Institute for Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics between AMO theory and experiment and promoting AMO theory within the general physics community. It has been involved in some capacity in most of the National Research Council target areas, i.e. precision measurements and tests of fundamental laws, ultracold physics, the development and application of ultra-intense, short wavelength light sources, ultra-fast quantum control of atoms, molecules and electrons, nanoscience, and quantum information science. The Institute is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, the Center for Astrophysics and Harvard University. The Armstrong Report in 1987 on "The State of Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Sciences in the United
Comparison of chemistry and physics studies the properties of matter at a larger scale (for example, astrochemistry) and the reactions of matter at a larger scale (for example, technical chemistry), but typically, explanations and predictions are related back to the underlying atomic structure, giving more emphasis on the methods for the identification of molecules and their mechanisms of transformation than any other science. Although both physics and chemistry are concerned with matter and its interaction with energy, the two disciplines differ in approach. In physics, it is typical to abstract from the specific type of matter, and to focus on the common properties of many