ore than six decades and a political dynasty have
passed since eastern Germany nurtured such luminaries of science as Albert
Einstein and Max Planck. But today a unified Germany is eager to
reinvigorate science in its formerly Communist half. Following a major
reorganization of eastern Germany's state and federally funded system of
scientific institutes, the government is pouring new funds and support
into science. They are also vigorously recruiting scientists from around
the world and building alliances with scientific centers in other
countries.
Joining the vanguard of "new blood" is NCSA astrophysicist Ed Seidel. Last summer he and four other members of NCSA's General Relativity Group -- Steve Brandt, Karen Camarda, Joan Masso, and Paul Walker -- were recruited by the venerable Max Planck Society to establish an international numerical relativity unit in Potsdam. The society had recently created the Max-Planck-Institute-for-Gravitational-Physics, also known as the "Albert Einstein Institute"(AEI) -- the newest in its 70-institution network -- that they intend to develop into the largest research center devoted solely to relativity. They had already recruited a number of the world's leading relativity theoreticians. They wanted Seidel to create a unit for numerical relativity of similar stature. The roughly 10-person numerical relativity group is helping to grow the institute to its ultimate size of about 70 researchers.
Numerical relativity has gained popularity in recent years as a means of solving Albert Einstein's 80-year-old equations of general relativity. Numerical relativists use high-speed computers to perform the massive calculations involved in solving these fundamental equations of physics. One undertaking by Seidel's team is in the final stages of a five-year effort funded by the National Science Foundation to model two colliding black holes. The other project, which is newly funded by NASA, will model colliding neutron stars. Both involve massive calculations and almost daily collaboration.
In many respects, Ed's job should be easy. He was given a hefty budget and a blank slate. On the other hand, the blank slate included a nearly empty computer room and a telecommunications infrastructure that is woefully underpowered.
During a recent visit to the United States, Ed talked about his new home, his continuing affiliation with NCSA, and what it's like building a high-performance computing infrastructure in a city where most houses are still heated by coal.
