Daniel Lambrecht and myself are organizing a symposium at the Denver 2015 ACS on the subject of electronic structure methods for simulating highly polarizable systems. Please contact one of us if you are interested in contributing a talk. Here is the poster summary:

“There are widespread technological applications for molecules which can readily accept and transform small packets of energy. Optoelectronic materials, molecular electronics, and photocatalysis speak to the technological impact of modeling such systems. At the same time, any rational advancement involves a firm understanding of fundamental processes such as energy and electron transfer, electron and nuclear dynamics, and electron-phonon interactions.  Modeling the interactions of polarizable molecules with their environment therefore remains a challenge for modern electronic structure theory and represents an area of vibrant development. This symposium collects emerging methodologies for computing the properties of small-gap, polarizable materials in their ground and excited states. New phenomenological and ab-initio theories targeted at these systems are welcome contributions to this symposium, including developments in embedding approaches, excited state theories and electronic dynamics. State-of-the art applications of first principles approaches theory used to interpret, rationalize and guide experiment are also invited. The tools discussed are useful for studying charge and energy collection and transport on lengths ranging between atomic systems and the nanoscale.”