Axel Maas

@axelmaas.bsky.social

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Professor for Theoretical Particle Physics at University of Graz (Austria). QFT, Higgs, BSM and quantum gravity. Views are my own.

Also doing my best for a safe and liveable world for everyone.

He/Him. Others may apply in the future.

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On my way to #ICHEP24, as always by train, and having my usual guaranteed discovery to report. Meet me there for discussions. And yes, given that numbers ara again on the rise, I'll need again a mask for this #CovidIsNotOver

Today starts our interdisciplinary workshop on gauge symmetries! People from philosophy, theoretical (particle) physics and mathematical physics discuss what gauge symmetries (including the ones of general relativity) are all about. See gaugesymmetry24.uni-graz.at/de/

Great, unfortunately German, article how self exploitation is fostered in scientists by making the job sound special. While this is also done more and more in industry, science is by far the worst. As a professor, both do not demand unpaid overwork and set an example by not doing it yourself.

Arbeit in der Wissenschaft -- das ist doch viel mehr als bloß ein Job! Oder?! In der Summe, wenn wir alles gegeneinander aufrechnen, ist Wissenschaft keineswegs mehr als ein Job -- sondern sogar viel, viel weniger. Warum? Nachzulesen heute in meinem Newsletter #ArbeitInDerWissenschaft! ⬇️

Wissenschaft: Mehr als ein Job?!open.substack.com In der Summe, wenn wir alles gegeneinander aufrechnen, ist Wissenschaft keineswegs mehr als ein Job, sondern viel, viel weniger.

If the USA falls, the earthquake of global consequences will also be disastrous for global large scale science projects. It is not like another China - the loss of global balance will create far to much conflicts and upheaval and also too many scientists will no longer be safe.

We’ve been warning you about Heritage and project 2025. They mean what they say. And they’ve been saying it for a long time

Today our workshop on Parton Showers and Resummation commences @universityofgraz.bsky.social - meet us there! Details at indico.cern.ch/event/136826...

Thread. Bottom line: Organize. Strike. Make the life better (and too often even possible) for everyone (except the 0.01% who owns too much).

How did the rise of capitalism affect human welfare? Did it make poverty better or worse? Where did progress come from? We have a new study that explores these questions, looking at 500 years of data. It's a troubling but also inspiring story... 🧵 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Capitalism and extreme poverty: A global analysis of real wages, human height, and mortality since the long 16th centurywww.sciencedirect.com This paper assesses claims that, prior to the 19th century, around 90% of the human population lived in extreme poverty (defined as the inability to a…

At the #CSD in Graz last Saturday. Be visible for diversity, if you can, especially for those who cannot. Right now, every corner of diversity we can protect (or even enlarge) is so important for our future. And yes, fellow scientist, also for keeping doing science in the future.

Very interesting article, which basically shows that activities like taken by @letztegenerationat.bsky.social are not counter productive. What is a bit intimidating is the quote in the text “Non-violence is effective. But what’s especially effective is non-violence met by repression,”

Great New Overview of the science of protests in Nature. In it, I ask (again): “Is it better to throw soup on a painting, or block traffic, or glue yourself to something?” says Dana Fisher...“We don’t know which is the most effective.” www.nature.com/articles/d41...

The science of protests: how to shape public opinion and swing voteswww.nature.com Demonstrations are on the rise, and scientists are revealing which types work best. Demonstrations are on the rise, and scientists are revealing which types work best.

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In what kind of global climate have your family members lived, and how will they live in future? What legacy would you like to leave them? Fantastic tool by NASA: just enter names and birthdays of your loved ones to get their personalised climate timelines! svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/webapps/clim...

That promises to be a very helpful series.

The discussion around climate disinformation is often limited to climate science denial, or arguments about the relative urgency of the climate crisis, but the fossil fuel industry is busily pushing a whole raft of new climate problems disguised as "solutions." drilled.media/investigatio...

False Solutionsdrilled.media Climate disinformation doesn’t begin and end with science denial. As the world moves towards climate action, the fossil fuel industry has begun using familiar tactics to advocate for solutions it know...

Our institute of physics @universityofgraz.bsky.social is now an EPS historical site, due to the groundbreaking research of Boltzmann and others. We'll do our best to keep this up, hoping that the new Graz center of Physics will become one day one as well, due to what we will do there!

Today was the ground-breaking ceremony for (sub surface part of) the #GCP - Graz Center of Physics - @universityofgraz.bsky.social

If you are in Germany right now: Well, that is what happening to you. As well to many other places over the world right now. For those keen on words: Collapse is here used in the sense that a system becomes unstable. Not in the sense of total disintegration (like, e.g., in stellar collapse).

Repeat after me: "there is no way, an absolutely zero chance (Zero. Not a zero-point-zero-point-zero-point-something chance, but zero) of “avoiding” climate collapse."

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None of this stuff really matters for climate change. The big items for us as individuals are: - how much & how clean we drive & travel - how much & how clean we heat & cool our homes (and we should heat and cool as much as we need to be safe) - the carbon intensity of what we eat - do we vote

Books take a lot of resources to make. Digital readers do, too. What's the more sustainable option? The answer isn't straightforward.

What’s better for the climate: A paper book, or an e-reader?www.npr.org Books take a lot of resources to make. Digital readers do, too. What's the more sustainable option? The answer isn't straightforward.

Welcome Julian Czettl, who will do a bachelor project with us, by analyzing the angular dependency of the fusion of vector bosons at LHC - see particle.uni-graz.at/en/structure...

Structures and Observables - Axel Maas - particle.uni-graz.atparticle.uni-graz.at We investigate the concepts of quantum field theory, in particular gauge theories, using analytical methods and large-scale numerical simulations.

