About Developer Workshop

 

​Since 2000, the deMon Developers Workshops have provided a platform to discuss the evolution of the deMon2k software. Over time, they have grown into a dynamic scientific forum, bringing together researchers working with various quantum chemical methods, algorithms, and software tools beyond the deMon developer community. These meetings have fostered the integration of advanced computational techniques, including Quantum Mechanical/Molecular Mechanical (QM/MM) approaches, real-time time-dependent density functional theory (RT-TDDFT), and auxiliary density functional theory (ADFT), expanding the capabilities of deMon2k in simulating complex molecular systems.​

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About deMon2k and deMonNano

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The deMon Developers is an international group of researchers dedicated to developing the deMon (density of Montreal) software family, which comprises several quantum chemistry programs. The software originated in the 1990s in the research group of Prof. Dr. Dennis R. Salahub at the University of Montreal. It employs the linear combination of Gaussian-type orbitals (LCGTO) approach for solving Kohn-Sham density functional theory (DFT), auxiliary DFT (ADFT), and Hartree-Fock equations in a self-consistent manner.

 

The deMon2k software features quantum mechanics (QM), molecular mechanics (MM), and hybrid QM/MM energy models. These models support geometry and transition state optimizations and Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) simulations.

 

For large-scale systems, deMonNano offers a modern implementation of the density-functional tight-binding (DFTB) approach, including self-consistent charge (SCC), dispersion and polarization corrections, and the treatment of excited states via the DFTB-CI method. Several molecular dynamics techniques, such as BOMD, Car-Parrinello, metadynamics, path integral, and parallel tempering, are supported, enabling various applications in materials science, chemistry, and biophysics.

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History of deMon Developer Workshop

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The deMon Developers Workshops have been a global stage for advancing computational chemistry and the deMon2k software suite. The journey began in Canada (2000) and continued through Mexico (2001), Switzerland (2002), Sweden (2003), Italy (2004), Germany (2005), and again Canada (2006). Over the following years, researchers gathered in France (2007), India (2009), Brazil (2010), Germany (2011), China (2012), France (2013), Mexico (2014), Bulgaria (2015), China (2016), Canada (2017), Mexico (2018), and France (2019).

More recently, the 21st Workshop was held in Paris, France (2022), followed by the 22nd edition in Stockholm, Sweden (2024) in a hybrid format. The 23rd Workshop is scheduled to take place in India (2025). In 2026, the deMon community will gather again in Mexico, where science, culture, and symbolism converge. To honour this convergence, we introduce Tezcatlipoca, The Smoking Mirror, a powerful figure from Mesoamerican cosmology whose dual nature reflects our scientific challenges: visible and hidden, ordered and uncertain, rigorous and creative.

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Tezcatlipoca, The Smoking Mirror

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Tezcatlipoca is the Mexica god of night, darkness, sorcery, conflict, fate, and hidden knowledge. Often depicted as the rival of Quetzalcóatl, he is not a figure of evil in the Western sense, but rather embodies a profound duality—both creator and destroyer. Tezcatlipoca is one of Mesoamerican mythology’s most enigmatic and intellectually profound figures, deeply associated with esoteric wisdom, psychological strength, and insight into the human soul.

 

His most distinctive attribute is a smoking obsidian mirror on his chest or in place of one foot. This mirror symbolises introspection, the pursuit of profound knowledge, and the revelation of what is usually hidden. As a shaper of reality, Tezcatlipoca continuously challenges humans to evolve, confront themselves, and embrace transformation.

 

In 2026, as the deMon Developers Workshop returns to Mexico, Tezcatlipoca will serve as the symbolic host of our gathering. He represents the spirit of this land—mysterious, powerful, and rooted in a long tradition of intellectual, spiritual, and scientific inquiry. His dual nature mirrors the challenges of computational science, where clarity arises from complexity and understanding comes from probing the unseen.

 

Tezcatlipoca is our “deMon”—not a creature of chaos, but a force that invites reflection, transformation, and mastery of the invisible. Just as the obsidian mirror reveals hidden truths, our work in electronic structure seeks to illuminate the invisible foundations of the material world.