PHYS3015-1 : Electronic and vibrational spectroscopies

Study Programmes 2015-2016

PHYS3015-1

Electronic and vibrational spectroscopies

Duration :

20h Th, 10h Pr

Number of credits :

Master in chemistry (120 ECTS) (FAME)		4
Master in physics (120 ECTS) (FAME)		4

Lecturer :

Matthieu Verstraete

Language(s) of instruction :

French language

Organisation and examination :

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite :

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Course contents :

Different spectroscopic techniques are presented, with particular attention to electronic and vibrational spectroscopies.
The first part of the course covers the general theory of time dependent perturbations, and the derivation of several particular cases (at least IR and optical absorption).
The second half covers learning the basic usage of an ab initio spectroscopic simulation program (OCTOPUS), and the calculation of a basic spectrum, to be compared with experimental data.

Learning outcomes of the course :

To gain an overview of different types of spectroscopy, and a deeper understanding of 1) how they relate to theories which can predict them and 2) how one can go about simulating a spectrum in practice.
An additional outcome will be practical experience with a numerical simulation program.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills :

Basic Physics
Quantum mechanics
Electron-EM field interactions

Planned learning activities and teaching methods :

The second half of the course will be done on workstations, following on-line tutorials to learn and then use an ab initio simulation package.

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :

The first half of the course is face-to-face. The second half is carried out in the Physics Department computer rooms.