Prof. Shlomo Havlin wins Bakhuis Roozeboom Medal
Prof. Shlomo Havlin of the BIU Physics department won the 2023 Bakhuis Roozeboom Medal, awarded by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences once in four years for groundbreaking physics research.
Congratulations to Prof. Shlomo Havlin of the Physics department at Bar-Ilan University and a renowned expert in statistical physics, network science and phase transitions who has won the 2023 Bakhuis Roozeboom Medal. He received the medal for his groundbreaking theoretical contributions that yield the discovering of novel phases and phase transitions and predicting the behavior of complex materials in different states.
The Bakhuis Roozeboom Medal, awarded once in four years, recognises researchers in the Netherlands or abroad who have made innovative contributions to the phase behavior of matter.
Havlin's research, for which he received the prestige Medal, makes clear how complex networks mutually influence each other when coupled together. A concept often referred to as 'networks of networks' or interdependent networks. It highlights, for example, how failures in one network can lead to cascading failures in other coupled interdependent systems and abrupt collapse. This knowledge has significant implications for various aspects of our daily lives, such as the impact of a power failure on our internet and other communication systems. Havlin and his research group also predicted theoretically that real coupled materials could behave similarly. Indeed, this prediction was confirmed experimentally in Aviad Frydman’s laboratory in a Nature Physics paper (May 2023) by measuring interdependent superconducting networks. The team involved in this paper includes also Dr. I. Bonamassa, Dr. B. Gross, M. Laav and Dr. I Volotsenko.
Shlomo Havlin has been a professor of physics at Bar-Ilan University in Israel since 1984. He studied physics at Bar-Ilan University and obtained his PhD there with Highest Distinction in 1972. Together with his colleagues, Havlin published hundreds of widely cited articles in top journals over a period of more than 50 years.
His achievements have been recognized by many Prizes from different countries, including the Lilienfeld Prize from the American Physical Society in 2010. This prize recognizes extraordinary contributions to physics and exceptional skills in lecturing to diverse audiences. In 2014 he received the Rothchild Prize. In 2017 he obtained from the president of Italy the Order of the Star of Italy. In 2018, he received the Israel Prize for his accomplishments in Physics, the top national prize that is bestowed on those who have displayed excellence in their field.