A profusion of research and results on the mechanical behaviour of crystalline solids has followed the discovery of dislocations in the early thirties. This trend has been enhanced by the development of powerful experimental techniques. particularly X ray diffraction. transmission and scanning electron microscopy. microanalysis. The technological advancement has given rise to the study of various and complex materials. not to speak of those recently invented. whose mechanical properties need to be mastered. either for their lise as structural materials. or more simply for detenllining their fonnability processes. As is often the case this fast growth has been diverted both by the burial of early fundamental results which are rediscovered more or less accurately. and by the too fast publication of inaccurate results. which propagate widely. and are accepted without criticism. Examples of these statements abound. and will not be quoted here for the sake of dispassionateness. Understanding the mechanical properties of materials implies the use of various experimental techniques. combined with a good theoretical knowledge of elasticity. thermodynamics and solid state physics. The recent development of various computer techniques (simulation. ab initio calculations) has added to the difficulty of gathering the experimental information. and mastering the theoretical understanding. No laboratory is equipped with all the possible experimental settings. almost no scientist masters all this theoretical kno\vledge. Therefore. cooperation between scientists is needed more than even before.

This volume collects the contributions! to the NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) held in Aussois (France) by March 25 - April 5, 1991. This NATO ASI was intended to present and illustrate recent advances in computer simulation techniques applied to the study of materials science problems. Introductory lectures have been devoted to classical simulations with special reference to recent technical improvements, in view of their application to complex systems (glasses, molecular systems . . . ). Several other lectures and seminars focused on the methods of elaboration of interatomic potentials and to a critical presentation of quantum simulation techniques. On the other hand, seminars and poster sessions offered the opportunity to discuss the results of a great variety of simulation studies dealing with materials and complex systems. We hope that these proceedings will be of some help for those interested in simulations of material properties. The scientific committee advises have been of crucial importance in determining the conference program. The directors of the ASI express their gratitude to the colleagues who have participated to the committee: Y. Adda, A. Bellemans, G. BIeris, J. Castaing, C. R. A. Catlow, G. Ciccotti, J. Friedel, M. Gillan, J. P. Hansen, M. L. Klein, G. Martin, S. Nose, L. Rull-Fernandez, J. Valleau, J. Villain. The main financial support has been provided by the NATO Scientific Affairs Division and the Commission of European Communities (plan Science).

Global warming, shortage of low-cost oil resources and the increasing demand for energy are currently controlling the world's economic expansion while often opposing desires for sustainable and peaceful development. In this context, atomic energy satisfactorily fulfills the criteria of low carbon gas production and high overall yield. However, in the absence of industrial fast-breeders the use of nuclear fuel is not optimal, and the production of high activity waste materials is at a maximum. These are the principal reasons for the development of a new, fourth generation of nuclear reactors, minimizing the undesirable side-effects of current nuclear energy production technology while increasing yields by increasing operation temperatures and opening the way for the industrial production of hydrogen through the decomposition of water.

The construction and use of such reactors is hindered by several factors, including performance limitations of known structural materials, particularly if the life of the projected systems had to extend over the periods necessary to achieve low costs (at least 60 years).

This book collects lectures and seminars presented at the homonymous NATO ASI held in autumn 2007 at the Institut d'Etudes Scientifiques in Cargese, France. The adopted approach aims at improving and coordinating basic knowledge in materials science and engineering with specific areas of condensed matter physics, the physics of particle/matter interaction and of radiation damage. It is our belief that this methodology is crucially conditioning the development and the industrial production of new structural materials capable of coping with the requirements of these future reactors."

