Continuing the series of alternative and very informal meetings at this venue, the Cambridge University Theory of Condensed Matter group is organizing a seventh International Workshop to discuss the development and application of the continuum quantum Monte Carlo method and related topics in condensed matter physics and quantum chemistry. The conference will take place in our 15th Century monastery in the mediaeval high mountain village of Vallico Sotto (in the Tuscan Apuan Alps near the beautiful Italian city of Lucca).

For many types of problem the accuracy of quantum Monte Carlo is much better than that of the more widely-used density functional theory, and its scaling with number of atoms is much more favourable than that of high-level quantum chemistry. Unlike most other methods, it is also fully capable of exploiting the full power of the largest computers in the world (e.g. the Cambridge CASINO code has been shown to have almost perfect parallel scaling to over 100,000 CPU cores). All topics related to applications of QMC and/or theory and algorithm development will be welcome, though it is expected that broader topics in the general area will also be discussed.

The normal format for these events involves formal presentations being restricted to the mornings, with the afternoons left free for relaxed discussion and participation in activities. For the young and vigorous, we organize mountain walks, caving and other healthy outdoor exercise, whilst the unfit and elderly might enjoy artistic tours, city visits, and gentle country strolls, with all participants reuniting in the evening for excellent Tuscan dinners in local restaurants. The monastery is a unique venue where the community spirit and magnificent location have inspired memorable meetings in the past.

This year's workshop will involve up to 50 people, all accommodated on site and in the village. Many speakers will be specifically invited, but anyone who feels that they have something to contribute and who wishes to attend the event is most welcome to contact the organizer (Mike Towler: mdt26 at cam.ac.uk) for further details. There is no charge either for attendance at the conference or accommodation. A provisional programmme is available at the above website.

Confirmed participants
Dario Alfè (University College London, U.K.)
Sam Azadi (Imperial College, London, U.K.)
Stefano Baroni (SISSA, Trieste, Italy)
Benoit Braida (University of Paris, France)
Dario Bressanini (Università dell'Insubria, Italy)
Pascal Bugnion (University of Cambridge, U.K.)
Mauro Causà (University of Napoli, Italy)
Dominik Domin (University of Ulm, Germany)
Andrea Droghetti (Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland)
Neil Drummond (Lancaster University, U.K.)
Matthew Foulkes (Imperial College, London, U.K.)
Mike Gillan (University College, London, U.K.)
Kenta Hongo (JAIST, Japan)
Martin Korth (University of Ulm, Germany)
Pablo Lopez Rios (Cambridge University, U.K.)
Ryo Maezono (JAIST, Japan)
Mariapia Marchi (ESTECO S.p.A., Trieste, Italy)
Alston Misquitta (Queen Mary University, U.K.)
Bartomeu Monserrat-Sanchez (Cambridge University, U.K.)
Saverio Moroni (INFN, Trieste, Italy)
Richard Needs (Cambridge University, U.K.)
Catherine Overy (Cambridge University, U.K.)
Sebastiano Saccani (SISSA, Trieste, Italy)
James Shepherd (Cambridge University, U.K)
Sandro Sorella (SISSA, Trieste, Italy)
James Spencer (Imperial College, U.K.)
Alex Thom (Imperial College, U.K.)
John Trail (Cambridge University, U.K.)
Mike Towler (Cambridge University/UCL, U.K.)
Cyrus Umrigar (Cornell University, U.S.A)
Lucas Wagner (University of Illinois, U.S.A.)
Ching-Ming Wei (Academia Sinica, Taiwan)

FURTHER DETAILS AND PHOTOS FROM PREVIOUS WORKSHOPS ACCESSIBLE ON TTI WEB PAGE - CLICK THE 'PUBLIC EVENTS' LINK OR LOOK AT 'EVENT PHOTOS'.