Les noyaux les plus complexes sont situés entre les nombres magiques et les médianes des espaces de valence, dans des régions connues pour les changements abrupts des observables nucléaires. Dans ces régions appelées de transition de forme, le paradigme nucléaire change entre la goutte liquide vibrationnelle et le rotor statique. Sauf quelques exceptions, les noyaux de ces régions sont radioactifs, avec des demi-vies qui chutent dans les millisecondes. Complémentaires aux propriétés des états excités à basse énergie, les énergies de liaison et les rayons de charge nucléaires sont parmi les observables les plus sensibles à ces changements de structure nucléaire. Dans ce travail, une étude du phénomène de transition de forme est effectuée, par des mesures de nucléides radioactifs produits dans le laboratoire ISOLDE au CERN. Les masses des isotopes de rubidium riches en neutrons 98-100Rb et des isotopes d’or riches en protons 180,185,188,190,191Au sont mesurées avec le spectromètre de masse de type Penning ISOLTRAP. La masse de 100Rb est déterminée pour la première fois. Des déviations significatives par rapport à la littérature sont trouvées pour les isotopes 188,190Au. Une nouvelle méthode expérimentale est présentée, utilisant un spectromètre de masse à multi-réflexion comme analyseur de faisceau pour la spectroscopie laser d’ionisation résonante. La nouvelle méthode donne la possibilité d’effectuer des études de structure hyperfine atomique avec ISOLTRAP, dont on peut extraire les rayons de charge et les moments électromagnétiques nucléaires. / The most complex nuclei are situated between the magic and the mid-shell ones, in regions known for sudden changes of the trends of nuclear observables. These are the so-called shape-transition regions, where the nuclear paradigm changes from the vibrational liquid drop to the static rotor. With few exceptions, nuclei in these regions are radioactive, with half-lives dropping into the millisecond range.Complementing the information obtained from the low-lying excitation spectrum, nuclear binding energies and mean-square charge radii are among the observables most sensitive to these changes of nuclear structure. In the present work, a study of the shape-transition phenomenon is performed by measurements of radioactive nuclides produced by the ISOLDE facility at CERN. The masses of the neutron-rich rubidium isotopes 98−100Rb and of the neutron-deficient gold isotopes 180,185,188,190,191Au are determined using the Penning-trap mass spectrometer ISOLTRAP. The mass of 100Rb is determined for the first time. Significant deviations from the literature values are found for the isotopes 188,190Au. A new experimental method is presented, using a recently developed multi-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer as a beam-analysis tool for resonance-ionization laser spectroscopy. The new method opens the path to measurements of atomic hyperfine spectra with ISOLTRAP, from which charge radii and electromagnetic moments of radioactive nuclides can be extracted. The properties of the studied nuclides map the borders of two prominent regions of quadrupole deformation, which constrain the fine balance between pairing and quadrupole correlations in the nuclear ground states. This balance is studied by the Hartree-Fock- Bogoliubov (HFB) approach. The sensitivity of the shape-transition phenomenon to the strength of pairing correlations is demonstrated. In particular, the strong odd-even staggering of charge radii in the mercury isotopic chain is shown to result in the HFB approach from the fine interplay between pairing, quadrupole correlations and quasi-particle blocking.

