Please tell us a bit about yourself and your journal European Physical Journal B

My name is Eduardo Hernández, and I am a senior research scientist at the Madrid Materials Science Institute, belonging to CSIC, the Spanish National Research Centre. My expertise is in computational condensed matter and materials science. I have been a member of the Editorial Board of EPJB since 2008, and since 2018 I have been acting as Editor-in-Chief for the condensed matter section of the journal. 

EPJB came into being, together with other journals of the EPJ family, at the end of the 1990s, resulting from the merger of two long standing national journals, namely the French Journal de Physique and the German Zeitschrift für Physik. The ever more international character of science could no longer be represented by journals published by national societies, and the EPJ family of journals was the answer to that change. EPJB in particular is a journal that covers two broad topics, namely Condensed Matter Physics (including mesoscopic and nano-scale systems) and Statistical and Nonlinear Physics. 

Which topics feature in EPJB under the broad label of Quantum Materials?

Quantum Materials is a very broad topic in Condensed Matter Physics, generally encompassing any kind of phenomena that cannot be accounted for with a classic or semi-classic description. At some stage this essentially meant strongly correlated electron systems and superfluids, but nowadays it has grown to include many other examples, such as topological insulators, spin liquids, Dirac electron systems and many others. The common denominator between these seemingly different topics is the concept of “emergence”, namely the emergence of complex phenomena that cannot be accounted for by a simple “sum of the parts”; the complex behaviour of the whole results from the mutual interaction of the parts. 

Within the Solid State and Materials section EPJB has several subtopics under which papers on these kind of materials could fit. For example, there is a general heading of “Quantum solids and liquids”, but also more specific ones such as “Topological Insulators and Superconductors”, “Graphene and related materials”, “Strongly correlated electron systems”, “Cold atoms and quantum simulators”, “Quantum spin systems”, “Superconductivity”, “Quantum dots and wires”, “Quantum coherence”, etc. 

The EPJD Editorial Board includes expert representatives covering these topics, to ensure that authors submitting articles can be confident that their work is handled and assessed by peers working in closely related fields.

Do you see specific “hot” subjects emerging in the journal or in the field more generally?

It is always risky to make predictions about how a particular scientific field is going to evolve, and this is especially so in a dynamic field in which new discoveries are taking place almost on a daily basis. But from today’s perspective, there is great interest in moiré materials such as twisted bilayer graphene and twisted van der Waals materials (such as transition-metal dichalcogenides), quantum materials displaying Weyl or Dirac semimetal physics, strong light-matter interaction, quantum spin liquids, etc.

The journal regularly publishes Topical Issues focusing on emerging fields and hot topics; a good example in the realm of quantum materials is the recent issue on the Functional Renormalization Group Approach to Correlated Electron Systems, edited by Carsten Honerkamp, Dante Kennes, Volker Meden, Michael Scherer and Ronny Thomale.  

How does EPJB fit within the wider EPJ portfolio?

The EPJ family of journals tries to encompass the whole scope of Physics and beyond.  Our longest-standing titles cover the core fields - Nuclear Physics; AMO Physics; Applied Physics, etc.  The closely-linked fields of Condensed Matter Physics and Statistical Mechanics are two of these core areas, perhaps by volume the largest, in physics, and hence it is not surprising that they were selected as the scope of one of the main titles.  There is close interaction between the journals, with papers occasionally transferred to and from other titles such as EPJE (soft matter), EPJD (AMOP), and particularly EPJ Plus, our broad-scoped general physics journal. 

Why should authors consider submitting to EPJB?

Firstly, from an editorial perspective, we strive to offer a fast and fair publication process, overseen by our expert team of Associate Editors.  Papers published can expect high levels of visibility, and the journal benefits from a growing number of transformative agreements, allowing authors to publish their work under an Open Access model at no direct cost.

Personally, I think it is important that Europe and European scientists working in the different branches of Physics have a publishing venue in which to communicate the results of their research. Europe’s Physics community needs a strong, vibrant and relevant family of journals that is agile and capable of responding to changing times and the ever faster evolution of the field.  I believe EPJB and the wider EPJ list can meet that need.