Dynamics of systems on the nanoscale

Eur. Phys. J. D (2017) 71: 339 DOI: 10.1140/epjd/e2017-80698-y THE EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL D Editorial Dynamics of systems on the nanoscale? Andrei V. Korol and Andrey V. Solov’yov a MBN Research Center gGmbH, Altenhoferallee 3, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany Received 8 November 2017 Published online 19 December 2017 – c EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag 2017 Abstract. Various aspects of the structure formation and dynamics of animate and inanimate matter on the nanoscale is a highly interdisciplinary field of rapidly emerging research interest by both experimentalists and theorists. The International Conference on Dynamics of Systems on the Nanoscale (DySoN) is the premier forum to present cutting-edge research in this field. It was established in 2010 and the most recent conference was held in Bad Ems, Germany in October of 2016. This Topical Issue presents original research results from some of the participants, who attended this conference. 1 Introduction This Topical Issue aims at highlighting the interdisciplinary research topics that elucidate the structure formation and dynamics of animate and inanimate matter on the nanometre scale. There are many examples of complex many-body systems of micro- and nanometre scale size exhibiting unique features, properties and functions. These systems may have very different nature and origin, e.g. atomic and molecular clusters, nanostructures, ensembles of nanoparticles, nanomaterials, biomolecules, biomolecular and mesoscopic systems. A detailed understanding of the structure and dynamics of these systems on the nanometre scale is a difficult and fundamental task, the solution of which is necessary in numerous applications of nano- and bio-technology, material science and medicine. Although mesoscopic, nano- and biomolecular systems differ in their nature and origin, a number of fundamental problems are common to all of them: What are the underlying principles of self-organization and self-assembly of matter at the micro- and nanoscale? Are these principles classical or quantum? How does function emerge at the nano- and mesoscale in systems with different origins? Which criteria govern the stability of these systems? How do their properties change as a function of size and composition? How are their properties altered by their environment? Seeking answers to these questions is at the core of a new interdisciplinary field that lies at the intersection of physics, chemistry and biology, a field now entitled Meso-Bio-Nano (MBN) Science. This research field bundles up several traditional topics in theoretical physics under a common theme. The range ? Contribution to the Topical Issue “Dynamics of Systems at the Nanoscale”, edited by Andrey Solov’yov and Andrei Korol. a e-mail: of open challenging scientific problems (topical areas) in the field is very broad. They may include: – structure and dynamics of clusters, nanoparticles, biomolecules and many other nanoscopic and mesoscopic systems; – clustering, self-organisation, growth and structureformation processes and their multiscale nature; – assemblies of clusters/nanoparticles and biomacromolecules, hybrid bio-nano systems, nanostructured materials; – surface phenomena; – nanoscale phase and morphological transitions; – thermal, optical and magnetic properties; – collective or many-body phenomena; – electron transport and molecular electronics; – collisional, fusion, fission and fragmentation processes; – particle propagation through a medium; – radiation effects; – radiobiological effects. There are many important applications closely linked to the field. The list of topical areas in the field grows rather rapidly facilitating also the development of the relevant theoretical and computational methods. The articles in this Topical Issue provide a snap shot of the current research activities (experimental, theoretical, applied) in the field of MBN science. Particular attention is be devoted to dynamical phenomena and many-body effects taking place in various MBN systems on the nanoscale, which include problems of structure formation, fusion and fission, collision and fragmentation, surfaces and interfaces, collective electron excitations, reactivity, nanoscale phase and morphological transitions, irradiation driven transformations of complex molecular systems, biodamage, channelling phenomena. The contributions to this issue represent the studies both at the fundamental level of elementary mechanisms and at the Page 2 of 6 more applied level which is necessary in numerous applications of nano- and bio-technology, material science and medicine. The premier conference in this field, the International Conference “Dynamics of Systems on the Nanoscale” (DySoN) started in Rome, Italy in 2010. The DySoN conference was built upon a series of International Symposia “Atomic Cluster Collisions: structure and dynamics from the nuclear to the biological scale (ISACC)” (see www.isacc-portal.org). During these meetings it has become clear that there is a need for an interdisciplinary conference covering a broader range of topics than just atomic cluster collisions, related to the Dynamics of Systems on the Nanoscale. Therefore, in 2010 the ISACC International Advisory Committee decided to launch the DySoN conference series. The second conference was held in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2012 (see Ref. [1] for the collection of contributions); the third one took place in Edinburgh, UK in 2014. DySoN 2016, the fourth conference in the series, was held in Bad Ems, Germany in October 2016 bringing together a number of scientists from around the world. Also, the conference highlighted the breakthroughs achieved within the currently running COST Action CM1301 CELINA “Chemistry for ELectron-Initiated Nanolithography” and the project FP7-ITN-ARGENT608163 – “Advanced Radiotherapy, Generated by Exploiting Nanoprocesses and Technologies”. The latter project inherited and extended the scopes of the recently ended COST Action “Nanoscale insights into ion-beam cancer therapy” (Nano-IBCT) towards the understanding of nanoparticle impacts on biological systems and related biomedical applications. Therefore, DySoN 2016 continued traditions of the earlier Nano-IBCT Conference series. Also, the mini-workshop “Periodically bent crystals for crystalline undulators” held within the HORIZON 2020 RISE-PEARL-690991 project was linked to DySoN 2016. The research areas represented by the mentioned European projects overlap strongly with the Topical Areas of the DySoN Conference. Below we briefly characterize the contributions to this Topical Issue made by the participants of the DySoN 2016 Conference. When doing this, we thematically attribute the contributions to some of the Topical Areas listed above. 1.1 Structure and dynamics of clusters, nanoparticles, biomolecules. Several papers in the Topical Issue are devoted to recent advances in the understanding of structure and essentia (...truncated)