Victor S. Batista is supported by the Chemical Theory, Models and Computational Methods program in research that involves the development of computational methods in dynamics and spectroscopy. These include time-sliced propagation schemes based on dynamically adaptive coherent-state representations and applications to studies of photochromic compounds and molecular switches recently explored by high-resolution gas-phase and solution spectroscopy. The projects involve interdisciplinary collaborations with E.T.J. Nibbering (Max-Born Institut) and E.C.Y. Yan (Yale University) in a joint experimental and theoretical effort to characterize the nature of ultrafast photo-transduction mechanisms at the detailed molecular level.
The proposed studies of photochromic compounds are particularly relevant to new technologies, including optical data storage, optically controlled molecular switching, molecular electronic logic gates, and molecular nanotechnology, including molecular motors, molecular sensors and receptors. The research program is integrated with the continued development of Wikidchem, established by the PI and co-workers to facilitate the dissemination of new pedagogical approaches, research findings, and software developments on the World Wide Web, as well as with the Science, Technology and Research Scholars (STARS) program to foster the participation of underrepresented minority students in the sciences.
