(

We convened a three day workshop in Annapolis Maryland, at the Doubletree Hotel Anapolis, from Sunday evening October 21^st to Thursday AM October 25^th 2007 to identify the fundamental science, future challenges and opportunities in Long Range Interactions (LRI). Because of recent advances in the fundamental science of LRI, there is a new awareness of the practical possibilities of its controlled use in nanoscale design and assembly.  The panel study will recognize the importance of interactions that are significant at distances greater than inter-atomic bond lengths, i.e., on the nanometer and larger scale.  Our proposed organization emphasizes a mixing of disciplines, from field theory to colloid science, from physics to chemistry to biology, enlisting the expertise of both theorists and experimentalists.  Presentations are intended to provoke discussion rather than to provide complete reports.  The goal is to develop a comprehensive framework and language of long-range interactions in nanoscale science, acknowledging the different types of forces and the different fields of science which have independently pursued them. The output of this panel study will be published in The Reviews of Modern Physics in order to direct attention to practical and fundamental research needs, opportunities, and challenges.

This study is was put together by Roger French and Adrian Parsegian, and is sponsored by the Council for the Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering (DMS&E).   DMS&E is one of the research divisions in the Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES) of the U.S. Department of Energy

Scope

Long Range Interactions (LRI) cover a range of electrical and structural forces:  charge-fluctuation interactions, electrostatic double layer forces, simple coulombic interactions, and consequent solvation forces.  

The topic areas that span LRI: 

1. Interaction Fundamentals. 3: Electrodynamics, Electrostatics, Polar Acid/Base. 8

2. Instructive Systems: . 9Aqueous Systems. 9, Interfaces. 10, Atomic And Molecular Systems. 12

3. Manipulating LRIs In Nanoscale Systems:  13Colloids And Assembly. 13, Surfaces and Interfaces. 17, Devices- Electronic, Optical, Sensing...

Scientific Issues Addressed

            Recent advances in the theory, computation, and measurement of long-range electrodynamic forces suggest new strategies to harness these forces in the design of materials.  The measurement of spectra to compute forces in the design of thick-film resistors is but one example of the surprising link between fundamental field theory and practical application.

            Electrostatic forces have been much studied, however theoretical questions still daunt the formulation of electrostatic interactions in materials where the high fields emanating from charges provoke dielectric response far outside the linear range of the usual theory.  Computer simulations have begun to look at these responses from the molecular perspective even as the Coulomb fields influence the energies of material far from the source charges. The first two panels (listed below) will be focusing on the kinds of questions that must be answered before reliable computation and system design are possible.

            Systematic advances in the theory and formulation of electrodynamic fluctuations now encourage similarly systematic characterization of materials.  Material properties can be measured so as to effect efficient computation of forces and new materials have been designed based on self-organization through the action of nanoscale forces.  The need for better methods of force measurement and of material synthesis becomes the focus of force-based thinking in material design.  This aspect, the subject of the third and fourth panels, leads automatically to consideration of practical systems that drive the need for further measurement and more elaborate theory (to be discussed by the fifth panel).  

Schedule

• Sunday evening:  Welcome reception and preview gathering
• Monday, Presentations And Breakouts For  Fundamentals  (Section 1)
• Tuesday, PM: Presentations And Breakouts For Instructive Systems (Section 2) and Manipulating LRIs (Section 3)
• Wednesday: Presentations; Writing Breakouts For Sections 1,2,3
• Thursday AM: Wrap Up RMP Draft By Section Leaders and Chairs 

Major Panel Topics of Discussion 

    The is an outline of the workshop structure and the Reviews Of Modern Physics Workshop Report.  Breakout Groups Are the subsection headings, and are done in each of the sections of the outline.  

1. Interaction Fundamentals. 3

    1.1 Electrodynamics. 3

    1.2 Electrostatics. 6

    1.3 Polar, Acid/Base. 8

2. Experimental or Instructive Systems. 9

    2.1 Aqueous Systems. 9

    2.2 Interfaces. 10

    2.3 Atomic And Molecular Systems. 12

3. Manipulating LRIs In Nanoscale Systems For Desired Outcomes: Directed Assembly etc. 13

    3.1 Colloids And Assembly. 13

    3.2 Surfaces and Interfaces. 17

    3.3 Devices: Electronic, Optical, Sensing...

----------------------------------

     LRI Resources Page: http://www.longrangeinteractions.com/resources

     LRI Docs (Google Docs) Area: http://docs.longrangeinteractions.com

(c) 2010 R. H. French, Email for more information [ rogerhfrench_at_longrangeinteractions.com ]

Long Range Interactions Start Page