From The University of Heidelberg [Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg] (DE) Via “phys.org” : “An early universe analog built in a lab in Germany”

From The University of Heidelberg [Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg] (DE)

Via

“phys.org”

11.10.22

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain.

A team of researchers at Universität Heidelberg has built an early universe analog in their laboratory using chilled potassium atoms. In their paper published in the journal Nature [below], the group describes their simulator and how it might be used. Silke Weinfurtner, with the University of Nottingham, has published a News & Views [below] piece in the same journal issue outlining the work done by the team in Germany.

Understanding what occurred during the first few moments after the Big Bang is difficult due to the lack of evidence left behind. That leaves astrophysicists with nothing but theory to describe what might have happened. To give credence to their theories, scientists have built models that theoretically represent the conditions being described. In this new effort, the researchers used a new approach to build a physical model in their laboratory to simulate conditions just after the Big Bang.

Beginning with the theory that that the Big Bang gave rise to an expanding universe, the researchers sought to create what they describe as a “quantum field simulator.” Since most theories suggest it was likely that the early universe was very cold, near absolute zero, the researchers created an environment that was very cold.

Lambda Cold Dark Matter Expansion ΛCDM of the Universe. Credit Alex Mittelmann Coldcreation.

They then added potassium atoms to represent the universe they were trying to simulate.

The atoms were chilled to just above absolute zero and slowed down using lasers, resulting in the formation of a Bose-Einstein condensate—a type of superfluid. The researchers then used light from a specially designed projector to push the atoms into desired arrangements. Under the setup, superfluid excitons known as phonons propagate in two directions.

By manipulating the speed of propagation, the researchers were able to mimic theorized wave propagation in the early universe. They suggest the behavior of their superfluid was somewhat similar to the physics that governed spacetime and the production of particles in those moments just after the Big Bang.

One of the first experiments conducted using the simulator involved mimicking the expansion of the early universe—the atoms in the superfluid moved in a ripple pattern in ways similar to what has been predicted by theory if pairs of particles are being created.

Science papers:
Nature
News & Views [Nature]

See the full article here .

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Stem Education Coalition

Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg [Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg] (DE)is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany’s oldest university and one of the world’s oldest surviving universities. It was the third university established in the Holy Roman Empire.

Heidelberg has been a coeducational institution since 1899. The university consists of twelve faculties and offers degree programmes at undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral levels in some 100 disciplines.

Heidelberg comprises three major campuses: the humanities are predominantly located in Heidelberg’s Old Town, the natural sciences and medicine in the Neuenheimer Feld quarter, and the social sciences within the inner-city suburb Bergheim. The language of instruction is usually German, while a considerable number of graduate degrees are offered in English as well as some in French.

As of 2017, 29 Nobel Prize winners have been affiliated with the university. Modern scientific psychiatry, psychopharmacology, psychiatric genetics, environmental physics, and modern sociology were introduced as scientific disciplines by Heidelberg faculty. Approximately 1,000 doctorates are completed every year, with more than one third of the doctoral students coming from abroad. International students from some 130 countries account for more than 20 percent of the entire student body.

Heidelberg is a German Excellence University, part of the U15, as well as a founding member of the League of European Research Universities and The Coimbra Group Universities (EU). The university’s noted alumni include eleven domestic and foreign heads of state or heads of government. In international comparison Heidelberg University occupies top positions in rankings and enjoys a high academic reputation.

Faculties

After a 2003 structural reformation, the university consists of 12 faculties, which in turn comprise several disciplines, departments, and institutes. As a consequence of the Bologna process, most faculties now offer Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Ph.D. degrees to comply with the new European degree standard. Notable exceptions are the undergraduate programs in law, medicine, dentistry and pharmacy, from which students still graduate with the State Examination, a central examination at Master’s level held by the State of Baden-Württemberg.

