Microscopic laws of nature

Predicting the properties of complex systems

Abstract

While it is possible to describe and predict the properties of a simple molecule or crystal using the microscopic laws of quantum mechanics, it is much more difficult to predict the behaviour of complex systems. This is because, at each complexity level, new phenomena can emerge that are not intuitively obtained from the underlying microscopic laws. They arise from competing interactions between the constituents that form the material. The resulting interplay between weak and strong interactions can lead to complex emergent properties. Developing and improving new methods to model such systems both at microscopic and macroscopic scales is at the heart of research carried out at Heidelberg University’s Institute for Theoretical Physics.