Seminar org anised by EMAT

Subject : Describing matter through theory: e--e- interaction, symmetry and chirality from the low to the high loss response

Speaker: Fabiana Da Pieve, EMAT, University of Antwerp

Abstract:

In this seminar I will talk about what theory can do for 1) the interpretation of spectra 2) the interpretation of structural properties 3) for providing  experimentalists reference spectra and new ideas coming from prediction. I will first do a short introduction about how the description of electronic, structural and excited state properties properties is tackled by theory. Then I will focus on the high loss and low loss response in absorption, making connections between the use of light and the use of electrons to probe matter. I will talk about the mercury chalcogenide alpha-HgS, a system which constitutes the red pigment in paintings, plays a role in some photochemical cells and is at the basis of some fundamental reactions on earth. I will show how hidden symmetries in the probe-matter interaction (multipoles) and in the material itself (chirality) can be unravelled both at the core edges and the valence region. Possible future investigations in connection with new forms of dichroism and optical activity are discussed from a mixed theoretical-experimental perspective.  

When and where: Friday, May 11, 2012 at 11.30 h in room X.009, Campus Groenenborger