Mathematical Theory and Numerical Methods for Computational Materials Simulation and Design
(1 July - 31 August 2009)

Jointly organized with Department of Mathematics in celebration of 80th Anniversary of Faculty of Science

 

Organizing Committee · Visitors and Participants · Overview · Activities · Funding for Young Scientists

 

Organizing Committee

 

Co-Chairs

• Weizhu Bao (National University of Singapore)
• Qiang Du (Penn State University)
• Yuanping Feng (National University of Singapore)
• Fanghua Lin (Courant Institute, New York University)

 

Members

• Weinan E (Princeton University)
• Jian-Guo Liu (Duke University)
• Jie Shen (Purdue University)
• Chang Shu (National University of Singapore)
• David Srolovitz (Princeton University and Yeshiva University)
• John Wang (National University of Singapore)
• Ping Wu (Institute of High Performance Computing)
• Shih-Hsien Yu (National University of Singapore)
• Yongwei Zhang (National University of Singapore and Institute of High Performance Computing)

 

Visitors and Participants

 

• Overseas visitors
• Local visitors
• Graduate students
• Registered local participants

 

Overview

 

Materials development today is still largely dependent on the costly and time-consuming empirical approach: first process the materials, then investigate their structure and properties, and iterate this process many times over the processing parameter space for further performance improvement. With the recent advances in both the mathematical understanding of materials and the advent in computing technology, computational simulations are becoming key technologies to support future materials research and development in both academia and industry. This has lead to a paradigm shift for materials development towards the materials by computational design approach. Such a new approach promises to not only save cost but also accelerate the insertion of new materials to applications. The new paradigm shift also calls for greater participation of mathematicians and computational scientists to address some fundamental questions related to the development of computational materials simulations and design, to improve the efficiency and reliability and to enhance the predictive power of computation.

The new paradigm of materials by computational design is a great scientific and mathematical challenge. A critical component in the materials by computational design framework is the computational prediction of materials properties which include for instance, the multiscale properties of complex materials, properties of defects, interfaces and material microstructures under different conditions such as in the presence of compositional and structural inhomogeneities and external fields. Another extremely important aspect is the uncertainty quantification and the modeling of simulation of stochastic effects in materials.

This two-month program will provide a forum for experts from interdisciplinary fields to discuss the various issues and challenges facing the community. It will bring leading international applied and pure mathematicians, physicists, materials scientists and computational scientists together to review, develop and promote interdisciplinary researches on problems at the interface between mathematics and materials sciences. It will provide a forum to highlight the progress in a broad range of topics, within a coherent theme and with greater emphasis on the mathematical theory and numerical methods for computational materials simulation and design.

The program participants will:

1. present the recently developed mathematical theories, including modeling, analysis and computational techniques that is relevant to mathematical and computational materials sciences.
2. discuss and compare different scientific models proposed recently related to the latest development in computational materials simulation and design.
3. identify critical scientific issues in the understanding of computational materials science and difficulties in both commonly interest in different disciplines and special considerations in each specific area.
4. accelerate the interaction of mathematicians and materials scientists by stimulating lively debate on important interdisciplinary research issues, and promote the highly interdisciplinary research with emerging applications and cross fertilization of ideas.
5. develop and foster international collaborations of scientific researches in computational materials simulation and design.

 

Activities

 

The program activities will consist of two workshops, a summer school, public lectures, working seminars and collaborative research.

1. Collaborative research: July 1 - August 31, 2009

During the period of the program, Institute for Mathematical Sciences will provide an excellent research environment for local and international visitors from applied and pure mathematics, physics, materials science and computational science to discuss and to conduct collaborating research.


2. Summer School: July 17 - August 14, 2009

The Summer School brings together senior undergraduate students and graduate students to the study of Mathematical Theory and Numerical Methods for Computational Materials Simulation and Design. It consists of two weeks of tutorials and student oriented seminars. Distinguished researchers will give tutorial lectures on topics in physical modeling, mathematical theory, computational methods and applications related to computational materials simulation and design in this summer school.

