Mathieu Lewin

CEREMADE, CNRS et Université Paris Dauphine - PSL

A convexity conjecture in quantum chemistry and its link with optimal transport 

I will describe a famous conjecture, dating back from the 1980s, concerning the way that the electronic energy of an atom or a molecule depends on the number of electrons. Together with Simone Di Marino (Genova) and Luca Nenna (Paris-Saclay), we found the first counter-example by going to the semi-classical limit and studying an optimal transport problem. Our nuclei have a fractional charge and the conjecture remains open for real systems, however.