I - 34151 Trieste Italy
(+39) 040 2240 111
pio@ictp.it
With about 30 members, an intense programme of workshops, a constant flow of visitors, and close collaborations with local scientific institutions such as SISSA, Elettra, and the University of Trieste, the Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics (CMSP) section is a vibrant international research environment for scientists from every corner of the world.
Research in the CMSP section spans some of the most exciting areas of theoretical condensed matter physics, including the physics of nanostructures, of many-body quantum systems at, or far from equilibrium, the computer simulations of fluids and solids with atomistic, molecular and electronic structure methods, and the design of new materials for renewable energy applications.
23 Sep 2020
The students and lecturers are quickly adapting to the new conditions
18 Sep 2020
Diploma graduate Poetri Tarabunga on the importance of theory
17 Aug 2020
We congratulate all the students with their success and wish them all the best in their future careers.
15 Jul 2020
ICTP associate publishes paper during stay in locked-down Italy
Europe/Rome
2021-01-26 11:00:00
2021-01-26 12:00:00
CMSP Seminar (Joint ICTP/SISSA Statistical Physics): The Topography of Random Surfaces: Percolation Transitions and Conformal Fractals
The percolation properties of random fields arise naturally in many contexts, ranging from planet science to transport in disordered systems. In this talk we will discuss new results concerning the percolation transition of long-range correlated random fields. In particular we show that the level sets of surfaces with negative Hurst exponent are conformal fractals. Moreover, we revisit and solve the long-standing problem of the percolation transition in the 2D Gaussian Free Field (GFF). We show the existence of a non-trivial transition where the level set of the GFF become "logarithmic fractals". The correlation function of such fractals is also exactly computed.
VIRTUAL
ICTP
pio@ictp.it
26 Jan 2021
» CMSP Seminar (Joint ICTP/SISSA Statistical Physics): The Topography of Random Surfaces: Percolation Transitions and Conformal Fractals
Europe/Rome
2021-02-02 11:00:00
2021-02-02 12:00:00
CMSP Seminar (Joint ICTP/SISSA Statistical Physics): To be announced
VIRTUAL
ICTP
pio@ictp.it
2 Feb 2021
» CMSP Seminar (Joint ICTP/SISSA Statistical Physics): To be announced
Europe/Rome
2021-02-24 11:00:00
2021-02-24 12:00:00
CMSP Seminar (Atomistic Simulation Webinar Series): Towards an Experimental, Femtosecond-resolved, view of Hydrogen Evolution on Platinum
Perhaps the most promising candidate for a source of H2 in future hydrogen driven global energy economy is the electrolytic splitting of H2O. For the reductive half of this reaction, i.e. the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), Pt is the current champion catalyst and its cost and scarcity limit widespread deployment of devices based on this chemistry. The HER on Pt has been studied for decades and, for much of that time, an enormous amount of effort has been expended looking for alternative catalysts with similar activity and stability, largely without success. Part of the challenge of such materials discovery efforts is that why Pt is such an excellent HER catalyst is not well understood: there is no proposed HER mechanism that is consistent with all experimental observations (e.g. that can explain the dependence on electrolyte, Pt surface structure and pH).
Experimentally characterising HER mechanism is challenging: measurements under steady-state nonequilibrium conditions cannot generally distinguish intermediates from unwanted side products and elementary processes with timescales of femtoseconds to seconds are all important in understanding reactivity. We approach this problem by performing perturbation experiments in which we alter the chemical potential of Pt electrons using a femtosecond optical pulse and monitor interfacial structure using a combination of femtosecond resolved electrical and optical techniques as the electronic excitation dissipates. In this talk I will show how experiments detecting femtosecond induced photocurrents suggest that charge transfer along the Pt-H bond can be inhibited by interfacial water structure, how the results of interface-specific vibrational spectroscopy suggest that adsorbed hydrogen readily diffuses between different types of atop adsorption sites, and how this mobility appears to dramatically change at 0 V vs. RHE.
Virtual
ICTP
pio@ictp.it
24 Feb 2021
» CMSP Seminar (Atomistic Simulation Webinar Series): Towards an Experimental, Femtosecond-resolved, view of Hydrogen Evolution on Platinum
Europe/Rome
2021-01-13 07:00:00
2021-02-03 08:30:00
The Hitchhiker's Guide to Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics:
Machine Learning for Condensed Matter | (smr 3589)
An ICTP Virtual School, 1st edition
Note: The lectures will be held once a week over 4 weeks on Wednesday in the early afternoon, CET time.
The Conference is live-streamed on the ICTP Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics YouTube page at the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYc-eBoIpXTKSVBB2nUH6ezrMbT727Cka
Due to great interest, the deadline for applications is extended to 15 December 2020.
This online school is the first in a series of events to be held during 2021 under the joint title “The Hitchhiker's Guide to Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics” whose goal is to sketch a roadmap of current exciting research directions in Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics.
These events are aimed at advanced undergraduate and graduate students, as well as young researchers interested in learning more about different subjects, both from the developing world and elsewhere.
The lectures will be held once a week over 4 weeks in January and February 2021 and will lead the students from basic notions to the open problems in each topic. Each week one of the four lecturers will present 1h of basic notions + 1h of a colloquia style lecture, with ample time for discussions.
The first series of lectures will be dedicated to Machine Learning (ML) and its intersections with Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics. How can statistical physics help in understanding the theory behind ML techniques? What are the most fruitful applications of ML methods to condensed matter physics? The lectures will answer these and other questions related to ML and many-body quantum systems, quantum computing, and material physics.
