I learned from Daniela the barmaid that the old people were saying it was the worst summer weather in Tuscany since 1915. Surely they weren’t so old that they would actually remember? Well, round here you never know — they might be — and despite the rain, almost a hundred years later forty-six people have gathered in Vallico Sotto to attend the ninth “Quantum Monte Carlo in the Apuan Alps” international workshop. From the 26th of July to the 2nd of August 2014 our resident physicists and chemists spent each morning listening to talks on quantum Monte Carlo and related computational electronic structure methods, followed by afternoons that were often full of mountain walking, caving, canyoning and other activities but — for pretty much the first time ever in history of events at TTI — were equally often cancelled because of the appalling weather.
A great deal of interesting science was presented and discussed at the meeting, and much of this is summarized in the scientific report further down this page. I think it’s now clear to most people that the quantum Monte Carlo method is continuing to grow in utility and importance, and for those with a big enough computer it self-evidently ought to be the method of choice for highly accurate benchmark quantum-mechanical calculations of molecules and materials — certainly those with more than a few atoms.
