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Posted on 02/25/2010 11:43:21 AM PST by Teflonic
Princeton engineers have made a breakthrough in an 80-year-old quandary in quantum physics, paving the way for the development of new materials that could make electronic devices smaller and cars more energy efficient.
By reworking a theory first proposed by physicists in the 1920s, the researchers discovered a new way to predict important characteristics of a new material before it's been created. The new formula allows computers to model the properties of a material up to 100,000 times faster than previously possible and vastly expands the range of properties scientists can study.
"The equation scientists were using before was inefficient and consumed huge amounts of computing power, so we were limited to modeling only a few hundred atoms of a perfect material," said Emily Carter, the engineering professor who led the project.
"But most materials aren't perfect," said Carter, the Arthur W. Marks '19 Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Applied and Computational Mathematics. "Important properties are actually determined by the flaws, but to understand those you need to look at thousands or tens of thousands of atoms so the defects are included. Using this new equation, we've been able to model up to a million atoms, so we get closer to the real properties of a substance."
By offering a panoramic view of how substances behave in the real world, the theory gives scientists a tool for developing materials that can be used for designing new technologies. Car frames made from lighter, strong metal alloys, for instance, might make vehicles more energy efficient, and smaller, faster electronic devices might be produced using nanowires with diameters tens of thousands of times smaller than that of a human hair.
(Excerpt) Read more at princeton.edu ...
does this mean we can print money faster?
Very interesting.
The Fed's balance sheet is 2% larger today than November 2008. There is no money printing going on. Stop lying, and especially stop spewing it everywhere where it has no business even being brought up in the first place.
They can apply it to to economic theory............
It's only a matter of time before computerized traders break the market.
Having worked in related research, this is a nice advance. However, it is more of a refinement of a technique than a radically new one.
Then we won't be able to spot tin-foil hats!
Economics is easy. Full employment is bad. Rising wages are bad. Economic growth is bad. Illegal aliens are good. The yield curve is to be ignored at all times. Central banks and politicians are never at fault. Can I have my Phd now?
I guess I somewhat deserve that for not ensing it with the requisite “/sarc” pseudotag. Not to mention this is a science thread. Oh well.
There already IS a transparent aluminum. I think its called a corundum, aka “sapphire” and “ruby.”
>> The new formula allows computers to model the properties of a material up to 100,000 times faster than previously possible
They finally got around to rewriting those old COBOL programs.
bump
ping for reading later
Sounds like typical grant-begging PR!
>>Now I can actually build my model
>>for transparent aluminum!
Not until you figure how to get that mouse to talk.
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