Giant Thermal Transport Tuning at a Metal/Ferroelectric Interface

in Advanced Materials (2022), 34

The role of lattice dynamics in ferroelectric switching

in Nature Communications (2022)

Direct observation of ferroelectricity in two-dimensional MoS2

in npj 2d materials and applications (2022)

Giant voltage amplification from electrostatically induced incipient ferroelectric states

in Nature Materials (2022)

Origin of negative electrocaloric effect in Pnma-type antiferroelectric perovskites

in Physical Review. B (2022)

Quantification of the Electromechanical Measurements by Piezoresponse Force Microscopy

in Advanced Materials (2022)

Towards a European health research and innovation cloud (HRIC)

in Genome Medicine (2020)

i-PI 2.0: A Universal Force Engine for Advanced Molecular Simulations

in Computer Physics Communications (2018)

Progress in the atomic-scale modeling of matter over the past decade has been tremendous. This progress has been brought about by improvements in methods for evaluating interatomic forces that work by ... [more ▼]

Progress in the atomic-scale modeling of matter over the past decade has been tremendous. This progress has been brought about by improvements in methods for evaluating interatomic forces that work by either solving the electronic structure problem explicitly, or by computing accurate approximations of the solution and by the development of techniques that use the Born–Oppenheimer (BO) forces to move the atoms on the BO potential energy surface. As a consequence of these developments it is now possible to identify stable or metastable states, to sample configurations consistent with the appropriate thermodynamic ensemble, and to estimate the kinetics of reactions and phase transitions. All too often, however, progress is slowed down by the bottleneck associated with implementing new optimization algorithms and/or sampling techniques into the many existing electronic-structure and empirical-potential codes. To address this problem, we are thus releasing a new version of the i-PI software. This piece of software is an easily extensible framework for implementing advanced atomistic simulation techniques using interatomic potentials and forces calculated by an external driver code. While the original version of the code (Ceriotti et al., 2014) was developed with a focus on path integral molecular dynamics techniques, this second release of i-PI not only includes several new advanced path integral methods, but also offers other classes of algorithms. In other words, i-PI is moving towards becoming a universal force engine that is both modular and tightly coupled to the driver codes that evaluate the potential energy surface and its derivatives. [less ▲]

Decolonisation: geopolitical issues and impact on the European integration process

E-print/Working paper (2016)

The ePublication ‘Decolonisation: geopolitical issues and impact on the European integration process’ explores the key moments in the disintegration of the European colonial empires, with a particular ... [more ▼]

The ePublication ‘Decolonisation: geopolitical issues and impact on the European integration process’ explores the key moments in the disintegration of the European colonial empires, with a particular emphasis on French and British decolonisation, and looks at how this process of decolonisation influenced the European integration process. The ePublication begins by outlining the main stages in decolonisation after 1945, illustrated by specific examples. The Cold War and the increasing international condemnation of colonialism provided conditions that were ripe for indigenous peoples to gradually loosen the ties binding them to a Europe that was drained and in ruins following the Second World War. At the same time, the creation of the European Community forced the European powers to reconcile their overseas and European policies. The emergence of Third-World countries in the international arena changed relations between Europe and its (former) colonies and raised the question of a Community development aid policy. This ePublication therefore goes on to examine the debates that led in 1957 to the association of the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC), then to the signing of the Yaoundé Convention in 1963 and the Lomé Convention in 1975. A particular strength of the ePublication is the compilation and analysis of a rich, varied selection of more than 700 resources, including archive documents, press articles, correspondence, extracts from memoirs, photos and cartoons. [less ▲]

Is low fertility really a problem? Population aging, dependency, and consumption

in Science (2014), 346(6206), 229-234

Longer lives and fertility far below the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman are leading to rapid population aging in many countries. Many observers are concerned that aging will adversely affect ... [more ▼]

Longer lives and fertility far below the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman are leading to rapid population aging in many countries. Many observers are concerned that aging will adversely affect public finances and standards of living. Analysis of newly available National Transfer Accounts data for 40 countries shows that fertility well above replacement would typically be most beneficial for government budgets. However, fertility near replacement would be most beneficial for standards of living when the analysis includes the effects of age structure on families as well as governments. And fertility below replacement would maximize per capita consumption when the cost of providing capital for a growing labor force is taken into account. Although low fertility will indeed challenge government programs and very low fertility undermines living standards, we find that moderately low fertility and population decline favor the broader material standard of living. [less ▲]