Matteo Castagnola
Research
I am pursuing a PhD working on the theoretical aspects of polaritonic chemistry.
My work focuses on the development of reliable quantum electrodynamics (QED) methods for molecular polaritons, with a focus on their electron-photon structure (ab initio QED). The methods are implemented in the eTprogram and find applications in the study of collective effects and cavity-modified electron or electron-photon interactions.
Publications
Strong coupling electron-photon dynamics: A real-time investigation of energy redistribution in molecular polaritons
We developed real-time quantum electrodynamics coupled cluster equations for polaritons under intense and ultrashort external lasers, from the weak to the strong coupling regime. We then focused on photon-mediated long-range energy transfer.
Collective Strong Coupling Modifies Aggregation and Solvation
We demonstrate that collective strong coupling can lead to local response changes of an aggregate around an impurity. This work suggests modifications in the molecular environment (solvent, nucleation, aggregation...) due to the formation of polaritons.
Polaritonic response theory for exact and approximate wave functions
The theory behind polaritonic chemistry is discussed from a single-molecule chemical perspective. We derive a response framework for quantum electrodynamics and provide approximate response equations for ab initio QED-HF and QED-CC.
Do We Really Need Quantum Mechanics to Describe Plasmonic Properties of Metal Nanostructures?
ωFQFμ is an atomistic approach able to reproduce all the typical “quantum” size effects for the nanoparticle response, such as the plasmon shift, the loss of plasmon resonance for Au, the atomistically detailed induced density, and the nonlocal effects.
I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. at NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) in Trondheim, working on the theoretical aspects of polaritonic chemistry.