The Faculty of Behavioural Sciences and Empirical Cultural Sciences
The Faculty of Biosciences
The Faculty of Chemistry and Earth Sciences
The Faculty of Law
The Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science
The Faculty of Medicine
The Faculty of Medicine in Mannheim
The Faculty of Modern Languages
The Faculty of Philosophy and History
The Faculty of Physics and Astronomy
The Faculty of Theology
The Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences

Associated institutions

Network for Research on Ageing
Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim
Heidelberg Center for American Studies
Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research,
Heidelberg State Observatory,
University Hospital Heidelberg,
University Hospital Mannheim

Partnerships

The university has partnerships nationally and internationally. In particular, it maintains longstanding collaborations in research and education with the following independent research institutes located in and around Heidelberg:

Center for Jewish Studies Heidelberg
European Molecular Biology Laboratory
German Cancer Research Center (Helmholtz Association)
Heavy Ion Research Center Darmstadt (Helmholtz Association),
Heidelberg University of Education
Heidelberg Academy of Sciences
Karlsruhe Research Center (Helmholtz Association)
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (Max Planck Society)
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (Max Planck Society)
Max Planck Institute for Medical Research (Max Planck Society)
Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (Max Planck Society)

From The University of Heidelberg [Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg] (DE): “The bubbly Milky Way”

From The University of Heidelberg [Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg] (DE)

05/24/2022 [Just now in social media.]

CONTACT FOR THE MEDIA
Dr Guido Thimm
Center for Astronomy at Heidelberg University
thimm@uni-heidelberg.de

SCIENTIFIC CONTACT
Prof. Dr Ralf Klessen
Center for Astronomy at Heidelberg University
Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics
klessen@uni-heidelberg.de

This image shows the bubbly appearing atomic hydrogen emission in the inner Galaxy at about 6.4 kpc (1 kpc = 3 × 10^19 m) distance from the galactic center. Colours indicate the velocity of the gas relative to the sun, with blueish colour highlighting gas moving towards us and reddish colours showing receeding gas. (© J.D. Soler, private communication)

By applying artifical intelligence algorithms to the radio data the scientist were able to reveal the bubbly character of the interstellar medium as shown on this processed image. (© J.D. Soler, private communication)

An international group of astronomers, led by Juan Diego Soler of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), have found the imprint of the bubbles produced by the explosion of dying stars in the structure of the gas that pervades our galaxy. They made this discovery by applying techniques from artificial intelligence to the HI4PI survey data, which provides the most detailed whole-sky distribution of atomic hydrogen in the Milky Way to date. The scientists analyzed the filamentary structure in the emission from atomic hydrogen gas. They inferred that it preserved a record of the dynamic processes induced by ancient supernova explosions and the rotation of the Galaxy.

Hydrogen is the main component of stars like the Sun. However, the process that leads the diffuse clouds of hydrogen gas that spread through our galaxy to assemble into dense clouds from which stars ultimately form is not yet fully understood. A collaboration of astronomers headed by Juan Diego Soler from the INAF-IAPS (Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, an INAF research Institute in Rome) and the ECOgal project funded by the European Research Council has now taken an important step in elucidating the life cycle of the raw material to form stars.

Soler processed data from the most detailed whole-sky survey of the emission from atomic hydrogen in radio waves, the HI4PI survey, which is based on observations obtained with the Parkes 64-meter Radio Telescope in Australia, the Effelsberg 100-meter Radio Telescope in Germany, and the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank 110-meter Telescope (GBT) in the United States.

CSIRO-Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (AU) Parkes Observatory [Murriyang, the traditional Indigenous name], located 20 kilometres north of the town of Parkes, New South Wales, Australia, 414.80m above sea level.

Effelsberg Radio Telescope- a radio telescope in the Ahr Hills (part of the Eifel) in Bad Münstereifel(DE)

Green Bank Radio Telescope, West Virginia now the center piece of the Green Bank Observatory being cut loose by the National Science Foundation, supported by Breakthrough Listen Project, West Virginia University, and operated by the nonprofit Associated Universities, Inc.

