Chemical physics

Last updated

Chemical physics is a subdiscipline of chemistry and physics that investigates physicochemical phenomena using techniques from atomic and molecular physics and condensed matter physics; it is the branch of physics that studies chemical processes from the point of view of physics. While at the interface of physics and chemistry, chemical physics is distinct from physical chemistry in that it focuses more on the characteristic elements and theories of physics. Meanwhile, physical chemistry studies the physical nature of chemistry. Nonetheless, the distinction between the two fields is vague, and scientists often practice in both fields during the course of their research. [1]

Contents

The United States Department of Education defines chemical physics as "A program that focuses on the scientific study of structural phenomena combining the disciplines of physical chemistry and atomic/molecular physics. Includes instruction in heterogeneous structures, alignment and surface phenomena, quantum theory, mathematical physics, statistical and classical mechanics, chemical kinetics, and laser physics." [2]

What chemical physicists do

Chemical physicists commonly probe the structure and dynamics of ions, free radicals, polymers, clusters, and molecules. Areas of study include the quantum mechanical behavior of chemical reactions, the process of solvation, inter- and intra-molecular energy flow, and single entities such as quantum dots. Experimental chemical physicists use a variety of spectroscopic techniques to better understand hydrogen bonding, electron transfer, the formation and dissolution of chemical bonds, chemical reactions, and the formation of nanoparticles. Theoretical chemical physicists create simulations of the molecular processes probed in these experiments to both explain results and guide future investigations. The goals of chemical physics research include understanding chemical structures and reactions at the quantum mechanical level, elucidating the structure and reactivity of gas phase ions and radicals, and discovering accurate approximations to make the physics of chemical phenomena computationally accessible. Chemical physicists are looking for answers to such questions as:

Journals

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Computational chemistry</span> Branch of chemistry

Computational chemistry is a branch of chemistry that uses computer simulations to assist in solving chemical problems. It uses methods of theoretical chemistry incorporated into computer programs to calculate the structures and properties of molecules, groups of molecules, and solids. The importance of this subject stems from the fact that, with the exception of some relatively recent findings related to the hydrogen molecular ion, achieving an accurate quantum mechanical depiction of chemical systems analytically, or in a closed form, is not feasible. The complexity inherent in the many-body problem exacerbates the challenge of providing detailed descriptions of quantum mechanical systems. While computational results normally complement information obtained by chemical experiments, it can occasionally predict unobserved chemical phenomena.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to chemistry:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Physical chemistry</span> Physics applied to chemical systems

Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mechanics, analytical dynamics and chemical equilibria.

Physical science is a branch of natural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together is called the "physical sciences".

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to physics:

Quantum chemistry, also called molecular quantum mechanics, is a branch of physical chemistry focused on the application of quantum mechanics to chemical systems, particularly towards the quantum-mechanical calculation of electronic contributions to physical and chemical properties of molecules, materials, and solutions at the atomic level. These calculations include systematically applied approximations intended to make calculations computationally feasible while still capturing as much information about important contributions to the computed wave functions as well as to observable properties such as structures, spectra, and thermodynamic properties. Quantum chemistry is also concerned with the computation of quantum effects on molecular dynamics and chemical kinetics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theoretical chemistry</span> Branch of chemistry

Theoretical chemistry is the branch of chemistry which develops theoretical generalizations that are part of the theoretical arsenal of modern chemistry: for example, the concepts of chemical bonding, chemical reaction, valence, the surface of potential energy, molecular orbitals, orbital interactions, and molecule activation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biophysics</span> Study of biological systems using methods from the physical sciences

Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations. Biophysical research shares significant overlap with biochemistry, molecular biology, physical chemistry, physiology, nanotechnology, bioengineering, computational biology, biomechanics, developmental biology and systems biology.

