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VATLY NEWSLETTER
Astronomy in Vietnam is still heavily underdeveloped. Modern astrophysics is practically absent from university courses. The most urgent action is to educate a new generation of Vietnamese astronomers. The science of the universe promoted on a large scale should not only provide scientific knowledge to the public, but should also help to combat superstition which is rampant in the country. Nguyen Quang Rieu, report to IAU, August 1997
We wish all VATLY friends and their loved ones
a very happy and successful year of the Buffalo!
CONTENT This thirty-third issue of the VATLY in October. Our COLLABORATION WITH NEWSLETTER opens with the traditional NEWS MARSEILLES ON MUSE has now been FROM THE LABORATORY. With great sorrow, formalized: Tuan Anh reports. Finally, Hoai and we learned that two of our friends have passed Tuan-Anh report on AN INTERVIEW OF away: JACK STEINBERGER on December 12th: PHUNG VAN DONG, PHYSICIST AT we recall some of his interactions with VATLY; PHENIKAA UNIVERSITY. The issue closes and NGUYEN QUANG RIEU, MENTOR OF with the traditional PHOTO ALBUM. VIETNAMESE ASTROPHYSICS, on January 5th: we remember him and recall his career and his NEWS FROM THE LABORATORY contributions to Vietnamese science. Next, Diep In January, Thai and Ngoc have been officially reports on THE 2021-2030 MASTER PLAN accepted by GUST as their PhD students. In the FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPACE context of Thai's thesis, the cotutelle agreement SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, which was between GUST and LAM/Marseilles and the recently signed by the Prime Minister, and our cooperation agreement between DAP and MUSE reaction to it. Thai and Ngoc tell us briefly about consortium have been signed by both parties. the 45th VIETNAM CONFERENCE ON Some of MUSE lensing clusters data are now THEORETICAL PHYSICS, which they attended earmarked for her thesis. 1
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Ngoc and Diep work on the study of the priority for the development of astrophysics, as role of magnetic fields in the process of star had been promised by VAST president. formation in the framework of the “B-fields in Thai and Tuan-Anh are now working with Star forming Regions Observations” (BISTRO) Roser Pello to get familiar with necessary collaboration using the polarimeter POL-2 on the packages for MUSE lensing clusters data. Roser JCMT. They hold monthly online meetings with hosts online meetings every second week via the POL-2 data reduction group. Cotutelle is not Zoom between Hanoi and Marseilles. To start formally recognized in South Korea: Ngoc with, they are getting some training on one of the registered as a PhD student at GUST and she will MUSE clusters, which has been previously only get the Vietnamese degree; the thesis is co- analysed. The purpose is to get ready when the supervised by Diep and Hoang Chi Thiem data of three lensing clusters observed by (KASI). She will spend several months a year in MUSE/VLT will arrive, in a month or so. South Korea to work with Thiem. Ngoc and Diep also work with Hoang Duc Thuong to study magnetic fields in a photo-dissociation star forming region. Thuong is a young lecturer from USTH, who came back from the States after a one year postdoc at Cornell. The Vietnam Astrophysics Research Network (VARNET) has been created to strengthen the collaboration between young researchers working on star formation, both in Vietnam and abroad. The idea was initiated by Thiem; Ngoc, Diep and Phuong are the DAP members taking part. A website of Screen shot of an online meeting between the network has been setup and they hold monthly Tuan Anh, Thai and Roser Pello online meetings to report on their progress. Ngoc got her JCMT/POL-2 proposal accepted for the Recently, the Master Plans for Physics and first observation semester of 2021. for Space Science and Technology have been signed by the Vice Prime Minister (Vu Duc Dam) and the Prime Minister (Nguyen Xuan Phuc) respectively. While we should not give such plans more importance than they deserve (the tradition in the country is to consider them as general guidelines but to accept that they are not closely obeyed), we consider it our duty to respect their message. Sadly, the Physics plan does not even mention the name Astrophysics and is essentially a replication of earlier plans. The reason behind this is the ignorance of the reality of modern physics by the authors of the Plan (we were not
even consulted). As commented by Thai and Ngoc Ngoc presenting her work at USTH in their report on the Theory Conference in October last year, Vietnamese science managers Tuan-Anh got a permanent position still think that experimental and observational starting January 2021. The two younger members physics are low level science that costs a lot of of the team do not receive a salary but are paid money, and which therefore Vietnam cannot each month some 300 USD equivalent from afford to support. Fortunately, the plan for Space project money when available. Nhung will apply Science and Technology, for which we had been for a VAST project which will be given some consulted, mentions explicitly astrophysics and
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states the intention to support and develop space spectra of O-rich AGB stars, and by Diep on the science: as explained by Diep in his article, we are research conducted by the team, focusing on the applying to take direct advantage of this merits of using archival data. opportunity. Assoc. Prof. Dinh Thi Mai Thanh, Diep has written a short report on the USTH rector, told us that she supports us in Vietnamese Astronomy for a series of articles that this action and gave us further precisions on her Nature publishes. We copy below a figure that effort to ease future DAP-USTH relations; in reviews the geographic repartition of Vietnamese particular she stated that Pr. Etienne Saur, astrophysicists currently working in research principal USTH rector, and Dr. Nguyen Viet and/or teaching and/or outreach, as compiled by Dung, Head of the doctoral school, are revising him to the best of his knowledge. USTH's doctoral training regulations: in the future, it will be sufficient that one of the two thesis supervisors be a lecturer of USTH or of a university in the Consortium. This is in the wake of a meeting of the Rector Board that she convened last October and where Pierre and Diep had been invited. The meeting had been the occasion for us to describe the difficulties we met in trying to have Thai and Ngoc make their PhD work in the framework of a USTH cotutelle, and for her to express her determination to address the problem and do her best to ease our relations. We made good progress in our research work: the BISTRO collaboration paper written by The pandemic has kept a relatively low Ngoc and Diep on magnetic fields in Auriga, profile in Viet Nam, compared with other parts of using POL2 on the JCMT, has been published in the world, resulting simply in an increased the Astrophysics Journal. Thai’s et al. paper on number of meetings and conferences being her master thesis work on the quasar host galaxy attended online rather than in person. In RX J1131 (z=0.65) has been published in December, Ngoc attended a conference entitled Communications in Physics (Vietnam). Tuan “the Magnetic Field awakens, a new era for star Anh’s et al. paper on quadruple imaged quasars formation” and the EAO/JCMT Virtual has been published in the Journal of the Korean Workshop; in February, she joined the Astronomical Society (JKAS). Hoai has SOKENDAI school in February; she also gave a contributed to the analysis of new NOEMA presentation at the BISTRO collaboration meeting observations of AGB star RS Cnc, for which Jan and a seminar at USTH. Tuan Anh attended Martin Winters and Thibaut Le Bertre are drafting ALMA Training Sessions organized by the the article. Nhung and Pierre will now join this European ARC Network. Diep attended the JCMT effort (which also received contributions from Ka Time Allocation Committee in January, the Tat Wong and Pierre Lesaffre). Finally, Nhung, Southeast Asia Regional Astronomy Workshop in Hoai, Pierre and Tuan-Anh completed their work February and the 13th East-Asian VLBI on AGB star R Dor and submitted it for Workshop in March. He also took part in the EAO publication in MNRAS; it claims to give a global board meeting, replacing the Vietnam national view of the morpho-kinematics of the circum- representative, Phan Bao Ngoc, who could not stellar envelope; we just received the referee attend. We followed online the PhD thesis defence report, which is very positive: the paper will soon of Nguyen Tung Lam; Diep was a member of the be published. Finally, the proceedings of the jury and Daniel Rouan the thesis supervisor; the SEAAN 2019 Singapore conference have been defence took place in Paris, the subject was published: they include presentations by Hoai on Studying Super-clusters in Starburst Galaxies the origin of high Doppler velocity wings in the with the Future JWST Telescope (a space
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telescope planned to succeed the present Hubble COVID, partly because of the cold weather, partly Space Telescope). because I am alone….and also because I feel lazy.” Nhung gave lectures at USTH in Ngan sent us a poem to celebrate the New Year: November and December to master students. Năm mới như ý There were six of them. Two attended her lectures Deadline bớt dí online from France due to COVID-19. Tuan Anh Idea ít bí and Diep gave lectures on galaxies and stellar Viết báo không chậm và ì physics to STEM high school teachers from all Bye bye anh Tí over the country. The event was organised in Năm nay mình là sửu nhi! answer to a request from high-school teachers With both of them, we keep close contact via following the addition of a chapter on astronomy Facebook and other social networks. to the programmes of secondary and high schools.
