Collaborative Computational Project Q (CCPQ) was developed in order to provide software which uses theoretical techniques to catalogue collisions between

electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...

positron The positron or antielectron is the particle with an electric charge of +1''elementary charge, e'', a Spin (physics), spin of 1/2 (the same as the electron), and the same Electron rest mass, mass as an electron. It is the antiparticle (antimatt ...

s or

photon A photon () is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless particles that can ...

s and atomic/molecular targets. The 'Q' stands for quantum dynamics. This project is accessible via the CCPForge website, which contains numerous other projects such as CCP2 and CCP4. The scope has increased to include atoms and molecules in strong (long-pulse and

attosecond An attosecond (abbreviated as as) is a unit of time in the International System of Units (SI) equal to 10−18 or 1⁄1 000 000 000 000 000 000 (one quintillionth) of a second. An attosecond is to a second, as a second is to approximately 31.69 ...

) laser fields, low-energy interactions of

antihydrogen Antihydrogen () is the antimatter counterpart of hydrogen. Whereas the common hydrogen atom is composed of an electron and proton, the antihydrogen atom is made up of a positron and antiproton. Scientists hope that studying antihydrogen may sh ...

with small atoms and molecules, cold atoms,

Bose–Einstein condensate In condensed matter physics, a Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) is a state of matter that is typically formed when a gas of bosons at very low Density, densities is cooled to temperatures very close to absolute zero#Relation with Bose–Einste ...

s and

optical lattice An optical lattice is formed by the Interference (wave propagation), interference of counter-propagating laser beams, creating a spatially periodic intensity pattern. The resulting periodic scalar potential, potential may trap neutral atoms via ...

s. CCPQ gives essential information on the reactivity of various molecules, and contains two community codes

R-matrix The term R-matrix has several meanings, depending on the field of study. Its original use has been to mathematically describe nuclear reactions. In particular the general problem of nuclear reactions is to relate the values of the scattering or coll ...

suite and MCTDH wavepacket dynamics. The project is supported by the Atomic and Molecular Physics group at

Daresbury Laboratory Daresbury Laboratory is a scientific research laboratory based at Sci-Tech Daresbury campus near Daresbury in Halton, Cheshire, England. The laboratory began operations in 1962 and was officially opened on 16 June 1967 as the Daresbury Nuclea ...

, which supports research in core computational and scientific codes and research. This project is a collaboration between

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

(UCL),

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

, and

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

. The project is led by Professor Graham Worth who is the Chair, alongside Vice-Chairs Dr Stephen Clark and Professor Hugo van der Hart. Quantemol Ltd is also a close partner of the project. The project is a result of the previous Collaborative Computation Project 2 (CCP2), and is an improved version of this older project. CCPQ (and its predecessor CCP2) have supported various incarnations of the UK Molecular R-matrix project for almost 40 years.

Applications

Both academic and industrial researchers use CCPQ. One of its uses is in the field of plasma research; reliable data on electron and light interactions is essential in order to model plasma processes used both on a small and large scale. Large scale industrial processes need to investigate the implementation of new methods thoroughly, and CCPQ can be used to theoretically determine the value of new processes. CCPQ has been used to study the

Hubbard model The Hubbard model is an Approximation, approximate model used to describe the transition between Conductor (material), conducting and Electrical insulation, insulating systems. It is particularly useful in solid-state physics. The model is named ...

s for cold atoms in

s, as it provides codes used in this area of research. CCPQ hosted the necessary code on the CCPForge website, which contains other computational research projects.

References

Computational particle physics Computational physics Science and Technology Facilities Council University College London {{compu-physics-stub