Symposium on Quantum Fluids and Solids:
QFS Conferences Series History

General QFS Conference History:

QFS #1 - 1975 - Sanibel (U. Florida) "Quantum Statistics and the Many Body Problem".
QFS #2 - 1977 - Sanibel (U. Florida) "Quantum Fluids and Solids".
QFS 80 - 1980 - Ithaca (Cornell U.)
QFS 83 - 1983 - Sanibel (U. Florida)
QFS 86 - 1986 - Banff (U. Alberta)
QFS 89 - 1989 - Gainesville (U. Florida)
QFS 92 - 1992 - State College (Penn State U.)
QFS 95 - 1995 - Ithaca (Cornell U.)
QFS 97 - 1997 - Paris (ENS)
QFS 98 - 1998 - Amherst (U. Mass.)
QFS 2000 - 2000 - Minneapolis (U. Minn.)
QFS 2001 - 2001 - Konstanz (U. Konstanz)
QFS 2003 - 2003 - Albuquerque (U. New Mexico)
QFS 2004 - 2004 - Trento (U. Trento)
QFS 2006 - 2006 - Kyoto
QFS 2007 - 2007 - Kazan
QFS 2009 - 2009 - Evanston (Northwestern U.)
QFS 2010 - 2010 - Grenoble
QFS 2012 - 2012 - Lancaster
QFS 2013 - 2013 - Matsue
QFS 2015 - 2015 - Niagara Falls
QFS 2016 - 2016 - Prague
QFS 2018 - 2018 - Hongo, Japan
QFS 2019 - 2019 - Edmonton, Canada (U. Alberta)
QFS 2021 - 2021 - Bangalore, India
QFS 2023 - 2023 - Manchester, England

Some details (under construction and still growing):

QFS #1 - 1975 - Sanibel Island (U. Florida). This appears to be the first of the QFS conferences, with accomodations in quaint little bungalows on the beach at Sanibel. The conference book from the January 26-29, 1975 Sanibel meeting talks about it as being the "First Symposium on the Quantum Statistics and the Many Body Problem." There is an introduction to the volume that notes that the origin was the Quantum Theory Project begun in 1960 as the United States part of a Florida - Uppsala exchange program. Apparently there was a conference every odd year (61, 63 etc.) and the 1975 one was the one that started the ball rolling for quantum fluids. The suggestion that quantum fluids and solids should be the topic of the Sanibel meeting was made by Louis Nosanow who was Chairman of the Physics Department at Florida for the 1973-74 year. David Lee was on leave at Florida in at the time and his presence helped to cause the conference to focus on quantum fluids, particularly 3He. This was shortly after the discovery of superfluidity in 3He. Sections of the beach on Sanibel Island were covered with a deep layer of small sea shells of all kinds; many participants brought home samples. The conference editors were Samuel Trickey, Wiley Kirk and James Dufty. The conference proceedings were published by Plenum as "Quantum Statistics and the Many Body Problem", 1975.

QFS #2 - 1977 - Sanibel Island (U. Florida). This was the first conference in the series to actually be called "Quantum Fluids and Solids." The conference was held January 23-27, 1977. This was one of the first conferences in the West to have participants from the Soviet Union, arranged with the help of Louis Nosanow who by then had become Head of the Condensed Matter Science Section at the National Science Foundation. Correspondence between Nosanow and E.L. Andronikashvili discussed the possibility of participation of two or three Soviet scientists. Leonid Mezhov-Deglin and K.N. Zinov'eva attended the conference and presented papers on their work. It was at this meeting that John Ketterson astounded the participants by flying himself from Argonne (near Chicago) to the meeting in a twin-engine private plane. The proceedings were edited by Samuel Trickey, Dwight Adams and James Dufty and published by Plenum as "Quantum Fluids and Solids", 1977. Participants: 120.

QFS 80 - 1980 - Ithaca (Cornell U.). This conference had a strong focus on superfluid 3He.

QFS 83 - 1983 - Sanibel Island (U. Florida). QFS-83 was held in April at a resort, the Sundial Beach and Tennis Club on Sanibel island, which everyone seemed to enjoy thoroughly. This was the first conference that had corporate sponsors (nine in all), so there were plenty of refreshments. The organizers put some of the donated money together with a small NSF grant to help students and non-US physicists attend. Dwight Adams and Gary Ihas edited the proceedings: Quantum Fluids and Solids-1983, (AIP Conference Proceedings 103, American Institute of Physics New York 1983, 493 pages). The proceedings volume contains a review of the conference by Bob Richardson, including lessons on funding and the definition of the "nugget" (a concise statement of a significant new result which a funding agency can use). The proceedings unfortunately do not contain an account of a delightful after-dinner speech that John Wheatley gave on the previous 30 years of low temperature research.

