Professor Katharine Hunt is supported by a Career Advancement Award from the Special Projects Program in the Chemistry Division to pursue new directions of research in the theory of electromagnetic response and non- equilibrium thermodynamics. In the first area of research, Dr. Hunt will develop a new theory, based on nonlocal current- density susceptibilities, which will be used to characterize the intramolecular contributions to experimentally measured magnetic properties of molecules. Dr. Hunt will conduct research on a novel method for screening nonlinear optical materials via the ordinary Raman effect. Additional problems to be studied within this field of research include selective bond cleavage, and studies of van der Waals forces between macromolecular chain segments. In the second field of study, non-equilibrium thermodynamics, Dr. Hunt will conduct theoretical research in chemical wave front propagation in inhomogeneous systems in an effort to better understand the thermodynamic behavior and the concentration fluctuations that accompany chemical oscillations in continuous-flow stirred tank reactors. %%% Dr. Hunt's theoretical research impinges upon two important fundamental problems: 1) understanding the interactions which are important for explaining the response of atoms and molecules to electromagnetic fields; and 2) the underlying physics which applies to non-equilibrium chemical systems which exhibit nonlinear properties such as wave propagation and chemical oscillation. The first area has important implications with regard to the design of new optical materials, and the second area forms a basis for the oscillatory behavior often exhibited in biological systems such as the cardiac muscle.
