This workshop brings together the international community working on solenoidal spectrometers to discuss recent advances and future directions. We aim to showcase high-quality contributions that reflect the current state of the art, both in terms of physics cases and instrumentation developments.

Through a combination of invited talks, selected oral presentations, and posters, the program will highlight the most relevant and impactful work in the field. We look forward to your participation in fostering fruitful discussions and new collaborations.

The workshop will cover a broad range of topics, including:

• Physics with solenoidal spectrometers – applications in experimental studies with emphasis on low-energy nuclear physics.
• Technology and operation of solenoidal spectrometers – active targets (e.g., TPCs), silicon detector systems, and other detection technologies.
• Data acquisition systems – architecture, design, and integration for complex experiments.
• Data analysis techniques and software tools – methods for event reconstruction, calibration, and interpretation.
• Theoretical aspects in low-energy nuclear physics – state-of-the-art models and frameworks.

More info at: https://indico.global/event/15272/

Lattice gauge theories (LGTs) describe a broad range of phenomena in condensed matter and particle physics. A prominent example is confinement, responsible for bounding quarks inside hadrons such as protons or neutrons. When quark-antiquark pairs are separated, the energy stored in the string of gluon fields connecting them grows linearly with their distance, until there is enough energy to create new pairs from the vacuum and break the string. While such phenomena are ubiquitous in LGTs and play a prominent role in particle-physics experiments, simulating the resulting dynamics is a challenging task. In this talk, I will report the observation of string breaking using a programmable quantum simulator based on neutral atom arrays [Nature 642, 321–326 (2025)].

I will first show how a (2+1)D LGT with dynamical matter can be efficiently encoded using a system of Rydberg atoms, where a U(1) gauge symmetry emerges from the Rydberg blockade mechanism, while long-range Rydberg interactions naturally give rise to a linear confining potential between pairs of charges. In the experiment, we probe string breaking in equilibrium by adiabatically preparing the ground state of the atom array in the presence of defects, distinguishing regions within the confined phase dominated by fluctuating strings or by broken string configurations. Finally, by harnessing local control over the atomic detuning, we quench string states and observe string breaking dynamics exhibiting a many-body resonance phenomenon. As an outlook, I will present a roadmap to further explore phenomena in high-energy physics using programmable quantum simulators.

Este ano celebramos 100 anos de mecánica cuántica, cuxo desenvolvemento desencadeou unha revolución que cambiou fundamentalmente a nosa comprensión do mundo natural, e mesmo do que constitúe unha teoría física válida.

A isto chamámoslle a revolución cuántica. Agora mesmo estamos experimentando unha segunda revolución, fundada non tanto nas consecuencias epistemolóxicas da mecánica cuántica, senón na nosa capacidade de aproveitar as súas características fundamentais para producir novas tecnoloxías e produtos.

Antía Lamas Liñares criouse en Santiago e fixo a carreira de Física na Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. Despois obtivo un máster en Óptica Aplicada no Imperial College London e o seu doutoramento na Universidade de Oxford. Máis adiante fixo unha estadía posdoutoral na Universidade de California Santa Barbara, antes de establecer o seu propio grupo de óptica cuántica na Universidade Nacional de Singapur.

Durante o seu tempo en Singapur axudou a lanzar o Centro de Tecnoloxías Cuánticas, do que foi Investigadora Principal fundadora. Desde 2010 traballa nos Estados Unidos, primeiro no Instituto Nacional de Estándares e Tecnoloxía e despois no Centro de Computación Avanzada de Texas. En 2019 uniuse a SpeQtral, unha startup singapurense centrada en comunicacións cuánticas baseadas en satélites, como Científica Cuántica Principal.

Desde 2021, é científica cuántica principal en Amazon Web Services, liderando o traballo de redes cuánticas de Amazon.

A Rede de Centros Singulares de Investigación da Universidade de Santiago de Compostela abre, un ano máis, as portas á cidadanía o sábado 8 de novembro, na novena edición de Ciencia Singular. Centos de persoas poderán visitar durante todo o día espazos que son referencia nas súas áreas científicas.

Os cinco centros participantes, (CiQUS, CiMUS, CiTIUS, IGFAE e CRETUS) forman parte da rede CIGUS da Xunta de Galicia, que acredita a calidade e impacto da súa investigación.

Desde as 10.00 da mañá e ata as 20.00 horas, persoas de todas as idades percorrerán estas instalacións científicas para coñecer, da man do persoal investigador, o labor punteiro que se desenvolve neles día a día. Para participar nas actividades é preciso un rexistro previo, que pode formalizarse na páxina web cienciasingular.usc.es desde o próximo mércores 29 de outubro ás 16.00 horas. 

