XXII International Conference on Spectral Line Shapes 2014

Abstract

The 22nd International Conference on Spectral Line Shapes (ICSLS) was convened at The University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI) at Tullahoma, Tennessee, USA, during June 1 to 6, 2014. A variety of topics of interest to the line shape community were addressed during invited and contributed oral and poster presentations. General categories of the ICSLS 2014 scientific contents included Astrophysics, Biomedical Physics, High and Low Temperature Plasma Physics, Magnetic Fusion Physics, Neutrals Atomic–Molecular–Optical (AMO) Physics, and Applied Physics. Research interests at UTSI and at the Center for Laser Applications (CLA) focus on Applied Physics and Plasma Physics areas such as laser–induced breakdown spectroscopy, spectroscopy with ultra–short light pulses, combustion diagnostics, to name a few. Consequently, the presentations during the conference addressed a variety of these topics. Attendance at the conference included researchers from North America, Africa, Asia and Europe, with an international representation showing 250 authors and co–authors with over 25 different citizenships, and 100 participants at the Conference. Figure 1 shows a photo of Conference attendees. The schedule included 82 contributions, 41 oral and 41 poster presentations. The 29 invited, 12 contributed oral and 41 contributed poster presentations were selected following communication with the international organizing committee members. A smart phone ‘‘app’’ was also utilized, thanks to Elsevier, to communicate electronic versions of the posters during the conference. Special thanks go to the members of the international and local committees for their work in organizing the 22nd ICSLS. In addition, thank you notes also go to the peer reviewers for the proceedings. Following the success of the IOP: Journal of Physics Conference Series selected for the 21st ICSLS publication, the proceedings papers report ongoing research activities. Papers submitted amount to 68 in number, or 83% of the 82 papers contributed to the 22nd ICSLS conference will be published in the IOP: Journal of Physics proceedings.The Executive Director of the University of Tennessee Space Institute welcomed all participants of the Conference on the first day of the technical sessions on Monday June 2, 2014. This welcome address is also included in the conference series publication, especially important for Physics and Engineering research at UTSI is the concurrent 50–year celebration of the Institute in 2014. Informal welcome occurred on Sunday June 1, 2014, and various social activities included a tour to the Jack Daniel's distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee, followed by the conference dinner. The international scientific committee met to look into various aspects of the ICSLS and future role of this conference for the spectral line shape community. The next meeting locations have been discussed, including the scheduling of the next 23rd conference in Torun, Poland, in June of 2016. Further meeting locations include hosting the conference in Egypt in 2018, possibly in Luxor, Egypt. Communication regarding the 24th ICSLS in 2020 included mentioning of scheduling the Conference to occur in Dublin, Ireland. Clearly, there is a wealth of interest in continuing the long standing tradition of communicating spectral signatures and line shapes at the biannual ICSLS meetings. The 22nd International Conference on Spectral Line Shapes was supported by the Institute of Physics, the University of Tennessee Space Institute, the Center for Laser Applications, the Quantel Laser company, and by Elsevier. On behalf of the organizing committee, I greatly appreciate the support.