1st Training School on Testing Fundamental Physics with Seismology

Sep 7, 2026, 8:00 AM → Sep 11, 2026, 5:30 PM Europe/Budapest

HUN-REN Balaton Limnological Research Institute

Gergely Barnafoldi (HUN-REN Wigner Reseach Centre for Physics), Anna Horváth, Máté Pszota (Wigner RCP, Eötvös University)

Recent advances have revealed deep links between fundamental physics and seismology, highlighting the potential of seismic and geophysical data to probe gravitational theories, particle physics, and the internal structure of the Earth and astrophysical objects. These interdisciplinary connections open new avenues for testing fundamental laws of nature using planetary-scale observables.

 

The "1st Training School on Testing Fundamental Physics with Seismology - FuSe School 2026" is the 1st Training School of the COST Action CA24101. It brings together researchers from fundamental physics, Earth sciences, and related fields to explore how seismic data can unveil new aspects of the universe. By bridging disciplines, the meeting aims to identify potential imprints of unknown physics in seismic phenomena while improving our understanding of the Earth itself. Through the integration of advanced methodologies — including Big Data analysis, machine learning, and AI — and collaboration with small and medium enterprises, FuSe also seeks to transform theoretical insights into practical applications.

 

The FuSe Training School 2026 offers a platform for scientists to exchange ideas, develop interdisciplinary strategies, and strengthen the connection between seismic research and the search for new physics.

 

List of the invited trainers:

Tomasz Bulik (Astronomical Observatory of University of Warsaw, Poland)

Andrea Donini (University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain)

Piotr Homola (The H. Niewodniczański Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland)

Petre Lameski (Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Skopje, North Macedonia)

Philippe Lognonné (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Université Paris Cité, France)

Livia Ludhova (GSI Darmstadt & Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, Germany)

Gergely Surányi (HUN-REN Wigner Reseach Centre for Physics, Budapest, Hungary)

Gergely Gábor Barnaföldi (HUN-REN Wigner Reseach Centre for Physics, Budapest, Hungary)

Registration closes on the 10^th of August. Applicants can expect to receive the results of support applications and registration decisions in the first half of August. 

 

This event is supported by FuSe COST Action CA24101 and the NKFIH Mecenatúra NKFIH MEC_26 154797 grant.

 

Local Organizing Committee: G. G. Barnaföldi (chair), I. Fazekas (secretary), G. Bíró, A. Horváth, E. Fenyvesi, L. Völgyesi, P. Ván, M. Pszota

Scientific Organizers: FuSe Core Group

 

 

Az elmúlt évek eredményei mélyreható kapcsolatokat tártak fel az alapvető fizika és a szeizmológia között, rámutatva arra, hogy a szeizmikus és geofizikai adatokban rejlő lehetőségek miként használhatók fel a gravitációs elméletek, a részecskefizika, valamint a Föld és az asztrofizikai objektumok belső szerkezetének vizsgálatára. Ezek az interdiszciplináris kapcsolatok új lehetőségeket nyitnak a természet alapvető törvényeinek bolygóméretű megfigyeléseken keresztül történő tesztelésére.

Az „1st Training School on Testing Fundamental Physics with Seismology – FuSe School 2026” a COST Action CA24101 első képzési iskolája. A rendezvény az alapvető fizikával, a földtudományokkal és kapcsolódó területekkel foglalkozó kutatókat hozza össze annak feltárására, hogy a szeizmikus adatok miként tárhatják fel az Univerzum új aspektusait. A különböző tudományterületek összekapcsolásával a találkozó célja egyrészt az ismeretlen fizika lehetséges lenyomatainak azonosítása a szeizmikus jelenségekben, másrészt magának a Földnek a jobb megértése. A fejlett módszertanok – többek között a Big Data elemzés, a gépi tanulás és a mesterséges intelligencia – alkalmazásával, valamint kis- és középvállalkozásokkal való együttműködés révén a FuSe arra is törekszik, hogy az elméleti felismeréseket gyakorlati alkalmazásokká alakítsa.

