Millard H. Alexander
Born: 17 February, 1943 in Boston, MA, USA
Distinguished University Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, USA
Email:mha@umd.edu
WWW: external link
B. A. (magna cum laude) Chemistry and Physics, Harvard College (1964) D. Sc. (avec félicitations écrites) Theoretical Chemistry, Université de Paris-Sud, France (1967: Thesis advisor: Lionel Salem) Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University (Research supervisors: E. Bright Wilson, Jr. and Roy G. Gordon)
Author of:
Over 250 publications in the quantum treatment of inelastic and reactive collisions of small molecules, especially those with open-shell electronic structure. Creator and author of the Hibridon program suite for the time-independent treatment of inelastic scattering, molecular photodissociation, and the bound states of weakly-bound complexes (http://www2.chem.umd.edu/groups/alexander/hibridon).
Important Contributions:
- Alexander's formulation of the interactions of diatomics in Π-electronic states paved the way for numerous theoretical and experimental studies of the quantum scattering of NO, OH, and other radicals with noble gasses and of their bound complexes.
- Similarly, Alexander has extended of time-independent reactive scattering codes to treat reactions involving atoms in open-shell electronic states. In particular, this has permitted the accurate determination of non-adiabatic effects in reactions of the halogen atoms with molecular hydrogen and its isotopologues, which are the paradigms for exothermic abstraction reactions.
- Alexander's work on the coupling between electronic and nuclear motion has allowed the investigation of the role of electronic anisotropy in complexes involving open-shell atoms.