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Explore a lecture by Eberhard Gross from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem on "Exact factorization of the many-particle wave function" presented at IPAM's Optimal Transport for Density Operators workshop at UCLA. Recorded in April 2025, this one-hour talk challenges the limitations of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation in electronic-structure techniques. Discover how Gross develops an exact factorization of the complete electron-nuclear wavefunction into separate nuclear and electronic components, leading to rigorous equations of motion that define exact potential energy surfaces and geometric phases without relying on adiabatic approximations. Learn about applications to fascinating phenomena including vision processes, photovoltaics, and decoherence, with demonstrations using exactly solvable models that compare exact surfaces to adiabatic counterparts. The presentation highlights how non-unitary time-propagation in the reduced electronic density matrix equation proves essential for ab-initio descriptions of decoherence.