Revaz Dogonadze was a notable Georgian scientist, Corresponding Member of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences (GNAS) (1982), Doctor of Physical & Mathematical Sciences (1966), Professor (1972), one of the founders of quantum electrochemistry,

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molecular physics</span> Study of the physical and chemical properties of molecules

Molecular physics is the study of the physical properties of molecules and molecular dynamics. The field overlaps significantly with physical chemistry, chemical physics, and quantum chemistry. It is often considered as a sub-field of atomic, molecular, and optical physics. Research groups studying molecular physics are typically designated as one of these other fields. Molecular physics addresses phenomena due to both molecular structure and individual atomic processes within molecules. Like atomic physics, it relies on a combination of classical and quantum mechanics to describe interactions between electromagnetic radiation and matter. Experiments in the field often rely heavily on techniques borrowed from atomic physics, such as spectroscopy and scattering.

The scientific school of Quantum electrochemistry began to form in the 1960s under Revaz Dogonadze. Generally speaking, the field comprises the notions arising in electrodynamics, quantum mechanics, and electrochemistry; and so is studied by a very large array of different professional researchers. The fields they reside in include, chemical, electrical and mechanical engineering, chemistry and physics.

The Willard Gibbs Award, presented by the Chicago Section of the American Chemical Society, was established in 1910 by William A. Converse (1862–1940), a former Chairman and Secretary of the Chicago Section of the society and named for Professor Josiah Willard Gibbs (1839–1903) of Yale University. Gibbs, whose formulation of the Phase Rule founded a new science, is considered by many to be the only American-born scientist whose discoveries are as fundamental in nature as those of Newton and Galileo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joshua Jortner</span> Israeli physical chemist

Joshua Jortner is an Israeli physical chemist. He is a professor emeritus at the School of Chemistry, The Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Quantum biology is the study of applications of quantum mechanics and theoretical chemistry to aspects of biology that cannot be accurately described by the classical laws of physics. An understanding of fundamental quantum interactions is important because they determine the properties of the next level of organization in biological systems.

TeraChem is a computational chemistry software program designed for CUDA-enabled Nvidia GPUs. The initial development started at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was subsequently commercialized. It is currently distributed by PetaChem, LLC, located in Silicon Valley. As of 2020, the software package is still under active development.

Food physical chemistry is considered to be a branch of Food chemistry concerned with the study of both physical and chemical interactions in foods in terms of physical and chemical principles applied to food systems, as well as the applications of physical/chemical techniques and instrumentation for the study of foods. This field encompasses the "physiochemical principles of the reactions and conversions that occur during the manufacture, handling, and storage of foods."

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to natural science:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oleg Prezhdo</span> Ukrainian–American physical chemist (born 1970)

Oleg V. Prezhdo is a Ukrainian–American physical chemist whose research focuses on non-adiabatic molecular dynamics and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). His research interests range from fundamental aspects of semi-classical and quantum-classical physics to excitation dynamics in condensed matter and biological systems. His research group focuses on the development of new theoretical models and computational tools aimed at understanding chemical reactivity and energy transfer at a molecular level in complex condensed phase environment. Since 2014, he is a professor of chemistry and of physics & astronomy at the University of Southern California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cho Minhaeng</span> South Korean scientist (born 1965)

Cho Minhaeng is a South Korean scientist in researching physical chemistry, spectroscopy, and microscopy. He was director of the National Creative Research Initiative Center for Coherent Multidimensional Spectroscopy and is founding director of the Center for Molecular Spectroscopy and Dynamics in the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), located in Korea University.

Tamar Seideman is the Dow Chemical Company Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Physics at Northwestern University. She specialises in coherence spectroscopies and coherent control in isolated molecules and dissipative media as well as in ultrafast nanoplasmonics, current-driven phenomena in nanoelectronics and mathematical models.

References

  1. Slater, J.C. (1939). Introduction to Chemical Physics.
  2. Detail for CIP Code 40.0508
  3. Routzahn, Aaron L.; Jain, Prashant K. (2015-04-08). "Luminescence Blinking of a Reacting Quantum Dot". Nano Letters. 15 (4): 2504–2509. doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b00068. ISSN   1530-6984.