Bonds to Bands, and Back Again with Prof. Roald Hoffmann (series flyer)

Extended systems in one-, two-, or three-dimensions, be they polymers, surfaces, or extended structures, are a meeting ground of chemistry and physics. Both communities have thought about the way atoms are held together in these extended structures, the structural choices made, and the properties that follow.
The aim of this module is to provide an intuitive theoretical translation between the chemists’ ideas of atom centered molecular orbitals, and bonds, and the physicists’ natural language for the electronic structure of the same states of matter, often rooted in perturbed free electron models, and using band structures and densities of states.An interactive module for graduate students

Reading Materials
Reading 1. How Chemistry and Physics Meet in the Solid State
Reading 2. Connecting the Chemical and Physical Viewpoints

Friday, October 14
Bonding in molecules, from a chemical and physical perspective
video of talk
Notes from lecture 1

Monday, October 17
Band structures and densities of states, building an intuition for what
determines these
video of talk
Notes from lecture 2

Instructions for computer program:
windows version of extended Huckel program
linux version of extended Huckel program
mac version of extended Huckel program

Monday, October 24
Where are the electrons? Where are the bonds?
video of talk
Notes from lecture 3

Friday, October 28
The electronic structure of typical three-dimensional solids; case studies
video of talk
Notes from lecture 4