Nicholas Charles Handy (17 June 1941 – 2 October 2012) was a British theoretical chemist. He retired as Professor of
quantum chemistry
Quantum chemistry, also called molecular quantum mechanics, is a branch of physical chemistry focused on the application of quantum mechanics to chemical systems, particularly towards the quantum-mechanical calculation of electronic contributions ...
at the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
in September 2004.
Education and early life
Handy was born in
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
, England and educated at
Clayesmore School
Clayesmore School is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private school for pupils aged 8–18 years, in the village of Iwerne Minster, Dorset, England. It is both a day and boarding school and is a member of The Headmaster ...
. He studied the
Mathematical Tripos
The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge, Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge.
Origin
In its classical nineteenth-century form, the tripos was a di ...
at the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
and completed his PhD on theoretical chemistry supervised by Samuel Francis Boys.
Research
Handy wrote 320 scientific papers published in physical and
theoretical chemistry
Theoretical chemistry is the branch of chemistry which develops theoretical generalizations that are part of the theoretical arsenal of modern chemistry: for example, the concepts of chemical bonding, chemical reaction, valence, the surface ...
journals.
Handy developed several methods in quantum chemistry and theoretical
spectroscopy
Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Spectro ...
. His contributions have helped greatly to the understanding of:
* the transcorrelated method
* the long range behaviour of Hartree–Fockorbitals
* semiclassical methods for vibrational energies
* the
variational method
The calculus of variations (or variational calculus) is a field of mathematical analysis that uses variations, which are small changes in functions
and functionals, to find maxima and minima of functionals: mappings from a set of functions t ...
for rovibrational wave-functions (in
normal mode
A normal mode of a dynamical system is a pattern of motion in which all parts of the system move sinusoidally with the same frequency and with a fixed phase relation. The free motion described by the normal modes takes place at fixed frequencies ...
and internal coordinates)
*
Full configuration interaction Full configuration interaction (or full CI) is a linear variational approach which provides numerically exact solutions (within the infinitely flexible complete basis set) to the electronic time-independent, non-relativistic Schrödinger equation. ...
with
Slater determinant
In quantum mechanics, a Slater determinant is an expression that describes the wave function of a multi-fermionic system. It satisfies anti-symmetry requirements, and consequently the Pauli principle, by changing sign upon exchange of two fermion ...
Hamiltonian
Hamiltonian may refer to:
* Hamiltonian mechanics, a function that represents the total energy of a system
* Hamiltonian (quantum mechanics), an operator corresponding to the total energy of that system
** Dyall Hamiltonian, a modified Hamiltonian ...
* Anharmonic spectroscopic and thermodynamic properties using higher derivative methods
* Brueckner-doubles theory
*
Open shell
In atomic physics and quantum chemistry, the electron configuration is the distribution of electrons of an atom or molecule (or other physical structure) in atomic or molecular orbitals. For example, the electron configuration of the neon atom ...
Møller–Plesset theory
* frequency-dependent properties
*
Density functional theory
Density functional theory (DFT) is a computational quantum mechanical modelling method used in physics, chemistry and materials science to investigate the electronic structure (or nuclear structure) (principally the ground state) of many-body ...
: quadrature, new functionals and molecular properties.
International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science
The International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science (IAQMS) is an international scientific learned society covering all applications of quantum theory to chemistry and chemical physics. It was created in Menton in 1967. The founding members we ...
.
Death
On 2 October 2012 Nicholas died after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.