European network for Particle physics, Lattice field theory and Extreme computing

Project Information

EuroPLEx

Grant agreement ID: 813942

DOI

10.3030/813942

Project closed

EC signature date 20 August 2018

Start date 1 January 2019

End date 30 September 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 4 045 159,44

EU contribution

€ 4 045 159,44

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PARMA
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - EuroPLEx (European network for Particle physics, Lattice field theory and Extreme computing)

Reporting period: 2021-01-01 to 2023-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

EuroPLEx (European network for Particle physics, Lattice field theory and Extreme computing) was an EU Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) Innovative Training Network (ITN) that completed its lifetime on 30/09/2023. Nine European universities, together with 14 Partner Organisations (7 academic and 7 industrial), have trained 15 ESRs (Early Stage Researchers). Equipped with the tools that a fertile scientific environment can provide, the ESRs have been made able to face new challenges in Particle Physics.

The Standard Model of Particle Physics is a spectacular example of how successful science can be in describing nature. Within a well-established formalism (that of quantum field theory), a general picture of fundamental interactions and matter has been developed and confirmed by a large number of experiments investigating a wide range of phenomena occurring at very different energy scales.

However, further discoveries are expected: both phenomenological evidence and theoretical arguments point to the existence of new physics beyond the Standard Model, which EuroPLEx aimed to probe in a twofold approach. Firstly, we provided theoretical computations for precision tests of the Standard Model. Secondly, we have investigated Beyond the Standard Model candidate theories (addressing e.g. the fascinating puzzle of dark matter). Finally, we have been striving to probe the so far elusive problem of matter in extreme conditions (such as those existing shortly after the big bang or within compact stars).

In all we described so far, a prominent role in EuroPLEx research has been played by the so-called lattice regularisation: discretisation of space-time enables us to investigate particle physics also with very advanced numerical approaches, requiring the most powerful computers available. Besides projects motivated by phenomenology, we have also explored subjects at the interface with advanced areas of theoretical physics. In this respect the lattice approach has amazing capabilities as a theoretical laboratory.

EuroPLEx ESRs dealt with projects in which theoretical physics meets algorithmic studies and computer science. Research and training capabilities were strengthened by partners from industry (computer and data science companies): our fellows were trained in an environment with solid experience in hardware and software innovation and big data (all ubiquitous in any kind of consulting, modelling and most fields of the IT industry). The ESRs have now the prospect of a brilliant career: nine were hired as PostDoc researchers by major Universities and Research Institutions, while the others started a successful career outside academia. Most importantly, the expertise they acquired is invaluable for the progress of society as a whole. Last but not least: among our industrial partners we also had experts in scientific journalism: EuroPLEx ESRs were also trained in a wide range of soft skills, with a strong emphasis on the capability to communicate science.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

By a selection procedure which entailed both a central Recruitment Team and local committees, 15 ESRs were recruited and enrolled in the PhD programs run by the 9 EuroPLEx universities. Because of the traveling restrictions imposed all over Europe due to the Covid19 pandemic, secondments were strongly limited for a long time: online collaborations have been strengthened to compensate the lack of mobility. After the pandemic was over, we could have more networking activities. All in all, we did what we could do, given the limitations, and we think it is fair to say that we did a good job.

We had a number of major network events:

- Two summer schools were planned for summer 2020 and 2021: they had to be rescheduled (roughly at same time) as virtual, online events. Despite that, they were a success.
- A third, in presence summer school took place in presence in 2022 (Benasque, Spain, where the second planned one was supposed to take place). It was a success: once it was clear that the network action would last longer than originally planned, we were finally able to run a proper summer school.
- Two Progress Workshops were scheduled and indeed we had two, at the expected time. Sadly, one had to be run as an online event, while the second took regularly place in Odense at the expected date.
- A course in science communication that was expected to take place at the first summer school had to be rescheduled. However, we implemented over the years a more comprehensive program, made of two online events and one in person. Two of them resulted in the making of a video and of materials for a scientific exhibition.
- A final conference took place in Berlin in September 2023. It was open to a wide audience, to showcase our research and to have a look at the future, together with highly reputated scientists who joined us. During this event, we broadcast on our YouTube channel a public lecture on artificial intelligence, delivered by one of the research scientists who developed the techniques that are behind the success of the most celebrated ChatGPT.

EuroPLEx has a website and a YouTube channel through which a large fraction of the material (lectures, talks) presented at the network events has been made available to a wider audience. EuroPLEx ESRs maintained a Facebook page and a Twitter account; they also run a reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) interview. In collaboration with a partner of ours, EuroPLEx started the blog "QuarkBits": contents can be found on our webpages.

EuroPLEx has made progress in all the work packages. The work performed by the ESRs and by the EuroPLEx senior researchers resulted in 166 publications.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

In all work packages, substantial progress has been made with respect both to the state of the art and to the original research program. As a result, the ESRs' PhD projects have been in many cases enriched by new insight. There are indeed new perspectives for a more effective investigation of (e.g.) the running of the strong coupling or the QCD phase diagram. EuroPLEx both provided hints for shaping a coherent theoretical picture for particle physics within and beyond the Standard Model and made an impact on our understanding of theoretical scenarios across and beyond the borders of quantum field theories.

The progress of EuroPLEx ESRs has been great and multifaceted. They published results of their research in high-impact journals: more are to come for those (9 out of 15) who are remaining in academic research. Soft skills training, solid hard science competences and computational expertise have laid for all of them the foundations for brilliant career prospects, not only in academia, but also in industry or the public sector.

The competences the EuroPLEx ESRs can now master comprise a range of mathematical tools, algorithmic developments, high profile coding skills and big data analysis. EuroPLEx research has been characterised with a strong potential for cross-fertilization. Our results and methodologies will have beneficial effects not only for particle physics, but also for other fields. During the sad days of Covid19, a typical example came from research into pandemic modelling: a few EuroPLEx researchers have actively contributed to this field, also publishing papers in non-physics journals. In the particularly exceptional case of the Swansea group, this even meant advising politicians in pinning down scenarios for the pandemic spreading.

Our logo: could you see what the building blocks are?

Exploring the QCD phase diagram

A pictorial representation of a Neural Network dealing with phase transitions

The discretised worldsheet