Foundations of nonequilibrium statistical physics

E-book

Michal Jaščur

This monograph is devoted to the discussion of effective field theory based on the differential operator method, originally introduced by Honmura and Kaneyoshi in 1979, which remains actively used for theoretical studies of localized spin models of magnetism—particularly variants of the Ising model. To date, this methodology has been applied by numerous authors to investigate a wide range of systems, including crystalline systems, diluted magnetic systems, systems with random exchange interactions, amorphous magnetic materials, systems under random magnetic and crystalline fields, thin magnetic layers, magnetic systems with free surfaces, binary and ternary magnetic alloys, among others.

During my scientific career, I have collaborated with several leading experts in this field—including Prof. Kaneyoshi, with whom I completed two long-term research stays—to advance the development of the differential operator method (and consequently effective field theory). Within this research area, I have published over 40 scientific papers in prominent international physics journals. These works include both methodological advancements and significant applications that predict intriguing physical phenomena, such as multicompensation phenomena in ferrimagnets.

Download the e-book for free

E-book

Natália Raschmanová - Ľubomír Kováč

The text summarizes the basic knowledge about the functioning of the soil ecosystem with a focus on soil protists and dominant groups of soil animals. Characteristics of each soil animal group include basic morphology, ecology, distribution, population dynamics and their importance in the soil ecosystem. The aim of the text is to gain a basic understanding of the diversity and interactions of soil fauna with the soil environment. It deals with the ecological classification of soil fauna on the basis of body size, presence in the soil during the life cycle, food preference and by locomotion. It highlights important morphological and ecophysiological adaptations of soil fauna to physical and chemical environmental factors. The text also gives an overview of the basic methods in the field collection of soil fauna and their extraction from soil samples under laboratory conditions. It further informs on the method of taxonomic identification and ecological evaluation of soil fauna communities. Discusses the soil fauna of different types of ecosystems. It highlights the differences in soil fauna communities that inhabit grassland and forest habitats, and agricultural soils. This teaching material is intended for students in biology degree programmes.

Download the e-book for free (pdf)

E-book

Katarína Cechlárová (ed.)

This year, the Student Scientific Conference was held on April 24, 2019, across 17 sections in disciplines such as biology and ecology, chemistry, physics, geography, mathematics, informatics, and their didactics. Bachelor’s and master’s students presented a total of 124 contributions. The most successful participants advanced to national or traditional Czech-Slovak student scientific showcases in fields like physics, chemistry, mathematics, informatics, and mathematics didactics.

In addition to faculty students, 10 high school students participated outside the competition. They were invited based on their achievements in subject-specific Olympiads or because they were already engaged with the faculty under the guidance of dedicated teachers in laboratory work as part of their preparation for future studies. The day also featured a programming competition with 23 participants, an IHRA contest involving 16 teams of high school students and 15 teams from elementary schools, and a new Puzzle section where 72 high school students from the region competed.

The abstracts from the Student Scientific Conference demonstrate that our faculty's students not only absorb theoretical knowledge delivered in lectures but also actively engage in solving partial scientific problems that align with research objectives at the institutes of PF UPJŠ. This collection serves as both a record of scientific activity at the faculty and a dignified presentation for the broader public.

Prof. RNDr. Katarína Cechlárová, DrSc.

Vice-Dean for Education

Doc. RNDr. Gabriel Semanišin, PhD.

Dean of the Faculty

Download the e-book for free  (pdf)

E-book

Gabriel Semanišin - Emil Hutňan - Jana Oleničová

The proceedings contain contributions from participants of the UNIFOS 2014 conference, University Information Systems in Košice, which took place from October 27 to 29, 2014.

ICT centers are important element that provide functioning and development hardware and software infrastructure at Slovak Universities. There are more differences between them in real position, management, personal sources and financing. ICT centers provide a wide range of services to large number of university users and they implement the policy of information security recently.

Download the e-book for free (pdf)

E-book

Mária Ganajová

The current teaching of chemistry has its specific problems. On one hand, due to the shift of the focus of chemistry curriculum towards theoretical content, the difficulty of chemistry material has increased, and in connection with this, students' interest in chemistry has decreased.

