Membre de la SCNAT

La Société suisse de physique (SSP) est l’association professionnelle nationale des physiciens et physiciennes provenant de l’enseignement, de la recherche, du développement et de l’industrie. La diversité de la recherche moderne en physique est reflétée dans dix sections spécifiques.

Image : ESO

Journée internationale de la lumière (16 mai)

International Day of Light & UNESCO Logo

0. Background

The International Day of Light (IDL) is a global initiative, supported by UNESCO, that provides an annual focal point for the continued appreciation of light and the role it plays in science, culture and art, education, and sustainable development, and in fields as diverse as medicine, communications, and energy (UNESCO/IDL, https://www.lightday.org/about). The event is held on May 16 every year on occasion of the anniversary of the first successful operation of the laser in 1960 by the physicist and engineer Theodore Maiman. The laser is an excellent example of how a scientific discovery can yield revolutionary benefits to society in communications, healthcare and many other fields. A range of selected offers (such as hands-on experiments, out-of-school educational offers, historical aspects) is available on this SPS website. There is material in English, French and German (with short introductions mostly in the language of the offer), much of the material is available online.

  • Stellarium Gornergrat
  • Galaxies M81/M82 (Stellarium Gornergrat).
  • Stellarium Gornergrat1/2
  • Galaxies M81/M82 (Stellarium Gornergrat).2/2
One specific contribution from Switzerland to the International Day of Light is the [1] Stellarium Gornergrat, a remote controlled observatory for educational and amateur/citizen science purposes; [2] an image of the galaxies M81/M82 taken with the 60 cm deep sky telescope of the Stellarium.

1. Optics Related Demo and Hands-On Experiments, Observations and Applications

1.1 Physics of Everyday Phenomena and other Fascinating Applications

Several articles in the SPG Mitteilungen deal with highly interesting applications of light and optics, partially of high importance for society, from more technical (glass fibres, liquid crystal displays, LEDs, etc.) to biomedical aspects (non-visual light effects in humans), see section 3.1. The following projects are very interesting examples of "state-of-the-art" research in this area with a link to biophysics or geophysics:

Furthermore some fun and home experiments as "appetizers" for optics:

Below you will find further examples and activities of this kind, e.g. with laser pointers or smartphones as experimental means.

1.2 Experiments with Lasers and Laserpointers

The following collections (most of them open access) provide a broad range of demo, hands-on and at-home laser experiments for teaching and learning.

1.3 Optics Experiments with Smartphones

  • Polarization optics with a smartphone: reflection of skylight by the smartphone screen.
  • Light intensity of a LED monitor as function of the observation angle: with (red) and without (blue) privacy screen (generalized Lambert law); measurement with a smartphone, see Klein et al. (2015).
  • 1/r2 law for the light intensity of a point source as measured with a smartphone, see Klein et al. (2014).
  • Polarization optics with a smartphone: reflection of skylight by the smartphone screen.1/3
  • Light intensity of a LED monitor as function of the observation angle: with (red) and without (blue) privacy screen (generalized Lambert law); measurement with a smartphone, see Klein et al. (2015).2/3
  • 1/r2 law for the light intensity of a point source as measured with a smartphone, see Klein et al. (2014).3/3

1.4 Resources by MUSE - More Understanding by Simple Experiments. An initiative of the European Physical Society

MUSE is a initiative of the European Physical Society providing deepened insight into physical key phenomena by a unique collection of experimental learning activities with simple means, feasible at schools, and sometimes even at home.

Below, MUSE activities and articles related to optics are highlighted.

Selektive Absorption
Selektive Absorption
Looking behind the curtain: Infrared images and selective absorption from man to milky way.
Top: Behind a plastic "curtain": person in visual range invisible (left), in infrared range visible (right).
Bottom: Behind the dust "curtain" (interstellar dust): galactic centre in visual range invisible (left), in infrared range visible (right).
See "Understanding heat and temperature - Thermography learning activities".

1.5 Stellarium Gornergrat – A Remote Controlled Astronomy Observatory for Pupils, Teachers, and Citizen Scientists

2. Science Outreach Labs and Facilities with Optics Related Experiments in Switzerland

A Mobillab experiment on colors and spectra.

2.1 MobiLLab, St. Gallen

The MobiLLab is a mobile high-tech lab with twelve workspaces, which can be booked by schools for one-day visits on the school campus. Its goal is to promote the interest of the youth in natural sciences and technics. Using modern instruments and methods they can examine problems found in every-day life as well as practical applications.
Many of the high-tech devices use optical measuring methods. A selection of videos is listed below:

Links to all mobiLLab-videos

2.2 Other Offers

3. Optics related Articles in the SPG Mitteilungen

Related to light and optics, the SPG Mitteilungen provide a wealth of contributions about highly interesting applications (including special microscopes, telescopes, lighting, etc), fundamental questions (including our scientific "world view", e. g. in astronomy), or historical aspects.

(Note that the grouping of the following contributions under a given subtitle is not always unique).

(Missing links will be added gradually.)

Build-up of double slit diffraction pattern from single photon events. From "Wave-particle duality of light for the classroom".
Build-up of double slit diffraction pattern from single photon events. From "Wave-particle duality of light for the classroom".

3.1 Applications

  • Bernhard Braunecker: Photonics in Switzerland
  • Christian Cajochen: Nicht-visuelle Lichtwirkungen beim Menschen (chronobiological and medical effects)
  • Thomas Feurer: Der Nobelpreis 2009 geht an einen Pionier der Glasfaseroptik
  • Nicolas Grandjean: The Nobel Prize in Physics 2014 - A journey in the world of solid state lighting
  • Kasas Sandor: Cantilever based Biophysics
  • Martin Schadt: Liquid Crystals– LCDs and Optical Alignment of Molecules
  • Philipp Treutlein, Barbara Treutlein: Peeking and poking at particles with light
  • Andreas Wojtysiak, Alfred Wacker and Dieter Lang: Lighting Application for Non-Visual Effects of Light

3.2 Fundamental Questions, "Weltbild" (including Astronomy)

  • Arnold Benz: Goodbye Herschel
  • Willy Benz: Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz - 2019 Physics Nobel Prize Laureates
  • Francesco Pepe: Discovery of the first exoplanet in the habitable zone
  • Nicolas Sangouard: Seeing quantum superpositions
  • Aurora Sicilia-Aguilar, Bernhard Braunecker: The Herschel Space Observatory
  • Antoine Weis, Todorka L. Dimitrova: Wave-particle duality of light for the classroom

3.3 History of Physics