Des puits quantiques à base d'hétérostructures In0.53 Ga0.47 As/In0.52 Al0.48 As, fabriqués par épitaxie par jets moléculaires sur substrats InP(111)A, sont étudiés par microscopie et spectroscopie à effet tunnel à basse température et sous ultra-vide. La première partie est consacrée à une étude de la surface épitaxiée (111)A de In0.53 Ga0.47 As de type n. Il est découvert que le niveau de Fermi de surface est positionné dans la bande de conduction, à proximité du niveau de Fermi de volume, et peut être partiellement contrôlé en variant la concentration d'impuretés de type n dans le volume. Ce résultat est confirmé en déterminant la relation de dispersion de la bande de conduction en surface. Un tel dépiégeage partiel du niveau de Fermi de surface indique que la densité d'états de surface accepteurs est faible. Il est proposé que ces états proviennent de défauts ponctuels natifs localisés à la surface. La deuxième partie, basée sur les résultats obtenus dans la première partie, est consacrée à une étude de puits quantiques In0.53 Ga0.47 As de surface, déposés sur des barrières In0.52 Al0.48 As selon la direction (111)A. Les mesures sont conduites sur la surface épitaxiée (111)A du puits quantique In0.53 Ga0.47 As, de manière à pouvoir sonder à l'échelle du nanomètre la distribution de densité locale d'états électroniques dans le plan du puits quantique. Il est confirmé que des sous-bandes électroniques sont formées dans le puits quantique, et que la concentration d'électrons dans le puits peut être contrôlée du fait du dépiégeage partiel du niveau de Fermi de surface. Il est découvert qu'un phénomène de percolation d'états localisés survient dans la queue de chaque sous-bande, ce qui indique la présence d'un potentiel désordonné dans le puits quantique. Les seuils de percolation sont déterminés en utilisant un modèle semi-classique. L'origine du potentiel désordonné est attribuée à une distribution aléatoire des défauts ponctuels natifs à la surface du puits quantique. Il est également découvert qu'un état lié apparaît au bas de chaque sous-bande à proximité d'un défaut ponctuel natif de type donneur. L'énergie de liaison et le rayon de Bohr des états liés peuvent être directement déterminés. De plus, il est démontré que l'énergie de liaison et le rayon de Bohr sont fonctions de l'épaisseur du puits quantique, en accord quantitatif avec des calculs variationnels d'impuretés dans le modèle de l'atome d'hydrogène.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:10:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DiegoSD_DISSERT.pdf: 4467915 bytes, checksum: 1bb0defec90e5ed329ebefbf24ac108a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-28 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / Currently, computational methods have been increasingly used to aid in the characterization of molecular biological systems, especially when they relevant to human health. Ibuprofen is a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory or broadband use in the clinic. Once in the bloodstream, most of ibuprofen is linked to human serum albumin, the major protein of blood plasma, decreasing its bioavailability and requiring larger doses to produce its antiinflamatory action. This study aimes to characterize, through the interaction energy, how is the binding of ibuprofen to albumin and to establish what are the main amino acids and molecular interactions involved in the process. For this purpouse, it was conducted an in silico study, by using quantum mechanical calculations based on Density Functional Theory (DFT), with Generalized Gradient approximation (GGA) to describe the effects of exchange and correlation. The interaction energy of each amino acid belonging to the binding site to the ligand was calculated the using the method of molecular fragmentation with conjugated caps (MFCC). Besides energy, we calculated the distances, types of molecular interactions and atomic groups involved. The theoretical models used were satisfactory and show a more accurate description when the dielectric constant ε = 40 was used. The findings corroborate the literature in which the Sudlow site I (I-FA3) is the primary binding site and the site I-FA6 as secondary site. However, it differs in identifying the most important amino acids, which by interaction energy, in order of decreasing energy, are: Arg410, Lys414, Ser 489, Leu453 and Tyr411 to the I-Site FA3 and Leu481, Ser480, Lys351, Val482 and Arg209 to the site I-FA6. The quantification of interaction energy and description of the most important amino acids opens new avenues for studies aiming at manipulating the structure of ibuprofen, in order to decrease its interaction with albumin, and consequently increase its distribution / Na atualidade, os m?todos computacionais v?m sendo cada vez mais utilizados para auxiliar a biologia molecular na caracteriza??o de sistemas biol?gicos, principalmente quando esses possuem relev?ncia para a sa?de