Elements: Community portal for high-precision atomic physics data and computation

University Of Delaware, Newark DE

Investigators

Abstract

Many engineering products and science projects depend on knowledge of exact characteristics of the atoms that make up the used materials. Today's Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are an example of such engineering products. This project will develop an easy-to-use web portal that provides the atomic physics and other communities with much-needed precision information about atomic properties. Research in quantum information, degenerate quantum gases, atomic clocks, precision measurements of atoms and molecules, plasma physics, astrophysics, and studies of fundamental physics all rely on precise knowledge of atomic properties. Experimental measurements are impossible or infeasible in many cases. Releasing all codes to the public and creating a portal with easy access to high-precision computations, now limited to only group of experts, will enable and accelerate a broad range of physics research and engineering projects. The portal is powered by a database of high-precision information, including matrix elements and polarizabilities of frequently used atoms. The database is coupled with a package of computational applications capable of computing on-demand a wider range of properties and for atoms not yet in the database. The code package has already demonstrated these capabilities, but will be developed into community codes that run efficiently on available high-performance computing systems. For atoms with many valence electrons, computing precise properties is not yet feasible, as the computational complexity is exponential. This project will develop new methods and algorithms for computing these properties, enabling precision atomic research to be done with atoms not possible thus far. Finally, the development of the portal and parallel applications addresses important computer science challenges, such as the efficient coupling of databases with complex computations that automatically ingest new data. Thus, this project will also create new knowledge in the key issue of combining data and simulation. This project is supported by the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure in the Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering and the Division of Physics and the Division of Chemistry in the Directorate of Mathematical and Physical Sciences. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.