QFS 86 - 1986 - Banff (U. Alberta). The conference was held in Banff, Alberta, October 12-17, 1986. The banquet at this conference was memorable. Recollection has it that it was in the style of an early English feast. Wine flowed freely. Things got pleasantly boisterous, very boisterous. People recall pieces of bread and rolls in flight. This is the meeting where there was demand for jokes at the banquet. Many were told from the podium. Bob Hallock resisted telling the "rooster joke". Bob gave a talk as the last talk at a subsequent evening session. Chris Gould called on him to tell the joke. The session was declared closed. The joke followed; you had to have been there. Conference Chairman: Jurgen Frank. The proceedings were published in the Can. J. Phys. 65, (1986).

QFS 89 - 1989 - Gainesville (U. Florida). This QFS conference (held April 24-28, 1989) was held with the understanding that the next conference in the seies would be held someplace else. Moses Chan agreed to host the conference in 1992 at Penn State. But, to ensure that it moved on he agreed to do so only after Bob Hallock agreed to host the 1995 conference at Amherst. But, see why QFS95 was held at Cornell instead. William M. Fairbank, the keynote speaker at the conference banquet, gave an inspirational speech about bold, risky experiments that he and his coworkers performed. Several of his oral anecdotes parallel the stories found in "Near Zero : New Frontiers of Physics", edited by J. D. Fairbank, P. F. Michaelson, B. S. Deaver, and C. W. Everitt (W. H. Freeman Company, New York, 1988). While the proceedings were being assembled, Professor Fairbank passed away while jogging near Stanford University so the Proceedings (AIP Conference Proceedings Vol. 194, 1989, "Quantum Fluids and Solids - 1989", edited by Gary Ihas and Yasu Takano) were dedicated to his memory. Conference chairman: Mark Meisel. Participants: 130.

QFS 92 - 1992 - State College (Penn State U.). This QFS meeting placed an emphasis on presentations by younger colleagues in the community. As preparations for QFS 92 (June 15-19, 1992) were underway one member of the QFS 92 Committee, unaware of the previous plans for QFS 95, contacted Cornell to see if it would host QFS 95. Cornell agreed. This double site for 1995 caused a problem. This was resolved by a coin flip conducted by telephone. Cornell won the toss and elected to do QFS 95, which resulted in Amherst hosting QFS 98. Chairman: Paul Sokol. Proceedings were published in the J. Low Temp. Phys. 89 (1992), a publication tradition that persists.

QFS 95 - 1995 - Ithaca (Cornell U.). This conference was held June 12-17, 1995 and had a special emphasis on experimental results and techniques with the program including some industrial sponsors. Lois Pollack and Bob Richardson provided considerable help with the conference organization. Proceedings were published in the Journal of Low Temperature Physics, 101 (1995) Conference Chairman: Jeevak Parpia.

QFS 97 - 1997 - Paris (Ecole Normale Superieure). The progression 92, 95, 98 was interrupted by the Paris meeting of 1997. This was an unexpected meeting. Aware of the 92 and 95 meetings at Penn State and at Cornell and the 98 meeting at Amherst, there was some concern among colleagues in Europe that Europe was being left out of a developing series. Paris created their meeting to help to bring Europe into the progression. This caused the QFS 98 committee to pause with the 98 meeting and ask the community if they really wanted a meeting so soon after Paris. The community indicated that since the planning had progressed QFS 98 should move forward and this led to the now-yearly progression with more international distribution. The QFS 97 meeting had special excitement as this was the first meeting after the 1996 award of the Nobel Prize to David Lee, Doug Osheroff and Bob Richardson. The reception at this conference was superb with a wonderful selection of cheese from various regions of France, excellent bread, fruits, and, of course, plenty of wine. Conference Chairman: Sebastien Balibar and Jacques Dupont-Roc. Proceedings were Published in the Journal of Low Temperature Physics, 110 (1998); editors Sebastien Balibar and Jacques Dupont-Roc. Participants: about 210.

QFS 98 - 1998 - Amherst (U. Mass.). This meeting created the Steering Committee to bring some organization to the sequence of QFS meetings, established the process for submission of proposals to host future QFS meetings, and thus ensured international input in the selection of meeting sites. This meeting also polled the community in attendance with the result that QFS meetings would be held every non LT-XXXX year with a reconsideration of the decision after a few years. This was the first QFS meeting to employ the web for matters relevant to the conference and the QFS conference series home page was established at this meeting. At this meeting local Massachusetts mocro-breweries donated beer to enrich the poster sessions. Those evening sessions were very well attended. Conference Chairman: Robert Hallock. Proceedings were Published in the Journal of Low Temperature Physics, 113 (1998); editors were Donald Candela, Robert Hallock and William Mullin. Participants: 226.

