This award supports the participation of American scientists in a U.S.-Japan seminar on Understanding and Conquering Long Time Scales in Computer Simulations, to be held in Hawaii from August 9-12, l999. The co-organizers are Professors David Landau at the University of Georgia and Yutaka Okabe at the Tokyo Metropolitan University in Japan. Computer simulations in statistical physics have resulted in impressive gains in knowledge in diverse areas of physics. With the advent of parallel computing platforms, it has become possible to simulate quite large systems and we can now seriously consider ways to span many orders of magnitude in length scale by using complementary algorithms. There are many problems in physics, however, where it is not the size of the system that hinders progress but rather the restricted timescales that can be examined.
The goal of this seminar is to focus on understanding the problems with long time scales, which occur in diverse systems, and to examine ways of overcoming these difficulties. The focus of the seminar involves the following topics: 1) critical slowing down - relaxation and dynamics; 2) cluster algorithms for classical models; 3) spin glasses and frustration; 4) glasses and glass formation; 5) polymers and proteins; 6) quantum simulation methods; and 7) nanoscale systems and magnetization reversal. Seminar organizers have made a special effort to involve younger researchers as both participants and observers. The exchange of ideas and data with Japanese experts in this field will enable U.S. participants to advance their own work, and will set the stage for future collaborative projects. It is anticipated that the proceedings will be published in the "Journal of Modern Physics C." In addition, the individual papers will be available at the Center for Simulation Physics at the University of Georgia. ***
