XFEL: Collaboration in theoretical physics with the University of Hamburg

European XFEL collaborates with the group of Prof. Alexander I. Lichtenstein from the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the University of Hamburg. The goal of the collaboration is to generate ideas for novel applications or for new methods to extract information from the data acquired at the European XFEL.

The support of a dedicated theoretical effort can considerably enhance the chances of success, as many other major labs have shown. European XFEL has developed and maintained a small but very successful theory and simulation effort in the area of free-electron laser (FEL) beam generation and propagation which has achieved international recognition. “The collaboration with the University of Hamburg complements this activity with more specific theoretical support for experiments”, says Prof. Massimo Altarelli, Chairman of the European XFEL Management Board.

European XFEL already appointed two scientists in the areas of electronic structure theory and of molecular dynamics. Some of Lichtenstein’s students will be able to write their theses in areas of interest for FEL X-ray experiments. The mixed group is presently housed at the current European XFEL buildings at Albert-Einstein-Ring, and later will be located in Schenefeld. “This way, the necessary critical mass for a successful effort should be obtained”, Altarelli explains.

For three decades, Lichtenstein has been a distinguished expert in theoretical condensed matter and many-body physics, first in his native Russia and later at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart and at the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands. He is today a full professor at the University of Hamburg.

The German Physical Society (DPG) and the British Institute of Physics (IOP) will award Lichtenstein in October the 2014 Max Born Medal, a prestigious scientific prize given yearly in memory of the German physicist Max Born, one of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics. “This is really a good omen for the future success of our new collaboration in theory!”, says Altarelli.