Title:

Nuclear quantum effects in atomic and molecular clusters

Abstract:

I will review results obtained in my group over the last decade on nuclear and isotope effects in atomic and molecular clusters using approximate as well as numerically exact methods. One of the systems involves Lennard-Jones (LJ) clusters, which are commonly used to model atomic rare gas and some molecular clusters. As such, the LJ clusters represent a convenient model to study the nuclear quantum effects as a function of the de Boer quantum parameter Λ, which depends on both the atomic/molecular mass and the strength of the interatomic/intermolecular interaction. One of the interesting phenomena observed in these systems involves quantum-mechanically induced structural or phase transformations. Results on several molecular clusters (hydrogen/deuterium, water clusters, etc.) with prominent nuclear quantum effects will also be presented.