Research Emphasis Hydrophobicity at
Small and Large Scales
In the presence of large hydrophobic solute, the hydrogen bond network
in liquid water is necessarily disrupted. This would lead to the depletion
of hydrogen bonding and drying near extended surfaces. Professor Chandler
and his students, Ka Lum and David Huang, have studied the necessary
conditions and the implications of this phenomenon.
Transition Path
Sampling
Understanding rare transitions occurring in complex systems, for instance
chemical reactions in solution, poses the problem of finding and analyzing
the trajectories that move on such a surface from one basin of attraction
to another. There are many (possibly torturous)
pathways. A representative sampling of all possible routes is required.
Together with postdoctorals Peter Bolhuis and Christoph Dellago, and
with graduate students Phillip Geissler, Felix Csajka, Gavin Crooks,
and Ka Lum, Professor Chandler has developed a systematic approach to
find these trajectories with the help of computer simulations.
Microscopic Theory of Glass
Formers
On cooling, the viscosity of many
super cooled liquids grows by orders of magnitude. Eventually, at
low enough temperature, the material becomes so viscous it appears
to be a solid, though with no crystalline structure. The material
thus formed is called a glass. Except for molecular vibrations over
lengths smaller than atomic diameters, the dynamics of the system
is arrested. One of the longstanding problems in condensed matter
physics is the development of a proper theoretical description of
this arrest, and solving this problem is one of Professor Chandler's
current interests. The work he is doing was begun and continues in
collaboration with Nottingham physicist Juan P. Garrahan.
