Kinetics of Nucleation in Phase Changes of Large Molecular Clusters

在化学部实验物理化学计划的这个项目中，巴特尔将使用实验和数值计算两种方法研究凝聚态物质中均相成核的动力学。在将要使用的方法中，包括一种新的实时电子衍射实验技术和一种包括蒙特卡罗和分子动力学计算的补充计算技术。将研究各种体系的成核率，其中主要是水，水表现出鲜为人知的反常行为。除化学外，水在许多领域也很重要，如大气科学、生物和材料加工。这个项目中的实验和计算研究将有助于我们理解水的凝结或冻结等现象，这是我们仍然不能很好地描述的非常基本的过程。

In this project in the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division, Bartell will study the kinetics of homogeneous nucleation in condensed matter using both experiments and numerical computations. Among the methods to be used are a new real-time electron diffraction experimental technique and a complementary computational technique involving Monte Carlo and Molecular Dynamics calculations. Nucleation rates will be studied for a variety of systems, the principal of which is water, which exhibits poorly understood and anomalous behavior. Water is important in many fields besides chemistry, such as atmospheric science, biology, and materials processing. The experimental and calculational studies in this project will help in our understanding of such phenomena as the condensation or freezing of water, very elementary processes which we still can not describe well.