Calculating reaction rates: from Arrhenius to the present

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• Tim Hele
• Sunday 02 March 2014, 17:20-17:50
• Winstanley Lecture Theatre.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Trinity College Science Society.

Part of the TCSS Symposium

The calculation of chemical reaction rates is vital to our understanding of chemical, physical and biological processes, and is successfully approximated by Classical Transition-State Theory (TST) for systems of heavy atoms at high temperatures. However, since the 1930s it was considered to be impossible to obtain a rigorous quantum generalization of TST that could describe reactions of light atoms at low temperatures. In this talk, I give a potted history of rate theory and explain how it is possible to derive Quantum Transition-State Theory, applicable to a general scientific audience.

This talk is part of the Trinity College Science Society (TCSS) series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Chris Davis' list
• Guy Emerson's list
• Trinity College Science Society (TCSS)
• Winstanley Lecture Theatre
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