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Peter Knowles

Professor Peter Knowles

Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Chemistry

School of Chemistry

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Overview

My research is focused on new methods, approximations and algorithms in computational molecular electronic structure theory.

For more information, click on the 'Research' tab above.

Publication

2024

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2001

Articles

Research

My research is focused on new methods, approximations and algorithms in computational molecular electronic structure theory, and our work includes contributions to

  • Full configuration interaction methods and their application in benchmarks, including studies of perturbation theory
  • Multiconfigurational self-consistent field and multireference configuration interaction methods
  • Perturbative and coupled-cluster methods for open-shell and strongly-correlated systems
  • Density-fitting methods
  • Quasi-diabatic states
  • Damped long-range intermolecular interactions

Some of these methods are in widespread use through dissemination as part of the Molpro software package.

Current research themes include non-adiabatic effects in photochemistry, and the construction of conceptual models for chemical reactions.

Biography

PhD, University of Cambridge (1984, N. C. Handy, Multiconfiguration self-consistent field theory). Research Fellow, St. Catharine's College Cambridge (1983-9). Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Western Ontario (1985-6). SERC Advanced Research Fellow, University of Cambridge (1987-9). Lecturer in Chemistry, University of Sussex (1989-95). Professor of Theoretical Chemistry, University of Birmingham (1995-2004). Appointed as Professor of Theoretical Chemistry, Cardiff in 2004. RSC Harrison Memorial Prize (1988); RSC Marlow Medal (1994); RSC Industrially-sponsored Award in Computational Chemistry (2003); Fellow, Learned Society of Wales (2011); Member, International Academy of Quantum Molecular Sciences (2018).