Edit Mátyus

Edit Mátyus has been working on the theory and computation of molecular quantum states, including the electronic, vibrational, and rotational degrees of freedom. Molecular quantum states have relevance for high-resolution and precision spectroscopy, molecular astrophysics, and quantum technology operating on a molecular platform.

Molecular quantum mechanics is about the microscopic description of ordinary matter at the level of molecules composed of electrons and atomic nuclei. With recent progress in quantum technology, single quantum states of single atoms and molecules can be controlled and manipulated with extraordinary detail and precision. Furthermore, by synchronizing spectrometers to atomic clocks, increasingly accurate atomic and molecular energy intervals have become available, allowing us to explore formerly neglected or unknown physical effects.

Edit Mátyus has developed the theoretical framework of molecular quantum mechanics beyond the commonly used Born-Oppenheimer and non-relativistic approximations. She has studied molecules as few-particle quantum systems, including electrons and nuclei on an equal footing in a non-relativistic description. She has worked on the formulation of a wave-equation-like equation beyond Schrödinger's non-relativistic equation for being able to compute few-particle (atomic and molecular) bound states, including special relativity and quantum electrodynamics (QED), while using the robust and efficient methodologies of numerical quantum chemistry.

In addition to the fundamental developments, ultra-precise rovibronic energy intervals have been computed for small diatomics by including formerly neglected non-adiabatic, relativistic, and QED corrections. She has developed the non-adiabatic (nuclear) mass concept for a perturbative account of distant electronic states on the quantum nuclear motion, and a numerical regularization technique has been devised for relativistic corrections. Her research group also works on the computation of rovibrational states of polyatomic floppy molecules, most recently, extended with modelling magnetic sublevels.

Edit Mátyus graduated in theoretical chemistry from Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. She was an ETH Fellow in Zürich and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge. Upon returning to her alma  mater, she established the Molecular Quantum electro-Dynamics Research Group with funding from the Swiss  National Science Foundation (Promotion of Young Researchers in Eastern Europe), the European Research Council, and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Awards: Dirac Medal of the World Association of Theoretical and Computati- onal Chemists (2021), Annual Medal of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science (2023).