The third international summer school in the series "Quantum Monte Carlo
and the CASINO program" will take place during August 2008 in the Towler
Institute monastery in the Tuscan Apuan Alps, organized and hosted by
members of Cambridge University physics department's Theory of Condensed
Matter (TCM) Group. The aim of the school is to give students a thorough
introduction to quantum Monte Carlo as a method for performing
high-quality calculations of the electronic structure of real materials.
The course is designed for young scientists who have no previous
experience with this technique, though anyone interested is welcome to
take part.
Describing the complex behaviour of materials at the atomic level requires
a sophisticated description of the correlated motion of the electrons.
Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) is an increasingly popular and explicitly
many-body method with the unusual capability of yielding highly accurate
results whilst also exhibiting a very favourable scaling of computational
cost with system size. Over the last seventeen years, the Cambridge group
have been researching QMC methods and we have created a powerful, general
computer program - CASINO - to carry out the calculations. The school will
focus both on the basic theory of QMC and on more advanced practical
techniques, and will include a thorough introduction to the CASINO
program. A background in density functional theory or similar is normally
thought to be useful.
The monastery is a delightful 16th century building incorporating an
ancient church, and is situated in the isolated but spectacular setting of
the Tuscan mountain village of Vallico Sotto. It is fully equipped with
state of the art presentation and computer technology. All accommodation
is on-site. There is a strictly-enforced policy for all events at the
Institute that considerable time should be set aside for mountain hikes,
caving, canyon walking, swimming in thermal baths, eating in wonderful
local restaurants, visits to classical concerts in Lucca and Barga, and
similar activities.
Instructors will include the main authors of the CASINO program, (Prof.
Richard Needs, Dr. Mike Towler, Dr. Neil Drummond, and Dr. Pablo Lopez
Rios) and possibly others.
The cost of the school for one week including accommodation will be around
400 GBP. Participants would need to arrange a flight to Pisa airport from
where onward transportation will be arranged.
Interested students should contact Mike Towler (mdt26 at cam.ac.uk) for
registration and further details.
