GMail tips and tricks

To list unread messages in the mai

is: category:primary is:unread

To list all the unread messages

is: unread



Activate Undo Send option
For replying to similar messages (or routine messages) use canned message option.
Use Google calendar inside the GMail
Also use mail forwarding option to receive mail from other accounts.

How to write a paper quickly?

Top 10 rules

Note that writing a paper to journal is a painstaking effort and takes a lot of time for researchers in their early career (some times even for experts too). Sometimes, it may be possible for an expert to write a complete paper from conception to submission format. These are considered to be an exception. Personally, I take at least six months to come with the first draft of the manuscript. Here is one of the ways to write papers quickly for a journal of conference. 

1. Start with the hypothesis and start writing. Don't procrastinate. Write from the starting of the work, when you are doing experiment, write the methodology.
2. Review the notes and renew the literature search, and refine your conception and hypothesis
3. Determine who your audience is - most likely reviewers, so get their concerns firstly addressed
4. Create the outline and get the big picture done, i.e., complete the first draft while resisting the temptation to correct and edit as you go; the logical sequence of data/tables/figures may be the outline; while writing the first draft, take notes indicating what references might be needed and would be about, but don't stop to collect the references
5. Begin with the easier part of the task - experimental section rather then the introduction; then follows the results and discussion section
6. Then comes the really hard part - critical editing where you make sure that the English is coherent and the science is correct
7. Write the conclusion in a numbered format
8. Then comes the abstract and the acknowledgements
9. Now comes the introduction, the two most important things to address in which are the purpose and relevant background
10. Then collect the references.
11. Use Latex for writing your paper. No matter how complicated your paper is, LaTeX will give you a best final draft.

Reference

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY7sVKJPTMA

Writing Good Papers (Prof. Michal Lipson)

Top advice form Prof. Michal Lipson, 

1. Don't write paper for those 10 people who is specialized in your area (who will read no matter what). Our goal should be to reach much broader community (broader audience) 
2. In one minute of grasping you paper, the reader should know what you did
3. Paper should be crisp clear and easy to read (should not be hard to read). Writing your research without clarity may have no effect even though your work has potential to form a new field in research
4. Tell your story in one minute.

Golden Rules

1. Cut! This seems to be the most important rule. Reduce any unnecessary word or phrases (cut many, anything subjective). Cut efficiently. Say aloud and write it. When we say something, we say clearly and simply. Just write as you explain to some one else. After writing, hunt down every word that will distract the reader from the main point you make. Very, really, basically, quite, generally - these words don't add much. Write without these sentences. Avoid starting with "there are". Following are the unnecessary phrases: for the most part, for the purpose of, in the case of, in the final analysis, in the event that, it has been estimated that, it may be argued that (come straight), as far as we know, as we know. Remove clunky phrases (with the word in bracket):  A majority of (most), A number of (many), Are of the same opinion (agree), At the present moment (now), By means of (by), Less frequently occurring (rare). Wordy vs Pointed: in spite of the fact that (although), in the event that (if), period of four days (four days), refer back (refer), shorter/longer in length (shorter/longer), had been previously found (hand been found). Ask these questions again and again: Is this word/phrase necessary?, What happens if I take it out? If it is not critical (not changing anything), remove it.

2. Use active voice. When use passive voice, the sentence becomes hard to read, and not actually gives who did the experiment. Use we found major differences.... We did this, We did that, etc.

3. Use parallel construction: If you want to be a good researcher, you must study hard, listen well, and think critically about the literature.

4. Start paragraph with main point: Start the paragraphs with your main point then expand (Professor's favorite). This is important to write a crisp clear paper. Every paragraph should start with the main idea of the whole paragraph. Rest of the sentences are should be just details explaining the first sentence. If you take first sentences of all the paragraphs and put them together, it should form the abstract.

If you want to write a sentence and if you don't know how to order it, always bring the important points front.

Know the difference between the introduction and discussion. 

In introduction, start with what is available, then explain what is missing, then your work (i.e., the introduction moves from general to specific)

In the discussion, at the end, say what amazing thing you did is going to revolutionize the word  (The discussion moves from specific to general). You know the simplification, why and what you did some body else would care, and why the deficiencies you have might or might not be fundamental (which is pretty important). Put your work in the big picture. Your performance is not the best. But, put the minor drawback of the work. 

