Highlights of SMEC Conference
This meeting of scientists from many parts of the world is focusing on science
and technological issues of importance to both academia and industry. We have 15
different symposia with issues ranging from planetary interiors to the effect of
pressure and temperature on proteins, which may form storage devices of the
future.
The
SMEC conference is an interdisciplinary conference straddling physics,
chemistry, geophysics and materials science and brings together scientists who
would normally not meet one another. This meeting provides a forum where ideas
at the very cutting edge of science and technology can be exchanged among people
with widely different backgrounds and interests. While there may be some
published volumes as a result of this meeting, the most important outcome
appears to be that this is a meeting of the well-established scientists of high
repute meeting with colleagues of similar high repute in other fields as well as
several younger colleagues aspiring to do as well. We expect that as a result of
such interaction, sharing of knowledge and cross-fertilization of ideas, science
will benefit with new synergies and international-interdisciplinary
collaborations.
Our first theme symposium organizer is N. Saini (Rome, Italy) with focus on Inhomogeneous
and Strongly Correlated Materials
with Novel Electronic Properties (ISCM).
Understanding various kinds of competing ground states of the complex
materials with strong electron-electron correlation is one of the key tasks in
the condensed matter physics. Transition
metal oxides with perovskite structure, which represent a family of such complex
materials, have stimulated considerable
scientific and technological interest in the recent past because of their exotic
properties and possibility of tailoring
new materials with desired properties. In fact, the oxides possess a variety of
novel properties such as high-temperature superconductivity (HTS), colossal
magneto-resistance (CMR), metal-insulator transitions (MIT), ferroelectricity
etc. The important aspect of these highly correlated oxides is that these
materials are inhomogeneous at the mesoscopic length scale, with
self-organization of various degrees of freedom related to the charge,
spin and lattice excitations. These self organized mesoscopic textures, i.e.
mesoscopic inhomogeneities could be modulated by various external parameters
such as pressure (internal as well as external pressure), temperature, magnetic
field, electromagnetic radiation (x-ray and laser lights) etc. This offers
possibilities to modulate materials properties, tailoring new structures, in
addition to the understanding the rich physics. In fact the new theoretical
approaches are considering this inhomogeneous state as the starting point to
develop new models for the understanding of physics of these highly correlated
materials with strong electronic correlation, and hence the phenomena has been a
point of recent debate.
International symposium on Inhomogeneous and Strongly
Correlated Materials with Novel Electronic Properties (ISCM) is organized as
a part of the SMEC meeting, stimulated by the fact that external versus internal
conditions compete with extreme values at the mesocopic length scale in these
complex phases of matter. The importance of the symposium lies in the fact that
the advancement of the inhomogeneous materials is to be discussed on the same
platform of materials under extreme conditions. Hence ISCM provides a platform
to gain and share the knowledge 'how the inhomogeneous state could
Two other
symposia with emphasis on the electronic properties of materials are arranged by
M.Pasternak (Tel Aviv, Israel) and H. Annersten (Uppsala, Sweden) and by M.
Eremets (Mainz, Germany) and V. Struzhkin (D.C, USA). Both themes are the study
of materials behavior at high pressures. The first one deals with the topic High
pressure electronic and magnetic properties of transition metal oxides and
related compounds and the second with electronic properties of materials
at megabar pressures. A third session High-pressure study of metals
along similar lines but with focus on the properties of metals at high-pressures
has been arranged by K. Takemura (Japan). These sessions will focus on the
advanced studies of condensed matter at high pressures focusing on theory,
experiments and new techniques.
The study
of materials behavior and synthesis of novel materials can be greatly
facilitated by computational methods. Krishna Rajan( Troy, New York) has
organized the symposium on Computational Alchemy. The
connection between advances in materials and changes, which define social and
economic progress, has always existed in human history. The "Stone
Age", "Iron Age" and "Bronze Age" are all terms that we
recognize as describing stages of human evolution in terms of technological
"eras". It is no coincidence that the dawn of our present generation,
which may be classified as the "Information or Computer Age" was
initiated with critical discoveries and engineering developments in the field of
semiconductors and other materials. Recently, computers have started to take a
more active role in guiding the scientist through the research and discovery
process with the help of tools for automatic discovery of patterns in large
volumes of data. When this is coupled to sophisticated modeling techniques and
other tools we are not in the position to more realistically achieve what has
been the alchemists dreams of new materials. This symposium on Computational
"Alchemy" is an interdisciplinary program bringing together
domain specialists in materials science, physics, engineering and computer
science to share the latest ideas on this new and exciting field.
