Simulation and modeling of nanostructures and complex materials
Abstract
Currently, the Computer Simulations have become much more than a simple auxiliary tool in physics and became a new independent form of research and understanding of physical phenomena. We formed a group of researchers, Maurice de Koning, Edison Zacarias da Silva, Alex Antonelli (all at IFGW Unicamp) and Caetano Miranda at UFABC, who have been working actively in the use of Computer Simulations in the study of properties of structural, dynamic and thermodynamic of complex and nano-structured materials. Our group uses a varied palette of techniques of computer simulations methods ranging from first principles methods, molecular dynamics, which use a tight-binding formulation, methods of molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo, that uses effective potentials. The motivation of our research project proposal aims fundamentally the expansion of the computing power we have at the moment, since this is our tool of scientific investigation, which is analogous to the equipment of an experimental group. Due to the large number of users of these computer systems within our group, we submit a request to allow the continuity of the research in the next 4 years. Therefore, we are requesting funds to enable the expansion of an existing server, incrementing it with a fair amount of new high-performance processors for serial and parallel processing. Besides this major equipment, we also apply for support for personal equipment, which is also extremely important for the development of our research, such as workstations for scientific visualization, personal computers (desktops and notebooks), printers, and other peripherals. In addition to the request of computer equipment, we are also requesting funds to enable visits to scientific researchers for the continuity of our collaborations. (AU)