Thao giving a presentation on optical telescopes to students of the Tay Nguyen University at Nha Phuong on top of Gwaneumbong Peak in Trang Observatory. Gyerongsan National Park (near KASI) Thao is still working in Nha Trang and While being not too harmful in Viet Nam, paid a short visit to Hanoi before Têt. She says she the virus makes the lives of Phuong in Korea and misses us and feels a bit lonely over there: she has of Ngan in Poland more difficult. We copy here only three colleagues, two young technicians and parts of a mail that Phuong sent us in November: a geographer, Hoang Anh, who had spent some “The COVID situation in Korea is getting worse time with us a few years ago but who is not with 500-600 new cases every day but I am safe in interested in science and follows a course on Daejeon, which is ranked as risk-level 1 (out of 5 higher political management. The young degrees) with one positive case per day on technicians enjoy working at the planetarium average. However, KASI treats its entire staff as where they run a public outreach programme. risk-level 3 independent from the location of the institutes. Many restrictions have been applied starting last Tuesday: no meals/coffee in restaurants outside campus, no indoor/outdoor sports, no visits from relatives, etc; they do not affect me too much but they make local staff unhappy. It is getting colder these days, night temperatures reach –7o but I am still alive. […] We have about 200 hours of observation with the 14-m single dish telescope on the KASI campus, seeking for outflow of very low luminosity objects; I am one of the observers, it will start next week. I A Jupiter picture taken with the 50-cm telescope of stay in the dormitory for most of the weekends, the Nha Trang Observatory. Its Io moon is seen on going out only to buy food, partly because of the right. 4
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There are frequent visits organized for Nha triggered by the University of Hong Kong halving Trang townies whenever COVID permits. One of its contribution down to 50’000 USD annually for the technicians gives Thao an occasional hand the next three years. The board is still struggling with the work on the telescope. She has no way to with how to set the level of membership and what financially support a student prepared to work an 100’00 USD contribution means. Paul said that with her. She took pictures of Jupiter and Saturn, his position is that the level of contributions using a colour camera borrowed from a friend, but should not be a discouragement to any member she must wait long for a clear sky. who is already on observer status to contribute We celebrated several events: Teacher’s funds at any level. He encouraged Vietnam to day, with the visits of former colleagues and become associate partner, or to upgrade from friends, such as The, who made her master thesis observer status; whatever level of funding help; with us; the 30th anniversary of the Institute for most importantly, they need to expand the number Nuclear Science and Technology (INST), which of formal EAO members from the current four. had hosted us for over ten years: Pierre attended Diep and Phan Bao Ngoc are discussing possible the speeches given on the occasion and met again actions; Diep talked with Pham Anh Tuan but many old friends who had welcome us so warmly there is no hope from his side. From Ngoc side, it as members of their family when our team was will take time for him to apply for possible coming of age; birthdays of Nhung, Thai, Tuan- funding. For the time being, we cannot hope for a Anh, Pierre and Diep. We also had lunch with contribution at national level: our collaboration Pham Duy Hien, a friend of VATLY and former with EAO is a very precious asset but it is very Director of the Dalat nuclear institute, in the wake difficult to get Vietnamese support for this kind of of a seminar he had given to young Vietnamese thing. researchers on his own experience, and which Diep had attended. We also had the opportunity to invite for lunch Professor Marco Abbiati, from Bologna University, to whom we had been introduced by Andrea Contin, a close colleague of Nino Zichichi; he is currently the Science Attaché at the Italian Embassy in Hanoi and we discussed with him possible contacts with Italian astrophysics teams.
Pierre with his former colleagues at the 30th anniversary of INST. Pham Duc Khue, current director of INST, is on the left; Tran Huu Phat, former director of Vinatom is second from left; Tran Chi Thanh, current Vinatom director, is second from right.
Pierre has kept writing his usual dose of Tia Sang articles. One of these addresses the Having lunch with Pham Duy Hien and Đong question of contributions to international collaborations. It alludes in particular to the Before Christmas, Paul Ho, director of the important sums that are paid each year to the East Asian Observatry (EAO) informed us that the Dubna research centre, which has since long lost last EAO board meeting discussed seriously about the outstanding prestige that it enjoyed in Soviet the recruitment of new partners. This was times, while a team of young researchers who 5
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collaborate with Japan at KEK on frontline civic solidarity, and a change from cheap-labour particle physics experiments receive very little to knowledge-based economy, but they kept only support. This article triggered an exchange of the 30 seconds during which he was praising the views with our colleagues Anh Ky and Son Cao, recent achievements… He also took part in who are implied in this Japanese collaboration. It December in a round table (together with Nguyen is of course up to us to take advantage of the many Dy Nien, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and opportunities that exist, thanks to the generosity of Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, former Minister of Health many foreign scientists toward developing and chair of the French-Vietnam Friendship countries, and to privilege foreign collaborators Association). This was on the occasion of the who accept us among them for free: we should French translation of the book of Vo Van Sung, refrain from paying important fees for having father of our friend Vo Van Thuan, on his access to large international facilities. But we experience as first ambassador of Vietnam in should review the support given to such Paris. collaborations and make sure that it is properly We were happy and proud to learn that our balanced and matches the importance of the friend Françoise Combes was awarded the contributions given by these teams to Vietnamese international L'Oréal-Unesco Prize “For Women science. Hopefully, if this could be done, some and Science 2021”. We forward to her our room could be made for a modest contribution to warmest congratulations. EAO, and even possibly for a participation of Viet We must end this brief report with two Nam in the International Astronomer Union very sad events: the death of our friends Jack (IAU). Steinberger on December 12th, aged 99, and We were of course very happy to learn the Nguyen Quang Rieu on January 5th, aged 89. We recognition by the Nobel committee of the work remember them elsewhere in the Newsletter. done on black holes by Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez. Sagittarius A* had been JACK STEINBERGER, 1921-2020 the subject of one of the very first bachelor dissertations supervised by the team. The three portraits of the new recipients are now hanging on the wall of our office. At the end of October, a seminar was organized on this occasion by IOP. Other seminars include a presentation at USTH by Nguyễn Kim Ngân of a talk on Planet migration in gravitationally unstable planetary disks, a work she did in Japan. She is now coming back to Viet Nam and will work at Phenikaa University in Hanoi; this is an interesting demonstration of the determination of this private university to devote resources to basic research. We also heard a VNSC seminar on Nanodragon, which sadly gave a bad impression of the present status of this project. On the occasion of the XIIIth five-yearly meeting of the Communist Party, which took place in Hanoi in January, Pierre was interviewed Jack Steinberger passed away a few days before by the Vietnamese television and asked to Christmas. He was a friend of VATLY and used comment. He spent over half an hour expressing to follow our progress with interest and kindness. his hope to see more freedom of expression, more It is not the place here to describe his immense respect for intellectuals, more implication of the contribution to particle physics, we should like population in the running of the country, more more modestly to recall some of his interactions
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with us. Yet, in guise of preamble, allow us to together with his student Mel Schwartz and with summarize very briefly his career as an Leon Lederman, he conducted the experiment that experimental physicist. led to the discovery of the muon neutrino and He left his native Germany for the States gave them the Nobel Prize in 1988. At the end of when he was 13 years old, fleeing the rise of anti- the sixties, he moved to CERN where he spent the Semitism that preceded World War II. The family rest of his career, making major contributions to was reunited only four years later, in 1938, when neutrino physics with the CDHS experiment and his parents came to the States. He first studied later to the physics of electron-positron collisions chemistry but, after a few difficult years, he as head of the Aleph experiment. resumed graduate studies in 1946 in Chicago When Pierre told him, at the end of the under two giants of modern physics: Edward nineties, that he intended to leave for Vietnam, Teller and Enrico Fermi. His thesis was on muon Jack asked him to write about his experience over decays, his first papers, published at Princeton and there and to send him a letter once in a while. The Berkeley, on π0 decays, all of which made VATLY Newsletters played happily this role. essential contributions to the field. In 1950, at the Each time Jack would receive an issue, he would time of nascent McCarthyism, he refused to sign write a few lines to Pierre to tell him his support an anti-communist statement that the university and encourage him to persevere. We copy below was asking their staff to support and left for two such exchanges of mail, which we find Columbia University in New York. There, he interesting. conducted both counter and bubble chamber The first is a mail from Jack to Pierre in experiments, first at Nevis, then at Brookhaven; July 2011, following the reception of Newsletter they covered numerous chapters of particle 14 in which Pierre was describing the obstacles physics, which was still in infancy at that time. that we were meeting to progress, pleading for a change of style and asking for a “bigger hammer”: - Dear Pierre, Thanks for your annual Newsletter. It is good to hear from you, but a bit sad that your life is rather discouraging. You are trying to help Vietnam society, but it is not easy, as is often the case in trying to help others. I have devoted some time to trying to understand the problem of the future of energy and climate, how one might get away from fossil fuels, and have come to the conclusion that the way out is thermal solar energy from the deserts, with overnight thermal storage, but it is discouraging how little society is doing to move ahead with this. On the matter of university education, I In the sixties, he shared his time between had the following experience which may interest CERN and Brookhaven. At CERN, together with you. China had a not negligible, positive history the young Carlo Rubbia, he conducted an in university education before the war, but when I experiment on CP violation in kaon decays, which first visited China in ’72, after the Cultural Jim Cronin had just discovered at Brookhaven. Revolution, my impression was that it was in Jack and Carlo had a small team of five young totally disastrous shape. But now it seems quite physicists working with them, which Pierre joined good, if I understand my son, who is a lecturer in in 1965 when he came to CERN. At Brookhaven, mathematics at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
