DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS,

APPLIED PHYSICS AND

ASTRONOMY
RESNICK LECTURE--
WEDNESDAY, MAY 2
ND
, 2012
DCC 318, 4:00-5:00----
WATER: A UNIQUE LIQUID
WATER IS ARGUABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT MOLECULE ON EARTH.
CERTAINLY, WITHOUT IT, THERE WOULD NOT BE LIFE, AS WE KNOW IT.
NOT SURPRISINGLY THE MODELING OF WATER HAS CONTINUED TO
COMMAND THE ATTENTION OF SCIENTISTS IN A WIDE RANGE OF
DISCIPLINES SINCE THE VERY INFLUENTIAL EARLY WORK OF BERNAL
AND FOWLER IN 1933. LIQUID WATER HAS MANY UNUSUAL
PROPERTIES, SUCH AS E.G. ANOMALOUS DENSITY BEHAVIOR, LARGE
DIELECTRIC RESPONSE AND HIGH-IONIC CONDUCTIVITY. YET,
DESPITE THE DECEPTIVE SIMPLICITY OF THE WATER MOLECULE, AN
AB-INITIO MICROSCOPIC THEORY THAT COULD ACCOUNT
SATISFACTORILY FOR ITS LIQUID PROPERTIES IS STILL MISSING. THE
REASON IS THAT WATER BEHAVIOR ORIGINATES FROM A DELICATE
BALANCE OF COMPETING INTERACTIONS LIKE HYDROGEN BOND AND
DISPERSION FORCES IN PRESENCE OF LARGE ZERO POINT MOTION OF
THE NUCLEI. IN THIS TALK, I WILL REVIEW THE CURRENT
UNDERSTANDING OF WATER FROM BASIC QUANTUM MECHANICAL
THEORY AND WILL DISCUSS FUTURE PERSPECTIVES IN THE FIELD.
NOTE:
THE COMPLETE LIST OF COLLOQUIA AND SEMINARS IS POSTED ON THE DEPARTMENT WEB SITE,
HTTP!!WWW.RPI.EDU!DEPT!PHYS!CALENDAR.HTML AND ALSO ON THE INSTITUTE CALENDAR OF EVENTS,
HTTP!!EVENTS.RPI.EDU!MAIN!SHOWMAIN.RDO"#SESSIONID$%&%9F'9&(B%9E)(&1(*&AC'%D3(C9)A'.