A FuSe Training School 2026 platformot biztosít a kutatók számára az ötletek és eredmények megosztására, interdiszciplináris kutatási stratégiák kidolgozására, valamint a szeizmológiai kutatások és az új fizikai jelenségek keresése közötti kapcsolat erősítésére.

A meghívott oktatók listája:

Tomasz Bulik (Varsói Egyetem Csillagászati Obszervatóriuma, Lengyelország)

Andrea Donini (Valenciai Egyetem, Valencia, Spanyolország)

Piotr Homola (Henryk Niewodniczański Nukleáris Fizikai Intézet, Lengyel Tudományos Akadémia, Krakkó, Lengyelország)

Petre Lameski (Számítástechnikai és Mérnöki Kar, Szkopjei Egyetem, Észak-Macedónia)

Philippe Lognonné (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Université Paris Cité, Franciaország)

Livia Ludhova (GSI Darmstadt és Johannes Gutenberg Egyetem, Mainz, Németország)

Gergely Surányi (HUN-REN Wigner Fizikai Kutatóközpont, Budapest, Magyarország)

Gergely Gábor Barnaföldi (HUN-REN Wigner Fizikai Kutatóközpont, Budapest, Magyarország)

A regisztráció augusztus 10-én zárul. A jelentkezők a támogatási kérelmek eredményéről és a regisztrációval kapcsolatos döntésről augusztus első felében kapnak értesítést.

A rendezvényt a FuSe COST Action CA24101, valamint az NKFIH Mecenatúra NKFIH MEC_26 154797 számú pályázata támogatja.

Helyi szervezőbizottság: Barnaföldi G. G. (elnök), Fazekas I. (titkár), Bíró G., Horváth A., Fenyvesi E., Völgyesi L., Ván P., Pszota M.

Tudományos szervezők: FuSe Core Group

Training School Hungary poster

Training School poster - printable

Mon, September 7

8:00 AM Breakfast

Opening

FuSeSchoolIntro@Tihany_2026.pdf

Plenary session

1 Neutrino Earth's Tomography

I will first review the basic characteristics of neutrinos as the only weakly-only interacting particles in the Standard Model, and the experimental results that show how neutrinos are indeed massive (thus introducing the need for some addition to the Standard Model itself to get their mass). I will then explain how we can use neutrinos to test the matter content of the Earth, either by measuring how many neutrinos are absorbed (tomography through neutrino absorption) or how many neutrinos of change flavour (tomography through neutrino oscillations) on their path from the source to the detector. Eventually, I will review the present status of the experimental measurements of the Earth's density using neutrinos. Some simple excersises will be carried on in the Hands-on session.

Speaker: Andrea Donini (Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular (CSIC/UV))

NeutrinoFUSE1_compressed.pdf

10:30 AM Coffee break

Hands-on session

2 Hands-on session - Neutrino Earth's Tomography

I will first review the basic characteristics of neutrinos as the only weakly-only interacting particles in the Standard Model, and the experimental results that show how neutrinos are indeed massive (thus introducing the need for some addition to the Standard Model itself to get their mass). I will then explain how we can use neutrinos to test the matter content of the Earth, either by measuring how many neutrinos are absorbed (tomography through neutrino absorption) or how many neutrinos of change flavour (tomography through neutrino oscillations) on their path from the source to the detector. Eventually, I will review the present status of the experimental measurements of the Earth's density using neutrinos. Some simple excersises will be carried on in the Hands-on session.

Speaker: Andrea Donini (Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular (CSIC/UV))

12:30 PM Lunch break

Plenary session

3 From black holes at the edge of the Universe to observatories underground: the gravitational wave detection tale

I will review the basics of gravitational wave astronomy, the detection of gravitational wave sources and how their parameters are inferred. The success of gravitational wave astronomy depends on very precise measurements and on quenching various noises. I will describe the noises and sketch the methods to mitigate them. The seismic noise is affecting modern interferometers at low frequencies. The Newtonian noise stems from the seismic noise and the acoustic noise. I will review these sources of the Newtonian noise and discuss the ways to reduce its implications.