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So, if I understand correctly, they have managed distances, corresponding to a repulsive force that quite a bit in not too long a stretch of time. increases with distance, having no significant I hope that, with your help, Vietnam will effect in the nearby universe. It is therefore very also learn how to make some progress. difficult to study it directly. The evidence for With best wishes, acceleration of the rate of expansion of the Jack. universe from the study of Supernovae (those which occur from the accretion by a white dwarf of the wind of its dying companion and can therefore be used as standard candles) is considered as a major success confirming the existence of the problem, even if it is quite marginal in my opinion. Next comes the problem of dark matter. Of a very different nature, here we talk of normal gravitation but we do not know by which kind of particle. At variance with dark energy, it is a short distance problem, each galaxy is embedded in a halo of dark matter. Most of the quarter of the energy content of the universe that is not dark Nobel Laureates at ICISE inauguration: from left energy is carried by dark matter. The main hopes to right, Jack Steinberger, Shelly Glashow, Klaus to identify the culprit rest with LHC, a natural von Kitzling, David Gross and George Smoot. candidate being the lightest SUSY partner. The second is an exchange of mails in Dark energy is the subject of much early 2015, following reception of Newsletter 21. theoretical imaginative effort, trying to explain the Jack was 94 years old and still devoting much of effect by changing the laws of gravitation, but his time to physics. until now with no success. - Dark matter is included in all Dear Pierre, cosmological models, there is no doubt that Thanks for the VATLY Newsletter and for your without it one cannot explain the formation of greetings for the year of the goat. A happy and galaxies and galaxy clusters, it works well, but successful New Year to you and VATLY. I would this does not help understanding what it is due to. be interested, if you could find the time, in short resumes of results in astronomy that you consider interesting. Best wishes, Jack. - Dear Jack, First allow me to wish you and your family a happy New Year and a good health. You ask me about what are the important topics in astrophysics today. I am afraid not to fly high enough to have the wisdom required to answer... but I’ll try. The most important puzzle, by far, is what ICISE inauguration, August 2013. Jack and Kim, one calls dark energy: from what we understand Tran Thanh Van’s wife. of the dynamics of the expanding universe, we are missing three quarters of the energy that it is I would say that inflation is next on the list supposed to contain. It is a problem at large of important mysteries. There had been a claim by 8
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the South Pole people (BICEP2) to find evidence visible universe, namely over one billion of for it but Planck has now shown that it was an billions of habitable planets. We are far from artefact (polarization on the dust). Inflation understand how life appears, but we know a lot explains qualitatively well many puzzles, in more than a few decades ago and the probability particular why the universe is flat, why we do not to make life molecules on habitable planets is find monopoles, etc. but we have no reliable probably small, but not that small. From what we model of it. A common feature of the three major know of evolution, once you start having animals, puzzles above is that they are of a very difficult the probability to have civilizations as evolved as observational access. our, or even more, is again small but not that We, our small team, have been working on small either. 1022 is a very large number... two fronts. Anyhow, what is clear is that we shall never have One is the study of dying stars, not any direct evidence of the existence of such supernovae but those which will become white civilizations on exoplanets, they are much too far dwarfs. It is interesting, full of good physics, well away. within our skills (we know how to analyse data In general, many people work on planets better than typical astronomers who have a and on the solar system. To study the Sun, you culture of looking at photographs more than at need to master plasma physics and dealing with large sets of numbers... but of course magnetohydrodynamics. It is very important and who have an infinitely larger experience and respectable physics but it does not appeal to me. familiarity with stars than we have). The question Other topics cover the birth of stars, the violent is how one evolves from a perfectly spherical star, events (supernovae, gamma ray bursts, neutron like our Sun, to the strange shapes of Planetary stars, pulsars, AGN), all very interesting, young Nebulae (what is left of the star that has not enough to be rich of questions to be answered, but condensed in the white dwarf). Binaries and again not expected to require non-standard magnetic fields play an important role. We do not physics to be understood. expect to solve any of the above puzzles from such In comparison with particle physics, one study, it is standard physics, nice but standard. feels to be working in a much younger domain, What is nice is that you can work on a star with a still in expansion: this is what is appealing about it. team of only very few people. Thank you so much for keeping interest in The other is the study of galaxies at high what we are doing. redshift, namely in the early universe. This is Share with Cynthia my kindest regards, more fundamental to the extent that one explores Pierre how galaxies formed at the beginning, and how - the huge black holes in their centres formed. One Dear Pierre: has learned a lot in the past two decades, in Thanks for telling me about what you and your particular the dominant role of galaxy collisions, group is focusing on. and one starts to be able to tell a story that makes I am trying to follow cosmology and some sense, with still enough question marks to make things in astrophysics, but I am not participating the topic fascinating. Here it is much more in any research. competitive; we hope to find Japanese When I come to my office in the morning, I collaborators working on ALMA. look through the astrophysics archives, on the Many people work on exoplanets. It is a lot average about 80 items per day, and print out the of fun, but I do not find it fundamental. The papers I think I would like to look at, usually question of the existence of life elsewhere has a lot about half a dozen. This usually takes about an of sex-appeal... but not to me: it seems to me hour and a half. I then try to read the papers, obvious that there must be life elsewhere: we often I cannot follow, often I consider them poor, know now that the fraction of habitable planets is useless, sometimes I think I learn something. at the per cent level, that typically each star has There is one item on which we disagree. some planets, that there are some 1022 stars in the This is "dark energy" and I would like to give you
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my opinion on this. There is the widespread and all that, but this is largely due to my own opinion that there is "dark energy" which causes limitation... In practice, I am asking myself acceleration in different regions of the universe, whether we should work on CMB data, concretely and this they learned from type 1a supernova, and whether we should join Planck. I think that it is some colleagues have received a Nobel prize for obviously one of the most important frontiers to this. To my knowledge, there is no evidence for work on, but I do not think that it would suit a energy. For one, the standard Λ-CDM model team such as ours: very competitive, very difficult predicts the acceleration of the universe as and the feeling that the answer may lie very far function of redshift, and all observations agree away... with this prediction, and for the second, the I admire you for keeping so actively in observation of the type 1a supernova are very touch with the progress, and I wish you all the sparse, inaccurate statistically and systematically, best, and do not disagree with the standard model With kindest regards, predictions. Pierre I would appreciate your comments on this. - With best wishes, Dear Pierre, Jack I think we are not so far apart, but you work on - the subject and are better informed. Dear Jack, It is not easy to do what you are doing, I am not sure what you mean when you say that and I continue to be your loyal supporter. we disagree. Best wishes, There is no doubt that dark energy, Jack. understood as our being unable to explain three - quarters of the energy content of the universe, is a Last time we met Jack was in Quy Nhon, major puzzle, probably the main puzzle in present in August 2013, on the occasion of the days physics. If I understand you well, we share inauguration of the International Centre for some feeling of uneasiness with the SNIa Interdisciplinary Science and Education (ICISE), argument. Far from me the idea of being critical which was bracketed between two events, both of of the beautiful work of the Nobel laureates who excellent quality, that had drawn several of us to worked on that. I just find it unfortunate that the the place: the week before was dedicated to a argument relies on early SNIas being identical to school that the whole team attended and the week later SNIas. I know that they have properly after to a conference on major highlights of addressed the most obvious part of this objection, Particle Physics and Astrophysics, entitled namely that the chemistry, metallicity, etc. must Windows on the Universe. differ between early and late SNIas, that they have shown that the effect must be negligible. It remains true that this illustrates the fragility of the argument which suffers of the correlation between the age of the SNIas and the measurement of an acceleration of the rate of expansion, making the argument prompt to suffer of systematic errors. But this is just a feeling; I obviously cannot make a strong case about it. What I find more important is our failure to propose an explanation of the effect that appears convincing. The world of general relativity theorists is very mathematics oriented, with, sometimes, little sense of physics. I feel very Having dinner with Jack in Quy Nhon in 2013. We far from their ranting on MOND, quintescence can see surrounding him Hoai, Diep, Pierre, Nhung and the back of Jacques Haissinski. 10