“These archival observations of the hydrogen emission line at 21-cm wavelength contain information on the distribution of the gas in the sky and its velocity in the direction of observation, which combined with a model of the Milky Way rotation indicates how far are the emitting clouds”, indicates Sergio Molinari from the INAF-IAPS, principal investigator of the ECOgal project.

To study the distribution of the Galactic hydrogen clouds, Soler applied a mathematical algorithm commonly used in the automatic inspection and analysis of satellite images and online videos. Because of the size of these observations, it would have been impossible to do this analysis by eye. The algorithm revealed an extensive and intricate network of slender threadlike objects or filaments. Most of the filaments in the inner part of the Milky Way were found to be pointing away from the disk of our galaxy. “These are likely the remnants of multiple supernovae explosions that sweep up the gas and form bubbles that pop when they reach the characteristic scale of the Galactic plane, like the bubbles that reach the surface in a glass of sparkling wine”, comments Ralf Klessen. Klessen also is principal investigator of the ECOgal project, which aims at understanding our Galactic ecosystem from the disk of the Milky Way to the formation sites of stars and planets. “The fact that we see mostly horizontal structures in the outer Milky Way, where there is a strong decrease in the number of massive stars and consequently fewer supernovae, suggests that we are registering the energy and momentum input from stars shaping the gas in our Galaxy”, complements the astronomer based at the Center for Astronomy of Heidelberg University in Germany.

“The interstellar medium, which is the matter and radiation that exist in the space between the stars, is regulated by the formation of stars and supernovae, with the latter being the violent explosions that occur during the last evolutionary stages of stars that are more than ten times more massive than the Sun,” comments Patrick Hennebelle, who along with Klessen coordinates the theoretical work in the ECOgal project. “Associations of supernovae are very efficient at sustaining turbulence and lifting the gas in a stratified disk”, clarifies the researcher at the Department of Astronomy at the CEA/Saclay in France. “The finding of these filamentary structures in the atomic hydrogen is an important step in understanding the process responsible for the galaxy-scale star formation”.

Science paper:
Astronomy & Astrophysics

USEFUL LINKS
Homepage of the ECOGAL project: http://www.ecogal.eu/
Info on the HI4PI survey: https://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/pressreleases/2016/13
Homepage of Ralf Klessen: http://klessen.org/

ADDITIONAL PRESS INFORMATION
Presse release by INAF: https://www.media.inaf.it/2022/05/23/bollicine-nella-via-lattea-gas-frizzante-come-spumante/

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL

• Atomic hydrogen emission towards a portion of the outer Milky Way’s disk. Credit: HI4PI survey; J. D. Soler, INAF

• Atomic hydrogen emission towards a portion of the outer Milky Way’s disk. Credit: GALFA-HI survey; J. D. Soler, INAF

• Atomic hydrogen emission towards a portion of the inner Milky Way’s disk. Credit: HI4PI survey; J. D. Soler, INAF

• Atomic hydrogen emission towards a portion of the outer Milky Way’s disk. Credit: GALFA-HI survey; J. D. Soler, INAF

The videos are online at: https://youtu.be/MpHPU6IDOno and https://youtu.be/CsXQfjSPEto

See the full article here .

five-ways-keep-your-child-safe-school-shootings

Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg [Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg] (DE)is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany’s oldest university and one of the world’s oldest surviving universities. It was the third university established in the Holy Roman Empire.

Heidelberg has been a coeducational institution since 1899. The university consists of twelve faculties and offers degree programmes at undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral levels in some 100 disciplines.

Heidelberg comprises three major campuses: the humanities are predominantly located in Heidelberg’s Old Town, the natural sciences and medicine in the Neuenheimer Feld quarter, and the social sciences within the inner-city suburb Bergheim. The language of instruction is usually German, while a considerable number of graduate degrees are offered in English as well as some in French.

