Research

Jörn Manz’s scientific works have helped to broaden the scope of theoretical chemistry in Germany from traditional quantum chemistry to quantum reaction dynamics. The first area deals with static (time-independent) properties of systems, whereas the second treats the temporal evolution of their properties. These complementary fields of theoretical chemistry are both necessary to explain chemical phenomena on a molecular basis.

Manz, together with his coworkers and international partners, contributed to the discovery of a new type of chemical bonding - the so-called vibrational bond - as well as to the quantum theory of electronic and nuclear fluxes during chemical reactions and to the development of concepts for their control by means of laser pulses on the time scale of femto- and attoseconds.