A comprehensive, practical examination of the basic principles and inner mechanics of matter . . .

Moving from pure principles to real applications, the Quantum Chemistry Workbook is a step-by-step study guide to the inner workings of nature's fundamental systems: free atoms, small molecules, polymers, and crystals. Beginning with a short, clear summary of the basics of quantum mechanics, the Workbook offers a chapter-by-chapter exposition in a highly interactive exercise and question format that allows readers to work through the main concepts discussed. Not simply a...

This volume contains nine contributions, from leading scientists, which embrace the fundamentals of various aspects of the conceptual development of quantum chemistry. Topics dealt with include the behaviour of molecules in magnetic fields, the long-standing problem of the decoupling of nuclear from electron motion in molecules, the status of density functional theory, and the string model of chemical reactions.

A companion volume to Conceptual Trends in Quantum Chemistry, this work contains eight contributions focusing on important conceptual trends in atomic and molecular theory. The polarization between ab initio and semi-empirical methods is thoroughly analyzed in two of the articles, which also provide bridges between such procedures. Hydrogen-transfer theory and electron delocalization are treated in two further papers. Explicitly time-dependent descriptions of intermolecular dynamics, which constitute a characteristic trend in current research, are represented by an article about the quantum...

The rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full Ecclesiastes What is quantum chemistry? The straightforward answer is that it is what quan tum chemists do. But it must be admitted, that in contrast to physicists and chemists, "quantum chemists" seem to be a rather ill-defined category of scientists. Quantum chemists are more or less physicists (basically theoreticians), more or less chemists, and by and large, computationists. But first and foremost, we, quantum chemists, are conscious beings. We may safely guess that quantum chemistry was one of the first areas in the natural sciences...

A "Festschrift" volume fulfils a more far-reaching purpose than the laudatory one. It shows how science develops as a result of the activities - scientific and organizational - of an individual person. Scientific achievement cannot be subjected to the very refined measurement techniques of science itself, but there is a continuous mutual evaluation among scientists which manifests itself through refereeing, literature citation and dedicatory volumes like the present one. Near and distant associates of Per-Olov Lowdin were enthusiastic about the idea of a tribute to him in the form of a...