As of 2017, 29 Nobel Prize winners have been affiliated with the university. Modern scientific psychiatry, psychopharmacology, psychiatric genetics, environmental physics, and modern sociology were introduced as scientific disciplines by Heidelberg faculty. Approximately 1,000 doctorates are completed every year, with more than one third of the doctoral students coming from abroad. International students from some 130 countries account for more than 20 percent of the entire student body.

Heidelberg is a German Excellence University, part of the U15, as well as a founding member of the League of European Research Universities and The Coimbra Group Universities (EU). The university’s noted alumni include eleven domestic and foreign heads of state or heads of government. In international comparison Heidelberg University occupies top positions in rankings and enjoys a high academic reputation.

Faculties

After a 2003 structural reformation, the university consists of 12 faculties, which in turn comprise several disciplines, departments, and institutes. As a consequence of the Bologna process, most faculties now offer Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Ph.D. degrees to comply with the new European degree standard. Notable exceptions are the undergraduate programs in law, medicine, dentistry and pharmacy, from which students still graduate with the State Examination, a central examination at Master’s level held by the State of Baden-Württemberg.

The Faculty of Behavioural Sciences and Empirical Cultural Sciences
The Faculty of Biosciences
The Faculty of Chemistry and Earth Sciences
The Faculty of Law
The Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science
The Faculty of Medicine
The Faculty of Medicine in Mannheim
The Faculty of Modern Languages
The Faculty of Philosophy and History
The Faculty of Physics and Astronomy
The Faculty of Theology
The Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences

Associated institutions

Network for Research on Ageing
Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim
Heidelberg Center for American Studies
Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research,
Heidelberg State Observatory,[54]
University Hospital Heidelberg,
University Hospital Mannheim

Partnerships

The university has partnerships nationally and internationally. In particular, it maintains longstanding collaborations in research and education with the following independent research institutes located in and around Heidelberg:

Center for Jewish Studies Heidelberg
European Molecular Biology Laboratory
German Cancer Research Center (Helmholtz Association)
Heavy Ion Research Center Darmstadt (Helmholtz Association),
Heidelberg University of Education
Heidelberg Academy of Sciences
Karlsruhe Research Center (Helmholtz Association)
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (Max Planck Society)
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (Max Planck Society)
Max Planck Institute for Medical Research (Max Planck Society)
Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (Max Planck Society)

From The University of Heidelberg [Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg] (DE): “Programmable Interaction between Quantum Magnets”

From The University of Heidelberg [Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg] (DE)

26 November 2021

The forces between particles; atoms; molecules or even macroscopic objects like magnets are determined by the interactions of nature. For example, two closely lying bar magnets realign themselves under the influence of magnetic forces. A team led by Prof. Dr Matthias Weidemüller and Dr Gerhard Zürn at the Center for Quantum Dynamics of Heidelberg University has now succeeded in its aim to change not only the strength but also the nature of the interaction between microscopic quantum magnets known as spins. Instead of falling into a state of complete disorder, the especially prepared magnets can maintain their original orientation for a long period. With these findings, the Heidelberg physicists have successfully demonstrated a programmable control of spin interactions in isolated quantum systems.

On the left, a disordered ensemble of classical magnets in a stable equilibrium configuration. On average, the system appears not to be magnetised. On the right, Floquet engineering has stalled the magnets’ reorientation. The quantum magnets maintain their aligned configuration for a long time in spite of the disorder. © Sebastian Geier.

Magnetic systems can exhibit surprising behaviour when they are prepared in an unstable configuration. For example, constraining a collection of spatially disordered magnetic dipoles, such as bar magnets, to be aligned in the same direction, will lead to a subsequent reorientation of the magnets. This ultimately results in an equilibrium in which all magnets are randomly oriented. While the majority of investigations used to be limited to classical magnetic dipoles, it has recently become possible to expand the approaches to quantum magnets using what are called quantum simulators. Synthetic atomic systems mimic the fundamental physics of magnetic phenomena in an extremely well-controlled environment where all relevant parameters can be adjusted almost at will.