The lack of student interest in chemistry is mostly supported by the opinion that it is precisely chemistry that significantly contributes to the deterioration of environmental quality. On the other hand, we live in an era where we encounter chemical products practically everywhere. It is necessary to learn the basics of chemistry as well as possible, which makes the question of increasing interest in chemistry education and improving its effectiveness very relevant. State educational programs have been introduced into Slovak schools as a foundation for the creation of school educational programs. These emphasize not only acquiring a certain amount of knowledge but also the development and enhancement of key and specific competencies of students, preparing them for lifelong learning and their application in life.

Therefore, increasing attention is being paid to one of the fundamental didactic tools for raising student activity in teaching, and thus improving the effectiveness of chemistry education – learning tasks. From both theory and practice of chemistry teaching, we know that learning tasks, questions, examples, exercises, etc., are among the important components of every teaching lesson. Learning tasks are applied in all phases of teaching – in the motivational phase, the phase of acquiring knowledge, the phase of consolidating knowledge, and the phase of checking the acquired knowledge. It is therefore clear that every teacher will sooner or later find themselves in a situation where they will have to select learning tasks from textbooks, workbooks, collections of problems and examples, or create them themselves.

This scientific monograph is intended for educational specialists and chemistry teachers, aiming to familiarize them with examples of various types and forms of learning tasks and the basics of their creation in chemistry. It can also be helpful for them in preparing certification works focused on test creation and their statistical evaluation.

Download the e-book for free (pdf)

E-book

Monika Balogová - Viktória Vargová - Kristián Gulyás -Dalibor Uhrovič -Marcel Uhrin

A peer-reviewed publication dealing with the biology and ecology of the European green toad, bringing new findings through scientific research on the roosting ecology, spatial activity and dispersal of this protected species in urban environments. The subject matter of this publication is highly topical, as amphibians represent the most threatened vertebrate group in the world. This work is suitable not only for university students interested in batrachology, amphibian ecology, and vertebrate zoology, but also for conservation workers, municipalities, and specialists directly involved in the reconstruction of urban areas with green toads. Last but not least, this publication is suitable for enthusiasts with an interest in nature and its conservation.

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E-book

Vladimír Sedlák

In the presented university textbooks, so-called satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS, from the English Satellite Based Augmentation Systems, in Slovak Systémy rozširujúce základné satelitné systémy) are also discussed. These systems enhance, expand, or refine the basic satellite navigation systems. They are supportive satellite systems for GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems). Currently, the long-operational American GPS and Russian GLONASS systems, as well as the partially operational European Galileo system (since December 2016), have and will continue to have broad applications in various fields of human activity, both professional and personal.

The university textbook Globálne navigačné satelitné systémy (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) reflects the current progressive development in the technological and instrumental principles and components of such satellite navigation systems. It presents the state of these satellite technologies from their historical origins and development to the present. The rapid advancements, particularly in the instrumental base of satellite navigation systems, will require updates on their current state in future editions of these university textbooks.

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E-book

Stela Csachová - Ján Kaňuk - Alena Gessert - Ladislav Novotný - Štefan Gábor - Jozef Šupinský

This book addressed the inquiry-based learning and teaching with the support of geospatial technologies. Today, geospatial technologies are influencing geography teaching learning, particularly in secondary education. Theoretical framework gives the reader the insight to inquiry-based learning, with special focus on inquiry in geography. The one-by-one step of inquiry is analysed in detail. The major part of the book presents the eleven models of geography lessons, representing the subject content of physical, human and regional geographies, various levels of inquiry and use of different geospatial technologies. The readers are acquainted with the use of geographic information system (particularly Google Earth and ArcGIS online), web portals, webGIS, open data, mobile applications and new forms of 3D cartographic visualisation (virtual reality, 3D print, dynamic 3D map) in teaching geography. The lesson models were tested with the students to be geography teachers in school year 2021/2022. This books serves as resource mainly for undergraduate teacher students and in-service geography teachers.

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E-book

Vladimír Zeleňák (ed.)

Proceedings of Abstracts of the Student Scientific Conference of the Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice

A characteristic feature of education at high-quality universities — among which the Faculty of Science at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University (UPJŠ) in Košice proudly belongs — is the close connection between education and scientific research. Students gain knowledge in their field of study not only through theoretical coursework in individual disciplines, but also through active involvement in solving specific scientific tasks as part of research teams. This can occur during the development of final theses or through participation in the Student Research Assistant Program (ŠPVS), which was revitalized at the faculty in 2015.