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Five Nobel and one Fields Medal like him, became scientists: Nguyen Quang Quyen, laureates, together with a Deputy Prime Minister an anthropologist, and Nguyen Quy Dao, a and a Minister, not to mention the CERN Director chemist. As a child, his first contacts with General, the APS Chair, and many other astronomy were visits to the Phu Lien Observatory, prestigious bigwigs, honoured the ceremony with on a hill near Hai Phong, which was equipped their presence. with a small telescope and has now become a Quoting from Newsletter 19: “The meteorology station. Rieu followed high school in Conference was for us an opportunity to meet Hanoi where he obtained his degree in 1950. several old friends. Particularly moving was the The North of Viet Nam was at that time time spent with Jack Steinberger and Jacques the site of continued turbulence, violence and Haissinski, both very good friends of VATLY who pain. Between October 1944 and late 1945, a follow our work with attention and interest and major famine had caused the death of some encourage our progress across our failures as 400,000 to 2 million people. It had been caused by well as our successes. We took time to share a recurrent typhoons, the Japan's occupation, quiet dinner with them in town and tell them about American attacks on the transport system, and the the difficulties we meet in promoting fundamental French colonial administration hindering an research in the country and the pleasure we have effective famine alleviation response. Soon after when we see some progress.” the Japanese had surrendered, in August 1945, and Burton Richter, Jim Cronin and now Jack Ho Chi Minh had declared the independence of Steinberger, who have been for us both examples the country, in September, chasing away the of excellence to follow and friendly supporters, Japanese gave the opportunity to the Chinese are no longer with us. With them a glorious era of troops of Chiang Kai-Shek to plunder the northern particle physics progressively dissolves in the mist. provinces; in November, the French bombed Hai Phong, Rieu’s birth place, killing 6,000 civilians NGUYEN QUANG RIEU, MENTOR OF in a single afternoon: the war had broken out, VIETNAMESE ASTROPHYSICS forcing Ho Chi Minh and his government to go into hiding in Viet Bac. In October 1950, the French suffered a first major defeat on RC4 near Cao Bang and by May 1954, after the fall of their Dien Bien Phu’s positions, the war had killed some 300,000 Vietnamese, half civilians and half Viet Minh. Rieu went to France in 1950 and registered in Paris University (la Sorbonne) to study physics. The war in his country led him to settle there permanently. His father had encouraged him to study chemistry, with the idea that he would acquire expertise in producing photographic emulsions and developer and fixer chemicals. But he was attracted by astronomy, and after having obtained his PhD he started working at the Paris Observatory in 1966. He obtained a position at Nguyen Quang Rieu was born on 4 January 1932 the University and later at the French Centre in Hai Phong. His father, Nguyen Van Dinh, came National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). there in 1930 from Lai Xa, a village of the Son In 1966, the large radio telescope of the Tay province, a few miles north-east of Hanoi Nançay radio-astronomy station started operation. near the Red River. He opened there a Rieu first observed normal galaxies in the photography studio named Phuc Lai and married continuum at 21 cm, then measured in 1972 the Nguyen Thi Thoa. Rieu was their first child, later distance of the Cygnus-X3 X-ray source, which is followed, in 1934 and 1937, by two brothers who, 11
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also a variable radio-source, by observing the 21 extensively the Long Wavelength Spectrometer cm line of hydrogen in absorption in front of it. (LWS) of the European infrared satellite ISO, thus For this rather exceptional observation, published complementing his observations in the radio in Nature, he received a prize from the French domain. He has published no less than 20 Academy of Sciences in 1973. It was at that time collaborative papers based on the results obtained that he acquired the French nationality, in with this instrument. He had clearly become one particular for making it possible for him to travel of the world's leading specialists in the matter. easily abroad where he was invited to give seminars and attend conferences.
Hoai visiting Rieu at his place in 2019
Rieu never cut the bridges with Viet Nam, Left: Rieu when he came to Paris in 1950. where he returned regularly from 1976. He Right: the Phu Lien Observatory near Hai Phong. obtained scholarships allowing young Vietnamese astronomers to come to France to do their PhD In 1971, a receiver for the four 18-cm lines thesis at the Paris Observatory under his direction. of the OH molecule, built in collaboration with the Such was the case of Dinh Van Trung, who is now Sternberg Institute in Moscow, was installed on at the head of the Institute of physics in Hanoi. He the Nançay radio-telescope. Rieu then discovered has given numerous lectures in Hanoi and Ho Chi the maser emission of OH in the envelope of Minh City; in 1997, in Hue, on such an occasion, many evolved giant stars, the OH-IR stars, and he met Phan Bao Ngoc who had just graduated took part in the elaboration of the theory of this from university and encouraged him to study emission, which involves pumping the maser astronomy in France; in 2002, in Paris, Ngoc, with levels by the infrared continuum emitted by the Rieu support, completed his PhD work on Brown star. Dwarfs; he is now teaching astrophysics at the Much appreciated by his colleagues around the International University in Ho Chi Minh City. world, he established close collaborations with Rieu has always been deeply dedicated to radio astronomers and molecular physicists from outreach activities aimed at spreading the love for Germany, the United States, England, China and astronomy among the Vietnamese youth. He Japan, and obtained observations with instruments wrote several books in Vietnamese popularizing as varied as the 100 m Effelsberg and 30 m IRAM astronomy, as well as an English-Vietnamese radio telescopes, the Very Large Array, the IRAM bilingual textbook in physics. Together with Trinh and BIMA millimeter interferometers, not Xuan Thuan, he had a major impact on young forgetting some VLBI observations. This enabled Vietnamese students and Vietnamese Astronomy him to extend his activity to interstellar molecules Amateur clubs for the promotion of astronomy in general, mainly in circumstellar envelopes, and astrophysics. planetary nebulae and external galaxies (especially their OH megamasers). He also used 12
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Observatory of Paris with the financial support of the MFA. These instruments were used to observe the solar eclipse of October 1995 at Phan Thiet. A 45-cm optical telescope and a 10-cm solar telescope were donated by the Observatory of Tokyo to the University of Pedagogy in Hanoi.
Nhung and Hoai having lunch with Rieu and his wife at their place in Paris (2013)
In 1995, he organised an important event in Phan Thiet on the occasion of the total solar eclipse. He reported about it in August 1997, in Kyoto, on the occasion of the General Assembly of the International Astronomer Union (IAU). There, he described “Recent Developments in At Rieu’s place: Nhung, Hoai and Tuan Anh Astronomy in Viet Nam”1 as follows: “Astronomy in Vietnam is still heavily The most urgent action is to educate a new underdeveloped. The few telescopes of the generation of Vietnamese astronomers. Basic Observatory of Phu Lien (Hai Phong) were moved elementary notions of astronomy are taught at the during the wars and became unusable. Most of the Pedagogical University of Hanoi, the University astronomers who graduated from the universities of Vinh (central Vietnam) and the University of in the former Soviet Union are now working in Ho Chi Minh City. Modern astrophysics is other fields. Astronomy and astrophysics are practically absent from the courses. A personal among the basic sciences that Vietnam is willing computer and a number of textbooks in to promote. The total solar eclipse on October 24, astrophysics, written in English and Vietnamese, 1995, in the south of Vietnam was an opportunity were offered by the IAU to the University of Vinh. to give a boost to astronomy. On this occasion, the A first series of introductory lectures in country received substantial scientific assistance astrophysics was given at the National University from the International Astronomer Union (IAU) of Hanoi in October 1995 by foreign astronomers. and other foreign institutions. A National The IAU has accepted a project to enhance Conference co-sponsored by the IAU, the French astronomy in Vietnam through a TAD (Teaching Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the French for Astronomy Development) programme. The National Centre of Scientific Research (CNRS), first TAD school in Vietnam will be held at the and the Observatory of Paris was organized in Ho University of Vinh in September 1-14, 1997. The Chi Minh City in October 1995 by the Ministry of audience will be the teachers in astronomy and Sciences, Technology and Environment. A polar physics students from all over Vietnam. The siderostat, a small two-antenna radio faculty members will be Profs. Donat G. Wentzel interferometer operating around 5000 MHz, built and Nguyen Quang Rieu. The main topics are the at the Observatory of Paris, and a few small solar system, stellar evolution, the interstellar optical telescopes were given to the National medium and some other subjects related to radio University of Vietnam in Hanoi by the astronomy. There exist collaborative research programmes with foreign observatories. A 1 Nguyen Quang Rieu, 1998, Highlights of Astronomy, Volume 11B, 892-893, IAU, J. Andersen (ed.) research fellow from the Laser Institute in Hanoi 13
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is working in the Department of Millimetre Radio astronomy master degree in the country, after Astronomy of the Observatory of Paris in the field which it returned to its cupboard. The planetarium of molecular spectroscopy. A graduate student of in Vinh had to close down because of conflicts the National University of Hanoi is finishing his with the owners of the land on which it had been PhD thesis, at the same institute in Paris, on built and the planetarium in Hanoi never took molecular emission from galaxies and on image shape, causing major disappointment to Rieu. processing. Both have French scholarships from However, VNSC is operating planetariums in Hoa the National Research Centre and the Ministry of Lac and in Nha Trang and ICISE will soon Foreign Affairs. They will form with students operate a third one in Quy Nhon. In spite of our training in other countries a nucleus of research efforts, modern astrophysics is still absent from fellows in astronomy and astrophysics in Vietnam. the cursus of Vietnamese doctoral schools and An agreement for collaboration between the Viet Nam is still not a member of IAU. University Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris and the Observatory of Paris, on the one hand, and the National University of Vietnam, on the other, is being negotiated. The aim is mainly to train teachers in astronomy and in some aspects of radio physics related to astronomy.
