Preface 

In 1952, an unknown student from the Mechanical Technical High School in Rzeszów, a provincial city, took first place (along with two other participants) in the First Physics Olympiad – a prestigious contest organized by the Polish Physical Society. Apart from the great splendor that befell this young student, the victory allowed him to avoid mandatory (due to the regulations of that time) employment in one of the local factories and opened the route for him to study at the University of Warsaw. There, he quickly came under the guidance of outstanding theoreticians led by Professor Leopold Infeld. This is how the successful scientific career of Professor Iwo Białynicki-Birula began, as well as that of all his students and collaborators, who for decades have been continuously drawing on his incredible intuition, brilliance, and kindness. Just as physics and the world have been changing over the past 70-years, the memories of his students who came under his mentorship are surely diverse. However, what definitely unites them all is the belief in the incredibly profound physical intuition of Our Professor, which he constantly expresses in one of his most beloved sayings: Przyroda jest łaskawa (eng. Nature is kind). Indeed, striking is his readiness to undertake risky and sometimes slightly controversial research directions. Who else, if not the Professor, would have dared to question the validity of the widely used Feynman's proof [1] or to construct a consistent formulation of a nonlinear correction to, by definition linear, quantum mechanics [2, 3]? Only the Professor and his wife, Professor Zofia Białynicka-Birula, could envision and later prove that photons can undergo splitting in an external magnetic field [4] or that the uncertainty principle, similar to that of massive particles, can also be formulated for quanta of light [5, 6]. Once, for purely bureaucratic reasons, I asked the Professor what I should put in the "scientific interests of the supervisor" section of a certain form. Without hesitation and with full conviction he answered: Theoretical Physics. Although quantum electrodynamics is his greatest passion, his horizons extend to all corners of contemporary physics, where he always finds interesting questions that are still awaiting answers.  

On the occasion of Professor Iwo Białynicki-Birula's 90th birthday, I invite everyone to read this special issue of Acta Physica Polonica A, in which his students, collaborators, and friends publish scientific papers from their respective fields of expertise. The richness of the topics covered and references to the Professor's scientific activities once again demonstrate how versatile and respected a scientist he is.

Happy Birthday, Master!

Guest Editor:

Tomasz Sowiński

Bibliographic information regarding the Special Issue

Title: Acta Physica Polonica A: Special issue in honor of scientific achievements of Professor Iwo Białynicki-Birula on his 90th birthday

Guest editor: Tomasz Sowiński

Publisher: Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Volume: 143             

Number of pages: S1-S200             

Publication date: 2023                

Doi: 10.12693/APhysPolA.143.S0

The paper of the month, chosen by the Editor-in-Chief, is "Estimation of Jiles-Atherton Parameters of Toroidal Cores using MATLAB/Simulink" by Š. Gans, J. Molnár, D. Kováč;  

DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.143.389

A ferromagnetic toroidal core of iron powder was studied experimentally and numerically. Hysteresis loops, major and several minor ones were detected and measured with the help of a special setup. A genetic-type algorithm was developed and used to fit parameters of a model of ferromagnetic hysteresis. Experiment and theory supported by numerical modelling lead to a proper description and deep understanding of complicated processes that take place in the studied magnetic material.

The Editor-in-Chief

The paper of the month, chosen by the Editor-in-Chief, is "Role of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube Addition in Superconducting Properties of Bi_{2}Sr_{2}CaCu_{2}O_{8+s} Glass–Ceramic Superconductors" by K. Yakinci and Ö. Çiçek;

DOI:10.12693/APhysPolA.143.298

High-temperature superconductors play an important role in various areas of physics and technology. One of the directions of improving the quality of these materials is the creation of artificial defects, e.g. by doping. In this way, the value of the critical current can be increased. In this paper, the authors prepared the samples by the conventional glass–ceramic route. They showed that the addition of carbon nanotubes can change the critical current density by up to about 30% without significant morphological change of the material. This research makes a step forward toward better superconductive materials.

The Editor-in-Chief

The 20th National Conference on Superconductivity "New Phases, Concepts, and Advances" was held in Lublin from 22nd to 26th May 2022 as a fully in-person event. The conference was organized jointly by Marie Curie-Skłodowska University, the Lublin Branch of the Polish Physical Society, and the Technical University of Lublin. Former conferences in this series were devoted initially to high-temperature superconductivity and later on, they have included several related phenomena, for example: colossal magnetoresistance, strongly correlated systems, spin and charge ordering, unconventional superconductivity, and other emergent phenomena.

This Conference focussed on topics such as high-temperature superconductors and other highly correlated systems, synergy of magnetism with superconductivity in hybrid structures, critical phenomena in superconductors and superfluids, exotic quasiparticles in topological states of matter, dynamic effects in non-equilibrium superconducting structures, and applications of conventional and unconventional superconductors. The Conference was attended by 76 participants. The opening talk was delivered by Professor Wiesław I. Gruszecki, Vice-Rector of M. Curie-Skłodowska University, who addressed important aspects concerning the retina of the human eye (Dlaczego warto zadbać, aby żółta plamka w naszym oku była naprawdę żółta). Three plenary lectures were delivered by the Professors: Józef Spałek (A brief perspective in high temperature superconductivity), Marta Z. Cieplak (Interplay of various order parameters and disorder in iron chalcogenides), and Tomasz Dietl (Exchange interactions in magnetically doped semiconductors). Also, 20 invited lectures, 23 brief contributed talks, and 23 posters were presented. The list of all presentations, along with their abstracts and a detailed time-frame, is available on the conference webpage (see sites.google.com/view/kkn2022).

