A variant of a standard method for computing a global minimum of geometric landscapes helped researchers discover a new way of arranging 98 atoms in a cluster.

Leary, R.H., and J.P.K. Doye. Preprint. New tetrahedral global minimum for the 98-atom Lennard-Jones cluster. Available at http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/cond-mat/9908165/.

Robert H. Leary
University of California, San Diego
San Diego Supercomputer Center
San Diego, CA 92138

From Science News, Vol. 156, No. 16, October 16, 1999, p. 255. Copyright © 1999, Science Service.