Gravitational waves from perturbed black holes provide a unique laboratory for probing the fundamental nature of gravity in its most extreme regime. Following the coalescence of binary black holes, the remnant object undergoes a ringdown phase characterized by quasi-normal modes, whose frequencies and damping times are determined solely by the mass and spin in general relativity. Precise measurements of these signals enable stringent tests of gravity, can reveal information about the source of the perturbations and can show potential deviations arising from modified gravity. In this talk, I will discuss the connection between near-horizon perturbations and the gravitational radiation, investigating how the black hole horizon vibrates and reproduces the signatures observed at infinity. I will assess prospects for detecting these signatures with current and future detectors, and evaluate the extent to which gravitational-wave observations can constrain or uncover new physics

O IGFAE organiza, en colaboración coa Delegación de Alumn@s de Física, unha xornada de portas abertas dirixida a estudantes do grao de Física da Universidade de Santiago de Compostela.

A xornada consistirá nunha serie de charlas sobre a investigación que se desenvolve no IGFAE, xunto a un percorrido polas instalacións e laboratorios do centro.

Para asistir é precisa a inscrición previa (ligazón ao formulario).

A actividade terá lugar en dúas quendas: unha pola mañá (a partir das 10:30 horas, ata as 13:30) e outra á tarde (a partir das 15:30, ata as 18:30), co fin de facilitar a asistencia. Por motivos de organización, o acceso estará limitado a un máximo de 30 prazas en cada quenda, que se cubrirán por orde de inscrición.

Programa da xornada

A xornada comezará en ambas quendas cunha recepción e benvida do director do Instituto, Carlos A. Salgado. A continuación, o persoal investigador do centro ofrecerá unha serie de charlas breves sobre as diversas liñas científicas nas que traballan. Darase logo paso a unha sesión de preguntas e respostas, na que o alumnado da Facultade poderá conversar con parte do equipo do IGFAE.

Posteriormente, o alumnado poderá percorrer as instalacións e algún dos laboratorios do IGFAE. Na parte final, haberá tempo para un concurso sobre o propio centro, con agasallos para quen demostre maiores coñecementos sobre a historia e o labor do IGFAE.

In this seminar, I will introduce two classes of parametric light-matter hybrids, operating in both equilibrium and out-of-equilibrium regimes. I begin by revisiting the physics of parametric oscillators [1], a conceptually simple yet foundational model often underemphasized in standard curricula, and highlight their central role in quantum applications.

I then discuss in detail two examples of emergent and intrinsic parametric light-matter hybrids. The first example addresses the emergence of parametric resonances [2-3], along with collective Rabi oscillations [4-5], and time-crystalline behaviour [2] in driven superconducting systems. The second involves parametric amplification in Raman quantum matter coupled to cavity field fluctuations at equilibrium [6], with prospective realizations in cavity materials, trapped ions, ultracold atoms and superconducting circuits. I will conclude by outlining how these types of hybrids may be used in quantum technologies, and by discussing open challenges and avenues for future research.

[1] Landau, L. D.; Lifshitz, E. M. (1976). Mechanics (3rd ed.)

[2] H. P. Ojeda Collado, Gonzalo Usaj, C. A. Balseiro, Damian H. Zanette, C. A. Balseiro, and José Lorenzana, Phys. Rev. Research, 3, L042023 (2021).

[3] H. P. Ojeda Collado, G. Usaj, C. A. Balseiro, D. H. Zanette, and J. Lorenzana, Phys. Rev. Res. 5, 023014 (2023).

[4] H. P. Ojeda Collado, José Lorenzana, Gonzalo Usaj, and C. A. Balseiro, Phys. Rev. B 98, 214519 (2018).

[5] H. P. Ojeda Collado, Gonzalo Usaj, José Lorenzana, and C. A. Balseiro, Phys. Rev. B 101, 054502 (2020)

[6] H. P. Ojeda Collado, Marios H. Michael, Jim Skulte, Angel Rubio and Ludwig Mathey, Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 116901 (2024)

This course aims to enable researchers to include sex and/or gender analysis in their research projects and in the scientific articles that may result f rom their investigations, according to the European and Spanish legal f ramework that sustains the inclusion of sex and/or gender analysis in research.

The course will review the relevance of adopting a gender approach in the field of physics, working with detailed examples of how to conduct projects with a gender dimension. This work will also allow to identify the most f requent gender biases in research and their effect on the final quality of the results.

Registration: https://forms.office.com/e/3ykn9UfaEH?origin=lprLink

About the trainer

Capitolina Díaz Martínez holds PhD from the University of London, former Director of the Women and Science Unit at the Ministry of Education and Science (MEC), former Research Counselor at REPER (Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU), former Director General at the Ministry of Equality, and former President of AMIT (Association of Women Scientists and Technologists).

This course aims to enable researchers to include sex and/or gender analysis in their research projects and in the scientific articles that may result f rom their investigations, according to the European and Spanish legal f ramework that sustains the inclusion of sex and/or gender analysis in research.

The course will review the relevance of adopting a gender approach in the field of physics, working with detailed examples of how to conduct projects with a gender dimension. This work will also allow to identify the most f requent gender biases in research and their effect on the final quality of the results.

Registration: https://forms.office.com/e/3ykn9UfaEH?origin=lprLink

About the trainer

Capitolina Díaz Martínez holds PhD from the University of London, former Director of the Women and Science Unit at the Ministry of Education and Science (MEC), former Research Counselor at REPER (Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU), former Director General at the Ministry of Equality, and former President of AMIT (Association of Women Scientists and Technologists).