Quantum chemical calculations have been used to solve big
mysteries in space. Soon the same calculations may be used to produce
tomorrow’s cancer drugs.
Some years ago research scientists at the University of Oslo
were able to show that the chemical bonding in the magnetic fields of small,
compact stars, so-called white dwarf stars, is different from that on Earth.
Their calculations pointed to a completely new bonding mechanism between two
hydrogen atoms. The news attracted great attention in the media. The discovery,
which in fact was made before astrophysicists themselves observed the first
hydrogen molecules in white dwarf stars, was made by UiO’s Centre for Theoretical
and Computational Chemistry. They based their work on accurate quantum chemical
calculations of what happens when atoms and molecules are exposed to extreme
conditions.