Atoms, Clusters and Beyond

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Professor R. Stephen Berry at the Department of Chemistry, University of Chicago, is supported by a grant from the Theoretical and Computational Chemistry Program at NSF for theoretical studies of atoms and clusters. The work supported by this grant falls into three groups of related topics: (1) second-order phase transitions as modeled by clusters; (2) the relationship between the topography of potential energy surfaces and the formation of special structures, as in protein folding; and (3) angular electron correlation in atoms. A connecting theme is that the theoretical studies are directly related to experimental studies. Clusters are special and unique forms of matter that lie between isolated atoms and molecules at one extreme and the solid state at the other extreme. While the properties of clusters are important for their own sake, they are also important because they bridge these two extremes. A long term objective of the cluster work that this grant supports is to understand how cluster properties determine, and ultimately merge with, bulk properties. The supported work integrates analytic theory, computation, and computer simulation into an approach with three primary goals: (1) deepening the understanding of commonplace properties of matter; (2) identifying new properties specific to matter at the scale of clusters and nanoscale particles; and (3) stimulating new experiments.