Tautomeric Equilibrium in Condensed Phases

Predictive thermodynamics for condensed phases.

Thermodynamic information is central to assessment of the stability and reactivity of materials. However, because of both the demanding nature of experimental thermodynamics and the virtually unlimited number of conceivable compounds, experimental data is often unavailable or, for hypothetical materials, necessarily impossible to obtain. We describe simple procedures for thermodynamic predictio...

Conformations of Macromolecules in Condensed Phases

Evidence demonstrating that configurations of polymers in the amorphous state are unperturbed by intermolecular interactions with neighboring chains is reviewed, with particular emphasis on recent results of neutron scattering by mixtures of deuterated and protonated species. Extension of this technique to larger angles than those required for determination of the radius of gryration establishe...

Femtosecond Chemical Dynamics in Condensed Phases

Relaxation and Spectra in Condensed Phases

In this thesis, various problems in the quantum theory of relaxation are considered. We first discuss the dynamics of low temperature tunneling in condensed phases. With the aid of a varational unitary transformation, we are able to study the limits of both weak and strong coupling of the tunneling system to the environment. Next we discuss the physical implications of the standard Redfield equ...

Vortex Phases in Condensed Matter and Cosmology

Placing a high-Tc superconductor in an increasing external magnetic field, the flux first penetrates the sample through an Abrikosov vortex lattice, and then a first order transition is observed by which the system goes to the normal phase. We discuss the cosmological motivation for considering the electroweak phase transition in the presence of an external magnetic field, the analogies this sy...