The same computational theme is the topic of the symposium arranged by R.
Ahuja (Uppsala, Sweden) and A. Belonoshko (Stockholm, Sweden) with the title: High Pressure and Computational Materials Science.
Thirty years ago, it was forecasted that our modern society would be supported
and operated mainly by three elements of technology, which are materials, energy
and information. Today, that prediction seems to be more and more realized.
Especially rapid rise in the research and development of new materials has not
only largely improved our modern life but also controls further expansions of
the other two technologies. The research of materials, such as more efficient
batteries, light chemical energy conversion materials, is urgently required.
Needless to say that for the development and application of new materials, the
basic research by physical and chemical means is necessary. High pressure
synthesis is a powerful method for the preparation of novel materials with high
elastic moduli and hardness. Additionally, such materials may exhibit
interesting thermal, optoelectronic, semiconducting, magnetic or super
conducting. The recent advancement in theory and powerful computers has made it
possible to calculate materials properties with an impressive accuracy. Clearly,
attempts should be made to use this new theoretical tool for predicting
favorable new materials, thereby avoiding needless experiments and focusing work
solely on materials that promise success.
Another
important tool in our study of materials is the use of thermodynamics and G.
Grimvall (Stockholm, Sweden) has organized that session on thermodynamics at
high pressures. Matter under extreme conditions, such as high pressure and
often combined with high temperature, presents a very challenging scientific
problem. It stretches experimental techniques to its extreme and therefore, like
other difficult and challenging problems, is a strong driving force in the
development of new technology that may have consequences far outside the field
primarily studied. This has happened over and again in science. Although we
usually don't meet such extreme conditions for matter in our daily life, they do
exist. It is the condition in the interior of the Earth, and thus is an
important aspect of Earth science. The pressures one would like to study are so
high that they are difficult or impossible to realize in laboratories. Then
theoretical calculations offer a solution. Using the most powerful computers,
the calculations have now reached a sophistication where they may in some cases
even replace experiments - and at a very reasonable cost.
G.
Ottonello (Genoa, Italy) again emphasizes the importance of thermodynamics in
the theme on thermodynamics of melts and glasses. Undoubtedly,
understanding of the energy and reactive properties of natural silicate melts
(i.e. the main phase of the heterogeneous system which geologists call “magma”),
is one of the most important issues in Earth Sciences. However, the chemical
complexity (and variability) of this phase is so impressive, and its P,T
intrinsic stability limits are so wide that they require the contribution of all
branches of science if a quantitative appraisal of its properties based on first
principles is to be achieved. In other words, not only the efforts of
geochemists, but also those of metallurgists, glass scientists and ceramists
bring valuable contributions to the common task. In fact, the chemically "simple",
P, T-controlled industrial slags can teach us how to approach the thermodynamics
of complex natural systems, how to quantify the reactive solubility of gaseous
species, how to understand the kinetics of glass transition, how chemistry
affects viscosity, etc."
Ahmed El
Goresy (Mainz, Germany) and L. Dubrovinsky (Bayreuth, Germany) deal with the
topic on phases in Earth’s interior, emphasizing the controversial issues.
We have made significant progress in understanding the physics and chemistry of
our planet but at times even with the best of tools and most careful studies, we
end up with incompatible results. It is hoped that by bringing together
experimenters and modelers in this field, we will be able to make some
recommendations on solving these problems. Earth’s interior and high-pressure
phase behavior is also the topic of the symposium on heterogeneities in the
lower mantle, core-manlte-boundary and material circulation in Earth’s
interior, arranged by J. Bass (Urbana, Illinois) and E. Ohtani (Sendai,
Japan). While we continue to improve our experimental facilities to do
high-pressure phase synthesis, it is crucial that we are able to characterize
the compounds. In particular, the crystal structure of a material is the most
fundamental. P. Dera (Washington, DC) and R. Downs (Tucson, Arizona) have chosen
a theme Latest trends and future perspectives in high-pressure
crystallography. It is the goal of this group to determine the atomic
structure of the materials in situ at high pressures. Several experts in the
field are presenting their view of the developments and future possibilities to
continue to use this tool for in situ studies of materials.