3. Workshop 1: July 20 - 24, 2009

Title: Challenges and Advances in Computational Materials Simulations and Design

Rationale: This workshop will focus on the materials by computational design framework, including the studies of issues in materials science theory, mathematical modeling and analysis, and numerical simulations and designs. Emphasis will be placed on the discussion of the emerging materials by computational design concept, mathematical challenges, multiscale modeling and simulation techniques, and applications to specific materials ranging from alloys to complex fluids.

4. Workshop 2: August 10 - 14, 2009

Title: Mathematical Theory and Computational Methods in Materials Sciences

Rationale: This workshop will extend the discussion in Workshop 1 but with emphasis on recent development of mathematical theory and computational methods. Participants will explore multiscale modeling concepts, rigorous mathematical foundation and analysis, efficient numerical algorithms, verification and validation of simulations, error and uncertainty quantification. Emphasis will be placed on the development of new mathematical theory and numerical algorithms for multiscale problems in materials sciences, and new approaches for studying interfaces, dislocations, defects and singularities.

 

5. Special Seminar

 

Title: Applied Partial Differential Equations: The Cambridge PDE Group
Date & Time: 18 Aug 2009, 2.00pm - 3.00pm
Speaker: Peter Markowich, University of Cambridge, UK
Venue: IMS Auditorium

6. Colloquium Talks

 

Title: High-temperature Versus Low-temperature Superconductors: A Mathematical Description
Date & Time: 5 Aug 2009, 2.00pm - 3.00pm
Speaker: Patricia Bauman, Purdue University, USA
Venue: Colloquium Room A (S14, #03-10)
             Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science
             National University of Singapore

 

Title: Centroidal Voronoi Tessellations, Meshes and PDEs
Date & Time: 5 Aug 2009, 4.00pm - 5.00pm
Speaker: Qiang Du, Pennsylvania State University, USA
Venue: Colloquium Room A (S14, #03-10)
             Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science
             National University of Singapore

Title: Modeling and Analysis of Collective Behavior of Self-propelled Agents
Date & Time: 19 Aug 2009, 2.00pm - 3.00pm
Speaker: Jian-Guo Liu, Duke University, USA
Venue: Colloquium Room A (S14, #03-10)
             Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science
             National University of Singapore

 

7. Public lectures

Distinguished researchers will give public lectures on topics in physical modeling, mathematical theory, computational methods and applications related to computational materials simulation and design.

Title: Mathematics in the Public Eye - The Story of Perelman and the
         Poincaré Conjecture
Date & Time: 22 July 2009, 6.30pm - 7.30pm
Speaker: Sir John Ball, University of Oxford, UK
Venue: LT31, Block S16,
            Level 3, Faculty of Science,
            National University of Singapore,
            Singapore 117543

Title: Roles of Differential Equations in Mathematics and Sciences
Date & Time: 11 Aug 2009, 6.30pm - 7.30pm
Speaker: Fanghua Lin, Courant Institute, New York University, USA
Venue: LT31, Block S16,
            Level 3, Faculty of Science,
            National University of Singapore,
            Singapore 117543

 

 

Students and researchers who are interested in attending these activities and who do not require financial aid are requested to complete the online registration form.

The following do not need to register:

• Those invited to participate.
• Those applying for financial support.

 

Venue

 

• IMS Auditorium
• Detailed instruction on how to get to the institute by public or private transport
  

 

Funding for Young Scientists

 

The Institute for Mathematical Sciences has limited funds to cover partial support for travel and living expenses for young scientists interested in participating in the program. Applications should be received at least three (3) months before the commencement of the program. Application form is available in (MSWord|PDF|PS) format for download.

 

Application is closed.

 

More information is available by writing to:
Secretary
Institute for Mathematical Sciences
National University of Singapore
3 Prince George's Park
Singapore 118402
Republic of Singapore
or email to imssec(AT)nus.edu.sg.

 

For enquiries on scientific aspects of the program, please email Weizhu Bao at matbaowz(AT)nus.edu.sg.

 

 

Organizing Committee · Visitors and Participants · Overview · Activities · Funding for Young Scientists