Objectives:
The aim of the school was to give a comprehensive introduction to the theoretical and practical aspects of the electronic excitations that are probed by experimental techniques such as optical absorption, EELS and photoemission (direct or inverse). From a theoretical perspective, excitations and excited state properties are out of the reach of density-functional theory (DFT), which is a ground-state theory. Over the past three decades, alternative ab-initio theories and frameworks capable of describing electronic excitations and spectroscopy, have gained popularity including time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) and many-body perturbation theory (MBPT) or Green’s function theory (GW approximation and Bethe-Salpeter equation BSE). In fact, computational solutions and codes have been developed to implement these theories and to provide tools to calculate excited state properties. The present school focused on these points, covering theoretical, practical, and also numerical aspects of TDDFT and MBPT, non-linear response and real-time spectroscopies. Additionally, the school provided valuable insights from an experimental perspective on spectroscopies and magnetic excitations, rarely covered in similar events. Finally, a large part of the school was devoted to getting familiar with the codes that implement such theories (ABINIT, 2Light, Lumen, DP, and EXC). Continue reading Report for Theoretical Spectroscopy Lectures 2024
CECAM Flagship Workshop: Electronic Structure Software Development: Advancing the Modular Paradigm
CECAM Flagship Workshop: Electronic Structure Software Development: Advancing the Modular Paradigm
Held at CECAM-HQ, EPFL, Lausanne, February 19-24, 2024
This workshop continues the successful trajectory of the CECAM Electronic Structure Library initiative, aimed at supporting and connecting developers of shared libraries and software tools in support of electronic structure simulations across our entire community. As always, CECAM’s professionalism and remarkable organization, as well as their truly welcoming hospitality, deserve the highest praise.
Background
Shared computational libraries that provide key functionality are now firmly established parts of the electronic structure software ecosystem. As electronic structure methods and codes diversify and mature, the development of libraries strengthens collaborations and avoids reimplementing the same methods in the context of a different, monolithic code. Over the years, a modular paradigm has emerged in which central pieces can be shared and reused between different projects. Continue reading CECAM Flagship Workshop: Electronic Structure Software Development: Advancing the Modular Paradigm
LOBSTER School on Chemical Bonding Analysis
The LOBSTER School on Chemical Bonding Analysis took place at Aalto University, Finland on 12-14 March 2024 and gathered over 30 participants. The purpose of the School was to introduce the theory and practicalities, as well as recent developments on both, behind the LOBSTER code. LOBSTER is a popular code that allows the user to perform “electronic structure reconstruction” in terms of localized projections of plane-wave-based wavefunctions, allowing a quantitative interpretation of the nature of chemical bonding in solids.
Continue reading LOBSTER School on Chemical Bonding Analysis
2024 Psi-k Funded Workshops Poster
CECAM/Psi-k Flagship School on Machine Learning Interatomic Potentials for Young and Early-Career Researchers (ML-IP 2023)
Machine learning interatomic potentials (ML-IPs) have now established themselves as a key technique in atomistic modeling. They allow the simulation of many diverse types of systems, from the molecular to the solid state, at the accuracy of highly sophisticated electronic structure methods but at a greatly reduced cost. While the general methodology of training and validating a machine learning potential has been well established, many codes and integrated software applications exist to perform these tasks. Since many of these come with a high entry barrier, there is still a need to educate young and early-career researchers in these tasks, as well as provide a pathway to enter the field and make valuable contributions for researchers who have promising ideas that could benefit from the application of ML-IPs.
Quantum Monte Carlo HPC Applications in Condensed Matter, Quantum Chemistry and Materials Science 25 January 2024 | 09:30 -12:30 CET
Join us for a deep dive into the cutting edge of quantum materials research and quantum chemistry at the upcoming webinar on “Quantum Monte Carlo HPC Applications in Condensed Matter, Quantum Chemistry, and Materials Science” on January 25, 2024, from 09:30 to 12:30 CET. The webinar is a collaborative effort between the Targeting Real Chemical Accuracy at the EXascale (TREX) project and CECAM (Centre Européen de Calcul Atomique et Moléculaire).
Overview and objectives
The webinar will be exploring the frontiers of quantum materials research and quantum chemistry, by means of Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) calculations, owing to their unique suitability in solving complex many-body problems as well as in harnessing the parallelism offered by upcoming exascale supercomputer architectures.
The agenda covers a spectrum of key topics, including magnetism, surface physics, layered materials, energy excitations, and high-pressure hydrogen. Participants will gain a deeper insight into high-performance computing applications via quantum Monte Carlo simulations.
Target Audience
This webinar caters for researchers, students and professionals in the fields of quantum chemistry, condensed matter physics, and materials science.
Theoretical Spectroscopy Lectures :: Cecam School March 2024
dear colleagues and friends,
it is with pleasure that we announce the forthcoming
Theoretical Spectroscopy Lectures
that are going to take place in CECAM, Lausanne
March 11, 2024 – March 15, 2024.
The deadline for registering is 5 February 2024.
The event is going to take place at the CECAM HQ in Lausanne. Please take note that in order to participate to the hands-on sessions, you are required to come with a laptop (better if running under Linux).
Please find here the details of the school
https://www.cecam.org/workshop-details/1195
We thank Psi-k and the gdr REST for extra funding.
Looking forward to seeing you in Lausanne.
The organisers,
Francesco Sottile
Gian-Marco Rignanese
Valerio Olevano
New Psi-k Chair
As we move into a new year Psi-k is delighted to announce the election of a new Chair, Professor Arash Mostofi of Imperial College London. Professor Mostofi will follow on from previous Chair, Professor Peter Haynes, who has now come to the end of his term.
Arash Mostofi is Professor of Theory and Simulation of Materials in the Departments of Materials and Physics at Imperial College London. His research is dedicated to the development and application of first-principles modelling tools for the theory and simulation of materials. He is an original author and developer of the Wannier90 and ONETEP codes and his research interests include electronic structure software development, 2D materials, defects and interfaces, and perovskite and layered perovskite oxides.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Professor Haynes for his leadership of Psi-k over the last three years and look forward to working with him as the Chair of the next Psi-k Conference that will be held in Lausanne, Switzerland in 2025.
Psi-k 2025 Conference
Summer School “Towards exascale solutions in Green function methods and advanced DFT” Paphos, Cyprus, October 3-8, 2023
This summer school targeted an audience consisting of PhD students and young postdocs, industry-based researchers as well as researchers from countries without tier 0 supercomputing facilities. There were 45 participants, among which 9 ladies. The school covered a wide range of topics to show the challenges and opportunities of exascale computing in ab initio materials science. Lectures provided in-depth information on the fundamentals of advanced exchange-correlation functionals, many-body perturbation theory based on Green functions, and coupled-cluster method applied to solids. Special focus was on libraries and software applications developed in the NOMAD Center of Excellence, for which training was provided, including on LUMI, https://www.lumi-supercomputer.eu/, a powerful pre-exascale European Union high-performance computer. Fundamentals and recent developments in the field were presented by recognized experts, and there was plenty of room for open exchange between the young scientists and established international experts. Continue reading Summer School “Towards exascale solutions in Green function methods and advanced DFT” Paphos, Cyprus, October 3-8, 2023