Löwdin Lecturer
Every few years, QTP invites a scholar in theoretical and computational chemistry to visit UF and QTP for several days to lecture meet with graduate students, postdocs and faculty in honor of Professor Per-Olov Löwdin. Universally known as “POL”, he started the Quantum Theory Project in 1960 with one of the main goals being to bring theoretical chemists and materials physicists together, teach them a common language, and build shared computational tools. Löwdin was the Director of QTP for many years and an inspiration and teacher for QTP until his death in 2000.
2017 Löwdin Lecturer
Prof. Dr. Frank Neese was the Löwdin Lecturer for 2017. Dr. Neese is a Scientific Member of the Max Planck Gesellschaft and Director of the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion, Mülheim an der Ruhr. His research focuses on advances in quantum chemical methods especially for prediction and interpretation of molecular spectra. Emphasis is given to structure/spectra relationships, particularly for transition-metal catalyzed reaction mechanisms.
Prof. Neese’s lectures
“Natural orbitals and the correlation problem: A tribute to the genius of Per-Olov Löwdin”
1:00 – 2:00 pm, Thursday April 6, 2017
2205 New Physics Building
“Ab initio ligand field theory and molecular magnetism: a powerful partnership””
2:00 – 3:00 pm, Friday April 7, 2017
2205 New Physics Building
Previous Löwdin Lecturers:
- Manoj Mishra (University of Lucknow, India) Oct. 27 and 29, 2010
- Martin Head-Gordon (Univ. Calif., Berkeley) Jan. 21 and 23, 2009
- Rod Bartlett (UF QTP) April 6, 2007
- Mark Ratner (Northwestern Univ.) April 5 and 6, 2005
- Sir John Pople (Northwestern Univ.) Dec. 10 and 11, 2003
Slater Lecturer
Every few years, QTP invites a scholar in theoretical materials physics or atomic and molecular physics to visit UF and QTP for several days to lecture meet with graduate students, postdocs and faculty in honor of Professor John C. Slater. Slater joined the Quantum Theory Project in 1964 after being Professor and Chair of Phycics at MIT. Until his death in 1976 he was a strong influence on the activities and evolution of QTP.
2019 Slater Lecturer
Prof. Dr. Jim Freericks will be the Slater Lecturer for 2019. He is the Robert L. McDevitt, K.S.G., K.C.H.S. and Catherine H. McDevitt, L.C.H.S. Chair and Professor of Physics at Georgetown University. He will visit Oct. 22-24. He will give two lectures on Oct. 23 and one on Oct. 24. Details of the schedule are as follows. Talk titles are “What is quantum computing and how does it relate to quantum biology?” (Oct. 23, 9:30am), “Operator Mechanics: A new form of quantum mechanics without waves or matrices” (Oct. 23, 4:00pm), and ” A primer on quantum computing for many-body physics and chemistry” (Oct. 24, 1:00pm). All lectures will be in NPB 2205.
Previous Slater Lecturers:
- John W. Mintmire (Oklahoma State Univ.) Oct. 27 and 28, 2004
- Lu J. Sham (Univ. California, San Diego) April 24 and 25, 2002
- Robert K. Nesbet (IBM Almaden Research) Feb. 15, 16, and 20, 2001