Electronic Structure and Computational Modeling

Year
1
Academic year
2023-2024
Code
02003342
Subject Area
Physics
Language of Instruction
Portuguese
Other Languages of Instruction
English
Mode of Delivery
Face-to-face
Duration
SEMESTRIAL
ECTS Credits
6.0
Type
Elective
Level
2nd Cycle Studies - Mestrado

Recommended Prerequisites

Basic knowledge in Quantum Mechanics and Atomic Physics.

Teaching Methods

During the lectures, the main theory topics will be presented to the student, that will be illustrated, whenever possible, with practical examples. A few mathematical demonstration will not be made during the lectures but will be left for the student to complete at home, following recommended bibliography.   These small "theory problems" will count for the student evaluation, in addition to the assigned computational problems.

Learning Outcomes

Specific skills:

The student should get an in-depth knowledge about the electronic structure of atoms, molecules and solids and become familiar with the most common techniques for ab-initio calculations - and be aware of the approximations involved in such calculations.

He/she should be able to solve specific problems involving electronic structure calculations using modern computational tools (such as GAMMESS and OCTOPUS codes)

Generic goals:
This student should be able to search, with guidance, for relevant bibliographic references and become familiar with the state of the art theoretical and computational techniques for electronic structure calculations.

Generic skills:
The student should develop analytical and problem solving skills, and critical reasoning while tackling specific problems. He/she should be able to organize and plan the best strategies and apply the most appropriate analytical or computational tools, in a creative way, to problems and analyse the results.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

Molecular orbitals. Huckel's molecular orbital method.
Linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO).
Minimum energy principle, variational methods.
Interpretation of molecular orbitals.
The Hartree-Fock method. Roothan equations.
The H2 molecule.
Density functional theory.
Khon-Sham equations.
Exchange and correlation functionals.
Electronic structure of atoms. Pseudopotentials.
Electronic structure calculations.
Electronic structure of crystals, methods using reciprocal space calculations: plane wave methods.
Calculations in real space: grid methods.
The tight binding method.
Solution of Kohn-Sham equations using a basis set of localised functions.
APW, MTO and KKR methods.
LAPW and LMTO methods.

Head Lecturer(s)

Pedro Miguel Castro Borlido

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Laboratory work or Field work: 50.0%
Resolution Problems: 50.0%

Bibliography

Modern Quantum Chemistry, Introduction to advanced electronic structure theory, A. Szabo & N .S. Ostlund, 1996, Dover ISBN: 0486691861

Electronic Structure, Basic Theory and Practical Methods, R.M. Martin, Cambridge University Press, 2004 ISBN: 0521534402

C. Fiolhais et al. (eds.), A Primer in Density Functional Theory, Springer, 2003 ISBN: 978-3-540-37072-7.