The medal was awarded to Prof. Heblin from the Department of Physics by the Royal Academy of Science of the Netherlands for groundbreaking research in the fields of physics and networks
Prof. Shlomo Havlin from the physics department At Bar-Ilan University, a world-renowned expert in the field of networks, statistical physics and phase transitions, won the Bakhuis Roozeboom Award for 2023. The award was given to Prof. Heblin for his pioneering theoretical contribution in the field of phases and transitions between them, which deals with the behavior of matter in different states of aggregation.
The Bakhuis Roozeboom Medal is awarded once every four years to researchers in the Netherlands or worldwide for groundbreaking innovation in the field of phases in physics.
The research of Prof. Havlin and his partners, illustrates for the first time with the help of a mathematical-physical theory that he developed how complex networks coupled to each other influence each other. It highlights, for example, how failures in one network can lead to a chain reaction of failures in other interconnected systems. This knowledge has significant implications for various aspects of our daily lives, such as the impact of a power outage on the transportation network, the Internet, and other communication systems. Following these breakthroughs, Prof. Havlin came to the conclusion that it is possible to build in the laboratory, in analogy to conjugated networks, complex materials conjugated to each other with new phases and phase transitions not observed before. Indeed, in May 2023, a joint article was published in the journal Nature Physics with Prof. Aviad Friedman, the head of the laboratory, together with their researchers (Dr. Bonamsa, Dr. Gross, Mr. Lahav and Dr. Volotsenko) that proved Prof. Havlin's theory.
Shlomo Havlin has been a full professor of physics at Bar-Ilan University since 1984. He studied physics at Bar-Ilan University and completed his doctorate with honors in 1972. Together with his colleagues, Prof. Havlin published hundreds of articles in first-class newspapers that received many citations during more than 50 years.
Prof. Heblin's achievements as a researcher earned him many awards including: the Lilienfeld Award from the American Physical Society in 2010. This award recognizes an outstanding contribution to physics. In 2014 he won the Rothschild Prize, in 2017 he received the Order of the Star Award from the President of Italy. In 2018 he received the Israel Prize for his achievements in physics.
More of the topic in Hayadan:
- Prof. Shlomo Havlin - winner of the Israel Prize in the field of physics and chemistry research
- Shlomo Havlin from Bar Ilan, Eli Keshet and Avner de Shalit from the Hebrew University and Shlomo Shamai from the Technion won the Rothschild Prize
- Prof. Shlomo Havlin from Bar-Ilan University offers a solution to the problem of viruses in cell phones
- The study of complexity moves up a gear
