SCIENCE AT THE EDGE SEMINAR

Interdisciplinary Physics

Friday, December 6th at 11:30am

Room 1400 Biomedical and Physical Sciences Bldg.

Refreshments at 11:15

James R. Chelikowsky

 University of Texas at Austin

Departments of Chemistry, Physics & Chemical Engineering

Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences

Title:  Addressing Dirac’s Challenge:

Practical Quantum Theories for Materials

After the invention of quantum mechanics, P. A. M. Dirac made the following observation:  "The underlying physical laws necessary for the mathematical theory of a  large part of physics and the whole of chemistry are thus completely known, and the difficulty is only that the exact application of these laws leads to equations much too complicated to be soluble. It therefore becomes desirable that approximate practical methods of applying quantum mechanics should be developed, which can lead to an explanation of the main features of complex atomic systems…"   The creation of "approximate practical methods" in response to Dirac's challenge has included the one electron picture, density functional theory and the pseudopotential concept.  The combination of such methods in conjunction with contemporary computational platforms and new algorithms offer the possibility of predicting properties of materials solely from knowledge of the atomic species present.  I will give an overview of progress in this field with an emphasis on materials applications at the nanoscale.

Shawna Prater / Secretary

Astrophysics Group

Michigan State University

567 Wilson Road, Room 3261

Biomedical Physical Sciences Bldg

East Lansing, MI 48824-2320

Ph: (517) 884-5601 Fax (517) 432-8802

[log in to unmask], [log in to unmask]

This e-mail may contain confidential information.  If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you received this message in error, please delete it immediately.