August 1998 Workshop Proposal
Abstract
We propose to hold a 2 day Workshop aimed at i) summarizing the needs for
and ii) developing a detailed plan for a Photon Spectroscopy Theory Center.
The purpose of such a Center is to enhance the scientific productivity
of synchrotron light sources through i) advances in fundamental understanding
of the interaction between photons and matter, ii) the development of efficient
theoretical methods and computer codes for calculations of photon-matter
interactions, and
iii) the development of efficient scientific analysis tools that make use
of theory to simulate and interpret experiments. The need for such a
Center was one of the conclusions of a preliminary Workshop on Theory
and Computation for Synchrotron Applications held at LBNL, October 15-16 1997.
Introduction
We propose to hold a two day Workshop at the Advanced Photon Source
at Argonne National Laboratory on Aug 8-9, 1998 with the charge of
i) summarizing the needs for and ii) developing a detailed plan for a
virtual Photon Spectroscopy Theory Center. By virtual Center, we
envisage a number of researchers at say one or two main institutions and
connected electronically to the major synchrotron centers, universities
and government research laboratories. That proposed Workshop is a
sequel to a Workshop on Theory and Computation for Synchrotron Applications
that was organized by Dr. M. Van Hove and others (including the
present PI) and took place on October 15-16, 1997 at LBNL. Instead of
formal proceedings, extended abstracts of the presentations were made
available on the LBNL WWW pages (see
http://electron.lbl.gov/alsworkshop)
and a summary of the Findings was drafted by Van Hove.
The October Workshop aimed
at outlining the state of the art theoretical capabilities in various
photon spectroscopies, especially those of importance at the Advanced
Light Source (ALS). The Workshop also pointed out many of the experimental
needs and challenges (see for example, the presentation of G. Brown et al.,
Stanford). Armed with that input, the second Workshop is now proposed to
summarize the needs for and to develop a detailed proposal for such a
Center. We feel that it is desirable to focus the 2nd Workshop on
i) needs in fundamental theory ii) needs for code development and iii) user
needs both for theory and analysis tools. To complement the ALS Workshop,
we propose to focus more heavily on the theory and analysis needs
at the major national hard x-ray facilities (e.g., APS, NSLS and SSRL).
For example, a Workshop that includes a focus more on analysis of x-ray
absorption data (e.g., XAFS and XANES) and other photon-in/photon-out
techniques, using modern theory, fitting and
error analysis procedures would be both useful and timely.
Other spectroscopies of interest to be discussed would include x-ray magnetic
circular dichroism (XMCD), resonant and anomalous scattering,
x-ray diffraction (XRD), crystallography, as well as photon-in, electron out
spectroscopies of interest to the ALS , e.g., LEED, photoelectron diffraction
(PD), etc. We feel that it is essential to have strong support and active
participation of the synchrotron radiation user community both in the
organization and the operation of a Theory Center, and hence
representation of all the major synchrotron facilities and their User Groups
is desirable at such a Workshop.
A similar
WWW based proceedings is planned for the proposed workshop, which will
be used to help form the basis for a formal proposal for a Center.
The optimal timing for this Workshop is
expected to be August 8-9, 1998, which is the weekend just before the
International Conference on XAFS and XANES (XAFS X) meeting
in Chicago, and just after the BSR98 (Biophysics in Synchrotron Radiation)
Meeting at Argonne,
and the VUV-XII Conference in San Francisco, which are both held week before.
In this way we expect to be able to attract a number of world experts
with minimal extra travel costs.
The main organization for the Workshop will be carried out by
the PI in consultation with the Co-PI's and with advice from other
national and international experts. Local organization at ANL will be
headed by Dr. Montano with the aid of Dr. Matthew Newville.
In the following Sections we give a brief rationale for such
a center and a preliminary list of topics to be covered
at the Workshop.
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