humana. O ibuprofeno ? um antiinflamat?rio n?o-esteroidal de larga utiliza??o na cl?nica. Uma vez na corrente sangu?nea, boa parte do ibuprofeno fica ligada a albumina de soro humano, a principal prote?na do plasma sangu?neo, diminuindo a sua biodisponibilidade e necessitando de maiores doses para a produ??o de seu efeito antiinflamat?rio. Este estudo teve por objetivo caracterizar, atrav?s da energia de intera??o, como ocorre a liga??o do ibuprofeno ? albumina e estabelecer quais os principais amino?cidos e intera??es moleculares envolvidas no processo. Para tal desenvolveu-se um estudo in silico, com utiliza??o de c?lculos de mec?nica qu?ntica, baseada na Teoria do Funcional da Densidade (DFT), com aproxima??es do Gradiente Generalizado (GGA) para descri??o dos efeitos de correla??o e troca. A energia de intera??o de cada amino?cido do s?tio de liga??o, com o ligante foi calculada com base no m?todo de fragmenta??o molecular com capas conjugadas (MFCC). Al?m da energia, foram calculadas as dist?ncias, tipos de intera??es moleculares e grupos at?micos envolvidos. Os modelos te?ricos utilizados foram satisfat?rios e demonstraram uma descri??o mais precisa com a utiliza??o da constante diel?trica ε=40. Os achados corroboram com a literatura colocando o s?tio Sudlow I (I-FA3) como o principal s?tio de liga??o e o s?tio I-FA6 como s?tio secund?rio. Contudo, difere quanto ? identifica??o dos amino?cidos mais importantes, que por meio da energia de intera??o, em ordem decrescente de energia, s?o: Arg410, Lys414, Ser 489, Leu453 e Tyr411 para o S?tio I-FA3 e Leu481, Ser480, Lys351, Val482 e Arg209 para o s?tio I-FA6. A quantifica??o da energia de intera??o e a descri??o dos amino?cidos mais importantes abre caminhos para novos estudos que visem a manipula??o da estrutura do ibuprofeno, no sentido de diminuir a intera??o desse com a albumina, e consequentemente aumentar a sua distribui??o

No description available.

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) are at the center of the question of the origin of life and are essential proteins found in all living organisms. AARSs arose early in evolution to interpret genetic code and are believed to be a group of ancient proteins. They constitute a family of enzymes integrating the two levels of cellular organization: nucleic acids and proteins. These enzymes ensure the fidelity of transfer of genetic information from the DNA to the protein. They are responsible for attaching amino acid residues to their cognate tRNA molecules by virtue of matching the nucleotide triplet, which is the first step in the protein synthesis. The translation of genetic code into protein sequence is mediated by tRNA, which accurately picks up the cognate amino acids. The attachment of the cognate amino acid to tRNA is catalyzed by aaRSs, which have binding sites for the anticodon region of tRNA and for the amino acid to be attached. The two binding sites are separated by ≈ 76 Å and experiments have shown that the communication does not go through tRNA (Gale et al., 1996). The problem addressed here is how the information of binding of tRNA anticodon near the anticodon binding site is communicated to the active site through the protein structure. These enzymes are modular with distinct domains on which extensive kinetic and mutational experiments and supported by structural data are available, highlighting the role of inter-domain communication (Alexander and Schimmel, 2001). Hence these proteins present themselves as excellent systems for in-silico studies. Various methods involved for the construction of protein structure networks are well established and analyzed in a variety of ways to gain insights into different aspects of protein structure, stability and function (Kannan and Vishveshwara, 1999; Brinda and Vishveshwara, 2005). In the present study, we have incorporated network parameters for the analysis of molecular dynamics (MD) simulation data, representing the global dynamic behavior of protein in a more elegant way. MD simulations have been performed on the available (and modeled) structures of aaRSs bound to a variety of ligands, and the protein structure networks (PSN) of non-covalent interactions have been characterized in dynamical equilibrium. The changes in the structure networks are used to understand the mode of communication, and the paths between the two sites of interest identified by the analysis of the shortest path. The allosteric concept has played a key role in understanding the biological functions of aaRSs. The rigidity/plasticity and the conformational population are the two important ideas invoked in explaining the allosteric effect. We have explored the conformational changes in the complexes of aaRSs through novel parameters such as cliques and communities (Palla et al., 2005), which identify the rigid regions in the protein structure networks (PSNs) constructed from the non-covalent interactions of amino acid side chains. The thesis