have also participated in the project. "Implementing spatial immunization measures in the highest risk areas would help to contain and/or delay the spread of infectious agents in airports around the world, and would be particularly useful in the early stages of a pandemic, when drugs have not yet been developed," the researchers conclude. Mattia Mazzoli et al. Spatial immunization to abate disease spreading in transportation hubs. Nature Communications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36985-0 CSIC http://ifisc.uib-csic.es/en/news/design-method-prevent-spread-infectious-di…

1 0

IFISC News - IFISC researchers propose a new protocol for data processing with Quantum Reservoir Computing
by ifisc＠ifisc.uib-csic.es 17 Mar '23

17 Mar '23

IFISC researchers propose a new protocol for data processing with Quantum Reservoir Computing Researchers at IFISC (UIB-CSIC) propose a new protocol for processing sequential data using quantum machine learning.The study proposes a way to efficiently include quantum measurement while preserving the quantum advantage that characterises these systems. Researchers at the Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Physics and Complex Systems, IFISC (UIB-CSIC), in Mallorca, propose the first protocol that includes the effect of measurement in the processing of temporal data sequences using quantum systems. Examples of these computational tasks are handwriting recognition or the prediction of chaotic series. The advantage of using quantum systems for these purposes lies in the large processing power provided by the Hilbert space of quantum states, an exponential advantage over classical systems. Moreover, it has now been shown that this advantage can be achieved even in non-ideal situations, where the effect of quantum measurement is taken into account. The implementation of quantum reservoir computing as a computational method for processing time series data has a lot of potential, but faces several challenges. One of them, common to all quantum computing, is that, due to its stochastic nature, it is necessary to repeat the processing of the information several times and to calculate averages with the results obtained in order to improve accuracy. The other problem is that quantum systems are strongly affected by measurements, i.e. the process of obtaining the processed information. In an implementation of quantum reservoir computing this is especially relevant, as it can impair the quality of the processing at different times. To prevent the next steps from being affected by past measurements, the experiment would have to be restarted by reintroducing the data into the system from the beginning, which is clearly inefficient. In addition, it would be necessary to store the data in an external memory. The researchers have analysed different protocols for time series processing, including the rewinding and restarting protocols, and have proposed an alternative based on weak measurements that allows continuous online monitoring of the data without external storing, operating in real time. This online protocol proposed by the researchers, presented in the journal npj Quantum Information, introduces the effect of the measurement on data processing. Typically, weak measurements provide less information and are noisier, but in this way of obtaining processing results the quantum system does not "collapse" as a whole, making it possible to identify situations in which effective data processing is achieved in both accuracy and resources. The study establishes the advantage of quantum reservoirs in realistic scenarios and is expected to pave the way for efficient experimental implementations involving continuous time series processing with quantum systems. In addition, this research may also contribute to the development of concrete applications such as quantum time tomography, quantum recurrent neural networks or quantum neuromorphic computing, among other advances.Image: Schematic of the protocol proposed by the researchers. The measurements of the quantum reservoir that processes the time series are weak, so the quantum system does not "collapse" in its entirety.Mujal, P., Martínez-Peña, R., Giorgi, G.L., Soriano, M.C., Zambrini, R., Time-series quantum reservoir computing with weak and projective measurements. npj Quantum Inf 9, 16 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41534-023-00682-zEl diari de la UIB http://ifisc.uib-csic.es/en/news/ifisc-researchers-propose-new-protocol-dat…

1 0

IFISC News - Simulation of collective effects between the qubits of a quantum computer
by ifisc＠ifisc.uib-csic.es 10 Mar '23

