Leadership cited in condensed-matter physics, improved simulation methods
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Of eight DOE researchers selected to receive the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), two were researchers at Sandia National Laboratories.
The awards, presented at a White House ceremony in mid-December, are the U.S. government’s most prestigious commendation for scientists and engineers at early stages in their career. PECASE winners — this year, there were 67 — receive up to five years of funding from their agency to advance their research.
Sandia researchers Wei Pan and Bert Debusschere were cited for, respectively, leadership in experimental many-particle physics that explores new states of matter, and for introducing mathematical methods to quantify uncertainties in computational biology, thus improving the accuracy of simulation-based discoveries. Their community outreach work also played a part in their selection.
In addition to citations and plaques presented by John Marburger, then-science advisor to the president and director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, DOE PECASE winners received Office of Science Early Career Scientist and Engineer Awards at a ceremony at DOE headquarters led by Under Secretary for Science Ray Orbach and NNSA Deputy Administrator of Defense Programs Robert Smolen.
Pan is principal investigator of “Quantum Electronic Phenomena and Structures,” a large Sandia project funded out of DOE’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES). The project nanoengineers new types of quantum structures that produce novel collective-electron quantum states. Examples of such states are the widely reported Bose-Einstein condensates created several years ago, and the Pan group’s new fractional quantum Hall states — the manifestation of simple collective behavior in a two-dimensional system of strongly interacting electrons. In specific magnetic fields and at extremely low temperatures, the electron gas condenses into a state that displays liquid-like properties. The pursuit of such novel collective electron states has led to the discovery of new types of matter with new ranges of possible behaviors — work that pushes the frontiers of condensed-matter physics. Pan has been a central participant in this project since his arrival at Sandia; he was chosen to become the leader of the project in 2007.
Among Pan’s supporters for the award were two physics Nobel laureates: Daniel Tsui, Arthur LeGrand Doty Professor of Electrical Engineering at Princeton, and Horst Stormer, I. I. Rabi Professor in Experimental Condensed Matter Physics at Columbia University.
Debusschere is a staff member at Sandia’s Transportation Energy Center in Livermore and is principal investigator of “Stochastic Dynamical Systems: Spectral Methods for the Analysis of Dynamics and Predictability” funded out of DOE’s Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR).
As part of this project, Debusschere develops computational and mathematical methods to study chemical and biochemical reaction networks. Applications of this work are broad, ranging from combustion to aspects of the human immune system. Increased fundamental understanding of these reaction networks may enable improvements in energy efficiency, a lessened environmental footprint, and novel biomedical approaches.
One of Debusschere’s projects analyzes reaction networks prevalent in inorganic and organic molecular systems. In both, small numbers of participating molecules may generate significant intrinsic noise. Based on spectral representations of stochastic processes and reduced-order modeling, Debusschere’s group develops methods to improve investigative sensitivity techniques and to determine the confidence in reaction outcome predictions.
Significant areas of contributions from Debusschere’s group include uncertainty quantification for microfluidic channel flow, classification methods for chemical and biological agent detection, and multiscale modeling for nanoporous membranes with application to desalination.
The high level of Debusschere’s mathematical rigor — quantifying the role of errors and uncertainties in mathematical and computational models — “is critical for acceptance of computational modeling in new fields (such as biology) and is an essential ingredient for computation to be accepted as basis for critical decisions that may affect our nation’s security, economic, and energy futures,” wrote Scott Collis, Sandia’s point of contact for all ASCR activities, in support of Debusschere’s successful application.