Yair Litman

Yair Litman is a DFG-supported Junior Research Fellow at Wolfson College and a theoretical chemist in the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge. His work bridges quantum dynamics, advanced spectroscopy and machine learning to unravel how nuclei move at the atomic scale in aqueous, metallic and hybrid organic/inorganic systems.

Education

• Diploma, University of Buenos Aires (2014)
• PhD, Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, Berlin (2016–2020)

Research Interests

Litman’s research orbits around quantum mechanical descriptions of molecular motion. He develops adiabatic and non-adiabatic rate theories to treat hydrogen transfer and other light-atom reactions, where tunneling and zero-point energy dominate. He couples these theories with non-linear optical spectroscopies—sum-frequency generation, tip-enhanced Raman, 2D-IR—to obtain direct experimental fingerprints of elusive quantum effects at aqueous interfaces and on catalytic surfaces. Machine-learning-accelerated electronic-structure calculations provide the speed and accuracy required to simulate these complex many-body systems.

Publications Trend

Across 2022-2025, his publications reveal a concerted push toward first-principles spectroscopy: combining rigorous quantum-rate formulations with machine-learned potentials to predict and interpret spectra of interfacial water, defects in 2D materials and charge-transfer systems. The work is equally split between methodological advances (instanton theory, i-PI extensions, friction tensors) and high-impact applications (air-water interface fields, MX2 monolayers, dye-sensitized interfaces).

Honours & Funding

• Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) Fellowship
• Wolfson College Junior Research Fellowship

Research Groups & Collaborations

Litman is embedded in the Althorpe Group at Cambridge, continues collaborations with the Rossi Group at Max Planck Institute for Structure and Dynamics of Matter (Hamburg), and the Bonn Group at Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (Mainz). He also contributes to the open-source i-PI and FHI-aims software ecosystems, fostering worldwide community development.