With their helical structure, cholesteric liquid crystals figure prominently in liquid crystal science. The selective reflection of light is their flagship property, and they offer a myriad of applications as advanced optical materials with multiscale properties. The cholesteric…
The term “first-principles calculations” is a synonym for the numerical determination of the electronic structure of atoms, molecules, clusters, or materials from 'first principles', i.e., without any approximations to the underlying quantum-mechanical equations. Although numero…
The amide bond represents a privileged motif in chemistry. The recent years have witnessed an explosion of interest in the development of new chemical transformations of amides. These developments cover an impressive range of catalytic N-C bond activation in electrophilic, Lewis…
The Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility (MLF) at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) is a landmark large user-facility producing neutron and muon beams. Those beams feed over 20 beamlines hosting world-class instruments for the investigation of ma…