New Directions in the Molecular Theory of Electromagnetic Response and in Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics

Katharine Hunt教授获得了化学部特别项目计划颁发的职业发展奖的支持，致力于在电磁响应和非平衡热力学理论方面寻求新的研究方向。在第一个研究领域，亨特博士将发展一种基于非局部电流密度极化率的新理论，该理论将用于表征分子内对实验测量的分子磁性的贡献。亨特博士将研究一种通过普通拉曼效应筛选非线性光学材料的新方法。在这一研究领域内要研究的其他问题包括选择性键断裂，以及对大分子链段之间范德华力的研究。在第二个研究领域，非平衡热力学，Hunt博士将对非均匀系统中的化学波前传播进行理论研究，以更好地了解连续流搅拌釜式反应器中伴随化学振荡的热力学行为和浓度波动。亨特博士的理论研究涉及两个重要的基本问题：1)理解相互作用，这对于解释原子和分子对电磁场的响应是重要的；2)适用于表现出波传播和化学振荡等非线性性质的非平衡化学体系的基本物理。第一个区域对新的光学材料的设计有重要的影响，第二个区域形成了在生物系统中经常表现出的振荡行为的基础，例如心肌。

Professor Katharine Hunt is supported by a Career Advancement Award from the Special Projects Program in the Chemistry Division to pursue new directions of research in the theory of electromagnetic response and non- equilibrium thermodynamics. In the first area of research, Dr. Hunt will develop a new theory, based on nonlocal current- density susceptibilities, which will be used to characterize the intramolecular contributions to experimentally measured magnetic properties of molecules. Dr. Hunt will conduct research on a novel method for screening nonlinear optical materials via the ordinary Raman effect. Additional problems to be studied within this field of research include selective bond cleavage, and studies of van der Waals forces between macromolecular chain segments. In the second field of study, non-equilibrium thermodynamics, Dr. Hunt will conduct theoretical research in chemical wave front propagation in inhomogeneous systems in an effort to better understand the thermodynamic behavior and the concentration fluctuations that accompany chemical oscillations in continuous-flow stirred tank reactors. %%% Dr. Hunt's theoretical research impinges upon two important fundamental problems: 1) understanding the interactions which are important for explaining the response of atoms and molecules to electromagnetic fields; and 2) the underlying physics which applies to non-equilibrium chemical systems which exhibit nonlinear properties such as wave propagation and chemical oscillation. The first area has important implications with regard to the design of new optical materials, and the second area forms a basis for the oscillatory behavior often exhibited in biological systems such as the cardiac muscle.