A Vega Science Video. Scientist Walter Kohn is a condensed matter theorist who has made seminal contributions to the understanding of the electronic structure of materials. He played the leading role in the development of density functional theory, which has revolutionized scientists` approach to the electronic structure of atoms, molecules and solid materials in physics, chemistry and materials science. He received the Nobel prize for chemistry for this work in 1998.
With the advent of supercomputers, density functional theory has become an essential tool for electronic materials science. Walter Kohn has also made major contributions to the physics of semiconductors, superconductivity, surface physics and catalysis. He was the founding director of the National Science Foundation`s Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Institute brings together leading scientists from around the world to work on major problems in theoretical physics and related fields.
Interviewed by Tony Cheetham and John Perdew, Walter discusses his life, his work, and his views. The following programme is a one hour edit of selected highlights from extensive archive recordings.
Recording funded by the University of California, Santa Barbara.