The Student Scientific Conference (ŠVK) is one of the faculty’s traditional events, organized during the Faculty’s Science Days as part of Sciencefest. By its very nature, it fits seamlessly into the aforementioned framework of combining education with research, and it has long enjoyed great popularity and student interest. In 2016, the conference featured presentations by 125 students of the Faculty of Science at UPJŠ in Košice, across 16 thematic sections. This collection of abstracts provides an overview of the focus and goals of the student projects. We believe it will serve as inspiration for other potential participants of future conferences and will also be of interest to the broader public, offering additional insight into the faculty's activities.

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E-book

Valéria Skřivánková - Martina Hančová

The publication is focused on discrete random processes, primarily on Markov chains, which have wide application in the field of economics and finance.

The textbook is divided into five chapters, the first of which serves as an introduction to random processes and provides definition, properties and classification of random processes in general. The second chapter discusses Markov chains with discrete time, including valuation of transitions between states and their optimal management. The third chapter focuses on special Markov chains with continuous time and emphasizes construction and solution to the system of Kolmogorov differential equations, which describe the dynamics of the process development. The last two chapters illustrate applications of Markov chains using examples of queuing system modeling and renewal theory.

Besides the explanation of basic terms, definitions and theorems with proofs, this textbook also provides number of solved examples to illustrate the discussed theory. Problem assignments are placed at the end of each chapter, so that readers can test their understanding of the content as they progress through the book. Solutions to all the problems and the list of references are provided at the end of the publication.

This textbook is primarily intented for students majoring in Economics and Financial Mathematics at the Faculty of Science of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, and it covers content of the course “Random Proceses 1“ thought there. It might however serve also students from other schools in similar progams or professionals interested in this topic.

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E-book

Jana Shepa (ed.)

The book of abstracts from 7th International Conference on Novel Materials: Fundamentals and Applications, NFA 2023 is composed of contributions from the participants of this international conference. The conference consisted of 3 invited lecture and 40 abstracts of participants. The conference is focused on novel materials and its application in various research areas. All contributions are professionally processed and inspiring.

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E-book

Michal Jaščur - Michal Hnatič

This textbook covers the fundamentals of phenomenological thermodynamics to the extent typically taught in standard theoretical physics courses at the undergraduate level in the Physics degree program. A slightly reduced scope is also taught in all interdisciplinary study programs combined with physics. In recent years, the time allocation for individual courses has been slightly reduced, which is reflected in our selection and coverage of topics.

Our primary aim was to provide a sufficiently solid explanation of the key concepts and laws of thermodynamics necessary for mastering further theoretical physics courses at the master's level (e.g., Statistical Physics, Condensed Matter Physics, Quantum Theory of Solids, Quantum Theory of Magnetism, etc.). The book also presents the essential minimum knowledge required for the study of further applications of thermodynamics in biophysics, biology, chemistry, and engineering disciplines.

Understanding individual sections, as well as the text as a whole, requires a grasp of the basic concepts of thermodynamics at the level of a General Physics course and knowledge equivalent to a standard university mathematics course. Each topic is treated with the utmost emphasis on conceptual clarity and mathematical rigor.

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Adriana Zeleňáková

Magnetic nanoparticles are extremely interesting magnetic objects that still hide much that is undiscovered, both because of their physical properties and because of their diverse applications. Iron nanoparticles, or iron oxides, are used in medical diagnostics for magnetic resonance imaging, in the treatment of hyperthermia, and an important application is the use of magnetic particles for targeted drug delivery.

The textbook "Magnetic Nanoparticles: Nanomagnetism, Preparation and Advanced Applications" is intended primarily for students of the Master's programme in Physics and students of related disciplines at universities and faculties with a physical, chemical, metallurgical and biophysical focus. The motivation for writing this textbook was to develop study material that would contribute to improving the quality of teaching in the profile subject Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology at the Institute of Physical, Faculty of Sciences, UPJŠ, in the Master's programme Condensed Matter Physics, as well as in the profile subject in the PhD programme Advanced Materials.

