Objective
There has been a long-standing quest to observe chemical reactions at low temperatures where reaction rates and pathways are governed by quantum mechanical effects. So far this field of Quantum Chemistry has been dominated by theory. The difficulty has been to realize in the laboratory low enough collisional velocities between neutral reactants, such that the quantum wave nature could be observed. Recently we have demonstrated a new way of studying cold reactive collisions by magnetically merging two fast neutral supersonic beams. After 40 years where the reactive scattering temperature was limited to above 5 K we were able to continuously tune collision energies from hundreds of Kelvin down to 10 mK temperature, a reduction of almost three orders of magnitude [A. B. Henson et. al, Science 338, 234, 2012]. Importantly, we were able to show that at low temperatures quantum effects start dominating reactive dynamics with the first observation of orbiting resonances in a reactive collision. We propose to extend our novel method to study chemical reactions in the regime of Cold Chemistry where the reactants’s de Broglie wavelength becomes larger compared to the characteristic interaction range. Theoretical predictions at low temperatures are extremely sensitive to the parameters used, routinely differing by orders of magnitude leading to contradictions waiting to be settled by experiment.
Our ability to reach low enough collision energies and resolve scattering resonances will be used to bring a radical change to transient species spectroscopy. We believe that our work will not only test the central tenets of Quantum Chemistry, but will also provide valuable information to other fields, such as Astrochemistry helping to understand the synthesis of various molecules in interstellar space at temperatures 10 K and below.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- natural sciences chemical sciences physical chemistry quantum chemistry
- natural sciences physical sciences astronomy astrochemistry
- natural sciences physical sciences optics spectroscopy
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
ERC-2013-CoG
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Host institution
7610001 Rehovot
Israel
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.