Welcome Georg Wieland. He will do a PhD project with us on Higgs and electroweak physics, using lattice methods. Specifically, we will hopefully measure the effective weak size of leptons! - See particle.uni-graz.at/en/structure... This is part of my recent project www.fwf.ac.at/forschungsra...

We have a new paper out, in which we go all the way from a microscopic investigation of a (strongly interacting) dark matter theory using lattice simulations up to the comparison to data obtained indirectly from the behavior of dark matter in galaxies: arxiv.org/abs/2405.06506

Scattering of dark pions in Sp(4) gauge theoryarxiv.org Analyzes of astrophysical data provide first hints on the self-interactions of dark matter at low energies. Lattice calculations of dark matter theories can be used to investigate them, especially...

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Maybe it's time to rebel en masse against climate pollution activists. What could motivate you? What form of protest would be yours?

And at least, do not remain neutral because you are just doing science. If you want to keep on doing science, we need to deal with this, the #ClimateCatastrophe (and all the other crises as well). And right now, science will go down with the rest of it, if we do not act like it.

"What the fuck do we have to do to get through to people how bad this really is?" Well (and I indict myself here too), you see the kids protesting on behalf of Gazans? See how they risk their careers and their safety? DO THAT. And then do it again and again. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Hopeless and broken’: why the world’s top climate scientists are in despairwww.theguardian.com Exclusive: Survey of hundreds of experts reveals harrowing picture of future, but they warn climate fight must not be abandoned

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Blogpost on perpetual overwork, survival guilt and how the implosion of tenure track jobs has made the work for those who still have such a job unsustainable. This is not just about saying no, it’s a collective labor issue philosopherscocoon.typepad.com/blog/2024/05...

Collective academic overwork and survivor guilt are a labor issuephilosopherscocoon.typepad.com In February, before I finally made time to see my primary care provider, I was working very intensely, being totally overwhelmed. I'd been in this state of overwhelm since late 2021 when we were out o...

That is always a great one.

We live in a time where we quickly put people in boxes. Maybe we have more in common than what we think? Introducing All That We Share. www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD8t...

TV 2 | All That We Sharewww.youtube.com We live in a time where we quickly put people in boxes. Maybe we have more in common than what we think? Introducing All That We Share. The English version.W...

I have opened a new 3-years postdoc position in standard model particle physics @universityofgraz.bsky.social - we will be looking closer at the leptons 😀 More details: inspirehep.net/jobs/2780994

INSPIREinspirehep.net

Doing the end times in slow motion is monumentally exhausting.

Unfortunately German, but true generically: Right wing/fascists (but also many conservatives and rich) want to be protected by laws, but do not want to be subjected to the laws. And the rest should not be protected by the laws, but subjected to the laws. Therefore no accountability for them.

#DailyAntifa: die #NoAfD will eine Welt, in der sie die Gesetze nicht befolgen müssen, aber von ihnen geschützt werden, während wir vom Gesetz nicht geschützt werden, die Regeln & Gesetze aber befolgen müssen. Deswegen ist es ihren Anhänger*innen egal, ob sie Gesetze brechen.

#DailyAntifa: die #FckAfD - Doppelmoral als politisches Programmwww.youtube.com #DailyAntifa: alle krähen jetzt davon, wie unpatriotisch die #FckAfD doch sei, wie verlogen und gesetzesbrüchig. Aber den Rechten ist es egal, wenn gezeigt w...

You can meet me tomorrow in Edinburgh, where I'll give a talk at the Higgs center. Getting there from Graz in Austria by train within a bit less than two days worked better than anticipated.

And here is the trailer for the exhibition, including yours truly (in German): youtube.com/watch?v=pFAm...

And here is the Instagram post of the Kunsthaus: www.instagram.com/kunsthausgra... - you can have a look at some part of the objects shown (and even at one picture of myself talking there 😉). #ArtMeetsScience

Kunsthaus Graz auf Instagram:www.instagram.com 112 likes, 0 comments - kunsthausgrazApril 4, 2024 on :

Ausstellungseröffnung Alicja Kwade @ Sol LeWitt's Wall. Performedyoutube.com Zur Eröffnung der Ausstellung sprachen Direktorin Andreja Hribernik, Nationalratsabgeordneter Josef Smolle, Kuratorin Katrin Bucher Trantow und Professor Axe...

Feeling this statement. Hard.

sometimes I just cannot believe that the known world is being destroyed in my lifetime. yet this is really happening.

That was an amazing experience #ArtsMeetsScience

Kunsthaus Graz auf Instagram:www.instagram.com 112 likes, 0 comments - kunsthausgrazApril 4, 2024 on :

Just signed a contract to write a textbook on quantum gauge field theories. Will take a few years to write it, but I should be able to cover the non-perturbative aspects and developments during the last 50 years or so in it. At least, this is the goal.

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We tend to believe that all the bad things happen outside of academia and that we are immune to threats to democracy. We are not. Listen to our episode on #LauteWissenschaft to find out more! @amreibahr.bsky.social

@amreibahr.bsky.social and I were guests in the Postdoc Transformation Show Podcast to talk about research and democracy! #LauteWissenschaft postdoctransformation.ac-page.com/show0037

Democracy in German Academia, #LauteWissenschaft, with Dr. Kristin Eichhorn & Dr. Amrei Bahr, PostdocTransformation show with Prof. Dr. Eleonore Soei-Winkelspostdoctransformation.ac-page.com This is a must-listen for (international) researchers teaching students in Germany or aspiring to come to Germany. Kicking off season 4 of the PostdocTransformation show, Dr. Kristin Eichhorn is back ...