The university textbook is divided into eight chapters. The first and second chapters are devoted to basic information about magnetism, the origin of nanomagnetism in nanoparticles and surface phenomena. The third and fourth chapters are devoted to nanomagnetism in nanoparticle systems. The fifth chapter describes in detail individual protocols for investigating the phenomenon of superparamagnetism and the phenomenon of superspin glass using the SQUID device. The sixth chapter describes individual procedures for the preparation of magnetic nanoparticles and the seventh chapter describes individual experimental techniques for the study of magnetic nanoparticles. The final eighth chapter describes the applications of nanoparticles in biomedicine.

During the writing of this textbook, the chapters were prepared using the foreign-language specialist literature listed in the recommended reading list.

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E-book

Martin Orendáč

The textbook is designed to prepare students who will engage in the experimental study of the properties of condensed matter. It demonstrates that a contemporary experimental physicist must not only possess sufficiently detailed knowledge of the physical processes occurring within the object under study but also understand the methods for creating the experimental conditions in which the experiment is conducted. Active knowledge of the functioning of the entire experimental setup can be of fundamental importance in the implementation or potential modification of the measurement methodology used.

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 Ľubomír Panigaj - Peter Ľuptáčik 

(Náčrt systému a fylogenézy)

Učebný text je primárne určený pre študentov jednoodborového štúdia biológie a všeobecnej ekológie, ako aj odborom učiteľského štúdia v rôznych kombináciách s biológiou. Venuje sa v nich opisu jednotlivých skupín živočíchov, ich morfológiu a anatómiu ilustruje na obrazových materiáloch. K jednotlivým morfologickým a anatomickým štruktúram sa v texte nevyjadrujeme podrobnejšie, nakoľko text nadväzuje na predmet Porovnávacia morfológia živočíchov, kde na úrovni organológie boli tieto najvýznamnejšie štruktúry v rámci prednášok a cvičení detailne vysvetlené a opísané. Rozsah učebného textu nie je veľký, podávame v ňom základné minimum poznatkov, čo je podmienené jednak rozsahom predmetu, ktorý je len jednosemestrový, jednak tým, že ďalšie, špecializované predmety rozširujú spektrum poznatkov napr. na úrovni entomológie, hydrobiológie alebo pôdnej biológie. V zavere niektorých kapitol formulujeme niekoľko cvičných otázok, ktoré si študenti môžu na základe predchádzajúceho textu zodpovedať, s podobnými otázkami sa totiž môžu stretnúť na skúške alebo na štátniciach.

Autori

Valéria Skřivánková 

Predložený učebný text sa pokúša ilustrovať možné aplikácie Teórie pravdepodobnosti na príkladoch z oblastí (vo fyzike, chémii,  biológii, ekonomike, finančníctve, atď.), ktoré sú spestrené o úlohy na hľadanie optimálnej stratégie.

Text je určený predovšetkým poslucháčom Prírodovedeckej fakulty UPJŠ, budúcim učiteľom matematiky, študentom odboru matematika a informatika prípadne iným záujemcom, ktorí budú aplikovať pravdepodobnostné metódy pri riešení reálnych problémov. Obsahom pokrýva prvú časť predmetu "Pravdepodobnosť a štatistika".

Autorka

E-book

Michal Jaščur

This monograph is devoted to the discussion of effective field theory based on the differential operator method, originally introduced by Honmura and Kaneyoshi in 1979, which remains actively used for theoretical studies of localized spin models of magnetism—particularly variants of the Ising model. To date, this methodology has been applied by numerous authors to investigate a wide range of systems, including crystalline systems, diluted magnetic systems, systems with random exchange interactions, amorphous magnetic materials, systems under random magnetic and crystalline fields, thin magnetic layers, magnetic systems with free surfaces, binary and ternary magnetic alloys, among others.

During my scientific career, I have collaborated with several leading experts in this field—including Prof. Kaneyoshi, with whom I completed two long-term research stays—to advance the development of the differential operator method (and consequently effective field theory). Within this research area, I have published over 40 scientific papers in prominent international physics journals. These works include both methodological advancements and significant applications that predict intriguing physical phenomena, such as multicompensation phenomena in ferrimagnets.