Lecturers:
G. CARLEO, EPFL, Switzerland
J. CARRASQUILLA, Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Canada
B. CHENG, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
D. SCHWAB, The Graduate Center, CUNY, USA
Tutors:
T. CAN, The Graduate Center, CUNY, USA
W. NGAMPRUETIKORN, The Graduate Center, CUNY, USA
F. VICENTINI, EPFL, Switzerland
Basic notions sessions will be held before the main lectures.
Registration: There is no registration fee.
Online -
ICTP
pio@ictp.it
13 Jan 2021
- 3 Feb 2021
» The Hitchhiker's Guide to Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics: Machine Learning for Condensed Matter | (smr 3589)
Europe/Rome
2021-02-23 07:00:00
2021-02-25 21:00:00
20th International Workshop on Computational Physics and Materials Science:
Total Energy and Force Methods | (smr 3554)
An ICTP virtual meeting
The “Total Energy” Workshop has been held traditionally in Trieste every two years since 1987. The Workshop is about recent progress in electronic structure methods and their applications.
The aim is a critical discussion of methods and of possible combinations and challenging applications. It has become one of the most popular regular events of the international ab-initio electronic structure community. In these strange times, it is important to keep our community together and to continue to exchange information on exciting developments in our field. For this reason, we decided to opt for an on-line “micro” version of the workshop, which has been for decades an essential place for meeting and discussion. The event will take place daily from 2 pm to 5 pm CET, to allow participation from many time zones. Beside three plenary talks, we plan to have 12 contributed talks, to be chosen among the applications, and 2 poster sessions.
Plenary Speakers:
M. PARRINELLO, ETHZ, Switzerland
N. SPALDIN, ETHZ, Switzerland
A. ZUNGER, University of Colorado, USA
Scientific Advisory Board:
E. ARTACHO, University of Cambridge, UK (Chair)
O. AKIN-OJO, EAIFR, Rwanda
W. ANDREONI, EPFL, Switzerland
S. BIERMANN, Ecole Polytechnique Palaiseau, France
R. CAR, Princeton University, USA
C. FILIPPI, University of Twente, The Netherlands
M. FINNIS, Imperial College, UK
R. GEBAUER, ICTP, Italy
X.-G. GONG, Fudan University, China
J. IHM, Seoul National University, Korea
E. KOCH, Forschungszentrum Juelich, Germany
G. KRESSE, University of Vienna, Austria
R. M. MARTIN, Stanford University, USA
F. MAURI, University of Rome Sapienza, Italy
A. MOSTOFI, Imperial College London, UK
S. NARASIMHAN, JNCASR, India
J.B. NEATON, University of California, USA
W. PICKETT, University of California, USA
A. RAPPE, University of Pennsylvania, USA
L. REINING, Ecole Polytechnique Palaiseau, France
G. RIGNANESE, UC Louvain, Belgium
Registration: There is no registration fee.
Online -
ICTP
pio@ictp.it
23 Feb 2021
- 25 Feb 2021
» 20th International Workshop on Computational Physics and Materials Science: Total Energy and Force Methods | (smr 3554)
Europe/Rome
2021-03-08 07:00:00
2021-03-10 21:00:00
Conference on Time Crystals | (smr 3593)
Landau's idea of classifying phases of matter in terms of symmetry breaking is a cornerstone of modern physics. Can time-translation invariance be spontaneously broken? The possible existence of time-crystals was first addressed by Wilczek for quantum many-body systems, and together with Shapere for classical systems, launching an intense activity both theoretically and experimentally. Despite their conceptual simplicity and apparent similarity to ordinary crystals, they were experimentally observed only three years ago, eighty years after the Landau theory of symmetry breaking.
The field is continuing to grow fed with new theoretical ideas and experimental works. Main goal of the conference is to bring together the most active groups in the field to exchange their latest results.
Topics that will be covered in the activity include:
- discrete time-crystals
- continuous time-translation symmetry breaking
- dissipative time crystals
- time-crystals in classical systems
- condensed matter physics in time crystals
Speakers:
V. ELTSOV, Aalto University, Finland
L. GUO, MPI for the Science of Light, Germany
P. HANNAFORD, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
A. HEMMERICH, University of Hamburg, Germany
V. KHEMANI, Stanford University, USA
A. KOSIOR, MPI for Complex Systems, Germany
O. KYRIIENKO, University of Exeter, UK
I. LESANOVSKY, Nottingham University, UK
W.V. LIU, University of Pittsburgh, USA
J. MARINO, Mainz University, Germany
A. NUNNENKAMP, Cambridge University, UK
A. RUSSOMANNO, MPI for Complex Systems, Germany
A. SANPERA, Universitat Autonoma Barcelona, Spain
M. SCHIRO, College de France, France
M. SEGEV, Technion, Israel
A. SHAPERE, University of Kentucky, USA
H. TAHERI, University of California Riverside, USA
M. UEDA, University of Tokyo, Japan
P. VAN DER STRATEN, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
F. WILCZEK, MIT, USA
N. YAO, UC Berkeley, USA
O. ZILBERBERG, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Online -
ICTP
pio@ictp.it
8 Mar 2021
- 10 Mar 2021
» Conference on Time Crystals | (smr 3593)
Europe/Rome
2021-05-24 08:00:00
2021-05-28 22:00:00
Workshop on Physics and Chemistry of Solid/Liquid Interfaces for Energy Conversion and Storage | (smr 3577)
Online -
ICTP
pio@ictp.it
24 May 2021
- 28 May 2021
» Workshop on Physics and Chemistry of Solid/Liquid Interfaces for Energy Conversion and Storage | (smr 3577)