Intermolecular Interactions - Wiley Theoretical Chemistry by Ilya G Kaplan Hardcover

Book Synopsis

The subject of this book -- intermolecular interactions -- is as important in physics as in chemistry and molecular biology. Intermolecular interactions are responsible for the existence of liquids and solids in nature. They determine the physical and chemical properties of gases, liquids, and crystals, the stability of chemical complexes and biological compounds.

In the first two chapters of this book, the detailed qualitative description of different types of intermolecular forces at large, intermediate and short-range distances is presented. For the first time in the monographic literature, the temperature dependence of the dispersion forces is discussed, and it is shown that at finite temperatures the famous Casimir-Polder asymptotic formula is correct only at narrow distance range. The author has aimed to make the presentation understandable to a broad scope of readers without oversimplification. In Chapter 3, the methods of quantitative calculation of the intermolecular interactions are discussed and modern achievements are presented. This chapter should be helpful for scientists performing computer calculations of many-electron systems.

The last two chapters are devoted to the many-body effects and model potentials. More than 50 model potentials exploited for processing experimental data and computer simulation in different fields of physics, chemistry and molecular biology are represented. The widely used global optimisation methods: simulated annealing, diffusion equation method, basin-hopping algorithm, and genetic algorithm are described in detail.

Significant efforts have been made to present the book in a self-sufficient way for readers. All the necessary mathematical apparatus, including vector and tensor calculus and the elements of the group theory, as well as the main methods used for quantal calculation of many-electron systems are presented in the appendices.

From the Back Cover

The subject of this book--intermolecular interactions-- is as important in physics as in chemistry and molecular biology. Intermolecular interactions are responsible for the existence of liquids and solids in nature. They determine the physical and chemical properties of gases, liquids, and crystals, the stability of chemical complexes and biological compounds.

In the first two chapters of this book, the detailed qualitative description of different types of intermolecular forces at large, intermediate and short-range distances is presented. For the first time in the literature, the temperature dependence of the dispersion forces is analyzed and it is shown that the famous Casimir-Polder formula for dispersion forces is incorrect at any finite temperature. The author has aimed to make the presentation understandable to a broad scope of readers without oversimplification. In Chapter 3, the methods of quantitative calculation of the intermolecular interactions are discussed and modern achievements are presented. This chapter should be helpful for scientists performing computer calculations of many-electron systems.

The last two chapters are devoted to the many-body effects and model potentials. More than 50 model potentials exploited for processing experimental data and computer simulation in different fields of physics, chemistry and molecular biology are represented. The widely used optimization methods: simulated annealing, diffusion equation method, basin-hopping algorithm, and genetic algorithm are described in detail.

Significant efforts have been made to present the book in a self-sufficient way for readers. All the necessary mathematical apparatus, including vector and tensor calculus and the elements of the group theory, as well as the main methods used for quantal calculation of many-electron systems are presented in the appendices.

All those working on the theoretical and experimental studies of intermolecular interactions in chemistry, physics, biochemistry and molecular biology will find this text of interest and it will appeal to advanced undergraduates, graduates and researchers.

Review Quotes

"...worthy to be placed on the shelf of any researcher, teacher, or graduate student working in those fields of science." (Physics Today, July 2007)

"This book is of interest for all those professionals that carry out experimental and theoretical studies of intermolecular interactions..." (Magazine of Modern Plastics, April 2007)

About the Author

Ilya G. Kaplan is the Head of Department, Materials Research Institute, National Autonomous University of Mexico. He has been studying the Pauli Exclusion Principle for more than 35 years and is a well-known scientist in this field. He has published 4 books in Russian, 4 books in English, including the Wiley title, Intermolecular Interactions, and 11 book chapters, one of which was devoted to the Pauli Exclusion Principle. He was also an Associate Editor for Wiley's Handbook of Molecular Physics and Quantum Chemistry, published in 2003.