consists of 7 chapters. The first chapter constitutes the survey of the literature and also provides suitable background for this study. The aims of the thesis are presented in this chapter. Chapter 2 describes various techniques employed and the new techniques developed for the analysis of PSNs. It includes a brief description of well -known methods of molecular dynamics simulations, essential dynamics, and cross correlation maps. The method used for the construction of graphs and networks is also described in detail. The incorporation of network parameters for the analysis of MD simulation data are done for the first time and has been applied on a well studied protein lysozyme, as described in chapter 3. Chapter 3 focuses on the dynamical behavior of protein structure networks, examined by considering the example of T4-lysozyme. The equilibrium dynamics and the process of unfolding are followed by simulating the protein with explicit water molecules at 300K and at higher temperatures (400K, 500K) respectively. Three simulations of 10ns duration have been performed at 500K to ensure the validity of the results. The snapshots of the protein structure from the simulations are represented as Protein Structure Networks (PSN) of non-covalent interactions. The strength of the non-covalent interaction is evaluated and used as an important criterion in the construction of edges. The profiles of the network parameters such as the degree distribution and the size of the largest cluster (giant component) have been examined as a function of interaction strength (Ghosh et al., 2007). We observe a critical strength of interaction (Icritical) at which there is a transition in the size of the largest cluster. Although the transition profiles at all temperatures show behavior similar to those found in the crystal structures, the 500K simulations show that the non-native structures have lower Icritical values. Based on the interactions evaluated at Icritical value, the folding/unfolding transition region has been identified from the 500K simulation trajectories. Furthermore, the residues in the largest cluster obtained at interaction strength higher than Icritical have been identified to be important for folding. Thus, the compositions of the top largest clusters in the 500K simulations have been monitored to understand the dynamical processes such as folding/unfolding and domain formation/disruption. The results correlate well with experimental findings. In addition, the highly connected residues in the network have been identified from the 300K and 400K simulations and have been correlated with the protein stability as determined from mutation experiments. Based on these analyses, certain residues, on which experimental data is not available, have been predicted to be important for the folding and the stability of the protein. The method can also be employed as a valuable tool in the analysis of MD simulation data, since it captures the details at a global level, which may elude conventional pair-wise interaction analysis. After standardizing the concept of dynamical network analysis using Lysozyme, it was applied to our system of interest, the aaRSs. The investigations carried out on Methionyl-tRNA synthetases (MetRS) are presented in chapter 4. This chapter is divided into three parts: Chapter 4A deals with the introduction to aminoacyl tRNA synthetases (aaRS). Classification and functional insights of aaRSs obtained through various studies are presented. Chapter 4B is again divided into parts: BI and BII. Chapter 4BI elucidates a new technique developed for finding communication pathways essential for proper functioning of aaRS. The enzymes of the family of tRNA synthetases perform their functions with high precision, by synchronously recognizing the anticodon region and the amino acylation region, which is separated by about 70Å in space. This precision in function is brought about by establishing good communication paths between the two regions. We have modelled the structure of E.coli Methionyl tRNA synthetase, which is complexed with tRNA and activated methionine. Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed on the modeled structure to obtain the equilibrated structure of the complex and the cross correlations between the residues in MetRS. Furthermore, the network analysis on these structures has been carried out to elucidate the paths of communication between the aminoacyl activation site and the anticodon recognition site (Ghosh and Vishveshwara, 2007). This study has provided the detailed paths of communication, which are consistent with experimental results. A similar study on the (MetRS + activated methionine) and (MetRS+tRNA) complexes along with ligand free-native enzyme has also been carried out. A comparison of the paths derived from the four simulations has clearly shown that the communication path is strongly correlated and unique to the enzyme complex, which is bound to both