Lichtgedanken 04

Rubrik 3 04 | LICHT GEDANKEN PUBLISHER: University department of communications/ Press Office on behalf of the President of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena EDITORIAL AND DESIGN: Dr Ute Schönfelder, Juliane Dö­ litzsch, Stephan Laudien, Axel Burchardt (responsible under German press legislation), Liana Franke, Kai Friedrich, Monika Paschwitz (editorial assistant) and Kerstin Apel (secretariat) GRAPHIC DESIGN: Timespin – Digital Communication GmbH, Sophienstraße 1, D-07743 Jena ADDRESS: Friedrich Schiller University Jena Fürstengraben 1, D-07743 Jena Phone: ++49 36 41 9-31 040, Fax: ++49 36 41 9-31 032, Email: presse@uni-jena.de PRODUCTION: Druckhaus Gera GmbH, Jacob-A.-Morand-Straße 16, D-07552 Gera TRANSLATION: KERN AG, Sprachendienste, Universitätsstraße 14, 04109 Leipzig INTERNET: www.uni-jena.de/en/lichtgedanken ISSN: 2510-3849 PUBLICATION DATE: August 2018 PHOTOS: Kasper (1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 23, 26, 27, 35, 38, 39, 48, 49, 50, 52, 54, 56, 57, 60, 61, 62), Scheere (4, 5), Zilius (5, 44), Günther (8, 21, 29, 41, 43, 51, 53, 59), Bernhardt (20), ART-KON-TOR (24), Kammel (25), Görtz (28), Mugrauer (36, 37), Szabo (46, 60, 61), Brehm (55), Werther (60), Wondraczek (61). May not be reproduced without prior permission. We do not accept any liability for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs etc. The views expressed in the authored articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the publisher. The undersigned are responsible for the contents. In some articles, we have only used the masculine form to improve readability. The formulations chosen are intended to reflect both men and women in equal measure. With its motto, Light, Life, Liberty, the Friedrich Schiller University has, in all modesty, made an ingenious choice. It does not just neatly describe our tra- dition; it also provides an outline and structure for our teaching and research professionals—at least, the kind of out- line that might be visible from a great distance. Of course, you can find fault with anything. Subsuming our hu- manities departments under the term Liberty—well, alliteration almost cer- tainly played a part here—and no one has yet checked to see whether the col- leagues and members of staff who the University’s management have placed under the profile line »Life« feel com- fortable with this label. Even the profile line »Light«, to which this edition of LICHT GEDANKEN is dedicated, requires a little creativity. Light only really describes the work of optics and photonics researchers in Jena in a very romanticized, almost Goethe- esque way. It requires even greater skill of abstraction and creativity to view the equally traditional and important quantum and gravitational fields the- ory as optics—especially as, as we will learn in this edition, it predicts eternal darkness—in several billions of years. Until then, Jena will continue setting re- cords when it comes to the most power- ful lasers. Having said that, records tend to be sporting categories, and are, as a result, as (un)important as h-index and other impact factors. It is the know- ledge that can be gained using these innovative lasers that is decisive; and this latest edition has something to say about that too. The University’s motto and attitude to life One noticeable development at Frie- drich Schiller University is the ev- er-stronger links that are developing between research within the profile lines Light and Life. Several articles prove this theory. The drawers are be- coming worn. The recent appointment of Professor Eggeling from Oxford is an impressive example of this. Christian Eggeling has a Chair Professorship at the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy and is researching super-resolution mi- croscopy; at Jena, this is something akin to the ventricle of Light. What is inter- esting, is that this research would be almost inconceivable without the con- tributions from chemistry and without the questions posed by life sciences. When considered as »profile lines« alone, Light, Life, Liberty is too narrow a definition; and not just from a pro- fessional point of view. But Light, Life, Liberty is also a description of the atti- tude towards life at this university and, in the sense of enlightenment, freedom, tolerance and humanism, it is a chal- lenge to us all. With this in mind, I hope that you enjoy reading the LICHT GEDANKEN . Yours Prof. Dr Gerhard G. Paulus, Chair of Non-Linear Optics and spokesperson for the »Light« steering committee at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena Editorial Jena, August 2018