Rieu and Tuan Anh at the Observatoire in 2017
At Rieu’s place: Nhung, Hoai, and Thibaut Rieu was always helpful when we asked him for advice or support. In particular he made A project to build a planetarium with an 8- very helpful comments on the document that we m dome in Vinh is underway with the assistance of wrote on VNSC request about our needs when Japan. A more ambitious project to install a 15-m joining the Institute. He also wrote a few lines of planetarium in Hanoi is under consideration in support when we went through the painful events collaboration with France. The science of the of last year. Whenever one of us was going to universe promoted on a large scale should not Paris, he or she would pay a visit to Rieu. only provide scientific knowledge to the public, In November 2010, the Vietnam National but should also help to combat superstition which University in Hanoi awarded Rieu a honoris causa is rampant in the country.” doctor degree. His important contributions to Twenty-five years later, the situation has Vietnamese science were recognized by the award not much improved. The instruments that had in 2004 of a National Honour Prize and in 2006 of been offered to Viet Nam are essentially unused. the Medal of the Central Committee of the The Yaggi interferometer had been kept in a Fatherland Front. cupboard for over 15 years by the Hanoi After a fall in the last days of 2020, he was University of Education; we unearthed it for Tuan hospitalized and soon found to test positive to Anh to make his master thesis work, the first COVID-19. He passed away shortly afterward. 14
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His funeral was held privately in the morning of Some of the overall goals of the Strategic January 13th at the Pere Lachaise crematorium in Plan are to apply broadly the achievements of compliance with pandemic prevention regulations. space technology; to invest selectively in areas His wife, Vu Minh Nga, and his son, Nguyen related to national defence and management of Quang Tuan, survive him. natural and environmental resources; to improve the country’s scientific and technological capacity. Regarding the key areas for investment, the Strategic Plan states that Vietnam will work to master technologies for designing, producing, and integrating optical sensors and radars in Earth observation satellites; assemble, integrate, and test small satellites; master technologies for designing and manufacturing ground stations for controlling and collecting satellite data. The country will upgrade about 10 specialised laboratories and develop excellent research groups on space science and technology and their applications. To
achieve these targets, the Strategic Plan points to Rieu at the reception of a honoris causa degree the need to optimise the relevant legal framework, from VNU in 2010. develop scientific research, technology, technical infrastructure, human resources, and the market of Nguyen Quang Rieu was a warm and space technology in the country. modest man, but with strong perseverance and The text was prepared by the Ministry of determination that allowed him to make great Science and Technology (MOST) after achievements in research, teaching and consultation of relevant parties. Last year, in the collaboration between France and Vietnam. He preparation process, through VNSC/VAST, we will leave a lasting memory to those of these two were asked to comment on the content of the draft nations who have known him, as well as to his Strategic Plan. Taking advantage of the colleagues around the world. opportunity, we wrote a proposal to plead for the inclusion of basic research in astronomy and THE 2021-2030 STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE astrophysics. In the proposal, we presented the DEVELOPMENT OF SPACE SCIENCE AND case for astronomy and astrophysics, the current TECHNOLOGY status of teaching, training and research in the Diep reports on the recently signed Strategic Plan country, the implied support for the field to and our reaction to it. develop. Concretely, we proposed to include the On February 4th, 2021, Prime Minister Nguyen following paragraph in the Strategic Plan Xuan Phuc signed the “Strategic Plan for the “Conduct and publish the results of basic research Development and Application of Space Science in space related domains, and in particular in and Technology up to 2030”. This is the extension astronomy and astrophysics; promote and update of the previous Strategic Plan signed international collaboration with prestigious on June 14th, 2006, covering up to 2020, which foreign research teams; promote the exploitation was named “Strategic Plan for the Research and of existing scientific instruments operated at the Application of Space Technology upto 2020”. frontier of current technology, such as the James From these names, one can immediately recognise Clerk Maxwell Telescope and the Atacama Large an important difference: the current Strategic Plan Millimetre-sub-millimetre Array; promote the is meant to develop both space science and training in astronomy and astrophysics at technology while the previous one focussed only bachelor, master and doctoral levels, in particular on space technology. in collaboration with Vietnamese universities; promote outreach activities aimed at fostering the
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curiosity and interest of the Vietnamese implementation of the Strategic Plan. We believe population for astronomy and space science and that we have a very good case to apply for technology; be the seed for the development of a becoming one of the five selected excellent community of Vietnamese astrophysicists growing research groups in space science. I copy below progressively in size and excellence with the large excerpts of what we wrote: ambition, on the long term, to give outstanding If a research group is defined as having at contribution to the field on the international least three PhDs, we are indeed the only group scene.”. The full text of the proposal can be found (seven PhDs, two PhD students) doing research in in our website2. astrophysics in the country. Beside us, four The text was sent to VNSC to transmit it university professors train students at an to higher levels. Following up on this, I have been individual level: one at IOP and one at the HCMC invited on May 15th to give a 10 minutes International University, both on stellar presentation of our proposal in a meeting astrophysics; one at INST on nuclear organised jointly by the Institute of Space astrophysics; and one at Phenikaa University Technology and the Steering Committee of Space /Hanoi on cosmology. Science and Technology to collect comments on Our research work covers mostly radio the draft Strategic Plan. The meeting was astronomy studies of stellar astrophysics attended by over 100 participants including (protostars and evolved stars) and galaxies of the scientists, experts, and science managers. Dinh early Universe using observations made by the Van Trung attended and presented a possible largest world interferometers and single dish contribution of the Institute of Physics to the telescopes (ALMA, NOEMA, JCMT, 30 m IRAM, Strategic Plan. etc.). We have reached, for now a few years, We did not know how much of our international level in our research work, as amply proposal would be retained in the final version of demonstrated by our publications. On average, the Strategic Plan, but the result is that over the past four years, we published five articles astrophysics is now explicitly mentioned for the per year in the most prestigious international first time in a Strategic Plan, or any other journals (MNRAS, A&A, ApJ, RAA, JKAS) and document at national level: “To invest in one article per year in local journals (Com. Phys. upgrading specialized laboratories to boost Vietnam and Vietnam J. of Sc., Tech. and Eng.). In research on geophysics, astrophysics, cosmology, all these articles one of us is the first author and microgravity, cosmic biomedicine, and space on average each article includes five of us in the weather; to improve the capacity of research and author list (out of a total of six authors on mastery of technologies in designing, average). We are classified by the National manufacturing, integrating and testing small Foundation for Science and Technology satellites.”. Development (NAFOSTED) as “excellent Recently, after the Strategic Plan was research group”. issued, VAST called for proposals to follow up on Last year, we collected letters of support it. In this context, we wrote a text meant to plead from prestigious names. They unanimously state our case, which we sent to VNSC for transmission that our group should be supported to develop to the VAST directorate. It takes in due […]. We are active in collaborating with consideration statements of the Strategic Plan colleagues both in the region and in Europe. The such as: the intention to invest in upgrading about main collaborations include in France: ten specialized laboratories doing research on Observatoire de Paris, Laboratoires space science and to develop excellent research d’Astrophysique de Marseille et de Bordeaux; in groups, ensuring a structure capable of defining Asia: BISTRO and NESS Collaborations at the directions and research priorities; and the role that JCMT (EAO). universities and research institutes, in particular We are actively contributing to the South VAST and VNSC, must play in the East Asia Astronomy Network (SEAAN), to the East Asian Observatory that operates the James 2 https://dap.vnsc.org.vn/public/media/attach/caseforastro.pdf 16