Download the e-book for free

E-book

Natália Raschmanová - Ľubomír Kováč

The text summarizes the basic knowledge about the functioning of the soil ecosystem with a focus on soil protists and dominant groups of soil animals. Characteristics of each soil animal group include basic morphology, ecology, distribution, population dynamics and their importance in the soil ecosystem. The aim of the text is to gain a basic understanding of the diversity and interactions of soil fauna with the soil environment. It deals with the ecological classification of soil fauna on the basis of body size, presence in the soil during the life cycle, food preference and by locomotion. It highlights important morphological and ecophysiological adaptations of soil fauna to physical and chemical environmental factors. The text also gives an overview of the basic methods in the field collection of soil fauna and their extraction from soil samples under laboratory conditions. It further informs on the method of taxonomic identification and ecological evaluation of soil fauna communities. Discusses the soil fauna of different types of ecosystems. It highlights the differences in soil fauna communities that inhabit grassland and forest habitats, and agricultural soils. This teaching material is intended for students in biology degree programmes.

Download the e-book for free (pdf)

E-book

Katarína Cechlárová (ed.)

This year, the Student Scientific Conference was held on April 24, 2019, across 17 sections in disciplines such as biology and ecology, chemistry, physics, geography, mathematics, informatics, and their didactics. Bachelor’s and master’s students presented a total of 124 contributions. The most successful participants advanced to national or traditional Czech-Slovak student scientific showcases in fields like physics, chemistry, mathematics, informatics, and mathematics didactics.

In addition to faculty students, 10 high school students participated outside the competition. They were invited based on their achievements in subject-specific Olympiads or because they were already engaged with the faculty under the guidance of dedicated teachers in laboratory work as part of their preparation for future studies. The day also featured a programming competition with 23 participants, an IHRA contest involving 16 teams of high school students and 15 teams from elementary schools, and a new Puzzle section where 72 high school students from the region competed.

The abstracts from the Student Scientific Conference demonstrate that our faculty's students not only absorb theoretical knowledge delivered in lectures but also actively engage in solving partial scientific problems that align with research objectives at the institutes of PF UPJŠ. This collection serves as both a record of scientific activity at the faculty and a dignified presentation for the broader public.

Prof. RNDr. Katarína Cechlárová, DrSc.

Vice-Dean for Education

Doc. RNDr. Gabriel Semanišin, PhD.

Dean of the Faculty

Download the e-book for free  (pdf)

E-book

Gabriel Semanišin - Emil Hutňan - Jana Oleničová

The proceedings contain contributions from participants of the UNIFOS 2014 conference, University Information Systems in Košice, which took place from October 27 to 29, 2014.

ICT centers are important element that provide functioning and development hardware and software infrastructure at Slovak Universities. There are more differences between them in real position, management, personal sources and financing. ICT centers provide a wide range of services to large number of university users and they implement the policy of information security recently.

Download the e-book for free (pdf)

E-book

Mária Ganajová

The current teaching of chemistry has its specific problems. On one hand, due to the shift of the focus of chemistry curriculum towards theoretical content, the difficulty of chemistry material has increased, and in connection with this, students' interest in chemistry has decreased.

The lack of student interest in chemistry is mostly supported by the opinion that it is precisely chemistry that significantly contributes to the deterioration of environmental quality. On the other hand, we live in an era where we encounter chemical products practically everywhere. It is necessary to learn the basics of chemistry as well as possible, which makes the question of increasing interest in chemistry education and improving its effectiveness very relevant. State educational programs have been introduced into Slovak schools as a foundation for the creation of school educational programs. These emphasize not only acquiring a certain amount of knowledge but also the development and enhancement of key and specific competencies of students, preparing them for lifelong learning and their application in life.

Therefore, increasing attention is being paid to one of the fundamental didactic tools for raising student activity in teaching, and thus improving the effectiveness of chemistry education – learning tasks. From both theory and practice of chemistry teaching, we know that learning tasks, questions, examples, exercises, etc., are among the important components of every teaching lesson. Learning tasks are applied in all phases of teaching – in the motivational phase, the phase of acquiring knowledge, the phase of consolidating knowledge, and the phase of checking the acquired knowledge. It is therefore clear that every teacher will sooner or later find themselves in a situation where they will have to select learning tasks from textbooks, workbooks, collections of problems and examples, or create them themselves.

This scientific monograph is intended for educational specialists and chemistry teachers, aiming to familiarize them with examples of various types and forms of learning tasks and the basics of their creation in chemistry. It can also be helpful for them in preparing certification works focused on test creation and their statistical evaluation.

Download the e-book for free (pdf)