In their quantum simulation experiments, the researchers used a gas of atoms that was cooled down to a temperature near absolute zero. Using laser light, the atoms were excited to extremely high electronic states, separating the electron by almost macroscopic distances from the atomic nucleus. These “atomic giants”, also known as Rydberg atoms, interact with each other over distances of almost a hair’s breadth. “An ensemble of Rydberg atoms exhibits exactly the same characteristics as interacting disordered quantum magnets, making it an ideal platform to simulate and explore quantum magnetism,” states Dr Nithiwadee Thaicharoen, who was a postdoc on Prof. Weidemüller’s team at the Institute for Physics and now continues her research as a professor in Thailand.

The essential trick of the Heidelberg physicists was to steer the dynamics of the quantum magnets by adopting methods from the field of nuclear magnetic resonance. In their experiments, the researchers apply especially designed periodic microwave pulses to modify the atomic spin. A major challenge was to precisely control the interaction between the atomic spins using this technique, known as Floquet engineering. “The microwave pulses had to be applied to the Rydberg atoms at timescales of a billionth of a second, with these atoms being super-sensitive at the same time to any external perturbation, however tiny, like minute electric fields,” says Dr Clément Hainaut, a postdoc on the team who recently moved to the University of Lille (France).

“We nonetheless succeeded in stalling the spin’s seemingly inevitable reorientation and maintaining a macroscopic magnetisation through our control protocol,” explains doctoral student Sebastian Geier. “Using our Floquet engineering approach, it should now be possible to reverse the timeline such that the spin system inverts its evolution after having gone through a very complex dynamic. It would be like a broken glass magically reassembling itself after it has crashed onto the floor.”

The studies are an important step towards a better understanding of basic processes in complex quantum systems. “After the first and second quantum revolution, which led to the understanding of the systems and the precise control of single objects, we are confident that our technique of dynamically adjusting interactions in a programmable fashion opens a path to Quantum Technologies 3.0,” concludes Matthias Weidemüller, professor at the Institute for Physics and Director of Heidelberg University’s Center for Quantum Dynamics.

The experiments were conducted in the framework of the STRUCTURES Cluster of Excellence and the “Isolated quantum systems and universality under extreme conditions” Collaborative Research Centre (ISOQUANT) of Heidelberg University. The activities are also part of PASQuans, the “Programmable Atomic Large-Scale Quantum Simulation” collaboration, within the European Quantum Technologies Flagship.

The research results were published in the journal Science.

See the full article here .

five-ways-keep-your-child-safe-school-shootings

Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg [Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg] (DE)is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany’s oldest university and one of the world’s oldest surviving universities. It was the third university established in the Holy Roman Empire.

Heidelberg has been a coeducational institution since 1899. The university consists of twelve faculties and offers degree programmes at undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral levels in some 100 disciplines.

Heidelberg comprises three major campuses: the humanities are predominantly located in Heidelberg’s Old Town, the natural sciences and medicine in the Neuenheimer Feld quarter, and the social sciences within the inner-city suburb Bergheim. The language of instruction is usually German, while a considerable number of graduate degrees are offered in English as well as some in French.

As of 2017, 29 Nobel Prize winners have been affiliated with the university. Modern scientific psychiatry, psychopharmacology, psychiatric genetics, environmental physics, and modern sociology were introduced as scientific disciplines by Heidelberg faculty. Approximately 1,000 doctorates are completed every year, with more than one third of the doctoral students coming from abroad. International students from some 130 countries account for more than 20 percent of the entire student body.

Heidelberg is a German Excellence University, part of the U15, as well as a founding member of the League of European Research Universities and The Coimbra Group Universities (EU). The university’s noted alumni include eleven domestic and foreign heads of state or heads of government. In international comparison Heidelberg University occupies top positions in rankings and enjoys a high academic reputation.