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Clerk Maxwell Telescope, to the International (IOP-VAST) under the auspices of the Vietnam Centre for Interdisciplinary Science and Theoretical Physics Society. The Vietnam Education in Quy Nhon (ICISE), helping with the Physical Society is subdivided in eight organization of conferences and schools. We independent branches: Theoretical Physics, maintain close relations with the National Optics and Spectroscopy, Medical Physics, Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand Nuclear Physics, Pedagogy, Material Sciences, (NARIT), the Korean Astronomy and Space Astrophysics and Applied Physics. Some of these Science Institute (KASI) and the National branches hold regular conferences where Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). important results are presented but the We devote part of our time and effort to Astrophysics branch does not. The Physical outreach activities and the promotion of Society holds annual meetings where each of the astronomy in the general public. Twice a year, we eight branches is represented, but no conference publish a Newsletter reporting on our proper: they act more as a management unit than achievements. We help with the exploitation of the as a learned society as Physical Societies do in facilities of the Hoa Lac and Nha Trang other countries. As a result, theorists meet Observatories, including two 50 cm optical independently from us, which is a pity. Yet, Diep telescopes, two planetariums and a Space asked the organizers for some of us to be allowed Museum under current installation. We are to participate and it was agreed that we could attentive to contributing to outreach by helping send two members of the team: we selected our with the organization of the yearly Science Day, younger members, Thai and Ngoc, with the idea by training the Vietnamese team to the that the event was a good opportunity for them to International Astronomy and Astrophysics attend a conference and get some familiarity with Olympiads and by having frequent contacts with the Vietnamese physics community. They report amateur astronomy clubs. below. We collaborate closely with universities in Hanoi, in particular with GUST and USTH on the VAST site. Three of us are lecturing on astrophysics at USTH. We have trained nine PhD students, eleven master students and over twenty interns for their bachelor dissertation work. Our needs are modest and had been expressed long ago in a report we wrote at the request of the VNSC Directorate, but could not be satisfied. Essentially, they include support to attend conferences and schools both at home and abroad and support to invite foreign lecturers for short stays with us. Hopefully, our team will be selected and, VCTP-45 poster session with the determination from the government The 2020 Vietnam Theoretical Physics leaders, the relevant organizations of the country Conference was held in Vinh Yen, near Hanoi, will act efficiently to successfully carry out the between October 12th and 14th. It was held in a Strategic Plan for space science and technology resort and was attended by some 150 physicists, for the country to quickly progress. partly on line and partly in person. Most of the
participants were Vietnamese, with the exception 45th VIETNAM CONFERENCE ON of five foreigners, currently invited scientists in THEORETICAL PHYSICS recently created private universities, of which In October, Thai and Ngoc attended the 45th Phenikaa has shown a clear determination to Vietnam Conference on Theoretical Physics invest in basic science, which is encouraging. (VCTP-45) organized by the Institute of Physics Most presentations were given in English and all 17
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were plenary. Apart from us, two other improve the impact of theoretical physics on the participants were working in astrophysics: Do society. In particular the conditions to be fulfilled Quoc Tuan and Ngo Hai Tan, both from Phenikaa for being awarded the prize were commented University; Tuan works on cosmology and gave a upon: currently, the recipient must be Vietnamese talk on Five-dimensional black hole solutions of and first on the author list; it was suggested to the scalar-vector Kalb-Ramond model; Tan, a open the prize to foreign researchers and our former student of Dao Tien Khoa at INST, works friend Nguyen Anh Ky remarked that in large on nuclear astrophysics but did not present her collaborations being the first author is nearly work. impossible… but no decision was taken. Theoretical Physics Olympiads were also discussed, with the suggestion to distinguish between different levels: high school students, undergraduate students, graduate students or even young researchers. Nguyen Van Hieu attended the first day of the conference and went back to Hanoi on the second day. He commented on the Five-year Plan for Physics, of which he had led the redaction. He compared the theoretical physics community with an army, both in terms of quality and of quantity. He praised its particularity of not requiring the acquisition of expensive equipment as do other fields of physics (he said). Sadly, we had several Nguyen Van Hieu making his comments at the Theory Conference opportunities in the past to make him aware of the blatant falsehood of this statement, at least as far In spite of the constraints imposed by the as we are concerned, but he seems not to want to pandemic, the conference took place. However, it remember, or hear, or possibly not to have was initially planned to be hosted in Da Nang in understood. He said that details concerning the September but the second wave of COVID-19 application of the Plan to theoretical physics will delayed it to October and relocated it in Vinh Yen, be discussed with him in November, together with some 80 km North of Hanoi, where the pandemic two delegates of the Theoretical Physics Society. situation was under control. Ngoc presented a We felt very bad that Nguyen Van Hieu had not poster on magnetic fields in the Auriga-California even mentioned the word “astrophysics” in his cloud and Thai a contributed talk on the Plan, apparently ignoring that the 2020 Nobel morphology and kinematics of the high redshift Prize for Physics had been awarded to three galaxy RXJ 1131-1231 using ALMA data. astrophysicists a few days earlier. In the morning, On the occasion of the opening ceremony, Do Quoc Tuan had dedicated three slides of his two young theoretical researchers were awarded a talk to it, but Nguyen Van Hieu had apparently prize: each of them had two papers that were missed it. accepted for publication in Physical Review in 2019. One, from Phenikaa University, was COLLABORATION WITH MARSEILLES ON working in Japan and was in a plane back to MUSE Vietnam on that day, so he could not present his Tuan–Anh reports on the progress of the work, which was on biophysics. The other, from collaboration with Roser Pello in the context of Ton Duc Thang University, works on molecular Thai’s cotutelle PhD thesis work. physics. Each of them got 20.000.000 VND, Our DAP team, while mostly working in sponsored jointly by Phenikaa University and by stellar physics (protostars and Asymptotic Giant the Theoretical Physics Society. In the afternoon Branch stars) was eager to pursue the study of the of this first day, a discussion was held on how to early Universe and high redshift galaxies, a line of 18
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research that had been started nine years ago. needs more data to be able to answer these However, our isolation in a country that does not questions. Two main methods are used to identify support research in astrophysics was a severe early star forming galaxies, when the Universe handicap. Fortunately, Professor Roser Pello, was less than one billion years old (redshift z>6). from the Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de The first method uses the Lyman drop out on the Marseille, kindly accepted Thai as PhD student continuum spectra toward the blue compared with and agreed, together with me, to co-supervise her the Lyman alpha from the combined effect of thesis work in the framework of a cotutelle interstellar and intergalactic scattering by neutral agreement. hydrogen. The high redshift galaxies identified using this method are called Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs). The second method consists in finding Lyman alpha lines to identify Lyman alpha emitters (LAEs) using spectrograph such as MUSE at the VLT. To study high redshift galaxies, one takes advantage of the magnification offered by galaxy clusters acting as strong gravitational lenses. They produce images of the background galaxies of the distant Universe. High magnifications, sometimes reaching up to a factor 10, help with the study of the faint end of the luminosity distribution.
