Basic Notions Seminar at ICTP - Tuesday 26 September, at 17:30 - Ralph GEBAUER

[Math Group]

BASIC NOTIONS SEMINAR SERIES   2017


Tuesday, 26 September, at 17:30 hrs.



Ralph Gebauer (ICTP)



Title: Using a computer as a microscope to understand the inner workings 
of materials



Abstract:

Functional materials play an ubiquitous role in the technological world 
around us. From the filaments of a light bulb to drugs against 
illnesses, semiconductor chips in computers or catalysts in chemical 
production plants: many breakthroughs in technological applications 
relied on the discovery of materials with particular properties.

While the search for new materials was often guided by trial and error, 
recently computer simulations have helped to predict the characteristics 
of a substance before it is even synthesized in a lab.

But how is this done? How can a computer, by solving equations, give us 
insight into how something behaves under pressure, at high temperatures, 
under illumination, in electric or magnetic fields?

In this seminar, I will give a glimpse into the fast growing area of 
atomistic materials modelling. I will show how it is possible to start 
from the knowledge of atomic properties and bridge the scales to real 
applications - and which (mathematical as well as numerical) hurdles lie 
on this path.


VENUE:  Budinich Lecture Hall (ICTP Leonardo da Vinci Building)


-- 
Koutou Mabilo
ICTP Mathematics Group
Leonardo Da Vinci Building
Strada Costiera no. 11
34151 Trieste, Italy

Tel. no.: +39-040-2240455
math at ictp.it
http://math.ictp.it