Join us in Warwick in September 2019 for this addition to our Faraday Discussion series. For over 100 years and 300 meetings, Faraday Discussions have been the forefront of physical chemistry. Many of these Discussions have become landmark meetings in their field.
We invite you to join us to discuss the topic of Quantum effects in complex systems and make your contribution to this cutting-edge dialogue alongside leaders in this field.
On behalf of our committee, we look forward to welcoming you to Warwick.
Scott Habershon
Chair
The challenge of understanding nuclear quantum effects in complex, many-particle systems has in recent years led to rapid growth in the development of new theoretical and experimental tools aimed at providing an atomic-level view of quantum effects. New simulation methods, such as centroid molecular dynamics and ring-polymer molecular dynamics provide computationally-efficient routes to calculating quantum-dynamical properties in complex systems, while new experimental methods such as time-resolved 2-dimensional spectroscopy provide increasingly sophisticated insights into the subtle role of quantum coherence in system sizes that reach into the realms of biological complexes and conjugated polymers.
Given the rapid rate of development and broad application domains, the principal aim of this Faraday Discussion is to provide a snapshot of the current theoretical and experimental state-of-the-art in methods designed to interrogate and rationalize the role of quantum-mechanical effects in complex systems; simultaneously, this meeting will act as a new forum to discuss ideas which span the experimental/theoretical domains.
Faraday Discussions have a special format where research papers written by the speakers are distributed to all participants before the meeting, and most of the meeting is devoted to discussing the papers. Everyone contributes to the discussion - including presenting their own relevant research. The research papers and a record of the discussion are published in the journal Faraday Discussions.
Find out more about Faraday Discussions in this video:
This session will highlight experimental (e.g. 2-D ultrafast spectroscopy) and theoretical investigations of the role of electronic and vibrational coherence in modulating energy transport processes in complex environments; photosynthetic complexes represent the archetypal system, while conjugated polymers are a further system of wide-reaching importance and broad current interest. This session provides a forum for direct interaction between experimental and computational researchers in this fast-moving field.
Spectroscopic signatures of quantum effects
This session will focus on methodologies aimed at measuring, interpreting and predicting spectroscopic measurements, including IR (vibrational) spectra of weakly-bound (anharmonic) clusters, tunnelling splittings (measured experimentally and modelled by, for example, instanton theory), transient UV/vis spectra and new ultrafast multidimensional spectroscopic approaches. Key questions are: how predictive are current theories with regards to spectroscopy? What can be done to improve the interpretation of experimental data? And how can new experimental insights into nuclear and electronic dynamics influence development of new technologies, such as quantum dots and artificial photosynthetic systems?
Zero-point energy and tunnelling
This session will investigate the influence of zero-point energy and tunnelling in condensed-phase chemical dynamics; examples of interest include enzyme-catalyzed proton and hydride transfer reactions, where there is ongoing discussion regarding the coupling between vibrational and reactive motions, and the properties of hydrogen-bonded clusters of atmospheric importance.
Emerging opportunities and future directions
In this final session, the focus will be on new application fields that will be impacted by the development of new computational and experimental approaches for analysing and exploiting quantum-mechanical phenomena in complex systems. Impact areas include energy applications (artificial photosynthesis, electron transfer, hydrogen generation, hydrogen storage, photovoltaics), catalysis, sensors and information storage.
We invite you to join us to discuss the topic of Quantum effects in complex systems and make your contribution to this cutting-edge dialogue alongside leaders in this field.
On behalf of our committee, we look forward to welcoming you to Warwick.
Scott Habershon
Chair
The challenge of understanding nuclear quantum effects in complex, many-particle systems has in recent years led to rapid growth in the development of new theoretical and experimental tools aimed at providing an atomic-level view of quantum effects. New simulation methods, such as centroid molecular dynamics and ring-polymer molecular dynamics provide computationally-efficient routes to calculating quantum-dynamical properties in complex systems, while new experimental methods such as time-resolved 2-dimensional spectroscopy provide increasingly sophisticated insights into the subtle role of quantum coherence in system sizes that reach into the realms of biological complexes and conjugated polymers.
Given the rapid rate of development and broad application domains, the principal aim of this Faraday Discussion is to provide a snapshot of the current theoretical and experimental state-of-the-art in methods designed to interrogate and rationalize the role of quantum-mechanical effects in complex systems; simultaneously, this meeting will act as a new forum to discuss ideas which span the experimental/theoretical domains.
Attendance
The RSC is keen to encourage and enable as many people as possible to attend our events, to benefit from the networking opportunities and the chance to hear talks from leaders in the field. If you have childcare or other caring responsibilities, and would like to attend this event, please do get in touch with us to see if there’s anything we can do to help enable you to attend.
Format
The Faraday Division have been organising high impact Faraday Discussions in rapidly developing areas of physical chemistry and its interfaces with other scientific disciplines for over 100 years.Faraday Discussions have a special format where research papers written by the speakers are distributed to all participants before the meeting, and most of the meeting is devoted to discussing the papers. Everyone contributes to the discussion - including presenting their own relevant research. The research papers and a record of the discussion are published in the journal Faraday Discussions.
Find out more about Faraday Discussions in this video:
Aims
This meeting will bring together both computational and experimental researchers who are interested in developing and applying methods that can be used to understand the role of quantum effects in complex systems. As such, this meeting is geared towards researchers focussed on “many-particle” systems, including liquids, solids, biological complexes, and nanoparticles.Themes
Quantum coherence in complex environmentsThis session will highlight experimental (e.g. 2-D ultrafast spectroscopy) and theoretical investigations of the role of electronic and vibrational coherence in modulating energy transport processes in complex environments; photosynthetic complexes represent the archetypal system, while conjugated polymers are a further system of wide-reaching importance and broad current interest. This session provides a forum for direct interaction between experimental and computational researchers in this fast-moving field.
Spectroscopic signatures of quantum effects
This session will focus on methodologies aimed at measuring, interpreting and predicting spectroscopic measurements, including IR (vibrational) spectra of weakly-bound (anharmonic) clusters, tunnelling splittings (measured experimentally and modelled by, for example, instanton theory), transient UV/vis spectra and new ultrafast multidimensional spectroscopic approaches. Key questions are: how predictive are current theories with regards to spectroscopy? What can be done to improve the interpretation of experimental data? And how can new experimental insights into nuclear and electronic dynamics influence development of new technologies, such as quantum dots and artificial photosynthetic systems?
Zero-point energy and tunnelling
This session will investigate the influence of zero-point energy and tunnelling in condensed-phase chemical dynamics; examples of interest include enzyme-catalyzed proton and hydride transfer reactions, where there is ongoing discussion regarding the coupling between vibrational and reactive motions, and the properties of hydrogen-bonded clusters of atmospheric importance.
Emerging opportunities and future directions
In this final session, the focus will be on new application fields that will be impacted by the development of new computational and experimental approaches for analysing and exploiting quantum-mechanical phenomena in complex systems. Impact areas include energy applications (artificial photosynthesis, electron transfer, hydrogen generation, hydrogen storage, photovoltaics), catalysis, sensors and information storage.
