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Report for the workshop “Astrochemistry meets Surface Science: Theoretical Frontiers”

Scientific Report for the workshop “Astrochemistry meets Surface Science: Theoretical Frontiers”

April 5th – 8th 2022

Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Aarhus University, Denmark

Objectives:

The goal of the workshop was to bring closer together the research communities of theoretical Astrochemistry and theoretical (under Earth conditions) Surface Science. These two fields often address very similar questions, while using the exact same techniques and methodologies (e.g. electronic structure methods such as density functional theory, molecular dynamics or kinetic Monte Carlo simulations). And yet, despite these similarities, a noticeable communication gap exists between the two communities. Our multidisciplinary workshop aimed to bridge this gap and help establish new networking and collaboration ties between these fields.

The workshop covered a broad range of topics ranging from surface reaction networks and kinetic models to the characterization of interstellar ices and questions of energy dissipation and heat transport. In parallel to the underlying scientific questions, special focus was placed on theoretical and methodological aspects, as well as computational and numerical tools that are used in either one or both of the fields of astrochemistry and Earth-related surface science.

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