Debashis Mukherjee

Debashis Mukherjee (born 17 December 1946) is an Indian theoretical chemist, well known for his research in the fields of molecular many body theory, theoretical spectroscopy, finite temperature non-perturbative many body theories. Mukherjee has been the first to develop and implement a class of many-body methods for electronic structure which are now standard works in the field. These methods, collectively called multireference coupled cluster formalisms, are versatile and powerful methods for predicting with quantitative accuracy the energetics and cross-sections of a vast range of molecular excitations and ionization.

Academic background

Bachelor of Science with Honours in Chemistry, Presidency College, Kolkata. As an undergraduate, he won the Ashutosh Mukherjee Award of Presidency College, Calcutta for scoring the highest mark in the introductory examination, a feat usually achieved by a mathematics student. Masters and Ph.D. in Chemistry from Rajabazar Science College, University of Calcutta. He began his PhD work under the supervision of Mihir Chowdhury, a fine spectroscopist and an inspirational teacher. He obtained his PhD from Calcutta University.

Research highlights

Molecular electronic structure and theoretical spectroscopy

Mukherjee was among the early pioneers of a family of electron correlation methods known as multireference coupled cluster (MRCC) approaches. Such methods are applied in the determination of the energetics of molecular excitations and ionizations and have properties of size-extensivity and compactness.