THE TOWLER INSTITUTE


Summer School

Quantum Monte Carlo
and the CASINO program

The first ever international summer school "Quantum Monte Carlo and the CASINO program" took place from 30th July-6th August 2006. The purpose of the school was to provide the student with a thorough working knowledge of the quantum Monte Carlo electronic structure method as currently used in quantum chemistry and condensed matter physics and to show him or her how to use the Cambridge CASINO QMC program for serious scientific research. The participants spent around four hours each morning listening to lectures on the quantum Monte Carlo method. This was followed by practical examples classes with the CASINO software, and a programme of healthy recreational activities such as mountain walking and cave exploration.

Instructors

Mike Towler, Neil Drummond, Pablo Lopez Rios, Richard Needs and Alexander Badinski

Students

Luca Bellarosa, Richard Christie, Paul Jouanna, Thomas Kuehne, Olli Lehtonen, Jan Lundell, Chul-Hong Park, Eli Rezabal, Jan Rusz, Leandro da Silva, Jan Steckel, Simone Taioli and Ching-Ming Wei accompanied by Jin Jung Park, Jonas Park and Arlette Jouanna

Lectures presented : slides

Mike Towler (mdt26 at cam.ac.uk)

  • - "Quantum Monte Carlo : a practical solution to the correlation problem in electronic structure calculations" [PDF]
    - "The CASINO program : a basic introduction to functionality and input/output" [PDF]
    - "Scaling with system size and atomic number, forces, and other issues" [PDF]
    - "Expectation values other than the energy" [PDF]

Neil Drummond (ndd21 at cam.ac.uk)

  • - "Diffusion Monte Carlo" [PDF]
    - "Optimization of QMC trial wave functions" [PDF]
    - "Some applications of QMC to real systems (with atoms)" [PPT]

Pablo Lopez Rios (pl275 at cam.ac.uk)

  • - "Statistical analysis for QMC" [PDF]
    - "Wave functions beyond Slater-Jastrow for QMC" [PDF]
    - "Applications of QMC: electron and electron-hole systems" [PDF]

Richard Needs (rn11 at cam.ac.uk)

  • - "Pseudopotentials for quantum Monte Carlo" [PDF]
    - "Solid-state calculations: interactions and finite size effects" [PDF]

Alexander Badinski (ab582 at cam.ac.uk)

  • - "Practical aspects when using pseudopotentials with CASINO" [PPT]

Lecture notes (password required)

Pablo Lopez Rios (pl275 at cam.ac.uk)

  • - "Statistical analysis for QMC" [PDF]

Practical worksheets (password required)

  • - "Tuesday (basic QMC)" [PDF]
    - "Wednesday (optimization)" [PDF]
    - "Thurday (advanced QMC)" [PDF]

QMC Exam (password required)

  • - "Exam" (NDD/MDT) [PDF]
    - "Supplemental exam" (PLR) [PDF]

QMC student champion



Jan Rusz (Charles University, Prague)

..who wins a 1977 bottle of port from the cellars of Emmanuel College.

Comments

"Just a brief note to thank you again for hosting the QMC summer school. I had a wonderful time in Tuscany, it was probably the best conference/school I've attended. The science was excellent, and the location, obviously, stunning. The Towler Institute is a very impressive place. Every one of the participants was a pleasure to spend time with, and I've come away with some friends with whom I intend to keep in contact. The success of the school was down to your organization and hard work, and I just wanted to say "grazie" to you for all your efforts."

"Thank you so much, it was a great pleasure being at the school. The presentations were all very good and the place and people really nice."

"I am really happy to see that you are preparing a new Casino Summer School in Vallico Sotto. It remains for me the most profitable workshop I have ever had, associating the top quality of lectures and the excellent practical training, making very difficult things to become accessible. It remains also for me the type of ideal ambiance associating work, scientific discussion and entertainments."

"Thanks for all, the school was really great, helpful and very well organized."

"I will advice your school to anyone on the earth"