We would like to thank all the attendees for their participation and for creating an exciting scientific atmosphere during the Conference. The next event of this series will be organized by colleagues from Cracow.

Tadeusz Domański
Nicholas Sedlmayr
Karol I. Wysokiński

Guest Editors

The paper of the month, chosen by the Editor-in-Chief, is "In-Plane Optical Anisotropy of [001]-Oriented Asymmetrical Quantum Wells" by Djanelidze and E. Tsitsishvili; 

DOI:10.12693/AphysPolA.143.30

Despite of the fact that the optical anisotropy in quantum wells has been investigated theoretically and experimentally for many years the authors present an interesting theoretical approach to calculating optical anisotropy in asymmetric quantum wells. The analysis starts from basic symmetry considerations that lead to the appearance of anisotropy caused by asymmetry of the quantum well. Next the formulated model is applied to the in-plane optical anisotropy of [001] zinc blende quantum wells. It is shown that the asymmetry should result in the mixing of light- and heavy hole states. The paper contributes to the understanding of the role of symmetry breaking in quantum wells.

The Editor-in-Chief

The papers included in this volume of Acta Physica Polonica A are a contribution to the XIII International Conference on Ion Implantation and Other Applications of Ions and Electrons ION 2022, which was held in Kazimierz Dolny, Poland, on June 27-30, 2022. The Conference was organized by Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin in cooperation with the Lublin University of Technology and the Polish Physical Society.

The Conference was attended by 44 participants from Belarus, Germany, Poland, South Africa, and Ukraine, who had the opportunity to meet in a friendly atmosphere in the beautiful historic town of  Kazimierz Dolny to exchange experience in the eld of ion implantation and the application of electron beams and plasma. The idea of the biennial ION Conferences was stimulated by the permanent interest in ion beam methods, which started from fundamental studies in ion and plasma physics and have established themselves as the standard techniques for material modication and characterization. A wide range of topics was addressed during the ION 2022 Conference, including inter alia: ion beam modication of semiconductors, metals, insulators, and polymers, microstructural investigations of ion-implanted and swift heavy ion-irradiated materials, tribological properties of metallic and ceramic plasma-deposited coatings, computer simulations of post-implantation damage and ionization processes in ion sources. The diversity of topics was a great advantage for the participants of the Conference because it oered new approaches to solving scientic and technological problems.

During the four days of plenary sessions, 14 invited talks and 2 special lectures were given, reviewing actual topics of interest to the participants. The ION 2022 Conference also featured 13 oral presentations and 27 poster contributions with detailed information. Nine persons participated in the Young Scientists Contest.

We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the organization of our Conference in the dicult year of 2022. Special thanks are due to Mr. Janusz Filiks, Dr. Andrzej Droździel, and Dr. Krzysztof Pyszniak for their work, as well as to Dr. Wolfgang Skorupa for giving us a traditional organ concert in the Fara church in Kazimierz Dolny.

Guest Editor:

Marcin Turek
Jerzy Żuk

This issue of Acta Physica Polonica A includes some of the presentations given at the 50th International School & Conference on the Physics of Semiconductors “Jaszowiec 2022”. The program of this jubilee event was special. In addition to regular sessions, it included a reminiscence session on the most  important achievements in the field of semiconductor physics over past years in the institutions organizing the Conference, which are:

• Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences,
• Faculty of Physics (Institute of Experimental Physics and Institute of Theoretical Physics), University of Warsaw,
• Faculty of Fundamental Problems of Technology, Wrocław University of Science and Technology,
• Institute of High Pressure Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences,
• Łukasiewicz Research Network — Institute of Microelectronics and Photonics.

The program also included a session devoted to the history of two companies that developed key semiconductor technologies in Poland, i.e., VIGO Photonics and AMMONO. As every year, outstanding world experts in the broad field of semiconductor physics, working both in foreign research centers (51 participants from 19 countries) and in Poland (211 participants from 11 scientific institutions and 8 companies), took part in “Jaszowiec 2022”. The topics of the Conference focused mainly on semiconductor nanostructures, two-dimensional (2D) materials, topological states of matter, spintronics, nanophotonics, quantum computing and quantum information processing, synthesis and characterization of semiconductor materials and electron devices. The Tutorial Session (School), addressed mainly to MSc students, PhD students, and young scientists, traditionally preceded the Conference, and this year it covered the subjects of 2D materials, quantum bits, non-linear spectroscopy, and photovoltaics.

We would like to express our gratitude to the members of the Program and the Advisory Committees for their wonderful work and contribution to the success of the jubilee “Jaszowiec 2022”. The most heartfelt thanks go to Anna Reszka and the Organizing Committee led by her, who made “Jaszowiec 2022” run smoothly and retain its magical atmosphere of a friendly scientific meeting. We also address special acknowledgments to Tomasz Jakubczyk, chairman of the Tutorial Session.  Finally, we would like to thank all the sponsors of the Conference: the Ministry of Education and Science, the Polish Academy of Science, the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, and institutions organizing “Jaszowiec”, as well as commercial sponsors: COMEF, Technolutions, EDVAC, LABIS, Dr. Eberl MBE-Komponenten GmbH, and nextnano GmbH, for their financial and material support.

Guest Editors: 

Agnieszka Wołoś
Maria Kamińska
Aneta Drabińska

Dear Author, don't worry, all articles published so far in Acta Physica Polonica A can be found at ICM (Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modelling UW).

In addition, all articles are available at the National Library, Poland.