Annual-Report-2024 - Flipbook - Page 50
Nobel-Calibre Discoveries Relevant to Society at Large
Key Topics of #LINO24
During the Opening Ceremony Nobel Laureate Steven Chu gave an overview of
the science behind this year’s key topics. He encouraged Young Scientists to aim for
"Nobel-caliber discoveries" by exploring fields like quantum physics and artificial
intelligence, while highlighting their potential to benefit society. The Programme had
been developed by Scientific Chairs Rainer Blatt and Heiner Linke who stressed
the importance of interdisciplinarity through interaction.
In his speech, Steven Chu addressed the young people
in the audience, giving them advice on making “Nobelcalibre discoveries” by taking them on a journey through
various fields of physics and the Nobel Prizes they
inspired. The Prize, he stressed, is awarded to those who
“have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind” –
in the same spirit the 73rd Lindau Nobel Laureate
Meeting dealt with topics in physics most relevant to
society at large.
Basic and applied research on quantum physics was
incorporated into the programme in various formats,
among them a Panel Discussion. Professor Chu gave a
brief introduction in this context, mentioning the usefulness of quantum mechanics in modern technologies as well as the current excitement about quantum
computers. Despite the promise of increasingly efficient
problem-solving, there are major challenges to be tackled in the field of quantum computing. Chu, for instance,
talked about decoherence, the process of functionality
loss in a quantum system caused by its interaction with
the environment.
Artificial Intelligence and its potential in physics was
another topic prominently featured during the Meeting.
48 | Talking Physics That Matters
Scientific Chairs Rainer Blatt and Heiner Linke chose
AI for one of the Next Gen Science Sessions convinced
that it was the Young Scientists who would bring their
unique perspectives and learnings, contributing to interesting discussions. Next to the new possibilities that
AI usage opens in the natural sciences, problems like AI
hallucinations were also discussed during the week – in
his introduction Professor Chu gave an example of a nonsensical answer by ChatGPT and pointed out the unreliability of the tool.
Regarding the energy challenge, Chu who had served
as US secretary of energy in the Obama administration
emphasized the need for a transition to a carbon-free
economy. He highlighted both the pace of scientific progress and the urgent work still required. In an impressive
visualization, he explained that while the production of
renewable energies has greatly increased, energy demand
is so high that those new sources have simply been added
to the old ones without a real transition. According to
him, “we will need a 4th industrial revolution powered
by carbon-free energy” – a topic with which many of the
Young Scientists present were concerned as well and that
inspired another Next Gen Session.
