EVENTS

Since ancient times, people have been fascinated by lightning, attributing divine properties to it. The ancient Greeks considered them a manifestation of the presence of Zeus, while similar stories were told by the Vikings about Thor (bearded god of lightning and thunder in Germanic and Norse mythology). Today we understand this phenomenon, called electric discharge (or electric arc), much better.

Our interest in electric discharges extends to many areas of modern technology, particularly in high accelerator electron accelerators at CERN. Such accelerators are cutting-edge technology for the study of elementary particles, but also for the development of new applications in cancer radiotherapy. Electrical discharges are also a major problem for a variety of applications, ranging from nuclear fusion reactors to new-technology X-ray systems. Finally, their parasitic appearance is a major energy waste.

Although electrical discharges are well understood in an insulating material or gas, their occurrence in a vacuum still has several aspects that remain unknown. These aspects came together to discuss many researchers from all over the world at the 10th International Workshop on the Mechanisms of Vacuum Arcs (MeVArc 2022), taking place on 18-22 September at the Orthodox Academy of Crete (OAK) in Kolymbari, Chania.

This conference has been established for 11 years, attracting many researchers from different countries and disciplines, such as materials science, surface physics, electromagnetism and plasma physics. This year, it was organized by the scientific team "MATTER" from the University of Tartu, Estonia, under the responsibility of the Chania scientist Andreas Kiritsakis. The Conference had 74 participants, with the results presented shedding light on new aspects of the phenomenon and taking important steps towards addressing the problems it causes.