Dr. Andreas Hermann (Research Officer)

Centre for Theoretical Chemistry and Physics Bldg.44, NZ Institute for Advanced Study Massey University (Albany Campus) Private Bag 102904 North Shore MSC, Auckland New Zealand Phone +64 9 414 0800 ext. 9657 Fax +64 9 443 9779 Email: A.H.Hermann@massey.ac.nz Web page: http://www.massey.ac.nz/~ahermann

Research interests

Understanding the unusual chemical and physical properties of water is essential for many diverse fields such as biophysics, condensed matter physics, aqueous chemistry, and medicine. Excited state properties of aqueous systems play a vital role for various processes in the above mentioned fields, ranging from atmospheric reactions to the exchange of information in living organisms. However, modern ab initio techniques of modelling numerically the microscopic structure of matter are most often restricted to ground state properties and systems in equilibrium. In my study I want to advance beyond this stage and investigate the lifetime and energy of excited states in aqueous systems using parameter-free first-principles numerical calculations. The systems I am interested in range from 0D (small water clusters) over 2D (thin ice films on metallic or semiconducting substrates) to 3D (defect properties in bulk ice). Not only do dimensional effects strongly influence the properties of these systems, but also their numerical treatment must be adjusted accordingly. Combining consistently solid state theory methods and quantum chemistry methods will lead to interesting new insights.