Luca Gerhards

Luca
Postdoc

Universität Oldenburg
Institut für Physik
Carl-von-Ossietzky-Str. 9-11
26129 Oldenburg, Germany

Email: luca.gerhards@uni-oldenburg.de

 

 

 

 

Research Interest:

  • Solid State Physics
  • Light-Matter-Interaction
  • Charge-Transfer Processes
  • Adsorption of Small Molecules on Surfaces
  • Density Functional Theory (DFT, TD-DFT)
  • Multireference Methods (CASSCF, NEVPT2, MR-CI)
  • Spin Dynamics
  • Spin Relaxation (Redfield Theory)
  • NMR and EPR Spectroscopy
  • Protein Structures
  • Biochemical Reactions

I am a developer of the software Molspin

As a theoretical chemist, I specialize in the exploration of electronic structures and chemical reactions in complex systems, notably within proteins and on surfaces. A core area of my research lies in spin-selective reactions, which can be altered by external magnetic fields, with the radical pair mechanism being a key focus.
Delving deeply into such spin-dependent processes in complex systems necessitates a profound knowledge of open quantum systems and advanced multiscale techniques. In my research, I bridge the gap between electronic structure insights and spin dynamics to effectively understand spin-dependent chemical reactions. Additionally, I am actively refining and integrating cuttingedge methods for large spin systems into our open-source MolSpin software.
Beyond this, MolSpin seamlessly connects theoretical studies and experimental methods by simulating spectroscopic data.

 

Publications

Detection of the Carcinogen Benzo[a]pyrene through Photochemically Induced Dynamic Nuclear Polarization: Linking Liquid-State 1H NMR with Spatially Resolved Imaging, Mohd Humair Ali, Guzel Musabirova, Luca Gerhards, Ilia A. Solov'yov, John P. Berry, Jörg Matysik, A. Alia, Analytical Chemistry, 98, 13598-13608, (2026)
Reaction-yield detected magnetic resonance spectroscopy of radical pairs in cryptochrome-4a: a computational study, Pedro H. Alvarez, Luca Gerhards, Ilia A. Solov'yov, P.J. Hore, Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 251, 528-538, (2026)
Multiscale modeling approaches in biomolecular physics, Luca Gerhards, Jonathan Hungerland, Fabian Schuhmann, Andrei Y. Kostritski, Vladimir Bačić, Beatrice Geiger, Adri\`a Bravo Vidal, Weria Pezeshkian, Frank Ortmann, Christian Wiebeler, Ilia A. Solov'yov, Advances in Physics: X, 11, 2660655-(1-30), (2026)
Conformational Switching Controls Biradical Spin Dynamics in Flavin-Tryptophan Dyads, Guzel Musabirova, Olga B. Morozova, Alexey S. Kiryutin, Irina S. Anisimova, Ivan V. Zhukov, Tobias Theiss, Luca Gerhards, Ben G. E. Zoller, Tanja Gulder, Jørg Matysik, Ilia A. Solov'yov, Alexandra V. Yurkovskaya, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 148, 15897-15910, (2026)
Spin Relaxation Does Not Preclude Magnetic Field Effects on Lipid Autoxidation, Gesa Grüning, Luca Gerhards, Chris Sampson, Daniel R. Kattnig, Ilia A. Solov'yov, ACS Central Science, 12, 49-62, (2026)