London Dispersion Forces in Molecules, Solids and Nano-structures

Book excerpt: London dispersion interactions are responsible for numerous phenomena in physics, chemistry and biology. Recent years have seen the development of new, physically well-founded models, and dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT) is now a hot topic of research. This book is an overview of current understanding of the physical origin and modelling of London dispersion forces manifested at an atomic level. It covers a wide range of system, from small intermolecular complexes, to organic molecules and crystalline solids, through to biological macromolecules and nanostructures. In presenting a broad overview of the of the physical foundations of dispersion forces, the book provides theoretical, physical and synthetic chemists, as well as solid-state physicists, with a systematic understanding of the origins and consequences of these ubiquitous interactions. The presentation is designed to be accessible to anyone with intermediate undergraduate mathematics, physics and chemistry.