QnAs with Angel Rubio.

Just as physics requires a different set of tools to explore phenomena at the quantum scale, chemistry requires a quantum paradigm. At the macroscale, the interaction of light with chemical entities can be observed in processes such as photosynthesis. But the actual interaction between photons and other matter occurs in the realm of quantum chemistry. National Academy of Sciences member and physicist Angel Rubio, managing director of the Max Planck Institute for Structure and Dynamics in Hamburg, Germany, studies the theoretical interactions of photons and molecules in isolated cavities. Such cavities may be simple vacuums, or may contain mirrors that reflect particles within them at a frequency dependent on the cavities’ dimensions. In his Inaugural Article (1), Rubio presents model systems of quantum chemistry that explore degrees of coupling between light and matter. Rubio recently spoke to PNAS about his findings.