Monthly Archives: October 2017

Announcements

Psi-k Volker Heine Young Investigator Award 2018

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“For research excellence in all fields involving electronic structure calculations”

Young computational science researchers are invited to put themselves forward for the Psi-k Volker Heine Young Investigator Award 2018.  The finalists will compete at a special session of the joint EPS Condensed Matter Division and German Physical Society (CMD/DPG) Spring Meeting in Berlin, during March 11-16, 2018.

The Volker Heine Award session will be part of the Symposium:
Frontiers of Electronic Structure Theory: Correlated Electron Materials

Purpose: The purpose of the Psi-k Volker Heine Young Investigator Award is to recognize an individual for her or his outstanding computational work in any type of condensed-matter, materials, or nanoscience research involving electronic structure calculations. In 2018 there will be one award of 2500 Euro and four runner-up prizes of 500 Euro each. The prize is sponsored by npj Computational Materials.

Regulations and Procedure:

1) Applicants may be of any nationality working anywhere in the world.

2) The applicant’s PhD certificate must not be dated more than 5 years before the first day of the joint CMD/DPG – EPS Conference (March 11, 2018). Those who have not yet completed a PhD can also apply.

3) Young investigators who wish to compete for the Psi-k Volker Heine Young Investigator Award 2018 must submit:

  • abstract (in the format of the abstracts for the conference)
  • two-page description making the case for her/his outstanding scientific contribution
  • extended CV (incl. list of publications and talks/posters)
  • evidence of satisfying the conditions of regulation (2) above.

These items must be submitted by email, as a pdf attachment, to the chairperson of Psi-k whose address is given below. It must be received not later than December 1, 2017. The abstract must also be submitted as a regular contribution to the CMD/DPG Conference.

4) The candidate must arrange for two confidential support letters to be sent directly by to the Psi-k chairperson (see below). These letters (sent by email) need to be received before December 1, 2017. One of the letters must certify that the candidate meets the requirements of regulations (2) above.

5) The Psi-k Trustees will select five finalists who will get an invitation to present their work at the CMD/DPG Conference (25 min. talk + 5 min. discussion). After these presentations, the award committee will select the award winner.

6) The award winner will receive her or his award of 2500 Euro and the four runner-up their prizes of 500 Euro each, together with a certificate, at a presentation on the Psi-k Scientific Get-Together during the conference.

Award Committee: The award committee will consist of selected invited speakers of the CMD/DPG Conference and three members of the Psi-k Trustees.

Risto Nieminen
Psi-k Chairman
[email protected]

Reports

Scientific report of the international workshop on ‘New challenges in Reduced Density Matrix Functional Theory: Symmetries, time-evolution and entanglement’

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Group photo.
CECAM-HQ-EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland, 26-29 September 2017

Organizers:  Carlos L. Benavides-Riveros (Martin-Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany), E. K. U. Gross (Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Germany), Miguel A. L. Marques (Martin-Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany), and Christian Schilling (University of Oxford, United Kingdom).

Sponsors:  CECAM, Psi-k and Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics.

Summary

This international workshop discussed and explored new aspects and challenges in Reduced Density Matrix Functional Theory (RDMFT). The main aim was to bring together leading experts in the field to address and carefully discuss open challenges in RDMFT such as implementations of 1-particle symmetries, extensions to open-shell atoms and molecules, time-evolution, temperature dependency and new insights about RDMFT from recent progress on the 1- and 2-body N-representability problems and density matrix renormalization group. The list of speakers was carefully chosen to include experts in various disciplines required for the accomplishment of the proposed scientific program. To maximize the success of the workshop, we asked all speakers to provide rather informal and interactive presentations. We also asked them to share their slides and other supplemental materials with all the participants in advance, allowing them to prepare the workshop accordingly. This ‘homework’ enabled not only fruitful and stimulating scientific discussions, but also more involved questions. Continue reading Scientific report of the international workshop on ‘New challenges in Reduced Density Matrix Functional Theory: Symmetries, time-evolution and entanglement’ →

Reports

SCIENTIFIC REPORT ON THE WORKSHOP ON “UNDERSTANDING QUANTUM PHENOMENA WITH PATH INTEGRALS: FROM CHEMICAL SYSTEMS TO QUANTUM FLUIDS AND SOLIDS”

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Location: Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste (Italy), 3-7 July 2017

Organizers:  David M. Ceperley (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign); Michele Ceriotti (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne); Thomas E. Markland (Stanford University).

Local Organizers: Ali Hassanali (The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics); Sebastiano Pilati (University of Padova).

Group photo of the Workshop on “Understanding Quantum Phenomena with Path Integrals: from Chemical Systems to Quantum Fluids and Solids”, ICTP – Trieste, July 2017

 

Summary

The main goal of this interdisciplinary workshop was to gather together physicists and chemists who employ computer-simulation methods based on path integrals to investigate different systems, ranging from chemical and biochemical compounds, to quantum fluids/solids, to ultracold gases. This event allowed a broad community of researchers to create a platform for exchanging knowledge and know-how on path-integral technology and on other approaches to the combined quantum simulation of electrons and nuclei. Furthermore, speakers had the opportunity to showcase the most recent applications to various intriguing quantum phenomena, including, e.g., isotope effects in aqueous systems, quantum fluctuations in enzyme catalysis, quantum phase transitions due to strong correlations, and tunnelling phenomena in molecular systems and in adiabatic quantum computers (alias quantum annealers), thus creating a new bridge between quantum chemistry and quantum computing.

This event took place at the ICTP Adriatico Guesthouse, in a warm and sunny Trieste, allowing participants to enjoy the view of the Adriatic sea and the Miramare park. The format included 24 (long) oral presentations given by invited speakers, 7 short talks selected from contributed abstracts, 21 flash presentations (meant to advertise the content of a poster), and a total of 24 poster presentations. The workshop was attended by a total of 80 participants (including directors and speakers) from 29 countries.

This event has been sponsored by ICTP and by the Psi-k Network.

Continue reading SCIENTIFIC REPORT ON THE WORKSHOP ON “UNDERSTANDING QUANTUM PHENOMENA WITH PATH INTEGRALS: FROM CHEMICAL SYSTEMS TO QUANTUM FLUIDS AND SOLIDS” →