Organisers

• Ruben Perez (Universidad Autonoma de Madrid)
• Karsten Reuter (Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft)

Supports

 CECAM

 Psi-k

 SimBioMa

Description

This meeting is focused on the application of first-principles computer simulations to the study of the microscopic aspects that determine the mechanical behaviour of materials. This includes the structure and interaction of the atomic-scale defects (crack tips, dislocation cores, grain boundaries, etc) involved in macroscopic failure, the mechanical and electronic transport properties of nanocontacts and biological molecules, and the interaction between nanoasperities (tips) and surfaces which is behind both the operation of the scanning probes and the tribological contact between two materials.

All these problems share an essentially multi-scale nature that is not amenable to a hierarchical or sequential treatment of the different length (or time) scales: the breaking and formation of atomic bonds are dynamically coupled by long-range interactions (elasticity) to the macroscopic boundary conditions (deformation, load) imposed. Thus, a reliable prediction of mechanical properties requires the coupling of first-principles simulations, describing the atomic bonding with chemical accuracy, with classical atomistic and continuum descriptions. The mechanical and transport properties of nanometer-size contacts and biomolecules, experimentally characterized in detail in the last few years, provide a natural testing ground for the development of theoretical methodologies designed to bridge the length and time scales.

The meeting will gather leading experimental and theoretical researchers from Physics, Chemistry, Materials and Life Sciences in order to define the core issues and current challenges in Nanomechanics: merging quantum mechanical methods with the complementary but largely separate methodologies dealing with the different larger scales; bridging the gap between simulations and experiments; and providing a necessary unified perspective that spans beyond the boundaries of traditional scientific disciplines.

Scientific Objectives

The workshop will run for two and a half days, starting on February 5th (Monday) at 2pm and ending on February 7th (Wednesday) around 5:30pm.

We expect a meeting with about 45-50 participants with an approximate ratio 2:1 between theory and experiment.

Apart from the formal sessions of invited contributions, the workshop will include a Poster Session on Monday evening (where food and drinks will be provided) and a Conference Dinner on Tuesday evening. We encourage the workshop participants to present their work in the Poster Session. Please include a copy of your CV and the proposed title of your poster with your application to participate in the workshop

The list of CONFIRMED invited speakers and session chairs includes:

• Nicolas Agrait (Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain)

• Giovanni Ciccotti (University of Rome, Italy)

• Gabor Csanyi (University of Cambridge, UK)

• Oscar Custance (Osaka University , Japan)

• Alessandro de Vita (King's College London, UK)

• Mike W. Finnis (Imperial College London, UK)

• Joost Frenken (Leiden University , The Netherlands)

• Peter Gumbsch (Fraunhofer IWM Freiburg and University of Karlsruhe, Germany)

• Karsten W. Jacobsen (Danish Technical University, Lingby, Denmark)

• Hannes Jonsson (University of Reykjavik, Iceland )

• Lev Kantorovich (King’s College London, UK)

• Jacqueline Krim (North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA)

• Andy Minor (LBL, Berkeley, USA)

• Carla Molteni (King’s College London, UK)

• Michael C. Payne (University of Cambridge, UK)

• Bo N.J. Persson (Forschungzentrum Juelich, Germany)

• Alexander Shluger (University College London, UK)

• Berend Smit (CECAM, Lyon, France)

• M. Urbakh (Tel Aviv University, Israel)

• Ugo Valbusa (University of Genoa, Italy)

• Eric Vanden Eijnden (Courant Institute, New York, USA)

• Erik van der Giessen (University of Groningen, The Netherlands)

• Sidney Yip (MIT, Cambridge, USA)

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Accommodation (and travels) should be organized individually by the participants. Detailed information about the hotels close to the conference site is available on the CECAM web site under Practical Information (right panel on the CECAM site) and Hotels nearby.

Detailed instructions on how to reach the conference site can be found at the CECAM web page.