Topics in Mathematical Chemistry

Date(s)
Thursday 14th November 2024 (15:00-16:00)
Contact
Event Convenor Contact: Martin.Richter@nottingham.ac.uk
Description
Speaker's Name: Jonathan Rawlinson
Speaker's Affiliation: Nottingham Trent University
Speaker's Research Theme(s): Applied Mathematics,
Abstract:
Molecules are made up of atoms. Each atom, in turn, is made up of a nucleus orbited by electrons. So a molecule can be viewed as a collection of many smaller particles - electrons and atomic nuclei - whose detailed motion on the atomic scale is governed by quantum mechanics. An interesting feature of molecules is that the constituent particles have wildly differing masses: an electron is lighter than a typical atomic nucleus by four orders of magnitude. This feature makes molecules very special, as far as quantum systems go. It permits a drastic simplification of their theoretical description, know as the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, which is fundamental to molecular dynamics and many other fields. In this talk I will give a brief introduction to the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, the potential for it to break down, and the implications for understanding chemical processes. Along the way I will highlight some recent papers in which I and collaborators have contributed to this field. I have chosen the broad heading of ‘mathematical chemistry’ to describe this work, which draws on techniques from several areas of mathematics including asymptotics, group theory, differential geometry and (equivariant) bifurcation theory.

Venue: UP-Chemistry X2

School of Mathematical Sciences

The University of Nottingham
University Park
Nottingham, NG7 2RD

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