An 80th birthday celebration for the Ericsons

A Chinese proverb says that happiness is when friends coming from far and away meet and talk to each other. These wise words could very well be used to sum up the celebrations in honour of the 80th birthdays of Magda and Torleif Ericson, a couple in the normal sense of the word and often also in the field of physics. Torleif joined CERN's Theory Division in 1960, initially to work at the intersection of nuclear and particle physics at the Synchrocyclotron, and retired in 1995.

 

During the celebratory event on 17 September, speakers reviewed the depth and breadth of the contributions which both Torleif and Magda have made to theoretical physics in general and to nuclear physics in particular. José Bernabeu, Guy Chanfray, Wolfram Wiese, Achim Richter and Anthony Thomas all covered the considerable research that has been stimulated by the Ericson-Ericson correlation(s) over the past 50 years.

A concert by the violinist Jean-Philippe Audoli and the pianist Blandine Eynaud and an informal dinner rounded off the celebrations, which were attended by friends and colleagues from CERN as well as from other European and American institutions.

A video recording of the event can be seen here.