PCS Celebrates its Inaugural Symposium

IBS Director Sergej Flach hosted the symposium celebrating the official commencement of activities of the Center for Theoretical Physics of Complex System (PCS)

Group Photo of the distinguished guests

The inaugural symposium titled “Physics Frontiers of Complex Systems” began early on Friday, July 24 on KAIST’s Munji campus. The symposium was held to mark the official opening of the Center for Theoretical Physics of Complex System and to gather world renowned theoretical physicists who delivered diverse lectures on their respective fields in physics. 

IBS president Doochul Kim opened the ceremony expressing his support for the Center and Director Flach. “IBS is very lucky to have Sergey as a director,” said Doochul Kim, “I have high expectations for this Center to become the global scientific hub in the field and deliver outstanding research outcomes. This symposium is the first step towards that goal.” The President of KAIST, Professor Sungmo Kang also spoke warmly about his pleasure in temporarily hosting the Center and offering his sincere hope for its future success.

Director Flach took to the stage after the president and gave a brief presentation on the history and timeline of the Center. He thanked members of IBS who helped shape the early formation of the Center for Theoretical Physics of Complex Systems and outlined its immediate goals. He hopes to see the Center develop into one of the world’s finest research and training hubs, by taking center stage in Asia and competing with similar institutions worldwide. Director Flach paid particular attention to developing young scientists and offering them a unique opportunity in fast tracking a network with renowned scientists. A long term goal of the Center, according to Director Flach, is to create a world-class research-orientated training program for PhD students. 

The second half of the event reiterated Director Flach’s earlier remarks in hoping the Center can compete at an international level. Three scientists from two continents took to the stage to deliver their presentations on varied topics from the field of theoretical physics. Professor Boris Altshuler, the winner of the Agilent Physics Prize, from Columbia University gave a lecture entitled ‘Many Body Localization.’ Professor Antonio Politi from the University of Aberdeen followed Professor Altshuler with a lecture about heat conduction in low dimensional systems.

Korean scientists from KAIST and Seoul National University delivered thought provoking lectures on theoretical physics, specifically topology and anyons before Professor Alexey Ustinov from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany concluded the event with his lecture on multi-stability in Josephson arrays and metamaterials.

The Center for Theoretical Physics of Complex Systems was established in December 2014 with scientific activities commencing in May of 2015. Last month the Center moved into its temporary offices at KAIST’s Munji campus ahead of the expected completion of the new IBS Complex in Expo Science Park. Currently ten research fellows and two PhD students are undertaking their research within the Center. Director Flach hopes to swell the Center’s ranks of visiting professors before the end of 2015 and into the foreseeable future and to continue its strong collaborations with KAIST and Seoul National University.