Hsing-Ta Chen

Research Interests

The Chen research group is broadly interested in the intersection of chemistry, physics, and materials. Research in the Chen group focuses on developing theoretical tools and using high performance computing facilities aimed at excited-state dynamics and light-matter interactions. The systems studied range from plasmonic excitation of metallic clusters, laser-driven non-adiabatic molecular dynamics, and collective optical response of molecular ensembles. These systems are of key importance for understanding many recent experimental advances that cannot be accurately predicted by current theoretical approaches.

Our focus is quantifying electron transfer and energy conversion processes at the interface between molecules and materials strongly interacting with light. We are particularly interested in non-adiabatic dynamics methods (specifically surface hopping) and many-body quantum simulation (for example, quantum Monte Carlo). Our major goal is to develop reliable theoretical models and simulation methods to guide experimental improvements in next-generation photovoltaic cells and facilitate new design principles for electronic nano-devices.

Selected Publications

• Liu, G. M.; Wang, S. W. and Chen, H. T. "MQED-QD: An Open-Source Package for Quantum Dynamics Simulation in Complex Dielectric Environments" 2026 Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation, 22 (10), pp.5185-5198. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.6c00423.
• Goulko, O.; Chen, H. T.; Goldstein, M. and Cohen, G. "Transient Dynamical Phase Diagram of the Spin-Boson Model" 2025 Physical Review Letters, 134 (5), 056502. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.056502.
• Sharma, S. K. and Chen, H. T. "Unraveling Abnormal Collective Effects Via the Non-Monotonic Number Dependence of Electron Transfer in Confined Electromagnetic Fields" 2024 Journal Of Chemical Physics, 161 (10), 104102. DOI: 10.1063/5.0225434.
• Zhou, Z. Y.; Chen, H. T.; Sukharev, M.; Subotnik, J. E. and Nitzan, A. "Nature of Polariton Transport in a Fabry-Perot Cavity" 2024 Physical Review A, 109 (3), 033717. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.109.033717.
• Zhou, Z. Y.; Chen, H. T.; Sukharev, M.; Subotnik, J. E. and Nitzan, A. "On the Nature of Two-Photon Transitions for a Collection of Molecules in a Fabry-Perot Cavity" 2024 Journal of Chemical Physics, 160 (9), 094107. DOI: 10.1063/5.0180910.
• Zhou, Z. Y.; Chen, H. T.; Subotnik, J. E. and Nitzan, A. "Interplay between Disorder, Local Relaxation, and Collective Behavior for an Ensemble of Emitters Outside Versus Inside a Cavity" 2023 Physical Review A, 108 (2), 023708. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.108.023708.