Speaker: Tomasz Bulik (University of Warsaw)

Lecture-Mon-afternoon-Bulik.pdf

4:00 PM Coffee break

Hands-on session

4 Hands-on session - From black holes at the edge of the Universe to observatories underground: the gravitational wave detection tale

I will review the basics of gravitational wave astronomy, the detection of gravitational wave sources and how their parameters are inferred. The success of gravitational wave astronomy depends on very precise measurements and on quenching various noises. I will describe the noises and sketch the methods to mitigate them. The seismic noise is affecting modern interferometers at low frequencies. The Newtonian noise stems from the seismic noise and the acoustic noise. I will review these sources of the Newtonian noise and discuss the ways to reduce its implications.

Speaker: Tomasz Bulik (University of Warsaw)

6:00 PM Dinner and welcome reception

Tue, September 8

8:00 AM Breakfast

Plenary session

5 Astrophysical noise or Geophysics signal? The lunar seismicity and seismic noise .

Several future astrophysical projects are considering the Moon as a very stable place for highly sensitive measurements . This includes détection of Gravitationnal waves through the response of the Moon or through free fall strain measurements , détection of acoustic waves generated by highly energetic particules , including strange matter nuggets or large interferometric télescopes .

The Moon is however a seismically active body. We present the state of the art knowledge of lunar seismology which is today mostly resulting from the seismometers déployey by Apollo . We present both the results in term of seismicity and impacts rate, as well as in term of internal structure . We also present the key différences in term of wave propagations on the Moon .

We then review all sources of lunar ground noise , rank their contributions and propose mitigations when possible . We also review how near future decided lunar mission will improve our seismic understanding of the Moon .

We then conclude on the consequences of the lunar seismic noise for future GW détection projects .

Speaker: Philippe Lognonné (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Université Paris Cité, France)

10:30 AM Coffee break

Hands-on session

6 Hands-on session - Astrophysical noise or Geophysics signal? The lunar seismicity and seismic noise .

Several future astrophysical projects are considering the Moon as a very stable place for highly sensitive measurements . This includes détection of Gravitationnal waves through the response of the Moon or through free fall strain measurements , détection of acoustic waves generated by highly energetic particules , including strange matter nuggets or large interferometric télescopes .

The Moon is however a seismically active body. We present the state of the art knowledge of lunar seismology which is today mostly resulting from the seismometers déployey by Apollo . We present both the results in term of seismicity and impacts rate, as well as in term of internal structure . We also present the key différences in term of wave propagations on the Moon .

We then review all sources of lunar ground noise , rank their contributions and propose mitigations when possible . We also review how near future decided lunar mission will improve our seismic understanding of the Moon .

We then conclude on the consequences of the lunar seismic noise for future GW détection projects .

Speaker: Philippe Lognonné (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Université Paris Cité, France)

12:30 PM Lunch break

Plenary session

7 Cosmic muon tomography

Speaker: Dr Gergely Barnafoldi (HUN-REN Wigner Reseach Centre for Physics)

BarnafoldiGG-SuranyiGG_MT_2026.pdf

4:00 PM Coffee break

Poster session

6_Dzievisz_Flash_talk-FuSe.PDF

flash_talk.pdf

6:00 PM Dinner

Wed, September 9

8:00 AM Breakfast

Plenary session

8 The Basics of Seismics and Muography

This lecture provides an introduction to the fundamentals of seismic
exploration. Although seismics is definitely not the same as
seismology, the physical and geological principles are the same in
both fields; the only fundamental difference lies in the process by
which mechanical waves are generated. During the lecture, we will
briefly review the structure of the Earth, the different types of
waves, their propagation, and how they are detected.
In the second half of the lecture, I will briefly introduce the
basics of muography—an imaging technique based on the measurement of
the muon component of cosmic rays—as well as the measurement and data
processing methods and its potential applications.

