Article 7 02/28/2010

80 Year Old Question, Solved!

In 1927 Llewellyn Hilleth Thomas and Nobel laureate Enrico Fermi dreamt up a theory. There theory was, if they could calculate the energy of the in motion electrons within a material, then they could better understand the geometrical structures, which in return would help them calculate material strength. This was only an idea until 1964 when Pierre Hohenberg and Walter Kohn proved that Thomas-Fermi theorm was solvable.

Solving for this theory has proved to be overwhelming. Hohenberg and Kohn were able to solve the intense equation, but due to its colossal level of intricacy, it requires an extremely powerful computer to be able to compute it. Computers today are only strong enough to solve the problem for basic elements, which is a start, but engineers today need to be able to evaluate many more materials for this theory to be effective.

Problem solved! Emily Carter and her team of engineers at Princeton University have studied the theory and the equation, worked with it, then made it better. The team kept the ideology, but made the equations more efficient, allowing for today’s computers to quickly reveal the information desired. And this isn’t just for simple matter, but the new efficiency allows for the study of much more complex materials. The new system of equations is not able to calculate the impact of flaws within the material, which allows for much more realistic results that can directly relate in real world industrial applications.

This new discovery is not yet available to the general engineering public, yet. But do to it’s revolutionary concept and growing popularity, look for the program to be available at the highest levels for engineering coursed, and engineering universities and companies, not only in the United States, but crossing the entire globe! This new technology is going to help companies design stronger and safer products, for less money by being able to test new designs, find flaws, and improve without the astronomical cost of materials for stress testing.

80 years of questions answered for an eternity of benefits!

Original Site:
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-02/reworked-formula-allows-computers-model-new-materials-100000-times-faster

Supporting Sites:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100225140904.htm

http://cmt.dur.ac.uk/sjc/thesis_ppr/node6.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Kohn