Organizing Committee Member
Michael F. Herman
Professor
Tulane University
USA
Biography
Michael F Herman received his PhD in Theoretical Chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1980. He has been on the Faculty of Tulane University since 1981. His work has focused on the development of semi-classical methods for modeling chemical systems. He also has developed a model for polymer dynamics in the melt and is studying the influence of intermolecular dipolar couplings between molecular vibrations on isotopic fractionation processes.
Research Area
The first research area involves the development and testing of semiclassical approximations for the quantum evolution of complex systems. Semiclassical methods, which utilize information from classical trajectories to obtain approximate quantum mechanical energies, wavefunctions, transition probabilities, etc., provide computationally very useful procedures for calculations involving the motion of atomic and molecular systems. The second area investigates the manner in which solvents influence the vibrational frequencies and population relaxation in liquids and dense gases. These interactions are important because, for instance, the equilibration of vibrational populations plays a significant role in determining the response of condensed phase systems to external perturbations.