Energy Landscapes
Applications to Clusters, Biomolecules and Glasses

A self-contained account of energy landscape theory aimed at graduate students and researchers.

David Wales (Author)

9780521814157, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 22 January 2004

692 pages, 150 b/w illus. 110 colour illus.
25.5 x 18.2 x 3.8 cm, 1.527 kg

' … Wales' book defines a whole new subject, even more - a whole new field, and at the same time presents its state of the art description … a superb and laudable achievement, and I believe it will represent a resource on the subject of PES for years to come … I can certainly recommend it as an exhaustive guide and treasure trove of resources in the fascinating worlds of PES … a first class achievement … in many respects a beautiful, well conceived and most informative book. It moves elegantly and engagingly through various fields of theoretical physics, physical chemistry and molecular biology to expose and explain the unifying workings of the potential energy surfaces and along the way finds an elegant and meaningful connection, on a most fundamental level, between the worlds of nano and bioscience in a way hardly attempted before.' Journal of Statistical Physics

The study of energy landscapes holds the key to resolving some of the most important contemporary problems in chemical physics. Many groups are now attempting to understand the properties of clusters, glasses and proteins in terms of the underlying potential energy surface. The aim of this book is to define and unify the field of energy landscapes in a reasonably self-contained exposition. This is the first book to cover this active field. The book begins with an overview of each area in an attempt to make the subject matter accessible to workers in different disciplines. The basic theoretical groundwork for describing and exploring energy landscapes is then introduced followed by applications to clusters, biomolecules and glasses in the final chapters. Beautifully illustrated in full colour throughout, this book is aimed at graduate students and workers in the field.

1. Introduction
2. The Born–Oppenheimer approximation and normal modes
3. Symmetry considerations
4. Features of the landscape
5. Describing the landscape
6. Exploring the landscape
7. Properties of the landscape
8. Clusters
9. Biomolecules
10. Glasses and supercooled liquids.

Subject Areas: Physical chemistry [PNR], Condensed matter physics [liquid state & solid state physics PHFC]