Speaker: Gergely Surányi (HUN-REN Wigner R.C.P.)

10:30 AM Coffee break

Hands-on session

9 Hands-on session - The Basics of Seismics and Muography

This lecture provides an introduction to the fundamentals of seismic
exploration. Although seismics is definitely not the same as
seismology, the physical and geological principles are the same in
both fields; the only fundamental difference lies in the process by
which mechanical waves are generated. During the lecture, we will
briefly review the structure of the Earth, the different types of
waves, their propagation, and how they are detected.
In the second half of the lecture, I will briefly introduce the
basics of muography—an imaging technique based on the measurement of
the muon component of cosmic rays—as well as the measurement and data
processing methods and its potential applications.

Speaker: Gergely Surányi (HUN-REN Wigner R.C.P.)

12:30 PM Photo session

12:35 PM Lunch break

2:00 PM Excursion

6:00 PM Social dinner

Thu, September 10

8:00 AM Breakfast

Plenary session

10 Geo-neutrinos: a new tool to study the Earth.

Geoneutrinos are tiny particles produced by the radioactive decay chains of elements such as uranium and thorium inside the Earth. Although they interact only very weakly with matter, modern particle detectors can measure them, opening a unique window into the deep interior of our planet, most of which cannot be sampled directly. Their study connects particle physics and geoscience and can help answer important questions about the Earth’s formation, composition, and internal heat production.

Geoneutrinos were first detected by the KamLAND experiment in Japan and the Borexino experiment in Italy using large underground liquid-scintillator detectors. More recently, the SNO+ experiment in Canada also reported evidence for geoneutrinos. These measurements have constrained geological models of the Earth while demonstrating the challenges of detecting such rare signals. JUNO, which began taking data in China in August 2025, is expected to substantially increase global geoneutrino statistics thanks to its large target mass and excellent detector performance.

The 1.5-hour lecture will introduce the basic physics of neutrinos and geoneutrinos, explain how these elusive particles are detected, and show how particle-physics experiments can help us investigate the Earth’s interior. It will also review current experiments and future prospects. During the subsequent 1.5-hour hands-on session, participants will use illustrative examples and simple calculations to explore the relevant physical scales, learn the key principles of geoneutrino detection, and develop an intuitive sense of how geoneutrino analyses are performed and interpreted.

Speaker: Livia Ludhova (GSI and JGU Mainz, Germany)

Geonu_TihanyLudhova_2026_small.pdf

10:30 AM Coffee break

Hands-on session

11 Hands-on session - Geo-neutrinos: a new tool to study the Earth.

Geoneutrinos are tiny particles produced by the radioactive decay chains of elements such as uranium and thorium inside the Earth. Although they interact only very weakly with matter, modern particle detectors can measure them, opening a unique window into the deep interior of our planet, most of which cannot be sampled directly. Their study connects particle physics and geoscience and can help answer important questions about the Earth’s formation, composition, and internal heat production.

Geoneutrinos were first detected by the KamLAND experiment in Japan and the Borexino experiment in Italy using large underground liquid-scintillator detectors. More recently, the SNO+ experiment in Canada also reported evidence for geoneutrinos. These measurements have constrained geological models of the Earth while demonstrating the challenges of detecting such rare signals. JUNO, which began taking data in China in August 2025, is expected to substantially increase global geoneutrino statistics thanks to its large target mass and excellent detector performance.

The 1.5-hour lecture will introduce the basic physics of neutrinos and geoneutrinos, explain how these elusive particles are detected, and show how particle-physics experiments can help us investigate the Earth’s interior. It will also review current experiments and future prospects. During the subsequent 1.5-hour hands-on session, participants will use illustrative examples and simple calculations to explore the relevant physical scales, learn the key principles of geoneutrino detection, and develop an intuitive sense of how geoneutrino analyses are performed and interpreted.

