Non-Covalent van der Waals Interactions in Molecules and Materials: A Solved Problem ?
Event details
| Date | 02.05.2016 |
| Hour | 13:15 › 14:15 |
| Speaker | Prof. Alexandre Tkatchenko, Theory Department Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Non-covalent van der Waals (vdW) interactions are ubiquitous in molecules and materials. The influence of vdW forces extends well beyond binding energies and encompasses the structural, mechanical, spectroscopic, and even electronic signatures of molecular systems and condensed matter. Our conceptual understanding of these interactions is largely based on perturbative models, which are often unable to capture the full extent of non-local quantum-mechanical fluctuations which can extend up to tens of nanometers in real systems [1]. The origin of such many-body fluctuations will be discussed and their importance demonstrated for a hierarchy of systems, ranging from simple gas-phase dimers, supramolecular host-guest complexes, extended molecular crystals, to layered 2D heterostructures. The development of efficient many-body methods that explicitly address the non-local collective nature of quantum fluctuations not only leads to significant improvements in the accuracy of calculations [2,3,4], but also allows us to discover novel conceptual insights that give us the ability to control these fluctuations in the design of intricate materials. These facts will be highlighted by presenting a few selected examples from our recent work [3,4].
[1] A. Ambrosetti, N. Ferri, R. A. DiStasio Jr., and A. Tkatchenko, Science, in print (2016).
[http://th.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/site/uploads/Publications/aae0509.pdf]
[2] A. Tkatchenko, R. A. DiStasio Jr., R. Car, and M. Scheffler, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 236402 (2012).
[3] A. Tkatchenko, Adv. Func. Mat. 25, 2054 (2015).
[4] A. M. Reilly and A. Tkatchenko, Chem. Sci. 6, 3289 (2015).
Bio: Alexandre Tkatchenko is a full professor in theoretical condensed-matter physics at the University
of Luxembourg and group leader at the Fritz Haber Institute (FHI) of the Max Planck Society in Berlin.
He obtained his bachelor degree in computer science and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry
at the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Mexico. During 2008--2010, he was an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow
in the Theory Department at FHI, Berlin. Since 2011, he is leading a group on Functional Materials and Intermolecular
Interactions at FHI, partially funded through a Starting Grant from the European Research Council. He has given more
than 60 invited talks plus 60 seminars and colloquia worldwide. He has received the Gerhard Ertl Young Investigator Award
of the German Physical Society (2011).
[1] A. Ambrosetti, N. Ferri, R. A. DiStasio Jr., and A. Tkatchenko, Science, in print (2016).
[http://th.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/site/uploads/Publications/aae0509.pdf]
[2] A. Tkatchenko, R. A. DiStasio Jr., R. Car, and M. Scheffler, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 236402 (2012).
[3] A. Tkatchenko, Adv. Func. Mat. 25, 2054 (2015).
[4] A. M. Reilly and A. Tkatchenko, Chem. Sci. 6, 3289 (2015).
Bio: Alexandre Tkatchenko is a full professor in theoretical condensed-matter physics at the University
of Luxembourg and group leader at the Fritz Haber Institute (FHI) of the Max Planck Society in Berlin.
He obtained his bachelor degree in computer science and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry
at the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Mexico. During 2008--2010, he was an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow
in the Theory Department at FHI, Berlin. Since 2011, he is leading a group on Functional Materials and Intermolecular
Interactions at FHI, partially funded through a Starting Grant from the European Research Council. He has given more
than 60 invited talks plus 60 seminars and colloquia worldwide. He has received the Gerhard Ertl Young Investigator Award
of the German Physical Society (2011).
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Practical information
- General public
- Free
Organizer
- Prof. Michele Ceriotti
Contact
- Prof. Michele Ceriotti