Thai will enjoy privileged access to one of Professor Roser Pello the best facilities currently available to achieve this goal, MUSE/VLT. MUSE is a wide-field Thanks to her, our team is now able to multi-object spectrograph having a 1’×1’ field of pursue a line of research to which we are eager to view and covering wavelengths in the range 475 – contribute. Such an agreement will allow to 939 nm. The average spectral resolving power is transfer knowledge of this field of astrophysics to ~3000, the pixel size is 0.2×0.2 arcsec2. Since the whole Hanoi team and to provide the seed for 2017, it has been aided by an adaptive optics a possible future collaboration. We are very system to correct for turbulence of the Earth grateful to Roser Pello for having given us the atmosphere, making it an excellent tool for opportunity to work with her and her collaborators observations of galaxy cluster cores. under her direction. The cotutelle agreement has Thai will analyse the data of the now been signed by both doctoral schools, Guaranteed Time Observations of lensing clusters Graduate University of Science and Technology obtained from the collaboration. She will (GUST/VAST) and Aix-Marseille University. participate to the scientific life and activities of The thesis will focus on the galaxy the MUSE collaboration in this domain. MUSE formation process based on the identification and observations for this project are focused on the study of the first galaxies in the early Universe Lyman-alpha emitters (LAEs) identified at and their contribution to cosmic re-ionization 2.9 19 o VN AE TW LS Y N 33. March 2021 conducted by the team of Roser Pello on a sub- As Vietnam is not part of the MUSE sample of four lensing clusters. The final goal is community, another collaboration agreement had to quantify the contribution of the different to be signed between them and us. We are very populations of star-forming galaxies to the re- grateful to the consortium to give us the ionization process. opportunity to join them on such interesting Twelve lensing clusters observed by studies. I copy below the main points of the MUSE (reduced data cubes and catalogues) are agreement: already available, containing a few hundreds of - A work in collaboration will start at the lensed LAEs. Three additional clusters will be signature of this agreement and will be restricted available in the coming months. Accurate lensing to the PhD work of Ms. Thi Thai TRAN, from the models are also available for these clusters. Most GUST group, in co-supervision between Dr. Pham of the tools needed to investigate the global Tuan-Anh (from GUST) and Dr. Pello Roser from properties of these populations are already LAM (France). This thesis work consists on the available from previous pioneer studies conducted exploitation of the MUSE Guaranteed Time by Roser’s group. We expect to include all the Observations database on lensing clusters (PI possible cluster fields observed by MUSE in order Johan Richard), and more specifically the to reach unprecedented accuracy in the analysis of the LAE population at z>2.9 behind measurement of the Luminosity Function of LAEs these clusters. towards the faintest limits in luminosity, knowing - The GUST Group will benefit from the access to that this faint population is susceptible to make a the MUSE reduced data on lensing clusters as major contribution to the re-ionization process. well as to the analysis tools developed by the Depending on the availability of multi-wavelength MUSE collaboration as part of the Guaranteed observations on these fields, a close-up look at Time Observations exploitation. The use of these some of these galaxies based on SED-fitting data and tools will be limited to the thesis work of procedures would allow to better characterize the T. Tran, and the GUST group must not distribute them. physical properties of (at least) a sub-sample of - The GUST group is intended to contribute to the these galaxies, such as the star-formation rates or extension of the MUSE lensing database by the stellar masses. The exploitation of the MUSE participating in the data analysis and in the blind survey of magnified high-redshift galaxies development or improvement of the analysis tools represents a unique opportunity to explore galaxy needed for the exploitation of the above mentioned formation when large projects such as JWST, data. EUCLID and the ELTs will start operation. - All the developers, consortium members and external contributors associated with the MUSE consortium, directly contributing to the tools and data used for the science work conducted by the GUST group in the context of this agreement will be invited as co-authors in the associated publications led by the GUST group. Each paper project will be announced following the rules of A view of MUSE the MUSE Consortium. - The first paper project to be submitted to the Thai will spend one year in Marseilles, in MUSE Science Team, and lead by Thi Thai Tran, three periods of four months each. Roser and with R. Pello as responsible and contact point, Tuan-Anh will visit the partner teams, at least will be focused on the determination of the twice, for short periods. Thai will also have Luminosity Function (LF) for faint Lya emitters at opportunities to collaborate with research staff at 2.9 20 o VN AE TW LS Y N 33. March 2021 propose to extend the sample used in our previous succeed. The wages offered to us were too low, study by including several new clusters available not enough for us to live and to do research at the from the MUSE Lensing data sample on one hand, same time. We needed to recruit more people but and to improve the pipeline used to compute the we could not offer them positions. Lacking LF on the other hand. financial support and resources seriously affected our research achievements. The cost of raising AN INTERVIEW OF PHUNG VAN DONG, children and supporting a family keeps growing PHYSICIST AT PHENIKAA UNIVERSITY with time, one needs to have a place where to live, etc. This is the main reason why I left IOP. Associate Professor Phung Van Dong was a We are now trying to build a research team classmate of Diep and Nhung at university; after here, recently recognized as one of ten Phenikaa graduation, he joined the Institute of Physics so called “excellent groups”, while still doing the (IOP) where he worked on theoretical particle same physics as we did at IOP. In addition to physics. Two years ago he joined Phenikaa, a particle physics, it covers cosmology and private university recently established in Hanoi, astronomy, including some dark matter studies. where he leads the Group of High Energy Physics My aim is for our group to develop research in and Cosmology. This university has demonstrated both astrophysics and theoretical physics of the a clear determination to support basic research early Universe. and seems likely to become a strong incentive for At Phenikaa, we have no difficulty in the promotion of excellence in training and recruiting new members. Two years ago, we were research in the country. For this reason we only five, now we are eight. This would have been thought it timely to interview Phung Van Dong on impossible at IOP. The policy at Phenikaa is to his experience in Phenikaa and his vision of the first recruit team leaders and then encourage them future. Hoai and Tuan Anh asked him a few to recruit the members of their team. Salaries are questions and they report his answers below. They based on performance, ranging between typically are indeed refreshing and encouraging, offering 1.3 to 3.0 kUSD equivalent per month. They are good reasons to hope for significant progress in a made of three parts: the basic salary, the teaching not too distant future. salary (~650 USD equivalent per month), and a sum calculated using the Key Performance Index (KPI), depending on both quantity and quality of the research achievements. In addition to offering decent salaries, Phenikaa also provides adequate research conditions with proper equipment in terms of space, computing facilities, etc. Interestingly, a result is a more lively and dynamic scientific atmosphere. With decent working conditions, people are more open and more active; they often meet and discuss about science topics. This helped with broadening the scope of my research work in a positive way. In IOP, there were colleagues who were coming to VATLY: You have been working in Phenikaa for their office only once or twice a week: the some time now, can you tell us about your opportunities to meet and discuss were rare. I experience and how you assess the working must say that indeed, the atmosphere was not very conditions. lively. Here, we have students with whom to interact and work. I very much enjoy teaching; it PVD: When I was at IOP, we were a group of significantly enriches the research environment. researchers working on theoretical particle We also run regular group seminars, occasionally physics. We tried hard to grow but did not inviting outsiders to present their work. We also 21 o VN AE TW LS Y N 33. March 2021 take the initiative to invite experts from abroad to Of course, we are under pressure in private work with us, fully supporting the costs of travel universities: publish or perish… but this is all and accommodation. We can cover such expenses right, I think. In countries such as Korea or from an allocation of 170 kUSD equivalent for 3 Taiwan, professors and students have to work years, part of which is for equipment, but most of even harder than we have to. In some sense, such which is for organizing conferences, schools, pressure is also good at making people work more seminars, short visits, etc. In general, I am very efficiently. In Phenikaa, you have to fulfil your happy here, the problems that I had to face before target, namely to reach your KPI; this is the have been largely solved. mechanism used for selection. If I succeed, I will keep being supported; if I do not, I will have to VATLY: The Phenikaa policy, to give scientists accept less favourable conditions, or even to move more decent wages than the public sector does, elsewhere. seems to be starting to bear fruit: we see several young astrophysicists coming back home with the VATLY: Can you tell more about these “excellent intention to join Phenikaa; can you comment? research groups”? PVD: Salary is a key factor, and it pays to offer PVD: The requirements for becoming an decent salaries to scientists. Private universities “excellent group” are extremely strict. For receive their income from tuition fees and invest example, the team leader must have published part of it in basic research. In return, outcomes more than 25 ISI articles (Q1), must reach such as international publications and/or science sufficiently high levels for indicators such as the and technology applications bring them fame and H-index (>16), and must have experience in reputation: it helps them with climbing higher in building a research team. Once these groups are university ranking, which in turn