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TITLE:
"A stochastic auxiliary-field approach to electronic structure computations"
SPEAKER:
Professor Shiwei Zhang,
TIME: Friday Dec. 1, 2006 at 2:30*
PM
PLACE: George P. Williams, Jr. Lecture Hall, (Olin 101)
*Note unusual date and time.
Williamsburg, VA
Refreshments will be served at 3:30 PM in the lounge, after the colloquium.
All interested persons are cordially invited to attend.
Understanding and predicting the properties of quantum many-particle systems
remain an outstanding theoretical and computational challenge. In materials
simulations, the standard model is an independent-electron approach in the
framework of density-functional theory. In many materials where the
effects of
electron interaction are strong, this approach is inadequate. Several
alternatives are being actively pursued. Among these, we have been
developing
a many-body, non-perturbative approach using auxiliary fields and stochastic
sampling. Our approach takes the form of an ensemble of
independent-electron
calculations in fluctuating external fields. The different field
configurations are "entangled" by random walks, and an approximate many-body
wave function is obtained as a linear superposition of independent-electron
solutions. I will discuss progress and prospects in the development and
application of this approach. Results will be presented on electronic
structure computations in atoms, molecules, and bulk materials.
100 Olin Physical Laboratory, 7507 Reynolda Station
Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem, NC 27109-7507
Phone: (336) 758-5337, FAX: (336) 758-6142
E-mail: wfuphys@wfu.edu
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