Theoretical Studies of Structural and Electronic Properties of Clusters

Abstract

Clusters contain more than just some few atoms but not so many that theycan be considered as being infinite. By varying their size, their properties canoften be varied in a more or less controllable way. Often, however, the precise relation between size and property is largely unknown: The sizes of the systems are below the thermodynamic limit so that simple scaling laws do not apply. Theoretical studies of such systems can provide relevant information, although in many cases idealized systems have to be treated. The challenge of such calculations is the combination of the relatively large size of the systems together with an often unknown structure.