RUI: Quantum Mechanical Studies of Hydrogen and Helium Interactions: Applications in Astrophysical, Ultracold, and Industrial Environments

氢和氦相互作用的量子力学研究将在天体物理，超冷和工业环境中应用。这些环境包括原子和分子陷阱，过渡金属簇的表面，以及各种微物理过程需要可靠数据的天体物理环境。该研究的智力价值包括氢与其他原子和分子相互作用的第一原理研究，含氦货车范德华分子的形成和动力学，以及涉及氢在金属簇表面的化学反应。这些研究中的每一项都将使用完全量子力学的方法来描述涉及氢和氦的详细相互作用。研究的更广泛影响包括应用于：（i）天体物理环境，如氢分子云远离热平衡的光离解区，以及原始气体，其中需要对分子氢进行显著改进的理论计算，以模拟第三星族星星的形成，（ii）超冷环境，如缓冲气体阱，其中捕获的货车德瓦耳斯络合物可能为少体物理学的研究开辟新的途径，化学反应动力学和团簇物理学，以及（iii）工业环境，其中多相催化等过程可能受益于原子和分子的观点。更广泛的影响还包括人力资源开发和教育外联活动。 学生将首次接触科学研究。将举行一般教育和外联讲座，将研究活动与公众感兴趣的主题联系起来。该项目旨在整合研究，教学和教育推广，并为本科生提供一个开始科学和工程职业培训的绝佳机会。

Quantum mechanical studies of hydrogen and helium interations will be performed with applications in astrophysical, ultracold, and industrial environments. These environments include atom and molecule traps, surfaces of transition metal clusters, and astrophysical environments where reliable data is needed for a variety of microphysical processes. The intellectual merit of the research includes first principles investigation of the interactions of hydrogen with other atoms and molecules, the formation and dynamics of helium-containing van der Waals molecules, and chemical reactions involving hydrogen on the surfaces of metallic clusters. Each of these investigations will use fully quantum mechanical methods to describe detailed interactions involving hydrogen and helium.The broader impacts of the research include applications to:(i) Astrophysical environments such as photodissociation regions where hydrogen molecular clouds are far from thermal equilibrium, and primordial gas where a significantly improved theoretical account of molecular hydrogen is needed to simulate population III star formation,(ii) Ultracold environments such as buffer-gas traps where trapped van der Waals complexes may open up new avenues of research in few-body physics, chemical reaction dynamics, and cluster physics, and (iii) Industrial environments where processes such as heterogeneous catalysis might benefit from an atomic and molecular perspective. The broader impacts also include the development of human resources and educational outreach activities. Students will be given their first exposure to scientific research. General education and outreach talks will be given that relate the research activities with topics of interest to the public. The project is designed to integrate research, teaching, and educational outreach and provide an excellent opportunity for undergraduates to begin training for science and engineering careers.