QFS 2000 - 2000 - Minneapolis (U. Minn.). June 6-11, 2000. Conference Co-Chairman: William Zimmermann and Charles Campbell; Paul Crowell also played a major role to ensure a successful conference. A very interesting aspect of QFS 2000 was a Saturday evening presentation and discussion of Humphrey Maris' work on the possibility of divisible electron bubbles in liquid helium. The evening session was something that was unplanned, involved some ideas whose potential importance went far beyond quantum fluids and solids, and brought the majority of the conferees together in a focussed discussion in the best spirit of respectful give and take of new ideas. Proceedings were published in the Journal of Low Temperature Physics, 121 (2000). Participants: 210.

QFS 2001 - 2001 - Konstanz (U. Konstanz.). July 22-27, 2001. The QFS 2001 conference was held under perfect weather conditions - no rain. The conference organizers created an environment in which all of the posters could be hung for the entire conference. This was a very nice innovation and allowed for extended discussions and interactions during the conference. A boat ride on Lake Konstanz provided a relaxing atmosphere for conversation and the opportunity to try some good German beer. Joe Vinen provided an infromative and entertaining "after dinner" presentation. Conference Chairman: Paul Leiderer. Proceedings were published in the Journal of Low Temperature Physics, 126 (2002).

QFS 2003 - 2003 - Albuquerque (Univ. of New Mexico). August 3-8, 2003. The southwest of the United States provided warm (hot), dry, clear weather conditions and the typical warm and friendly southwestern hospitality was in abundance. The conference had three-session emphasis on BEC, which educated the audience and brought it up to date on the subject. Notable was the excursion up the Sandia Mountain (some by gondola in a thunderstorm, others by hiking and getting very wet). Conference Chairman: Rob Duncan. Scientific Program Chairman: David Goodstein. Proceedings were published in the Journal of Low Temperature Physics, 134 (2004); guest editor Steve Boyd. Registered participants: 208.

QFS 2004 - 2004 - Trento (Univ. of Trento). July 5-9, 2004. The conference was held under good weather conditions. Notable was the substantial attendance by colleagues from the FSU, which enriched the conference. The lecture hall was comfortable and almost (but not quite) all presentations were made by Powerpoint projection. Posters were on display for the entire conference, with a subset each day identified for discussion by the authors at the posters. The subject of BEC, a specialty of the organizers, was emphasized along with the more traditional subjects. The conference banquet was exceptional with many courses, each superb. Conference Chairman: Franco Dalfovo. Scientific Program Chairman: Luciano Reatto. Proceedigns were published in the Journal of Low Temperature Physics, 138 (2005). Guest editor: Francesco Pederiva. Registered participants: 256.

QFS 2006 - 2006 - Kyoto. August 1-6, 2006. The organizers of the conference provided an exceptional setting for the conference: a beautiful and historic city, with a long cultural history, a wonderful lecture hall, meeting rooms, and a large common room for posters and informal discussions. Traditional subject areas, including colds atoms, were covered. A novel feature was a "poster preview" held in advance of each poster session (at which beer was available), in which each poster presenter was given 60 seconds to present the essential features of the poster on one powerpoint page. Posters were visible for two days, which provided ample time for casual reading. A superb banquet in the style of a traditional formal Japaneese dinner was held at the site of the Heian Shrine, overlooking the beautiful water garden. Conference Chairman: Takao Mizusaki and Akira Matsubara (Co-chairs). Proceedings were published in the Journal of Low Temperature Physics. Registered participants: about 245. [The powerpoint of the conference summary: summary-final.ppt].

QFS 2007 - 2007 - Kazan. August 1-6, 2007. Conference Chairman: Murat Tagirov. Co-Charimen: Alexander Andreev, Dmitrii Tayurskii (Program Chairman). The conference was held at Kazan State University in the Republic of Tartarstan, 800 km east of Moscow. Initially it was proposed that part of the conference might take place on a boat trip on the Volga river, but this proved to be unworkable. Proceedings were published in the Journal of Low Temperature Physics (2008).

QFS 2009 - 2009 - Evanston (Northwestern Univ.). August 5-11, 2009. Conference Chairman: William Halperin. Co-Chairman: Harry Kojima. Scientific Program Chairman: Jim Sauls. Proceedings were published in the Journal of Low Temperature Physics; Proceedings Coordinator: Finn Rasmussen. Registered participants: ~260.

QFS 2010 - 2010 - Grenoble, France. 1-7 August 2010. A very well attended and carefully orgainized conference was held in Grenoble centered in the Grenoble World Trade Center. This venue had an exceptional auditorium, nice poster space, and plenty of space for conversations. A special arrangement allowed the banquet to be held in the Chateau du Touvet in the countryside. Chair H. Godfrin, Co-chair Yuriy Bunkov. Proceedings published in the Journal of Low Temperature Physics. Registered participants: ~ 295.

