Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [97]-102).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-97).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008. / Committee Chair: Wine, Paul; Committee Member: Huey, Greg; Committee Member: Nenes, Athanasios; Committee Member: Weber, Rodney; Committee Member: Whetten, Robert.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2005. / Morhan Srinivasarao, Committee Member ; CP Wong, Committee Member ; David M. Collard, Committee Chair ; Marcus Weck, Committee Member ; Laren Tolbert, Committee Member.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 181-188).

Orientador: Antônio Carlos Ferreira Seridônio / Resumo: Por meio da equação de Weyl que descreve o bulk de um semimetal de Weyl, inserimos duas impurezas no interior deste semimetal, com o intuito de medir a condutância desse sistema por meio de uma ponta de um microscópio de corrente de tunelamento (STM: scanning tunneling microscope), assim como exploramos teoricamente a influência que o semimetal de Dirac-Weyl causa na estrutura dos orbitais das impurezas. Verificamos que nessas condições apresentadas: (i) é possível resgatar e obter os mesmos resultados publicados por Phys. Rev. B 96, 041112(R) (2017) para um semimetal de Dirac em três dimensões; (ii) ao quebrarmos a simetria de inversão do sistema, ocorre um alargamento dos picos de ressonância, até o ponto que uma impureza deixa de sentir a presença da outra, o que caracteriza um sistema que segue o modelo de Anderson de uma impureza (SIAM: single impurity Anderson model), ao passo que, caso continuemos aumentando o valor deste parâmetro, a estrutura de bandas do material torna-se um metal; (iii) ao quebrarmos a simetria de reversão temporal nas direções dos eixos x e z, ocorre formação de um par de orbitais de ligações π para os estados ligantes e antiligantes, o que significa que os elétrons são excitados de ondas s para ondas p. / Abstract: Through the Weyl equation that describes the bulk of a Weyl semimetal, we inserted two impurities inside this semimetal, in order to measure the conductance of this system by means of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM), as well as we theoretically explore the influence that Dirac-Weyl semimetal causes on the structure of the impurities orbitals. We verified that under these conditions presented: (i) it is possible to retrieve and obtain the same results published by Phys. Rev. B 96, 041112 (R) (2017) for a three-dimensional Dirac Semimetal; (ii) when we break the inversion symmetry of the system, there is a widening of the resonance peaks, to the point that one impurity cannot feel the presence of the other one, which characterizes a single impurity Anderson model (SIAM) system, whereas, if we continue increasing the value of this parameter, the bands structure of the material becomes a metal; (iii) when we break the time reversal symmetry in the x and z-axis directions, a pair of π-bond orbitals forms for the bonding and antibonding states, which means that electrons are excited from s-waves to p-waves. / Mestre

Research on two-dimensional (2D) materials currently occupies a sizeable fraction of the materials science community, which has led to the development of a comprehensive body of knowledge on such layered structures. However, the goal of this thesis is to deepen the understanding of the comparatively unknown heterostructures composed of different stacked layers. First, we utilise linear-scaling density functional theory (LS-DFT) to simulate intricate interfaces between the most promising layered materials, such as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDC) or black phosphorus (BP) and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). We show that hBN can protect BP from external influences, while also preventing the band-gap reduction in BP stacks, and enabling the use of BP heterostructures as tunnelling field effect transistors. Moreover, our simulations of the electronic structure of TMDC interfaces have reproduced photoemission spectroscopy observations, and have also provided an explanation for the coexistence of commensurate and incommensurate phases within the same crystal. Secondly, we have developed new functionality to be used in the future study of 2D heterostructures, in the form of a linear-response phonon formalism for LS-DFT. As part of its implementation, we have solved multiple implementation and theoretical issues through the use of novel algorithms.

The properties of the macroscopic world around us, and of which we are a part, are largely determined by the low energy, collective behaviour of many interacting particles, including the nuclei and, especially, the electrons present. Although the fundamental laws governing the behaviour of these many-body systems are believed to be known in principle, the practical solution of the equations of quantum mechanics remains a challenging area of research. This thesis is concerned with the application of quantum Monte Carlo methods to two model systems: the spin-polarised homogeneous electron gas, and a hole-doped electron gas. Electronic structure theory is briefly reviewed before discussing in more detail the quantum Monte Carlo methods used in this thesis. A study of the three-dimensional spin-polarised homogeneous electron gas (HEG) is then reported, where the relatively new technique of twist averaging is investigated in detail and accurate energies and pair correlation functions are obtained over densities $r_s = 0.5 – 20$ a.u. and the full range of spin-polarisation, allowing comparison with the Perdew-Zunger interpolation scheme used in local spin density approximation exchange-correlation functionals. Following this, an impurity is added to the electron gas in the form of a positively charged hole, and the interaction is studied. Relaxation energies, pair correlation functions and momentum densities are reported. Trion formation is observed over a range of carrier densities and electron-hole mass ratios in agreement with experiment. Isolated trions are also studied, where the diffusion Monte Carlo method is exact. Methodological innovations developed while carrying out this work are discussed, including a variance reduction technique for twist-averaged calculations and a new trial wave function for impurity-in-HEG calculations.