With this grant in the Theoretical and Computational Program of the Chemistry Division, Professor Loeser will develop a promising new, alternative method for predicting the electronic structures and associated properties of large chemical systems. The research will involve the further development and applications of the dimensional continuation method. The applications fall into two areas. First, recent work on the correlation energies of many electron atoms will be extended. Second, work on electron correlation in metallic hydrogen will be used to estimate the effects of correlation of the recently observed metallic transition and on structural phase transitions within the metal. Some aspects of the dynamics of electron correlation in this prototypical solid will also be examined. The longer-range goal of the research is to develop a general treatment of electron correlation in crystalline solids.