Speaker: Livia Ludhova (GSI and JGU Mainz, Germany)

HandsOnGeonu-Problems.pdf

HandsOnGeonu-Solutions.pdf

12:30 PM Lunch break

2:00 PM Tudományos ismeretterjesztő előadás - Public outreach event

Plenary session

12 From Data to Scientific Evidence: Trustworthy and Explainable AI

The lecture covers the path from noisy data to scientifically defensible AI results, including signal-to-noise assessment, preprocessing, data leakage, validation, uncertainty, and reproducibility. It also presents explainable AI as a tool for auditing model behaviour while distinguishing model explanations from causal and scientific conclusions.

Speaker: Petre Lameski (Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Skopje, North Macedonia)

FUSE-Presentation-Lameski.pptx

4:00 PM Coffee break

Hands-on session

13 Hands-on session - From Data to Scientific Evidence: Trustworthy and Explainable AI

The lecture covers the path from noisy data to scientifically defensible AI results, including signal-to-noise assessment, preprocessing, data leakage, validation, uncertainty, and reproducibility. It also presents explainable AI as a tool for auditing model behaviour while distinguishing model explanations from causal and scientific conclusions.

Speaker: Petre Lameski (Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Skopje, North Macedonia)

01_demo_trustworthy_explainable_ai_noisy_signals.ipynb

Archive.zip

Reqs.txt

6:00 PM Dinner

Fri, September 11

8:00 AM Breakfast

Plenary session

14 What is behind the cosmo-seismic effect?

There is a statistically solid (on a six sigma level) correlation between the global seismic activity and changes in the intensity of cosmic radiation recorded at the surface of our planet, dubbed the cosmo-seismic effect (https://press.ifj.edu.pl/en/news/2023/06/14/). The relationship which has recently been found in public data by the Cosmic Ray Extremely Distributed Observatory (CREDO) Collaboration is physically intriguing: the available astrophysical and geophysical paradigms do not point to a plausible conventional scenario which would explain the phenomenon without an external steering factor capable of affecting both cosmic radiation, and seismicity. In the talk I’ll describe the key characteristics of the cosmo-seismic correlation, and highlight the main threads of the analysis oriented on possible physical interpretations. Since the phenomenon remains unexplained despite intense efforts, I’ll take the opportunity to consult the audience, counting particularly on your critical thinking skills (maybe there is a trivial explanation we fail to see), and open-mindedness (if the paradigms fail maybe we should think beyond). Who knows where this unexpected scientific adventure may lead.

Speaker: Piotr Homola (Institute of Nuclear Physics Polish Academy of Sciences)

Homola-Cosmo-Seismic-FuSe-Tihany-20260911.pdf

10:30 AM Coffee break

Hands-on session

15 Hands-on session - What is behind the cosmo-seismic effect?

There is a statistically solid (on a six sigma level) correlation between the global seismic activity and changes in the intensity of cosmic radiation recorded at the surface of our planet, dubbed the cosmo-seismic effect (https://press.ifj.edu.pl/en/news/2023/06/14/). The relationship which has recently been found in public data by the Cosmic Ray Extremely Distributed Observatory (CREDO) Collaboration is physically intriguing: the available astrophysical and geophysical paradigms do not point to a plausible conventional scenario which would explain the phenomenon without an external steering factor capable of affecting both cosmic radiation, and seismicity. In the talk I’ll describe the key characteristics of the cosmo-seismic correlation, and highlight the main threads of the analysis oriented on possible physical interpretations. Since the phenomenon remains unexplained despite intense efforts, I’ll take the opportunity to consult the audience, counting particularly on your critical thinking skills (maybe there is a trivial explanation we fail to see), and open-mindedness (if the paradigms fail maybe we should think beyond). Who knows where this unexpected scientific adventure may lead.

Speaker: Piotr Homola (Institute of Nuclear Physics Polish Academy of Sciences)

12:30 PM Lunch break

Closing remarks and awards

Plenary session: Roundtable discussion with early career researchers and innovators

4:00 PM Coffee break

Plenary session: Roundtable discussion with early career researchers and innovators