Dr. Nancy Makri is supported by an NSF Young Investigator Award from the Theoretical and Computational Chemistry Program to develop and apply theoretical methods to the study of quantum dynamics of polyatomic systems. New numerical schemes for evaluating real time path integrals will be employed to investigate proton and electron tunneling in condensed phase and large biomolecular systems. Dr. Makri will also use this theoretical approach to study quantum coherence effects in intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution. %%% By far the majority of important chemical and biological reactions take place in solution. Many of these reactions involve the transfer of an electron or a proton form one molecule to another. Quantum effects, including quantum mechanical tunneling, play an important role in such chemical reactions. Dr. Makri is developing new theoretical methods which will provide an important molecular level understanding of such phenomena.
