Eugene Stanley of Boston University is supported by an award from the Theoretical and Computational Chemistry program for research involving the static and dynamic heterogeneities in confined water. The research involves an investigation of a possible liquid-liquid phase transition that might occur between a high-density and a low-density phase of water in confined spaces. Implications of such a phase transition for other properties of water are also being explored. The research activities fall into two categories: (i) computer simulation, theory and experiment are being combined to probe the nature of the dynamics and thermodynamics of supercooled water in confined environments; and (ii) a family of two-scale potentials that allow the exploration of a spectrum of fundamental behaviors are being studied. The research is being carried out in cooperation with a number of Stanley's collaborators from around the world. The work is expected to have a broad impact on our understanding of water in confined spaces such as one would expect to find in the interior of ion channels and cavities within proteins.
