Downloadable Workshop Presentations

Overview

Given that computational physics has emerged, along with experiment and theory, as a "third", complementary, approach to discovery in physics, and given the interest and enthusiasm developed by the current national program in information technology, it appears timely to identify the most outstanding challenges and opportunities in computational physics and how these may best be addressed given the current and future prospects of computing power available to the community.  To address these issues, we have identified a small, but broadly representative group of computational scientists to act as a Steering Committee as a prelude to an NSF sponsored workshop on emerging research opportunities and strategies for computational physics.

Steering Committee Members

Chair: Bill McCurdy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California, Davis Vice Chair: Robert Sugar, University of California, Santa Barbara Steve Koonin, California Institute of Technology Jeremy Ostriker, Princeton University John Wilkins, Ohio State University David Ceperly, University of Illinois Paul Woodward, University of Minnesota Marsha Berger, New York University and Courant Institute Daniel Reed, University of Illinois and NCSA Richard Mount, Stanford Linear Accelerator Laboratory

Confirmed Speakers

• Phil Colella, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
• Gulia Galli, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
• Robert Harrison, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
• Gerhard Hummer, National Institutes of Health
• Steven E. Koonin, California Institute of Technology
• Matthew Maltrud, Los Alamos National Laboratory
• B. Vincent McKoy, California Institute of Technology
• Richard Mount, Stanford Linear Accelerator Laboratory
• Michael Norman, University of California, San Diego
• Rob Phillips, California Institute of Technology
• Claudio Rebbi, Boston University
• Robert Ryne, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
• Klaus Schulten, University of Illinois
• Joan Centrella, Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
• William Tang, Princeton University
• Juri Toomre, University of Colorado
• Robert E. Wyatt, University of Texas
  

The Steering Committee met at the NSF on March 20, 2001 to discuss the focus of the workshop, the choice of speakers and other logistical issues.

The Steering Committee will be responsible for organizing the workshop and posing the questions to panels or breakout sessions that will provide input and material for the drafting of a report on Discovery in Physics Through Computation:  Opportunities and Strategies.  After the workshop, it will be the responsibility of the Steering Committee to draft a final report representing the conclusions of the workshop. The report will be issued as an NSF document and distributed to the community for comment.

Some Issues to be Addressed by the Workshop and the Resulting Report

1) What are the most challenging research questions and the most attractive opportunities in Computational Physics?  How will the growth of computing power change the nature of the algorithms that will be employed to solve problems in physics?  Are there problems that can be addressed by no other means, and if so, what are they?  In what areas will progress in fundamental theory in physics depend on advances in computational physics?  What advances in computational physics are likely?  What advances are necessary?

2) What are the most promising paths for addressing the research challenges and opportunities in computational physics over the next five years?  Among the specific strategic issues the committee might consider are: software and algorithms (identifying specific goals and areas), organization (the appropriate mix of single principal investigator efforts and centers or large scale collaborative projects) and hardware (the adequate level of resources and infrastructure for investigators).

3) How might these challenges be advanced via partnerships with other related fields such as Computer Science and Applied Mathematics?

4) What are the educational needs and opportunities in Computational Physics, particularly in graduate physics training?

NSF Computational Physics Working Group Members

Barry Schneider (PHY/MPS)
Bradley Keister (PHY/MPS)
Richard Isaacson (PHY/MPS)
Richard Pratt (PHY/MPS)
Joseph Dehmer (PHY/MPS)
Jack Lightbody (PHY/MPS)
Wayne Van Citters (AST/MPS)

The meeting of the Steering Committee met at the National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA on March 20, 2001.

Registration

Physical attendance is limited to 60 attendees, with approximately 25 spaces remaining at the primary site. Alternatively, you may choose to attend via Access Grid Node.

Click Here to Register.