the tRNA and the activated methionine. The method developed here could also be utilized to investigate any protein system where the function takes place through long distance communication. The details of the method of our investigation and the biological implications of the results are presented in this chapter. In chapter 4BII, we have explored the conformational changes in the complexes of E.coli Methionyl tRNA synthetase (MetRS) through novel parameters such as cliques and communities, which identify the rigid regions in the protein structure networks (PSNs). The rigidity/plasticity and the conformational population are the two important ideas invoked in explaining the allosteric effect. MetRS belongs to the aminoacyl tRNA Synthetases (aaRSs) family that play a crucial role in initiating the protein synthesis process. The network parameters evaluated here on the conformational ensembles of MetRS complexes, generated from molecular dynamics simulations, have enabled us to understand the inter-domain communication in detail. Additionally, the characterization of conformational changes in terms of cliques/communities has also become possible, which had eluded conventional analyses. Furthermore, we find that most of the residues participating in clique/communities are strikingly different from those that take part in long-range communication. The cliques/communities evaluated here for the first time on PSNs have beautifully captured the local geometries in their detail within the framework of global topology. Here the allosteric effect is revealed at the residue level by identifying the important residues specific for structural rigidity and functional flexibility in MetRS. Chapter 4C focuses on MD simulations of Methionyl tRNA synthetase (AmetRS) from a thermophilic bacterium, Aquifex aeolicus. As describe in Chapter 4B, we have explored the communication pathways between the anticodon binding region and the aminoacylation site, and the conformational changes in the complexes through cliques and communities. The two MetRSs from E.coli and Aquifex aeolicus are structurally and sequentially very close to each other. But the communication pathways between anticodon binding region and the aminoacylation site from A. aeolicus have differed significantly with the communication paths obtained from E.coli. The residue composition and cliques/communities structure participating in communication are not similar in the MetRSs of both these organisms. Furthermore the formation of cliques/communities and hubs in the communication paths are more in A. aeolicus compared to E.coli. The participation of structurally homologous linker peptide, essential for orienting the two domains for efficient communication is same in both the organisms although, the residues composition near domain interface regions including the linker peptide is different. Thus, the diversity in the functioning of two different MetRS has been brought out, by comparing the E.coli and Aquifex aeolicus systems. Protein Structure network analysis of MD simulated trajectories of various ligand bound complexes of Escherichia coli Cysteinyl-tRNA synthetase (CysRS) have been discussed in Chapter 5. The modeling of the complex is done by docking the ligand CysAMP into the tRNA bound structure of E.coli Cysteinyl tRNA synthetase. Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed on the modeled structure and the paths of communications were evaluated using a similar method as used in finding communication paths for MetRS enzymes. Compared to MetRS the evaluation of communication paths in CysRS is complicated due to presence of both direct and indirect readouts. The direct and indirect readouts (DR/IR) involve interaction of protein residues with base-specific functional group and sugar-phosphate backbone of nucleic acids respectively. Two paths of communication between the anticodon region and the activation site has been identified by combining the cross correlation information with the protein structure network constructed on the basis of non-covalent interaction. The complete paths include DR/IR interactions with tRNA. Cliques/communities of non-covalently interacting residues imparting structural rigidity are present along the paths. The reduction of cooperative fluctuation due to the presence of community is compensated by IR/DR interaction and thus plays a crucial role in communication of CysRS. Chapter 6 focuses on free energy calculations of aminoacyl tRNA synthetases with various ligands. The free energy contributions to the binding of the substrates are calculated using a method called MM-PBSA (Massova and Kollman, 2000). The binding free energies were calculated as the difference between the free energy of the enzyme-ligand complex, and the free ligand and protein. The ligand unbinding energy values obtained from the umbrella sampling MD correlates well with the ligand binding energies obtained from MM-PBSA method. Furthermore