In results, you show the number. In discussion, you show the big picture. The discussion should be the big picture. Not the little details.

Most important things not to put in the discussion: 

Do not simply repeat what is in the Results

Do not try to explain every minor flaw

Do not try to explain away every unexpected result

Do not exaggerate or make extravagant claims 

Don't hedge

(Editors and reviewers may read only this part, if they are busy. They don't care about the number. They care about the big picture.)

Need to attract very wide audience. But don't over claim and don't exaggerate. 

Links to learn Machine Learning with TensorFlow

TensorFlow official tutorial
A Neural network playground using TensorFlow

Machine Learning Tools Installations

Installations

pip install tensorflow --user
pip install Keras --user


To check the full path where TensorFlow is installed

python -c 'import os; import inspect; import tensorflow; print(os.path.dirname(inspect.getfile(tensorflow)))'

/home/full/path/tensorflow

Density Functional Theory (DFT) Researchers

Density functional theory (Kohn-Sham formalism), developed for finding electronic properties of materials, based on Hohenberg-Kohn theorems, cleverly overcomes the pain of manybody effects of electrons. Here I provide the groups which develop electronic structure theory (mainly post Kohn-Sham DFT theory), develop codes for the calculation of properties using DFT.

Following is the (partial) list which may be updated regularly. These are the links for the detailed page containing the group/professor/research's research interest, link to their page, etc. The group's name is given by the groups PI's first name (mostly).

1. Becke (Axel D. Becke, Dalhousie University (Department of Chemistry)
2. Burke (Kieron Burke, UC Irvine)
3. Hardy Gross (E K U Gross, MPI Halle)
4. Perdew's Grop (John Perdew)
5. 
   

Magic clusters (with n=13) or Platonic Solids

Symmetry in clusters and molecules is an interesting field.

Al, Ti, Fe, Zr, Nb, Ta, Ga metal clusters have been observed in experiments. The magic these clusters are cuboctahedron or Icosahedron made of exactly 13 atoms. Pretty interesting.

Schriver et al, PRL 4, 2539 (1990)
Douglass et al, PRB 47, 12874, (1993)
Sakurai et al, JCP 111, 235, (1999)
Thomas et al, JCP, 114, 5514 (2001)

Also
Al13: icosahedron, decahedron
Nb13: relaxed icasohedron
Ni13: icasohedron
Rh13: icosahedron
Pd13: icosahderon
Pt13: cuboctahedron
Au13: cuboctahedron
Sn$_{12}^{2-}$: icosahedral (stannaspherene)
Pb$_{12}^{2-}$: nearly-spherical
(and many more).

The references are

Rao et al, PRB, 62, 4666 (2000)
Reddy et al, PRB, 59, 5214 (1999)
Kumar et al, PRB, 65, 125403 (2002)
Rothlisberger et al, JCP, 96, 1248 (1992)
Calleja et al, PRB, 60, 2020 (1990)
Zope et al, PRA, 64, 053202 (2001)
Reuse et al, CPL, 234, 77 (1995)
Moseler et al, PRL, 86, 2545 (2001)
Watari et al, PRB, 58, 1665 (1998)
Haberlen et al, JCP, 106 5189 (1997)
Cui et al, JPC A 110,  10169 (2006)
Cui et al, JACS 128, 8390 (2006)

Some atoms form Planar 13-atom magic clusters.
For example, Au$_{13}^{-}$, B$_{13}^{+}$
Hakkinen et al, PRL, 89, 033401 (2002)
Aihara, J. J. Phys. Chem. A 105, 5486 (2001)

Why these atoms form 13 atoms clusters?
Why not other atoms?
What causes these symmetry to be highly stable?

Click here to see the list of problems.

How to do research Series 2

Keep an eye on list of unsolved, challenging (but doable) and interesting problems (for you) problems always. On the one hand keep strong focus on the present problem. At the same time, if you keep a list of problems, you may solve the problem sooner or later. At present, you might not have the proper tool for doing that or necessary skill to do that (math), or necessary idea to connect the dots (the eureka moment).

Don't put all your eggs in one bucket. You might have a backup unless you have solid evidence that the current problem will be worth solving for long term.


Here is the list of other related posts on "How to do research". 

List of problems in Physics, Chemistry, Maths and interdisplinary

Platonic Solids and magic clusters: symmetry and molecular properties
Problems in describing dimer (simple molecules)