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In early September, the University of Namur hosted the first Main-Group Elements Reactivity Conference (MG-ERC). Over 100 researchers from 12 countries and 32 institutions gathered around Professor Guillaume Berionni. An event hailed as "one of the best chemistry conferences" by its prestigious guests.

SummaryAt a time when a stream of research was striving to reformulate quantum mechanics by abolishing operators and substituting functions, Wigner and Szilard proposed in 1932 a quasi-probability distribution defined on phase space thanks to wave functions. They did not explain its genesis.The first part of our thesis proposes a genesis of this quasi-distribution, based on the natural conditions it must fulfill. It briefly examines a pathology it suffers from: exhibiting negative values in certain subdomains of the phase space (hence the "quasi"), a pathology that does no harm to the calculation of mean values. She then shows how, if we take spin into account, with wave functions giving way to spinners, we are led, thanks to the calculation of mean values of observables, to a generalization of this quasi-distribution in the form of a Hermitian matrix. This approach is extended to the Wigner cross transform, i.e. to weak values.An important theorem, which has been the subject of a publication, is proved in the second part of our thesis. Using harmonic analysis, this result expresses weak values in terms of an integral over a Lie group acting on the Hilbert space under consideration. We give two particular examples: SU(2) and SO(3). The case of a quotient group is briefly discussed.In a third section, we recall the well-known link between Clifford algebras and two important equations of quantum physics: the Klein-Gordon and Dirac equations, and its generalization to Riemannian spacetimes.Finally, in a fourth section we introduce spin groups, and use the spin group Spin(3,2) in the context of the Wigner cross transform discussed in the first section.JuryProf. André FÜZFA (UNamur), PresidentProf. Yves CAUDANO (UNamur), SecretaryDr. Thomas DURT (Institut Fresnel and Ecole Centrale Marseille, Marseille, France)Prof. Romain MURENZI (Worcester Polytecnic Institute)Prof. Dominique LAMBERT (UNamur)Prof. Bertrand HESPEL (UNamur)Prof. André HARDY (UNamur)

A team of American researchers, with the help of Frédérik De Laender, professor in the Department of Biology at UNamur, has just published in the prestigious journal Nature. Their study describes how changing stream temperatures and human introductions of fish can alter river biodiversity in the USA.

Two researchers from the University of Namur's Department of Physics, Professor Michaël Lobet and his PhD student Adrien Debacq, are taking a close look at a subject that fascinates the scientific community : superradiance in media with a refractive index close to zero. In an article published this summer in Nature's prestigious journal Light: science & applications, in collaboration with Harvard University (USA), Michigan Technological University (MTU) and Sparrow Quantum, they contribute to the development of quantum computing.

Essay topic Essays on the Empirical Analysis of Crypto-Assets: Market Efficiency, Peg Failures, and Financial Flights Composition of the Jury Promoter: Prof. Jean-Yves Gnabo (UNamur)Other jury members: Prof. Sophie Béreau (UNamur)Prof. Kris Boudt (UGent)Prof. Sarah Bouraga (EM Normandie)Prof. Jérôme Lahaye (Fordham University)Jury president: Prof. Corentin Burnay (UNamur)

Essay topic Essays on the Empirical Analysis of Crypto-Assets: Market Efficiency, Peg Failures, and Financial Flights Composition of the Jury Promoter: Prof. Jean-Yves Gnabo (UNamur)Other jury members: Prof. Sophie Béreau (UNamur)Prof. Kris Boudt (UGent)Prof. Sarah Bouraga (EM Normandie)Prof. Jérôme Lahaye (Fordham University)Jury president: Prof. Corentin Burnay (UNamur)

Rubber boots, overalls, the bleating of ewes, the smell of straw... The scene is set. On the farm of the Centre de Recherche Ovine, located in the Namur countryside, veterinary students live, for the space of a few days, to the rhythm of lamb births. An intense, formative experience, filled with technical gestures and emotions, supervised by veterinarians from the University of Namur.