the essential dynamics was captured from MD simulations trajectories performed on E.coli MetRS, A. aeolius MetRS and E.coli CysRS in terms of the eigenvalues. The top two modes account for more than 50% of the motion in essential space for systems E.coli MetRS, A. aeolius MetRS and E.coli CysRS. Population distribution of protein conformation states are looked at the essential plane defined by the two principal components with highest eigenvalues. This shows how aaRSs existed as a population of conformational states and the variation with the addition of ligands. The population of conformational states is converted into Free energy contour surface. From free energy surfaces, it is evident that the E.coli tRNAMet bound MetRS conformational fluctuations are more, which attributes to less rigidity in the complex. Whereas E.coli tRNACys bound CysRS conformational fluctuations are less and this is reflected in the increase in rigidity of the complex as confirmed by its entropic contribution. Future directions have been discussed in the final chapter (Chapter 7). Specifically, it deals with the ab-initio QM/MM study of the enzymatic reaction involved in the active site of E.coli Methionyl tRNA synthetase. To achieve this, two softwares are integrated: the Quantum Mechanics (QM) part includes small ligands and the Molecular Mechanics (MM) part as protein MetRS are handled using CPMD and Gromacs respectively. The inputs for two reactions pathways are prepared. First reaction involves cyclization reaction of homocysteine in the active site of MetRS and the second reaction deals with charging of methionine in the presence of ATP and magnesium ion. These simulations require very high power computing systems and also time of computation is also very large. With the available computational power we could simulate up to 10ps and it is insufficient for analysis. The future direction will involve the simulations of these systems for longer time, followed by the analysis for reaction pathways.

In dieser Dissertation werden ab initio Theorien zur Beschreibung der Zustände von perfekten halbleitenden und nichtleitenden Kristallen, unter Berücksichtigung elektronischer Korrelationen, abgeleitet und angewandt. Als Ausgangsbasis dient hierzu die Hartree-Fock Approximation in Verbindung mit Wannier-Orbitalen. Darauf aufbauend studiere ich zunächst in Teil I der Abhandlung den Grundzustand der wasserstoffbrückengebundenen Fluorwasserstoff und Chlorwasserstoff zick-zack Ketten und analysiere die langreichweitigen Korrelationsbeiträge. Dabei mache ich die Basissatzextrapolationstechniken, die für kleine Moleküle entwickelt wurden, zur Berechnung von hochgenauen Bindungsenergien von Kristallen nutzbar. In Teil II der Arbeit leite ich zunächst eine quantenfeldtheoretische ab initio Beschreibung von Elektroneneinfangzuständen und Lochzuständen in Kristallen her. Grundlage hierbei ist das etablierte algebraische diagrammatische Konstruktionsschema (ADC) zur Approximation der Selbstenergie für die Bestimmung der Vielteilchen-Green's-Funktion mittels der Dyson-Gleichung. Die volle Translationssymmetrie des Problems wird hierbei beachtet und die Lokalität elektronischer Korrelationen ausgenutzt. Das resultierende Schema wird Kristallorbital-ADC (CO-ADC) genannt. Ich berechne damit die Quasiteilchenbandstruktur einer Fluorwasserstoffkette und eines Lithiumfluoridkristalls. In beiden Fällen erhalte ich eine sehr gute Übereinstimmung zwischen meinen Resultaten und den Ergebnissen aus anderen Methoden. / In this dissertation, theories for the ab initio description of the states of perfect semiconducting and insulating crystals are derived and applied. Electron correlations are treated thoroughly based on the Hartree-Fock approximation formulated in terms of Wannier orbitals. In part I of the treatise, I study the ground state of hydrogen-bonded hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen chloride zig-zag chains. I analyse the long-range contributions of electron correlations. Thereby, I employ basis set extrapolation techniques, which have originally been developed for small molecules, to also obtain highly accurate binding energies of crystals. In part II of the thesis, I devise an ab initio description of the electron attachment and electron removal states of crystals using methods of quantum field theory. I harness the well-established algebraic diagrammatic construction scheme (ADC) to approximate the self-energy, used in conjunction with the Dyson equation, to determine the many-particle Green's function for crystals. Thereby, the translational symmetry of the problem and the locality of electron correlations are fully exploited. The resulting scheme is termed crystal orbital ADC (CO-ADC). It is applied to obtain the quasiparticle band structure of a hydrogen fluoride chain and a lithium fluoride crystal. In both cases, a very good agreement of my results to those determined with other methods is observed.