Faculties

After a 2003 structural reformation, the university consists of 12 faculties, which in turn comprise several disciplines, departments, and institutes. As a consequence of the Bologna process, most faculties now offer Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Ph.D. degrees to comply with the new European degree standard. Notable exceptions are the undergraduate programs in law, medicine, dentistry and pharmacy, from which students still graduate with the State Examination, a central examination at Master’s level held by the State of Baden-Württemberg.

The Faculty of Behavioural Sciences and Empirical Cultural Sciences
The Faculty of Biosciences
The Faculty of Chemistry and Earth Sciences
The Faculty of Law
The Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science
The Faculty of Medicine
The Faculty of Medicine in Mannheim
The Faculty of Modern Languages
The Faculty of Philosophy and History
The Faculty of Physics and Astronomy
The Faculty of Theology
The Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences

Associated institutions

Network for Research on Ageing
Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim
Heidelberg Center for American Studies
Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research,
Heidelberg State Observatory,[54]
University Hospital Heidelberg,
University Hospital Mannheim

Partnerships

The university has partnerships nationally and internationally. In particular, it maintains longstanding collaborations in research and education with the following independent research institutes located in and around Heidelberg:

Center for Jewish Studies Heidelberg
European Molecular Biology Laboratory
German Cancer Research Center (Helmholtz Association)
Heavy Ion Research Center Darmstadt (Helmholtz Association),
Heidelberg University of Education
Heidelberg Academy of Sciences
Karlsruhe Research Center (Helmholtz Association)
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (Max Planck Society)
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (Max Planck Society)
Max Planck Institute for Medical Research (Max Planck Society)
Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (Max Planck Society)

From The University of Heidelberg [Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg] (DE): “Solving Complex Learning Tasks in Brain-Inspired Computers”

From The University of Heidelberg [Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg] (DE)

29 October 2021

Researchers from Heidelberg and Bern develop a new training approach for spiking neural networks.

Developing a machine that processes information as efficiently as the human brain has been a long-standing research goal towards true artificial intelligence. An interdisciplinary research team at Heidelberg University and The University of Bern [Universität Bern](CH) led by Dr Mihai Petrovici is tackling this problem with the help of biologically-inspired artificial neural networks. Spiking neural networks, which mimic the structure and function of a natural nervous system, represent promising candidates because they are powerful, fast, and energy-efficient. One key challenge is how to train such complex systems. The German-Swiss research team has now developed and successfully implemented an algorithm that achieves such training.

Illustration of the on-chip classification process with the Yin-Yang dataset. Each symbol represents the spike time delay for various classifying neurons. © Göltz and Kriener et al. Heidelberg / Bern.

The nerve cells (or neurons) in the brain transmit information using short electrical pulses known as spikes. These spikes are triggered when a certain stimulus threshold is exceeded. Both the frequency with which a single neuron produces such spikes and the temporal sequence of the individual spikes are critical for the exchange of information. “The main difference of biological spiking networks to artificial neural networks is that, because they are using spike-based information processing, they can solve complex tasks such as image recognition and classification with extreme energy efficiency,” states Julian Göltz, a doctoral candidate in Dr Petrovici’s research group.

Both the human brain and the architecturally similar artificial spiking neural networks can only perform at their full potential if the individual neurons are properly connected to one another. But how can brain-inspired – that is, neuromorphic – systems be adjusted to process spiking input correctly? “This question is fundamental for the development of powerful artificial networks based on biological models,” stresses Laura Kriener, also a member of Dr Petrovici’s research team. Special algorithms are required to guarantee that the neurons in a spiking neural network fire at the correct time. These algorithms adjust the connections between the neurons so that the network can perform the required task, such as classifying images with high precision.