QFS 2012 - 2012 - Lancaster, England. 15 - 21, August 2012. Conference Co-Chairs: S.N. Fisher and G.R. Pickett. The rather frequent rain at the meeting site did not dampen the enthusiasm of those who attended. There was a very fine (and very recently completed - or updated) auditorium for the oral presentations, with plenty of adjacent space for coffee breaks and posters. The conference resulted in the publication of 86 manuscripts, which resulted from 210 poster presentations and 64 talks. Registered participants ~ 267 from 26 countries.

QFS 2013 - 2013 - Matsue, Japan. 1-6, August 2013. Conference Co-Chairs Yuichi Okuda and Kimitoshi Kono. The conference resulted in the publication of 70 manuscripts (Journal of Low Temperatrue Physics, Keiya Shirahama, guest editor), which resulted from 147 poster presentations 10 plenary and 47 invited talks. Registered participants ~ 220 from 23 countries.

QFS 2015 - 2015 - was held in Buffalo, NY, USA. 9 - 15, August 2015. Conference Co-Chairs Francis Gasparini and Eckhard Krotscheck. Registered participants ~ 190. The QFS conference was followed by a Many Body Theory conference. Tutorials were presented right after the close of the QFS and before the formal opening of the MBT. Proceedings of QFS2015 will be published in the Journal of Low Temperature Physics.

QFS 2016 - 2016 - was held in Prague, Czech Republic, 10 - 16, August 2016. Conference Chair Ladik Skrbek. QFS2016 was organized jointly by the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague, and the Institute of Physics AS CR in Prague. Registered participants totaled 221 from 28 countries, with the largest number from Japan, followed by the UK. The conference bagan on the afternoon of August 10 with tutorials atended by about 80 students and young researchers. Proceedings of QFS2016 will be published in the Journal of Low Temperature Physics (guest editors L. Skrbek and P. Skyba).

QFS2018 - was held at the University of Tokyo, Hongo, Japan, July 25 - 31, 2018. Conference Chair: Hiroshi Fukuyama; Co-Chair: Makoto Tsubota.

QFS2019 - was held at the University Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, August 7 - 13, 2019. Conference Co-Chair: John Beamish; Co-Chair: John Davis. QFS2019 was held on the campus of the University of Alberta in a relatively new Science building; comfortable weather conditions prevailed. Registered participants totaled 170 from 20 couintries. Japan, the United States and Canada provided the largest numbers of participants. A half-day workshop on Quantum Turbulencs was held on August 10th and a several hour informal "conversation" on solid helium was held in the afternoon following the close of the conference. Participants and 13 accompanying persons were provied with passes that allowed unlimited use of the public transporation system in Edmonton. A selection of social programs was offered. The banquet was held in the new Royal Alberta Museum with a free pass to the museum to be used anytime also provided. Conference proceedings will be published in the Journal of Low Temperature Physics; John Beamish, guest editor.

QFS2021 - was organized by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, India, and was held online due to the ongoing pandemic worldwide. The conference Co-Chairs were Ambarish Ghosh and Rahul Pandit. The conference attracted 305 registered participants from 28 countries, with the highest participation from Japan, followed by the USA, UK, and India. The meeting had 37 invited talks, and 15 contributed talks selected from the submitted abstracts. Of the 52 talks by speakers from 15 countries, the three plenary lectures were live streamed through YouTube, and open to everyone, regardless of registration. The talk sessions' timing (5:30 PM – 7:45 PM IST) was chosen to ensure participation worldwide, corresponding to late evening in Japan and Australia and early morning on the west coast of the USA. In addition to the talks, there were poster sessions with 125 posters as 5-minute recorded presentations. Conference proceedings were published in the Journal of Low Temperature Physics; Ambarish Ghosh was the guest editor. The registration fee for QFS2021 was waived for all participants.

QFS2023 - was held in the new Engineering building of the University of Manchester, Manchester, UK, August 9 - 15, 2023. Conference Co-Chairs: Andrei Golov and Paul Walmsley. There were 149 registered participants (106 regular and 43 students) of which 8 were accompanied by spouses and children, plus 6 exhibitors who represented Oxford Instruments and Cryogenic. 19 countries were represented: Europe 73 (UK 51), Asia & Oceania 44 (Japan 28), Americas 32 (USA 26). There were 136 presentations: 66 invited orals and 70 posters. Memorial sessions for Andreev, Hall and Vinen were held. Tours of National Graphene Institute and Manchester Rotating Cryostats were arranged. A selection of free city tours were offered on Sunday 13 August. The banquet was held in the Whitworth Hall of the University. Conference proceedings will be published in the Journal of Low Temperature Physics; Paul Walmsley, guest editor.

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