chemistry

Peter Gill (chemist)

Peter Gill (chemist) is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Peter Gill (chemist) rather than just read about it. In short: Peter Malcolm Wallace Gill (born 9 November 1962) is a New Zealand theoretical and computational chemist known for his contribution to density functional theory (DFT). He is an early and main contributor to the computational chemistry software Q-Chem and was the president of the company during 1998–2013.

Key takeaways

Peter Gill (chemist) belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Peter Gill (chemist) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Peter Gill (chemist) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Peter Malcolm Wallace Gill (born 9 November 1962) is a New Zealand theoretical and computational chemist known for his contribution to density functional theory (DFT). He is an early and main contributor to the computational chemistry software Q-Chem and was the president of the company during 1998–2013. He is especially known for developing the PRISM algorithm for evaluating two-electron integrals and linear-scaling DFT, as well as self-consistent field method for excited state electronic structure.

Education and career Gill was born in Auckland and received his BSc in 1983 and MSc in 1984 from the University of Auckland. He received a PhD in 1988 from the Australian National University under the supervision of Leo Radom. During this time, he investigated hemi-bonding and the convergence of perturbation theory in quantum chemistry. After graduation, he conducted postdoctoral work with John Pople at Carnegie Mellon University from 1988 to 1993. Following this stint, Gill accepted a lectureship at Massey University in 1993. He became a lecturer at the University of Cambridge in 1996. In 1999, Gill became the inaugural chair of theoretical chemistry at the University of Nottingham. He moved to Australia and became a professor at the Australian National University in 2004 and later moved to the University of Sydney in 2019 as the Schofield Chair in Theoretical Chemistry. In 2001, Gill wrote an essay pronouncing the demise of density functional theory thanks to the rise of hybrid functionals for exchange interactions between electrons.

Honors and awards Gill is the president of the World Association of Theoretical and Computational Chemists (WATOC) and received the Dirac Medal in 1999 and the Schrödinger Medal in 2011 from WATOC. In 2013, Gill received the Fukui Medal from APATCC. Gill was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2014 and received the David Craig Medal from the Australian Academy of Science in 2019. In 2015 Gill was inducted to the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Peter Gill (chemist)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Peter Gill (chemist) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Peter Gill (chemist) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Peter Gill (chemist) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Peter Gill (chemist)

In research: Peter Gill (chemist) appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Peter Gill (chemist) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Peter Gill (chemist) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1962 births, Academic staff of Massey University, Academic staff of the Australian National University, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Peter Gill (chemist) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Peter Gill (chemist)” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Peter Gill (chemist) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Peter Gill (chemist) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Peter Gill (chemist) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Peter Gill (chemist) in simple terms?

Why does Peter Gill (chemist) matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Peter Gill (chemist)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Peter Gill (chemist).