makes them set up, they do research and develop following attract more students. The living cost in cities such specific directions. They may be asked to solve as Hanoi is rather high, especially when you have specific problems posed by the university. In the children; the salaries offered by Phenikaa are case of basic research, the only requirement is to sufficient to prevent scientists from distracting publish a sufficient number of articles at their mind away from their work. international level (ISI); in the case of applied Many young Vietnamese people presently research, finding solutions to specific problems working abroad have contacted me to join and contributing to technology transfer are also Phenikaa. We have to be selective and to make taken in due consideration. sure that the new recruit will be an asset for the As an “excellent group”, we must publish group. When I was in IOP, no one was applying to at least 5 Q1 articles per year (or 8 articles per join; just a few students where spending time with year of which 3 Q1 articles). As I said earlier, we us for their dissertations, but they left afterwards. are given a lump sum of ~170 kUSD equivalent to While now, people apply to join with the intention cover expenses other than salary over three years. to stay with us for a long time, it makes quite a We will continue to get such support as long as difference. we are proven to be efficient. We are also required Phenikaa is committed to support the to be at the top of our research field in Vietnam, to university for the first 10 years, after which time it guide our students in choosing their career and to should become autonomous. It will imply in contribute to outreach by disseminating particular, for the university to continue to support knowledge to the general public. basic research, to be able to attract students. Basic Recently our team has contributed to the research does not make money; it must rely on creation of a so-called “talented physics students” either state or private funding. At least, at the programme in Phenikaa. The idea is to react scale of our university, we do not suffer of the against the common tendency for the better heavy bureaucracy that prevails in the public students to choose to work in economics, finance, sector. marketing, etc. The students selected in the 22 o VN AE TW LS Y N 33. March 2021 programme will be exempted from paying a many developed countries, public and private tuition fee. sectors cohabit and there are very successful universities in each of them. VATLY: Could you comment on what it means Currently, in Vietnam, building a group is for you to build a research group, the advantages very difficult in the public sector; some scientists it offers and the difficulties that need to be faced? would like to, but they cannot. Budgets are too thin; salaries are not even sufficient for them to PVD: In my opinion, a group implies regular properly focus on their work; many need a second scientific communication and exchanges between job for subsisting; some rarely go to their work the members; it also means to publish some place and opportunities for exchanges and articles together. As a team, it is easier to progress collaboration are scarce. Moreover, many and improve the quality of what we achieve. For researchers lack the skills required for team this, we need to be enough: no one can do it alone. building. In foreign countries, scientists are better Training students at the same time as we do trained and more familiar with the scientific research is also very important. We are very active culture of working together. After having obtained in lecturing at the University and in supervising their doctor degree, they spend some time as students. Phenikaa welcomes good students, postdocs in a new environment and have a chance especially in science and technology, who wish to to build a team only after, once they have acquired study in research groups by offering them good enough experience and are appointed associate conditions, such as special allowances. Students professors. In Vietnam, those who come back are an important resource for a research team: if home after their PhD lack such experience. we cannot train students, we will be unable to The government needs to invest more for develop science in the country and reach science, and more efficiently: support needs to be international level. given to those who deserve it, on the basis of how I think that Phenikaa is doing quite well in well they perform. Who works better should be terms of team building. As I said earlier, team better paid. Such is not the case in the public leaders are recruited first and it is up to them to sector and the lack of a rational policy in the recruit the team members; they are held management of human resources discourages the responsible for the success or failure of the team. creation of research teams. An aim of Nafosted is If you work efficiently, you get more support and to support research groups, but in reality many the group can expand. project leaders are lonely birds, their collaborators We need support from the public sector, on the project exist only on paper. Nafosted both moral and material, and fortunately we do get should support project leaders to form research some. For example, we receive support from teams. If we were more serious about that, Nafosted in the form of project money that helps researchers would feel more encouraged to do so. with our development. We also enjoy support from our colleagues in the public sector, who are VATLY: The topics covered by your group happy to collaborate with us. Such positive include cosmology; how do you see its future in attitude is important to maintain a healthy Vietnam? scientific environment; it helps a lot with fostering the interest for science in general and for research PVD: Cosmology in Vietnam is currently at a in particular in the country, with promoting modest level and it is very difficult to recruit new collaborative effort and with increasing the students. I fear that there will not be much change number of research groups, which is currently in the next five to ten years. It is a sad fact that very low. better students do not opt for a career in basic In general, the development of the private research. We need to find a way to attract them. It sector does not meet any difficulty in its relation is also a sad fact that astronomy and astrophysics, with the public sector. I think that developing the while being one of the important majors in private sector is a natural and general trend: in developed countries, are simply ignored in 23 o VN AE TW LS Y N 33. March 2021 Vietnam. Not to mention the inaction of the living abroad, such as Ngo Bao Chau and Dam Vietnamese Astronomy Society. It would seem Thanh Son: one should encourage them to speak easy to react but in practice it turns out not to be, up and listen to their voices. there is a lot of inertia to fight against. We need to Here, at Phenikaa, we have a very efficient take the advice from competent scientists abroad scientific advisory board, that meets monthly and in order to better define our scientific priorities quarterly to review group activities. The and to better choose our key research committee members are the team leaders of the programmes. This is what other countries close to “excellent groups” and the department heads. us, such as Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, do. Occasionally, they seek advice from outsiders. There are many excellent Vietnamese scientists Distribution: Zamri Zainal Abidin, Elie Aslanides, Patrick Aurenche, Maarten Baes, Cristoforo Benvenuti, Jean Pierre Bibring, Pierre Billoir, Frederic Boone, Bui Duy Cam, Ludwik Celnikier, Catherine Cesarsky, Ngo Bao Chau, Pham Phuong Chi, Nguyen Duc Chien, Nguyen Mau Chung, Françoise Combes, Andrea Contin, Alain Cordier, Pierre Cox, Manoel Dialinas, Luigi Di Lella, Do Tien Dung, Phung Van Dong, Giap Van Duong, Anne Dutrey, John Ellis, Pierre Encrenaz, Roger Eychenne, David Flower, Jerome Friedmann, Daniel Froidevaux, Yoshitaka Fujita, Jose Gabriel Funes, Bertil Galland, Michèle Gerbaldi, Nguyen Van Giai, Fabiola Gianotti, Sheldon Glashow, Yannick Giraud-Héraud, Stéphane Guilloteau, Edward Guinan, Phung Ho Hai, Duong Ngoc Hai, Jacques Haïssinski, Chu Hao, Masahiko Hayashi, John Hearnshaw, Pham Duy Hien, Nguyen Trong Hien, Nguyen Van Hieu, Emmanuel Hinglais, Paul Ho, Nguyen Dai Hung, Nguyen Quang Hung, Fadi Ibrahim, Antonio Insolia, Phrudth Jaroenjittichai, Stavros Katsanevas, Le Hong Khiem, Dao Tien Khoa, Marc Lachièze-Rey, Nguyen Quynh Lan, Pham Tran Le, Thibaut Le Bertre, Luc Le Calvez, Chang Won Lee, Pierre Lena, Pierre Lesaffre, Di Li, Nguyen Van Lien, Alain Maestrini, Dinh Thi Mai Thanh, Hakim L Malasan, Grammenos Mastrojeni, Grant Mathews, Michel Mayor, Young Chol Minh, Do Van Nam, Pham Thi Thanh Nga, Phan Bao Ngoc, Sun Kun Oh, Wayne Orchiston, Etienne Parizot, Roser Pello, Denis Perret-Gallix, Guillaume Patanchon, Minh Ha Pham Delègue, Tran Dinh Phong, Bui Tran Phuong, Vu Viet Phuong, Nguyen Quan, Nguyen Luong Quang, Philippe Quentin, Louis Raymond, Jean-Michel Rieubland, Daniel Rouan, Carlo Rubbia, Etienne Saur, Kaz Sekiguchi, Rogel Mari Sese, Greg Snow, Dam Thanh Son, Do Hoang Son, Phan Hong Son, Boonrucksar Soonthornthum, Michel Spiro, Annick Suzor-Weiner, Tran Minh Tam, Charling Tao, Nguyen Thien Tao, Gerard ’t Hooft, Ngo Duc Thanh, Tran Chi Thanh, Hoang Chi Thiem, Samuel C.C. Ting, Tran The Trung, Dinh Van Trung, Hiroshi Tsunemi, Cao Anh Tuan, Nguyen Van Tuan, Pham Anh Tuan, Marcel Urban, Odon Vallet, Jean Tran Thanh Van, Jacco Van Loon, Suzy Vascotto, Sylvie Vauclair, Tini Veltman, Dang Van Viêt, Alan Watson, Joël Weisberg, Jan Martin Winters, Atsushi Yoshida, Antonino Zichichi, Albert Zijlstra. Contact: [email protected] The VATLY web site: https://vnsc.org.vn/dap 24 o VN AE TW LS Y N 33. March 2021 – PHOTO ALBUM – Round table on the occasion of the French translation Thai (first from right) and Ngoc (second from left), of the book of Vo Van Sung on his experience as together with the VNSC team, in the marathon race Ambassador of Vietnam in Paris. Facing us are organised by VAST. Nguyen Dy Nien, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, former Minister of Health and chair of the French-Vietnam Friendship Association. Pierre is on the right. Phung Van Dong and Tuan-Anh at Phenikaa University Visiting bac Pierre’s place on the occasion of Têt Hoai receiving flowers from VNSC director, Pham Anh Chau Giang, Hoang Chi Thiem’s new PhD student, Tuan, on the occasion of the International Women Day together with Phuong 25 o VN AE TW LS Y N 33. March 2021 Celebrating bac Pierre’s 83rd birthday Sharing the cake Having dinner with Thao Together with Pham Ngoc Dong, former VATLY member, after the end-of-year party A drawing offered as a gift to bac Pierre by The’s After lunch with Professor Marco Abbiati daughter on the occasion of Teacher’s Day 26 o VN AE TW LS Y N 33. March 2021 BISTRO collaboration portrait gallery 27