COMS

Development of multiscale methods has in general proceeded rather independently in the physics, chemistry, and applied mathematics communities. Approaches have varied from ad hoc fitting procedures designed to make contact with specific experimental systems to studies of simple low-dimensional models or models with few degrees of freedom that are amenable to analytic analysis. This research program will bring together researchers from a wide range of backgrounds for an extended period of communication and collaboration on the theoretical foundations of multiscale methods, to rigorously refine how they are used, and to broaden their applicability. The ultimate goal is to work towards a framework for multiscale modeling that is on the same firm footing as renormalization group methods or the approaches of computational statistical mechanics.

During the 1980s computer simulations began to support experimentalists by revealing dynamic effects in contacts. They allowed for a first glimpse on the different paths of dissipation of energy induced by tribological loading, which could not be analyzed in-situ. Today simulations have become an indispensable tool to better understand the nature of tribological contacts at all scales. In addition they revealed that the dissipation mechanisms differ distinctly among the orders of magnitude. This results in a still existing gap between simulations and experiments as well as between atomistic perspectives and applied tribology.

Thus the 2012 Gordon Research Conference on Tribology - following the tradition of the series - provides state-of-the-art presentations of leading scientists in physics, chemistry, materials, and engineering sciences, which will result in lively and stimulating discussions about the coincidences and discrepancies found between experiments and simulations and across the different orders of magnitude in time and length. The extraordinary character of this conference allows for a continuous exchange of knowledge and theories between established representatives from science and industry as well as students who just became involved.