This volume collects the contributions! to the NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) held in Aussois (France) by March 25 - April 5, 1991. This NATO ASI was intended to present and illustrate recent advances in computer simulation techniques applied to the study of materials science problems. Introductory lectures have been devoted to classical simulations with special reference to recent technical improvements, in view of their application to complex systems (glasses, molecular systems . . . ). Several other lectures and seminars focused on the methods of elaboration of interatomic potentials and to a critical presentation of quantum simulation techniques. On the other hand, seminars and poster sessions offered the opportunity to discuss the results of a great variety of simulation studies dealing with materials and complex systems. We hope that these proceedings will be of some help for those interested in simulations of material properties. The scientific committee advises have been of crucial importance in determining the conference program. The directors of the ASI express their gratitude to the colleagues who have participated to the committee: Y. Adda, A. Bellemans, G. BIeris, J. Castaing, C. R. A. Catlow, G. Ciccotti, J. Friedel, M. Gillan, J. P. Hansen, M. L. Klein, G. Martin, S. Nose, L. Rull-Fernandez, J. Valleau, J. Villain. The main financial support has been provided by the NATO Scientific Affairs Division and the Commission of European Communities (plan Science).

This volume collects the contributions to the NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI); "Computer Simulation in Materials Science -NanolMesolMacroscopic Space and Time Scales", held on lIe d'OIeron (France) June 6-16, 1995.1his event was intended to present the state of the art in simulation techniques in Materials Science. For decades to come the limits of computing power will not allow for atomistic simulations of macroscopic specimens. Simulations can only be performed on various scales (nano, meso, micro, macro) with the constitutive input provided by simulations (or data) on the next smaller scale. The resulting hierarchy has been the main topic of many of lectures and seminars. Necessarily, special emphasis was placed on mesoscopic simulations bridging the gaps between nano (atomic) and micro space and time scales. During the ASI, lecturers and participants did not only consider fundamental problems, but also applications. Papers on the evolution of morphological patterns in phase transformations and plastic deformation, irradiation effects, mass transport and mechanical properties of materials in general, highlighted what has already been achieved. It was concluded that computer simulations must be based on realistic and efficient models, the fundamental equations controlling the dynamical evolution of microstructures, stochastic field kinetic models being a case in point.

Global warming, shortage of low-cost oil resources and the increasing demand for energy are currently controlling the world's economic expansion while often opposing desires for sustainable and peaceful development. In this context, atomic energy satisfactorily fulfills the criteria of low carbon gas production and high overall yield. However, in the absence of industrial fast-breeders the use of nuclear fuel is not optimal, and the production of high activity waste materials is at a maximum. These are the principal reasons for the development of a new, fourth generation of nuclear reactors, minimizing the undesirable side-effects of current nuclear energy production technology while increasing yields by increasing operation temperatures and opening the way for the industrial production of hydrogen through the decomposition of water.

The construction and use of such reactors is hindered by several factors, including performance limitations of known structural materials, particularly if the life of the projected systems had to extend over the periods necessary to achieve low costs (at least 60 years).

This book collects lectures and seminars presented at the homonymous NATO ASI held in autumn 2007 at the Institut d Etudes Scientifiques in Cargese, France. The adopted approach aims at improving and coordinating basic knowledge in materials science and engineering with specific areas of condensed matter physics, the physics of particle/matter interaction and of radiation damage. It is our belief that this methodology is crucially conditioning the development and the industrial production of new structural materials capable of coping with the requirements of these future reactors."

A profusion of research and results on the mechanical behaviour of crystalline solids has followed the discovery of dislocations in the early thirties. This trend has been enhanced by the development of powerful experimental techniques. particularly X ray diffraction. transmission and scanning electron microscopy. microanalysis. The technological advancement has given rise to the study of various and complex materials. not to speak of those recently invented. whose mechanical properties need to be mastered. either for their lise as structural materials. or more simply for detenllining their fonnability processes. As is often the case this fast growth has been diverted both by the burial of early fundamental results which are rediscovered more or less accurately. and by the too fast publication of inaccurate results. which propagate widely. and are accepted without criticism. Examples of these statements abound. and will not be quoted here for the sake of dispassionateness. Understanding the mechanical properties of materials implies the use of various experimental techniques. combined with a good theoretical knowledge of elasticity. thermodynamics and solid state physics. The recent development of various computer techniques (simulation. ab initio calculations) has added to the difficulty of gathering the experimental information. and mastering the theoretical understanding. No laboratory is equipped with all the possible experimental settings. almost no scientist masters all this theoretical kno\vledge. Therefore. cooperation between scientists is needed more than even before.