Decadal Assessment and Outlook Report on Atomic, Molecular and Optical Science

National Academy Of Sciences, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

This project will partially support the next decadal survey for the atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) sciences. Conducted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the National Academies), the report produced through this project will provide valuable information and guidance on issues that pertain to AMO science to federal policy makers in both Congress and the Administration, the agencies and their programs that support this field, research communities, and the general public. The report will discuss progress that has taken place in the AMO sciences over the past ten years and will identify new opportunities and compelling scientific questions for the field over the next decade. The report will also discuss how advances by AMO researchers, both in our understanding of AMO physics and in our technological capabilities for studying this field, are having strong positive impacts in other fields of research as well as in meeting broader national needs. Finally, portions of the report will be written with a lay audience in mind, and so it is hoped that the report will enhance the public understanding of AMO science and the roles that it plays in other sciences and society at large. To carry out this project, a panel of approximately 15 members will be assembled by the National Academies. Committee membership will include not only a balance of AMO research expertise but also expertise from other research fields with which AMO science is becoming increasingly connected, such as condensed matter physics, information theory, chemical physics, and life sciences. In the process of developing the report, the committee will hold 4 meetings at various locations in the United States and will also hold workshops and town meetings (for example at professional society meetings) so as to engage the AMO community in the survey process. The committee will then produce a report (1) identifying new opportunities, compelling scientific questions, and themes that have arisen from recent advances and accomplishments in the AMO field; (2) displaying AMO science as a vital field that relates and unifies broad scientific endeavors; (3) discussing how AMO is supplying these and other fields with emerging technologies as well as meeting broader national needs; (4) explaining how AMO science meets workforce, educational, and other societal needs; and (5) making recommendations for a strategy to fully realize the potential at the frontiers of AMO science. The study will be completed over 18 months and copies of the final report, as well as briefing opportunities, will be provided to sponsoring agencies, members of Congress and their staff, Administration policy leaders, the AMO research community, technical communities that draw from AMO science, and institutions involved in activities related to the subject of the report. The report will also be available for free to the public in PDF form at The National Academies Press website, at URL www.nap.edu.