David Leitner of the University of Nevada - Reno is supported by a grant from the Theoretical and Computational Chemistry program within the Division of Chemistry to carry out research on the vibrational dynamics of glasses and large molecules. The aim is to understand the influence of vibrational motions on thermal conduction and reaction kinetics. The work has two parts: the computation of thermal transport in amorphous SiO2 and amorphous ice; and an exploration of the influence of energy flow on the kinetics of conformational isomerization of small biomolecules. The project continues a line of research begun by the PI and supported by NSF through an ITR award and is having a broader impact on the fields of atmospheric chemistry and biophysics, in addition to increasing our understanding of fundmental physical chemistry.