10 Mar '23

Simulation of collective effects between the qubits of a quantum computer An international team, involving researchers from IFISC (UIB-CSIC) in collaboration with the University of Helsinki, Aalto University and the startup Algorithmiq (Finland), has successfully simulated the collective and dissipative dynamics of two qubits in a real quantum computer. These results may pave the way for quantum simulation of more complex collective dynamics on currently available quantum computers and establish a procedure for comparing the results of quantum simulations with the noise properties of experimental devices. The research represents the first fully quantum digital simulation of dissipative collective effects on a quantum computer.The study, published in the prestigious journal PRX Quantum, consisted of simulating the dynamics of quantum systems with the smallest possible dimension and which form the basis of quantum computing: qubits. By simulating a global bath between two qubits, the researchers were able to see how their emissions interfere, both constructively (superradiance) and destructively (subradiance). These two qubits form a structured quantum system whose dynamics is "open" and "collective". The researchers also studied theoretically and experimentally the properties of the noise and established relationships between its characteristics and the accuracy of the simulation. Current quantum computers are inevitably noisy, constrained by short coherence times. This means that there are strong constraints on the depth of quantum circuits that can be implemented.The concept behind quantum simulation is based on the idea of simulating quantum systems on a controllable physical platform whose dynamics are driven by the laws of quantum mechanics. This makes it possible to explore and obtain solutions to quantum dynamics that would otherwise be impossible to obtain on a classical computer. Controlling these quantum simulations is crucial to understand the properties of noise in real quantum computers and to explore intriguing phenomena such as dissipative quantum phase transitions, quantum synchronization or dissipative time crystals. Furthermore, characterizing the noise in quantum computers can help to understand the limitations of the devices and thus to design possible countermeasures.Image: Schematic of the simulated system. A particle generator (gray) collides a particle with the qubit Q1 (green), then with Q2 (red) and again with Q1. These collisions generate a global interaction represented by the cloud (blue).Cattaneo, Marco, et al. “Quantum Simulation of Dissipative Collective Effects on Noisy Quantum Computers.” PRX Quantum, vol. 4, no. 1, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1103/prxquantum.4.010324. http://ifisc.uib-csic.es/en/news/simulation-collective-effects-between-qubi…

1 0

IFISC News - Analysing how the introduction of renewables affects the electricity grid on islands
by ifisc＠ifisc.uib-csic.es 02 Mar '23

02 Mar '23

Analysing how the introduction of renewables affects the electricity grid on islands A study carried out by IFISC researchers proposes a model that emulates the behaviour of the electricity grid with high renewable production.The researchers used the increase in wind power generation on Gran Canaria as a case study. A new study by IFISC (CSIC-UIB) scientists, developed in the context of the European Project VPP4ISLANDS and published in IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, proposes a model that emulates how the electricity grid behaves when a large amount of variable renewable generation is introduced into it. The researchers validated the model based on current data from Gran Canaria and analysed the increase in the island's wind farm capacity. The frequency of an electricity grid constitutes a good indicator of the balance at any time between electricity generation and consumption demand. In the absence of efficient storage methods, the present scenario is one in which generation is adapted to demand in real time. This poses many technological challenges, especially if the percentage of electricity generated from variable renewable sources such as the sun or wind is to be increased. One of the difficulties in increasing the share of renewable generation is that production depends on environmental factors and is not instantly available whenever it is needed. Knowing how the grid, and specifically its frequency, will respond to an increasing variable renewable generation is key to considering a transition to a more sustainable world. To study how the frequency will behave with these changes, the researchers proposed a model that reproduces the electricity grid in Gran Canaria as a paradigmatic example of an island. In this model, a network is proposed in which each node corresponds to a power plant or substation. The power stations are assumed to have conventional power generation including control capacity. Specifically, in the case of Gran Canaria, they are combined cycle, gas and steam turbines and diesel engines. The model has been validated on the basis of real data on demand, generation and frequency fluctuations. To test how the introduction of renewables would affect the grid stability, the researchers simulated what would happen in a scenario with increased wind generation, i.e. increasing the installed wind farm capacity. In doing so, they observed that fluctuations in grid frequency would be well above the established limits. These limits, regulated by law, exist to ensure the integrity of the infrastructure, which could be damaged if the grid frequency variations exceed a certain value. In such a case, the supply and generation of some parts of the grid would have to be shut down to avoid collapse. In order to reduce frequency variations, the researchers increased the secondary control of conventional plants. In this way, it can be estimated what measures should be taken in a future scenario to prevent an increase in the wind farm from affecting the grid infrastructure. These estimates are made for both summer and winter. In addition to checking what controls would need to be implemented, the model allows checking which transmission lines need to be upgraded or reinforced to be prepared for a scenario with increased wind adoption. The model can be generalized and the authors are working in its application to the case of the Balearic Islands in order to move towards more sustainable electricity generation. M. Martínez-Barbeito, D. Gomila and P. Colet, "Dynamical Model for Power Grid Frequency Fluctuations: Application to Islands with High Penetration of Wind Generation", IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, doi: 10.1109/TSTE.2022.3231975. http://ifisc.uib-csic.es/en/news/analysing-how-introduction-renewables-affe…

1 0

IFISC News - IFISC research wins CSIC prize for relevant pHd theses
by ifisc＠ifisc.uib-csic.es 27 Feb '23