In
the field of high-pressure study of the fluids and gases, several exciting
discoveries have been made in the last two decades. I. Silvera (Harvard, Mass.)
has organized the symposium with the theme hydrogen under static and dynamic
high pressure. Producing solid metallic hydrogen in the laboratory has been one
of the great challenges to high-pressure physics for almost 70 years. At a
sufficiently high pressure or density the molecular solid should transform into
an atomic solid. This remarkable substance has been the object of intense study
by both experimentalists and theorists. Metallic hydrogen is predicted to be a
possible room temperature superconductor. When the pressure is released it may
remain in the atomic state as a metastable solid, just as diamond is a
metastable form of carbon. Even stranger, it may be a dense liquid at absolute
zero of temperature, rather than a solid. Atomic hydrogen is a high energy
density material and would be the most powerful chemical rocket propellant known
to man, if it can be produced and is metastable. Although hydrogen is the
simplest of all atomic systems theory is challenged to predict the metallization
pressure due to the presence of large quantum mechanical zero-point energy of
the atoms, which is difficult to handle using conventional theoretical
approaches. Experimental pressures of over 3 megabar are now more than 10 times
greater than the original predicted pressure of Wigner and Huntington. The
current challenge is to achieve pressures of 4 megabar or greater in search of
the new phase.
Gas
Hydrates are non-stoichimetric compounds with a porous framework consists of
water and cavities where gas atoms or molecules can be confined.
Gas hydrates are materials of both economical and scientific Importance
and John Tse (Ottawa, Canada) has organized a highly informative symposium Clathrate
and planetary ices. In recent
years, studies of gas hydrates at high pressure have revealed unusual structural
and thermodynamic stability and the discovery of several novel structure types.
For example, the recently discovered hydrogen gas hydrate may be used as a
potential storage for hydrogen gas. The unexpected stability of methane hydrate
up to 10 GPa has prompted a new hypothesis that may help to unravel the riddle
of methane in the atmosphere of Titan - a moon of Saturn. Furthermore, the
structural details of gas hydrates at high pressure may also provide valuable
information on gas-water interactions that further our understanding of
"hydrophobic interactions". This symposium brings together world
leading experts from Canada, Japan, United Kingdom and the U.S. on gas hydrates
to present new results and their relevant to planetary and fundamental physical
sciences.
It
will be hard to find a 15-year old today, who does not talk about nanomaterials
to day. S. Seal (Orlando, Florida) has organized a symposium with the theme How
small can we go? “Imagine the possibilities: materials with ten times the
strength of steel and only a small fraction of the weight -- shrinking all the
information housed at the Library of Congress into a device the size of a sugar
cube -- detecting cancerous tumors when they are only a few cells in
size......” President William J. Clinton, January 21, 2000, California
Institute of Technology. The emerging fields of nanoscience and engineering –
the ability to work at the molecular level, atom by atom, to create large
structures with fundamentally new molecular organization - are leading to
unprecedented understanding and control over the fundamental building blocks of
all physical things. The nanoscale is not just another step towards
miniaturization. Compared to the physical properties and behavior of isolated
molecules or bulk materials, materials with structural features in the ranges of
1 to 100 nanometers – 100 to 10,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human
hair – exhibit important changes for which traditional models and theories
cannot explain. Developments in these emerging fields are likely to change the
way almost everything – from vaccines to computers to automobile tires to
objects not yet imagined – is designed and made. This symposium will address
some of these issues.
V.
Renugopalakrishnan (Miami, Florida)
is the organizer of a symposium on the theme Proteins under extreme pressure
and temperature. Proteins are naturally occurring nano systems, which have
been optimized by process of evolution. Biotechnology of protein-based
nanostructures represents a growing facet of today’s chemistry and offers vast
opportunities to re-engineer these naturally occurring nano systems to harness
them for technological applications. Ultrasmall semiconductor, magnetic and
metal clusters have been in the center of scientific research for over a decade.
A number of unique effects previously unseen for the parent bulk materials have
been discovered for such species owing to the large contribution of surface
molecules into the properties of the nanoscale materials. Successful utilization
of the new bionanomaterials as well as further investigation of their
fundamental properties will depend on the development of new techniques suitable
for processing of nanosystem into functional nanostructures and devices.
Last updated,20th March, 2003
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