Strategic Investments
The IAS made strategic investments in a broad range of collaborative Information Science and Technology (IS&T) programs in FY '08.
Benford's Law Conference
The first Benford's Law workshop was held at La Posada hotel in Santa Fe, NM on December 17 and 18, 2007. This multidisciplinary workshop dealt with the theory and applications of Benford's Law in Mathematics, as well as the Physical and Social Sciences. The goals of the workshop were to provide a deeper understanding of this law, to consider common themes that may exist across multiple application domains, and to catalyze new research activities related to this law.
Parallel Computing/High Performance Computing Curriculum Assessment
Dr. Lorie Liebrock of New Mexico Tech is supported by the IAS to assess the parallel computing and High Performance Computing (HPC) curriculum statewide and to evaluate how well it meets the needs of the state, universities, and the national laboratories. The objective is to identify roles that IAS can fill to support existing efforts, integrate diverse efforts, and fulfill unmet needs for current and future users of high performance and parallel computing (as well as the visualization support needed for such computing).
Southwest Quantum Information and Technology (SQuInT)
The 10th Annual Workshop of the SQuInT Network took place in Santa Fe, New Mexico in February 2008. SQuInT brings together researchers in theoretical and experimental quantum information science from around the Southwest and beyond to look at the cutting edge problems in the field.
New Mexico Days
This annual workshop brings together junior scientists, postdoctoral fellows and advanced graduate students in an informal setting aimed at fostering collaborations in Nonlinear Science and Applied Mathematics between the Los Alamos National Laboratory (primarily CNLS and the T Division), the University of Arizona (UA) Program in Applied Mathematics, Arizona State University (ASU) Department of Mathematics and Statistics and the University of New Mexico (UNM) Department of Mathematics and Statistics. This year, the workshop took place in February of 2008 at UNM. The conference covered topics in Nonlinear Science including Mathematical Biology, Sea Ice Modeling, Turbulence, and Ocean Waves. One key objective of this workshop was for it to be a forum where advanced Ph.D. students, postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty could present their research and network. As such, the agenda was dominated by young scientists.
Structured Problem Solving Using TRIZ
The structured problem solving course, "Problem Solving with TRIZ," covered elementary and intermediate techniques of TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving) for concept generation and added problem-definition tools that enable the problem solver to select, with high confidence, tools and approaches to solve difficult engineering problems. The course was offered on-site at New Mexico Tech (NMT) with synchronous, off-site participation.
Living Matter as Computing Media Proposal Development Workshop
This workshop identified grand challenges and future research opportunities in the area of computing and information processing in synthetic bio- and nano devices, including all levels from the device to the application. The collision between traditional silicon-based electronics and novel non-silicon devices is happening now in the areas of power consumption of current computers, disposal problems for electronic components, implantable monitoring and control devices (e.g., pacemakers), synthetic biology, genetic engineering, and nanotechnology. Computation underlies most of these interactions, however, the standard computer science and computer engineering toolbox generally does not provide the right paradigms and tools to address the new challenges such devices offer. The workshop was held in preparation for a joint University of New Mexico (UNM)/New Mexico Consortium (NMC) National Science Foundation (NSF) proposal submission.
Nuclear, Particle, Astrophysics and Cosmology (NUPAC) Seminar
The IAS partners with the Physics and Astronomy (PandA) Department at the University of New Mexico (UNM) to support a regular weekly videoteleconference (VTC) seminar in Nuclear, Particle, Astrophysics, and Cosmology (NUPAC) every Tuesday at 2 p.m. UNM and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) partner to put together the seminar, which takes place at UNM and is sent by videoconferencing to the Oppenheimer Study Center at LANL. This program began in the spring of 2008 and will continue through the fall in the same locations. Dr. Emil Mottola coordinates the seminars from LANL and Drs. Rouzbeh Allahverdi, Michael Gold, and Dineesh Loomba coordinate from UNM.
2008 Los Alamos Summer School in Physics
This year marked the eighteenth session of the Los Alamos Summer School (LASS) in Physics, a joint educational project between the University of New Mexico (UNM) and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The school employs a dual track of lectures on a wide variety of topics as well as student research projects to give the students their first taste of real research. All the lecturers and mentors who participated in LASS were volunteers. The lecturers were distinguished scientists from LANL and UNM, and discussed topics as diverse as climate modeling, high-energy physics, and the latest developments in astrophysics. The research projects, each individually mentored by a LANL scientist, concentrated on a specific problem and allowed the student to experience how research is undertaken at a national laboratory. Research projects were in many areas of science including atomic physics, high-energy physics, computational neuroscience, and supernovae modeling.
LANL/CNLS Workshop on Quantum Trajectories
This workshop provided an interdisciplinary forum for chemists, physicists, and mathematicians to discuss both fundamental and computational aspects of the de Broglie-Bohm description of quantum mechanics. The workshop focused on the computational methods that have been developed for solving the relevant quantum hydrodynamic equations and their applications in molecular and chemical physics. A solution to the quantum hydrodynamic equations is equivalent to solving the time-dependent Schrodinger equation. However, the quantum hydrodynamic approach allows for an entirely different class of numerical algorithms and approximations which could exhibit better computational scaling properties with respect to the dimensionality of the problem. Furthermore, the quantum hydrodynamic approach is intuitively appealing with its well- defined quantum trajectories which give it the flavor of a semi-classical theory. If successful, this approach could open the door to a whole new range of applications never before amenable to exact quantum dynamical treatment, such as: proton transfer in enzyme catalysis and hydrogen adsorption/diffusion in materials. Topical areas of impact include bioenergy, nanotechnology, and materials.
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