The 11th General Conference of the Balkan Physical Union (BPU11 Congress) was held from August 28 to September 1, 2022 in Belgrade, with the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts as the main host. Initiated in 1991 in Thessaloniki, Greece, and open to participants from around the world, the series provides a platform to review, disseminate and discuss new research results in physics and related fields.
The scientific scope of BPU11 covered the entire physics landscape through 139 lectures (12 plenary and 23 invited) and 150 poster presentations. Five roundtable discussions focusing on high energy physics (HEP), broadening participation, careers in physics, quantum and new technologies, and models of studying physics at European universities, in focusing on the Balkan countries, were a novelty. The hybrid event attracted approximately 476 participants (325 onsite) from 31 countries, including 159 students, and demonstrated the high level of research being conducted in the Balkan states.
Roadmaps for the future
The first round table “HEP – roadmaps for the future” showed the strong collaboration between CERN and the Balkan States. Four of CERN’s 23 Member States come from the region (Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Romania); two of the three associated Member States in the pre-accession phase are Cyprus and Slovenia; and two of the seven associate member states are Croatia and Turkey. Four other countries have concluded cooperation agreements with CERN and more than 400 CERN users come from the Balkans.
Opening the HEP roundtable discussions, Joachim Mnich, Director of Research and Computing at CERN, presented the recently launched project R&D roadmaps for accelerators and detectors in Europe. Paris Sphicas (CERN and University of Athens) reported on the future of particle physics research, during which he highlighted current challenges and opportunities. These included: dark matter (e.g. the search for WIMPs in the thermal parameter region, the need to verify simplified models such as axial-vector and di-lepton resonances, and indirect searches); supersymmetry (the search for “holes” in the low mass region that will exist even after the LHC); neutrinos (whether neutrinos are Majorana or Dirac particles, their mass measurement and the exploration of a possible “sterile” sector); as well as a comprehensive review of the Higgs sector.
Emmanuel Tsesmelis of CERN, who received the charter of the Balkan Physical Union and the title of honorary member in recognition of his contribution to cooperation between the Balkan states and CERN, reflected on the project of a future circular collider ( FCC). Describing the progress of the FCC feasibility study, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2025, he stressed that the success of the project relies on strong global participation. His presentation launched an in-depth debate on the role of the Balkan countries, which will continue in May 2023 at the 11th LHCP conference in Belgrade.
Another relevant highlight for the HEP was the roundtable on Quantum Technologies (QT), chaired by Enrique Sanchez of the European Physical Society (EPS). Various perspectives on the different sectors of QT – computing and simulation, communication, metrology and sensing – were discussed, addressing the impact they could have on society as a whole. Europe plays a leading role in quantum research, the panel concluded. However, despite growing interest in QT, including at CERN, questions remain such as how to secure appropriate funding to strengthen European technological leadership. The discussions highlighted the opportunities offered to new generations of physicists from the Balkans to help build this “second quantum revolution”.
In addition to the roundtables, four high-level satellite science events took place, attracting another 150 participants on site: the COST workshop on theoretical aspects of quantum gravity; the SEENET-MTP evaluation meeting and workshop; the COST school on the phenomenology of quantum gravity in the multi-messenger approach; and the CERN-SEENET-MTP-ICTP Doctoral School on Gravitation, Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. The latter is part of a unique regional HEP program initiated by SEENET-MTP (Southeastern European Network in Mathematical and Theoretical Physics) and CERN in 2015, and joined by ICTP in 2018, which has contributed to the training of more than 200 students in 12 SEENET countries.
The BPU11 congress, the largest event of its kind in the region since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, contributed to closer cooperation between Balkan countries and CERN, CITP, SISSA, Initiative from Central Europe and others. This was possible thanks to the support of EPS, CITP and CEI-Trieste, CERN, EPJ, as well as the Serbian Ministry of Science and institutions active in the field of physics and mathematics in Serbia . In addition to BPU11 PoS Proceduresseveral articles based on invited lectures will be published in a thematic issue of EPJ Plus “Physics in the Balkans: perspectives and challenges”, as well as in a special issue of IJMPA.