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In dieser Dissertation werden ab initio Theorien zur Beschreibung der Zustände von perfekten halbleitenden und nichtleitenden Kristallen, unter Berücksichtigung elektronischer Korrelationen, abgeleitet und angewandt. Als Ausgangsbasis dient hierzu die Hartree-Fock Approximation in Verbindung mit Wannier-Orbitalen. Darauf aufbauend studiere ich zunächst in Teil I der Abhandlung den Grundzustand der wasserstoffbrückengebundenen Fluorwasserstoff und Chlorwasserstoff zick-zack Ketten und analysiere die langreichweitigen Korrelationsbeiträge. Dabei mache ich die Basissatzextrapolationstechniken, die für kleine Moleküle entwickelt wurden, zur Berechnung von hochgenauen Bindungsenergien von Kristallen nutzbar. In Teil II der Arbeit leite ich zunächst eine quantenfeldtheoretische ab initio Beschreibung von Elektroneneinfangzuständen und Lochzuständen in Kristallen her. Grundlage hierbei ist das etablierte algebraische diagrammatische Konstruktionsschema (ADC) zur Approximation der Selbstenergie für die Bestimmung der Vielteilchen-Green's-Funktion mittels der Dyson-Gleichung. Die volle Translationssymmetrie des Problems wird hierbei beachtet und die Lokalität elektronischer Korrelationen ausgenutzt. Das resultierende Schema wird Kristallorbital-ADC (CO-ADC) genannt. Ich berechne damit die Quasiteilchenbandstruktur einer Fluorwasserstoffkette und eines Lithiumfluoridkristalls. In beiden Fällen erhalte ich eine sehr gute Übereinstimmung zwischen meinen Resultaten und den Ergebnissen aus anderen Methoden. / In this dissertation, theories for the ab initio description of the states of perfect semiconducting and insulating crystals are derived and applied. Electron correlations are treated thoroughly based on the Hartree-Fock approximation formulated in terms of Wannier orbitals. In part I of the treatise, I study the ground state of hydrogen-bonded hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen chloride zig-zag chains. I analyse the long-range contributions of electron correlations. Thereby, I employ basis set extrapolation techniques, which have originally been developed for small molecules, to also obtain highly accurate binding energies of crystals. In part II of the thesis, I devise an ab initio description of the electron attachment and electron removal states of crystals using methods of quantum field theory. I harness the well-established algebraic diagrammatic construction scheme (ADC) to approximate the self-energy, used in conjunction with the Dyson equation, to determine the many-particle Green's function for crystals. Thereby, the translational symmetry of the problem and the locality of electron correlations are fully exploited. The resulting scheme is termed crystal orbital ADC (CO-ADC). It is applied to obtain the quasiparticle band structure of a hydrogen fluoride chain and a lithium fluoride crystal. In both cases, a very good agreement of my results to those determined with other methods is observed.

