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Does chemistry need more physics ?
The building blocks of chemistry are organized in the periodic table, which requires quantum mechanics for its understanding. In the 1980s it was realized that in order to correctly describe the heavy elements in the lower part of the periodic table, the special theory of relativity had to be invoked. The HAMP-vQED projet will investigate the possible role of quantum electrodynamics (QED) in chemistry. It will provide a protocol for highly accurate calculations of molecular properties, with particular attention to properties that probe the electron density in the close vicinity of atomic nuclei, where the QED-effects associated with the Lamb shift are created. The HAMP-vQED adheres to the general framework of quantum chemistry by seeking a variational (non-perturbative) approach using local (Gaussian) basis functions.
