Title: Simulating Glassy Systems with Patchwork Dynamics

Speaker: Dr. Creighton Thomas, Syracuse University

Date/Time: Thursday, February 12, 2009, 9:00 – 10:00 am

Location: CSRI Building/Room 95 (Sandia NM)

Brief Abstract: Glassy dynamics in disordered materials prohibits the direct simulation of their nonequilibrium behavior at large scales.  In this talk, he will present  patchwork dynamics, a technique in which local Monte Carlo updates are replaced by exact equilibration on patches at a given length scale.  In cases where fast equilibration or ground state algorithms exist, this technique can immensely speed up simulations.  This allows us to probe the long-time dynamics of glassy materials and see behaviors, such as memory effects, which are poorly understood and had not been observed in simulations.

CSRI POC: Randall Laviolette, (505) 284-1325