Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

1-1-2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D. in Chemistry

First Advisor

Ryan C. Fortenberry

Second Advisor

Greg S. Tschumper

Third Advisor

Steve R. Davis

School

University of Mississippi

Relational Format

dissertation/thesis

Abstract

Polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the proposed carriers of the unidentified infrared bands (UIRs) observed in widely varied astronomical environments. However, experimental investigation of PAHs has proven difficult as a result of their large size. As such, our knowledge of PAH vibrational spectra, and by extension the molecular carriers of UIRs, is limited to computed spectra. Despite the vast quantity of such data available, most of it has been generated using methods of relatively low quality, again due to the size of the systems in question. This work presents methods for extending the application of highly-accurate theoretical spectroscopic techniques to large PAHs consisting of dozens or even hundreds of atoms.

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