The work during the NIMBqUS project was both analytical and numerical. That is to say that the problems identified as interesting were attacked both with mathematical methods - here one tries to prove interesting mathematical statements about quantities in a theory, in this case quantum mechanics, that can be related to real world effects - and computer programs - here one tries to use computer simulations to gain insights into the behavior of the systems of interest.
In the beginning, the numerical work was in the foreground. For that one has to learn an appropriate programming language, familiarize oneself with the relevant software development and debugging tools. One then needs to understand the problem at hand on a sufficiently deep level to be able to break down the computation one wants to achieve into individual instructions the computer can follow and then identify interesting situations in which the produced code can be used to answer relevant science questions.
In later stages most of the work was analytical. Here one needs to first of all absorbe a great amount of knowledge about mathematical entities and techniques. One then needs to understand the essence of the problem, often by considering simplified or generalized versions or other variants of the problem one wants to study. Often numerical simulations can provide useful intuition and typically joint work of several researchers with different backgrounds and discussions during which ideas are conceived, developed, and discarded are necessary to find a proof strategy. Conferences and visits to and by researchers working on related issues are often crucial for this creative process. From that point on, the details of the proof of the results one is aiming at have to be worked out.
Once the results have been obtained, they must be written up in a form understandable for fellow researchers using precise language and the appropriate mathematical formalism. During NIMBqUS, results which, when written in a style understandable for researchers with an appropriate background, fill no less than 10 scientific papers, have been obtained in this way. All of them have in common that they advance our understanding of properties of quantum many-body systems. This constitutes the overall main result achieved.
These results have been disseminated during about a dozent conferences, discussed with colleagues during visits and invitations to give seminars. They have further been picked up by popular science and general press outlets.
In addition to the scientific work, a plethora of service activities to the scientific community have been carried out, ranging from acting as a referee to knowledge transfer and outreach activities. A very significant amount of time also had to be invested in applications for follow-up grants and academic positions, as well as the preparations for the respective job interviews. Especially during the second year, this has consumed a very substantial part of the working hours.
