Applying computational chemistry to simulate realistic chemical processes

The waters of science are muddy these days—especially at the University of California San Diego where all that separates a chemist from a physicist in some cases is office drywall. Chemists ask the questions in their experiments, and physicists supply the answers with the tools needed to do the job. Sometimes that job needs to be quicker and easier, so a computational expert is called in. Add a biological specialist to the mix and you’ve got a recipe for cutting-edge science that breaks bounds. And the beauty of the bound-breaking in Chemist Francesco Paesani’s “lab” begins with the most basic of elements—water.