Organic solar cells (OSCs) based on non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) have attracted a great deal of attention in recent years due to their rapidly increasing efficiency and enormous potential. In this work, the optical and electronic properties of systems containing the very promising non-fullerene acceptor PYT have been thoroughly studied with the use of the density functional theory (DFT) and the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). By changing the electron linker from thiophene to furan and selenophene, respectively, the PYT was divided into three variants, each of which was studied independently. In addition, these three systems were combined with the donor PBDB-T to generate two distinct interface conformations. The properties studied in this work include the optimized geometries, HOMO-LUMO levels, UV-Vis spectra, frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs), natural transition orbitals (NTOs), density of states (DOS), dipole moments, open-circuit voltages, exciton binding energies, and local exciton (LE) and charge transfer (CT) energies. The calculations were performed in chlorobenzene solution utilizing the polarizable continuum model (PCM). It was discovered that PBDB-T/PY-Se exhibited remarkable flatness employing the π-π stacking conformation which corresponds well with the excellent D/A compatibility observed experimentally. All interfaces displayed appropriate positioning of the HOMO-LUMO levels, with the acceptor dominating the LUMO and the donor dominating the HOMO, with HOMO-LUMO gaps ranging between 1.34 and 1.38 eV. The differences in the interchanging of the electron linker were not that significant, and neither was the change in interface conformation in terms of the HOMO-LUMO levels. This may indicate that the system can be effective even without the presence of a π-π stacking conformation. The first excited states for all interface systems were shown to be pure CT transitions, and on average, 80% of the states exhibit CT character. The remaining contributions consisted of transitions within the pure materials, with a larger contribution within the acceptor. The theoretical results of this study indicate that systems containing the novel polymer acceptor PYT and its variants PY-O and PY-Se exhibit very intriguing properties, and further development of OSCs containing these polymers might further aid in the development of high-performance OSCs. / Organiska solceller (OSC) baserade på icke-fullerenacceptorer (NFA) har väckt stor uppmärksamhet de senaste åren på grund av dess snabbt ökande effektivitet och enorma potential. I detta arbete har de optiska och elektroniska egenskaperna hos system innehållande den mycket lovande icke-fullerenacceptorn PYT studerats grundligt med användning av täthetsfunktionalteorin (DFT) och den tidsberoende täthetsfunktionalteorin (TDDFT). Genom att ändra elektronförbindelsen från tiofen till furan respektive selenofen så delades PYT upp i tre varianter som var och en studerades oberoende av varandra. Dessutom kombinerades dessa tre system med donatorn PBDB-T för att generera två distinkta gränssnittskonformationer. Egenskaperna som studeras i detta arbete inkluderar optimerade geometrier, HOMO-LUMO-nivåer, UV-vis spektra, gränsmolekylära orbitaler (FMO), naturliga övergångsorbitaler (NTO), tillståndstäthet (DOS), dipolmoment, tomgångsspänning, excitonbindningsenergi samt lokal exciton (LE) och laddningsöverförings (CT) energier. Beräkningarna utfördes i klorbensenlösning med användning av den polariserbara kontinuummodellen (PCM). I resultatet uppvisade PBDB-T/PY-Se en anmärkningsvärd planhet med användning av π-π staplingskonformationen som överensstämmer väl med den utmärkta D/A-kompatibiliteten som observerats experimentellt. Alla gränssnitt visade lämplig positionering av HOMO-LUMO-nivåerna, med acceptorn som dominerade LUMO och donatorn som dominerade HOMO, med HOMO-LUMO-gap mellan 1.34 och 1.38 eV. Skillnaderna i utbytet av elektronförbindelsen visade sig inte vara signifikanta och inte heller skillnaden i gränssnittskonformation när det gäller HOMO-LUMO-nivåerna. Detta kan indikera att systemet kan vara effektivt även utan förekomst av π-π staplingskonformation. De första exciterade tillstånden för alla gränssnittssystem visade sig vara rena CT-övergångar och i genomsnitt uppvisade 80% av tillstånden CT-karaktär. Resterande andel bestod av övergångar inom de rena materialen med en större andel inom acceptorn. De teoretiska resultaten av denna studie indikerar att system innehållande den nya polymeracceptorn PYT och dess varianter PY-O och PY-Se uppvisar mycket spännande egenskaper samt att vidareutveckling av OSC:er som innehåller dessa polymerer ytterligare kan hjälpa till i utvecklingen av högpresterande OSC:er.