The team under the direction of Dr Petrovici developed just such an algorithm. “Using this approach, we can train spiking neural networks to code and transmit information exclusively in single spikes. They thereby produce the desired results especially quickly and efficiently,” explains Julian Göltz. Moreover, the researchers succeeded in implementing a neural network trained with this algorithm on a physical platform – the BrainScaleS-2 neuromorphic hardware platform developed at Heidelberg University.

According to the researchers, the BrainScaleS system processes information up to a thousand times faster than the human brain and needs far less energy than conventional computer systems. It is part of the European Human Brain Project, which integrates technologies like neuromorphic computing into an open platform called EBRAINS. “However, our work is not only interesting for neuromorphic computing and biologically inspired hardware. It also acknowledges the demand from the scientific community to transfer so-called Deep Learning approaches to neuroscience and thereby further unveil the secrets of the human brain,” emphasises Dr Petrovici.

The research was funded by the Manfred Stärk Foundation and the Human Brain Project – one of three European flagship initiatives in Future and Emerging Technologies supported under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme. The research results were published in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence.

See the full article here .

five-ways-keep-your-child-safe-school-shootings

Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg [Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg](DE)is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany’s oldest university and one of the world’s oldest surviving universities. It was the third university established in the Holy Roman Empire.

Heidelberg has been a coeducational institution since 1899. The university consists of twelve faculties and offers degree programmes at undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral levels in some 100 disciplines.

Heidelberg comprises three major campuses: the humanities are predominantly located in Heidelberg’s Old Town, the natural sciences and medicine in the Neuenheimer Feld quarter, and the social sciences within the inner-city suburb Bergheim. The language of instruction is usually German, while a considerable number of graduate degrees are offered in English as well as some in French.

As of 2017, 29 Nobel Prize winners have been affiliated with the university. Modern scientific psychiatry, psychopharmacology, psychiatric genetics, environmental physics, and modern sociology were introduced as scientific disciplines by Heidelberg faculty. Approximately 1,000 doctorates are completed every year, with more than one third of the doctoral students coming from abroad. International students from some 130 countries account for more than 20 percent of the entire student body.

Heidelberg is a German Excellence University, part of the U15, as well as a founding member of the League of European Research Universities and The Coimbra Group Universities (EU). The university’s noted alumni include eleven domestic and foreign heads of state or heads of government. In international comparison Heidelberg University occupies top positions in rankings and enjoys a high academic reputation.

Faculties

After a 2003 structural reformation, the university consists of 12 faculties, which in turn comprise several disciplines, departments, and institutes. As a consequence of the Bologna process, most faculties now offer Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Ph.D. degrees to comply with the new European degree standard. Notable exceptions are the undergraduate programs in law, medicine, dentistry and pharmacy, from which students still graduate with the State Examination, a central examination at Master’s level held by the State of Baden-Württemberg.

The Faculty of Behavioural Sciences and Empirical Cultural Sciences
The Faculty of Biosciences
The Faculty of Chemistry and Earth Sciences
The Faculty of Law
The Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science
The Faculty of Medicine
The Faculty of Medicine in Mannheim
The Faculty of Modern Languages
The Faculty of Philosophy and History
The Faculty of Physics and Astronomy
The Faculty of Theology
The Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences

Associated institutions

Network for Research on Ageing
Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim
Heidelberg Center for American Studies
Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research,
Heidelberg State Observatory,[54]
University Hospital Heidelberg,
University Hospital Mannheim

Partnerships

The university has partnerships nationally and internationally. In particular, it maintains longstanding collaborations in research and education with the following independent research institutes located in and around Heidelberg:

Center for Jewish Studies Heidelberg
European Molecular Biology Laboratory
German Cancer Research Center (Helmholtz Association)
Heavy Ion Research Center Darmstadt (Helmholtz Association),
Heidelberg University of Education
Heidelberg Academy of Sciences
Karlsruhe Research Center (Helmholtz Association)
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (Max Planck Society)
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (Max Planck Society)
Max Planck Institute for Medical Research (Max Planck Society)
Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (Max Planck Society)