Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Physics Department young academic staff member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Övgün has been selected as a member of the CA18108 – Quantum Gravity Phenomenology in the Multi-messenger Approach (QG-MM) working group, which is proposed under the initiative of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST), Zaragoza University of Spain and Rome Sapienza University of Italy to conduct research on black holes. In the project, which is the joint work of 293 leading scientists from 40 countries, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Övgün will take part in the said COST action alongside with 4 scientists from Turkey.

In a statement on the subject, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Övgün said: “The discovery of the universe has recently entered a new era thanks to the multi-messenger paradigm. The detection of cosmic particles (photons, neutrinos, cosmic rays), now combined with the birth of gravitational wave astronomy, gives us information about the different sources in the Universe and the properties of the intergalactic medium. Especially the most energetic events allow us to test our physical theories in energy regimes that are not directly accessible in accelerators. This is indeed the goal of quantum gravitational phenomenology, a fairly new field of physics that attempts to construct phenomenological models that may contain some effects of the Planck scale, thereby providing a bottom-up approach to the largely studied quantum gravity problem.

The main objective of the proposed COST action is to bring together theoretical and experimental working groups from relevant communities (with appropriate geographic, age and gender balance) to work on the prediction and probability of detection of characteristic physical phenomena from theories of quantum gravity. This collaboration is essential to properly addressing this challenge, which could lead to extraordinary advances in fundamental physics. A second goal will be to create a generation of scientists who will be proficient in the interdisciplinary expertise needed to effectively search for quantum gravity footprints in the production, propagation, and detection of these cosmic messengers. Whatever the consequences of this quest, it will certainly have a significant impact on science through a better understanding of the Universe and its fundamental laws."

Detailed information about the COST action in which EMU Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Physics Department academic staff Assoc. Prof. Dr.  Ali Övgün will take part can be accessed at https://tinyurl.com/5n8wbv6j