Forschung

The interaction of light with matter covers a large number of physical phenomena that we literally see in our everyday life. Early scientists mostly focused on investigations of electromagnetic radiation in the visible range and at low intensities, where material polarization responds linearly to incident electromagnetic fields. Utilizing the compute clusters at PC2, this project aims at simulating and interpreting the strong-field dynamics of real molecules and larger systems in a rigorous real-space real-time approach including non-linear strong-field effects such as photoionization and high-order harmonic generation of systems ranging from small (chiral) molecules over nano-systems to the condensed phase.

Over the past decades, large-scale computer simulations have grown to become one of the most powerful approaches to study the interior of Earth-like planets. Geodynamical models are used to investigate the evolution and distribution of the temperature inside the planet that ultimately affects its structure and the way the planet cools over time. Combined with data obtained from planetary missions and laboratory experiments, these models help us to improve our understanding of the history and current state of planets in our Solar System and beyond. These models can teach us about the formation and evolution of planetary environments

Every year we, as the Formula Student Team of RWTH Aachen University, develop a completely new electric race car and revise a previous car to be able to drive autonomously. For our Aerodynamics team, the electric vehicle is the main focus. We try to find the best geometries for our car within the regulatory constraints and while keeping performance compromises with other design areas in mind.

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are very successfully employed as novel transport vehicles for mRNA vaccines. A major gap in our understanding and thus obstacle for future developments of nanoparticle-mRNA drugs, however, is the lack of a molecular picture and molecular insight into LNPs. In this project we aim to provide unique insight at the atomistic scale into the structure and mechanisms of these carriers.

The spin-dependent transport phenomena in magnetic materials can provide spin-polarized charge current and large pure spin current, which could be achieved premised on two fundamental properties, i.e., anomalous Hall conductivity (AHC) and spin Hall conductivity [1]. The AHC is characterized as a generation of transverse voltage drop or current density (depending on the boundary conditions) originating from the longitudinal electric currents. The existence of finite AHC in noncollinear antiferromagnets has attracted noticeable attention due to possible applications in antiferromagnetic spintronics for information storage and data processing [2], where the kagome lattice turns out to be an intriguing prototypical lattice to host giant AHC

The energy transition is a global challenge with major economic and social impact. Future combustion devices will have to adapt to enable low-carbon or carbon-free sustainable power generation. The design of high efficiency devices and the use of alternative fuels is heavily supported by computational fluid dynamics simulation. However, detailed simulations of complete combustion systems are still computationally unfeasible to this day. This illustrates the need for accurate but less computationally demanding models. In this project, a direct numerical simulation (DNS) of turbulent flame wall interaction was conducted to provide further physical insight to near wall combustion processes and to contribute to the development of novel

Centrifugal pumps are employed in various industrial and engineering applications to transport two-phase mixtures as liquid and non-condensable gas. Several examples of the two-phase pump operation can be found, e.g., in the chemical and process industry or geothermal power stations. Predicting two-phase flows in centrifugal pumps with state-of-the-art computational fluid dynamic (CFD) methods is only possible by accepting significant uncertainties.

One approach to the realization of safer batteries relies on all solid-state batteries (ASSB) which use a non-flammable solid electrolyte (SE) instead of the commercial flammable liquid organic electrolytes. While many obstacles to the successful production of these batteries have already been overcome, the inner and outer interfaces in a real battery setup remain a major challenge. Thus, a thorough understanding of the interfacial atomistic processes is crucial, highlighting the value of interface simulations on the atomic scale. Currently, these are only possible via ab-initio methods, such as density functional theory (DFT) calculations, because no classical interatomic potentials exist, which can simultaneously describe the SE and

For a climate-friendly automotive sector, fuel cell technology becomes increasingly important. A promising step towards accessibility and commercialization of this technology may be reached using Fe-N-C catalyst materials for the cathode reaction of the fuel cell. With their high activity, Fe-N-C catalysts can potentially substitute currently used, expensive platinum catalysts. Fe-N-C catalysts however lack stability and their active site composition is not sufficiently well understood for systematic improvements. This project combines spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations in order to uncover the structure of the active site(s) in Fe-N-C catalysts and better understand their electronic structures.

With the help of ab-initio molecular dynamics simulations we were able to show that it is possible to use femtosecond laser pulses to induce the ultrafast nonthermal formation of NV-centers in diamond. NV centers are of fundamental importance in quantum technologies.