27 Feb '23

IFISC research wins CSIC prize for relevant pHd theses Researcher Mattia Mazzoli, currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Institut Pierre Louis d'Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique (iPLesp), has won one of the prizes for relevant doctoral theses awarded by the CSIC. His thesis, entitled "Human mobility: data analysis, theory and models" was carried out at IFSIC (UIB-CSIC) under the supervision of researchers Pere Colet and José J. Ramasco, and was defended in July 2021. The thesis has been selected among the 20 awarded, within the global area "society". Mazzoli's work consisted of proposing and testing new methods to study human mobility in different contexts, scales and applications, such as using Twitter data on the Venezuelan exodus, the spread of epidemics in airports or how urban structure affected the spread of Covid.According to the CSIC, this award "aims to recognise and thank the fundamental work carried out in our organization by research staff in training, professionals whose work is crucial for the advancement of knowledge and the CSIC". Around 200 doctoral theses were submitted to the competition in its first phase, of which only 20 were selected.CSIC http://ifisc.uib-csic.es/en/news/ifisc-research-wins-csic-prize-relevant-ph…

1 0

IFISC News - Formation of biological patterns by pulsed signals
by ifisc＠ifisc.uib-csic.es 06 Feb '23

06 Feb '23

Formation of biological patterns by pulsed signals Alan Turing first described how regular patterns found in living things, such as the stripes of zebras, appear.A collaborative study between IFISC and Princeton University proposes an alternative mechanism to explain this pattern formation. Understanding how regular shapes (patterns) are generated in nature is a key question, as they have a major influence on the functionality, resilience and properties of organisms and their aggregations. Structures as diverse as the patterns on an insect shell, the stripes on a zebra or bacterial cultures have been the subject of analysis for decades, mainly with the intention of understanding how they are generated. A recent study in which Eduardo Colombo, from Princeton University in the United States, and Cristóbal López and Emilio Hernández-García, from IFISC (UIB-CSIC), have collaborated, has identified a new mechanism of pattern formation in biological contexts. The work, published in Physical Review Letters, proposes a mathematical model in which these patterns emerge from the interaction of organisms that communicate through the intermittent emission of noxious signals. In the 1950s, the British mathematician Alan Turing found a very general mechanism capable of explaining some of the patterns found in nature. However, this mechanism was not necessarily linked to life activity, so it has been equally applied to understand other structures that appear spontaneously in inert systems, such as chemical reactions, optical and mechanical devices, etc. In essence, the Turing process consists of competition between a substance that tends to multiply, and which in turn generates another substance capable of eliminating the first one in an inefficient way, but having greater mobility and therefore occupying places where the first substance has not yet arrived. After 70 years of research, hundreds of physical, chemical and biological systems have been identified that can be explained by the Turing process with some variations. The new mechanism proposed in this study also requires two types of substances, one of which is capable of eliminating the other, which produces it. The novelty of the model lies in the fact that the production of this second substance is carried out in a pulsed, intermittent manner. It is also necessary that the substance produced propagates through space in a certain way, for example as liquids propagate in porous media. In such situations, in cases where the Turing mechanism is not able to generate structures, and the substances would be distributed homogeneously in space, the intermittent production destabilises the homogeneous distribution and the substances are grouped together to form periodic fringe-like structures. The proposed mechanism may be of relevance in patterns where the interaction between elements occurs in very short pulses compared to reaction processes. This category would include patterns found in chemistry or ecology, such as in bacterial cultures where bacteria may intermittently secrete toxins. Colombo, Eduardo H.; Lopez, Cristobal; Hernandez-Garcia, Emilio. Physical Review Letters 130, 058401 (1-5) (2023). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.058401 http://ifisc.uib-csic.es/en/news/formation-biological-patterns-pulsed-signa…

1 0

IFISC News - 11F: International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2023
by ifisc＠ifisc.uib-csic.es 03 Feb '23

03 Feb '23

11F: International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2023 In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly decided to proclaim 11 February as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science with the aim of achieving full and equal access to science for girls and women. This year IFISC joins forces with the CSIC Delegation in the Balearic Islands as well as with the other CSIC centers in the Balearic Islands to organize the activity "Conecta con las científicas del CSIC en Illes Balears". This free online activity is especially aimed at schools and will consist of two interactive live broadcasts on 9 and 10 February in which different researchers from the centers will talk about what they work on, their day-to-day work and the challenges they face. More details and instructions on how to access are available on the delegation's website. From IFISC, the activity will be attended by PhD student Annalisa Caligiuri, who is currently working under the supervision of Tobias Galla and Lucas Lacasa on topics related to statistical physics and stochastic processes applied to opinion dynamics and complex networks. In addition, IFISC is once again collaborating with the introductory workshop on programming for young people organized by Django Girls on Saturday 25 February at Parc Bit. We take this opportunity to recall the results of the survey on the perception of the IFISC gender equality plan that were presented at the previous 11F and on which the gender equality and women's empowerment committee has been working over the last year. http://ifisc.uib-csic.es/en/news/11f-international-day-women-and-girls-scie…

1 0