Research interests
Daniele Varsano activity is focused on the understanding and predicting the electronic and optical properties of nanostructured materials and biological molecules performing first principle simulations at the DFT level and beyond (by using many-body perturbation theory (MBPT) methods).My interests are dedicated to the methodological development of computational schemes based on quantum-mechanical descriptions of interacting electrons and light-matter interaction for theoretical spectroscopies, with applications in the field of biophysics, nanotechnology and energy conversion. A list of topics includes:
* First principle calculation for electronic and optical properties of low-dimensional systems.
* Methodological development in TDDFT and Many Body Perturbation Theory.
* Multiscale Modelling with Electron Correlation.
* Optical properties of light-harvesting molecules for photovoltaic applications, and biological photoreceptors.
* Development of the TDDFT and MBPT code Yambo (http:www.yambo-code.org)
Biographical sketch
Education
* 2006 PhD in Materials Science and Technology at University of Basque Country and Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), San Sebastian (Spain). Top mark (sobresaliente cum laude), graded with the Doctor Europeus mention. Title of the thesis: First principle description of response functions in low dimensional systems. Supervisor: Prof. Angel Rubio Secades
Honor Prize for the best Ph.D. Thesis in Experimental Sciences (Premio Extraordinario) University of Basque Country, Spain.
* 2000 BSc & MSc in Physics, University of Rome “La Sapiena”, Summa cum Laude.
Professional Experiences
* 2013 - present Researcher, CNR - Istituto Nanoscienze, Centro S3, Modena
* 2010 - 2013 Fied term Researcher at Department of Physics if University of Rome “La Sapienza”
* 2006 - 2010 Postdoc at CNR-INFM S3, Modena, IT
Visiting stays
* 2020 University of Princeton (USA), in the group of Prof A. Selloni 3 weeks
* 2005 University of Rome "Tor Vergata" (Italy), in the group of Prof R. Del Sole 4 months
* 2001 Bayerische Julius-Maximilians Universitat, Wurzburg (Germany), in the group of Prof. E.K.U Gross, 2 months
Selected publications
* A monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenide as a topological excitonic insulator
D. Varsano , M. Palummo, E. Molinari and M. Rontani
Nature Nanotechnology (2020)
*Optical Properties of Lead-Free Double Perovskites by Ab Initio Excited-State Methods
M. Palummo, E. Berrios, D. Varsano and G. Giorgi
ACS Energy Letters, 5, 457 (2020)
* Electronic and optical properties of doped TiO2 by many-body perturbation theory
M. O. Atambo, D. Varsano , A. Ferretti, S. S. Ataei, MJ. Caldas, E. Molinari and A. Selloni
Phys. Rev. Mat. 3, 045401 (2019)
* Interaction-driven giant orbital magnetic moments in carbon nanotubes
J. Island,1, M. Ostermann, L. Aspitarte, E. Minot, D. Varsano , E. Molinari, M. Rontani, G. A. Steele
Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 127704 (2018)
* Ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic coupling of spin molecular interfaces with high thermal stability
G. Avvisati, C. Cardoso, D. Varsano , A. Ferretti, P. Gargiani, and MG. Betti
Nano Letters 18, 2268 (2018)
* Carbon Nanotubes as excitonic insulators
D. Varsano , S. Sorella, D. Sangalli, M. Barborini, S. Corni, E. Molinari and M. Rontani
Nature Communications 8, 1461 (2017)
* Role of Quantum-confinement in Anatase nanosheets
D. Varsano , G Giorgi, K Yamashita, M Palummo
J. Phys. Chem. Lett 8, 3867 (2017)
* Theoretical description of protein field effects on electronic excitations of biological chromophores
D. Varsano , S. Caprasecca, E. Coccia
Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 29, 13002 (2017). Topical Review, Invited Article
* Ab Initio Geometry and Bright Excitation of Carotenoids: Quantum Monte Carlo and Many Body Green's Function Theory Calculations on Peridinin
E. Coccia, D. Varsano , L. Guidoni.
J. Chem. Theory Comput. 10, 50 (2014)
* Ab-initio momentum-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy with time-dependent density-functional theory
U. De Giovannini, D. Varsano , M. A. L. Marques, A. Rubio, H. Appel and E.K.U. Gross
Phys. Rev. A 85, 062515 (2012).
* Dielectric and thermal effects on the optical properties of natural dyes: a case study on solvated cyanin
O. B. Malcioglu, A. Calzolari, R. Gebauer, D. Varsano and S. Baroni
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 133, 15425 (2011).
* yambo: an ab-initio tool for excited state calculations
A. Marini, C. Hogan, M. Gruning and D. Varsano ,
Comp. Phys. Comm. 180, 1392 (2009)
* Optical saturation driven by exciton confinement in molecular-chains: A time-dependent density-functional theory approach
D. Varsano , A. Marini and A. Rubio, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 133002 (2008)
* Optical properties of graphene nanoribbons: The role of many-body effects
D Prezzi, D. Varsano , A Ruini, A Marini, E Molinari
Physical Review B 77 (4), 041404 (2008)