The topic of this school is the path integral approach to quantum mechanics, which is one of the most computationally efficient methodologies for modeling quantum nuclear effects such as tunneling, delocalization, and zero-point fluctuations. These methods are most useful when describing structural as well as dynamical properties of systems that contain light nuclei such as hydrogen, carbon, oxygen etc. Path integral simulations are best known for studying quantum nuclear effects in large (high dimensional) condensed phase systems, as they provide a favorable compromise between accuracy and computational cost. Thanks to the ever increasing computational resources, and several new theoretical and computational developments,  path integral simulations are being used to answer new questions, and are entering the mainstream of atomistic simulations [1].  The field of path integral simulations is continuously growing with even more young researchers making prominent contributions. Since our last school in 2018, there have been many new developments in the areas of accelerated path integral methods, implementation of approximate methods for studying quantum nuclear effects in solids [2], path integral molecular dynamics for indistinguishable particles [3], accurate as well as accelerated methods for calculating vibrational spectra [4,5], implementation of ab initio ring polymer instanton methods [6], combination of path integral methods with machine learning approaches [7], non-adiabatic path integral rate theories [8,9], and many more. These methods are also being made available in an open-source software i-PI, which can connect with a variety of forcefield and electronic structure packages. Beyond the development of new methods, there have also been several notable applications of path integral methods in the areas of materials science, chemistry, and physics, which underscore the importance of path integral methods for atomistic simulations. 

Application instructions and requirements

The school will accept a limited number of participants. To allow the organizers to make the selection, please include the following items (in the order provided) when filling out the application form (see "Participate" tab):

1. Your current institution

2. Your current level of training (undergraduate, graduate, postdoc, research scientist, faculty etc.) and current supervisor's name

3. A short statement (~5 lines) explaining how attending the CECAM path integral school will further your research and/or professional development.

The meeting will be held in a virtual format, and in order to accommodate multiple time zones, the school will be carried out from 15.00 to 19.00 Central European Summer Time (CEST).

We encourage all participants to include a poster abstract on their current research, regardless of whether it is related to path integral quantum mechanics, for the poster session. Some of the participants will be selected for contributed talks based on their abstract. Please upload the abstract to the section “My poster” inside the tab “My participation”. The tab will appear after you submit your application including items 1 to 4. 

And finally, please have your supervisor write a letter of support and send it to yair.litman@mpsd.mpg.de and vk380@cam.ac.uk with the subject “Letter of support for the path integral quantum mechanics school (2021)”.

The deadline for submitting the application and the abstract is 30th April 2021.