Faculty Profiles

LeeAnn Sager-Smith

LeeAnn Sager-Smith

Assistant Professor of Physical Chemistry
Chemistry
168 Science Hall

 

Dr. Sager-Smith is an Assistant Professor of Physical Chemistry.  Her research specializes in utilizing reduced-density-matrix theory in order to investigate chemical systems unable to be explored using traditional electronic structure methodologies through the utilization of both quantum and classical computers.  In her free time, she enjoys crocheting, reading a good book, and vintage fashion.

Education 

  • PhD, University of Chicago
  • MS, University of Chicago
  • BS, Indiana University

Areas of Expertise 

  • Theoretical Chemistry
  • Computational Chemistry
  • Condensation Phenomena
  • Quantum Computing
  • Machine Learning

Research Interests 

  • Reduced Density Matrix Theory
  • Condensation Phenomena
  • Quantum Computing
  • Machine Learning

Courses Recently Taught 

  • CHEM 121: Principles of Chemistry I
  • CHEM 122: Principles of Chemistry II
  • CHEM 311: Thermodynamics
  • CHEM 312: Quantum Chemistry
  • CHEM 362: Advanced Laboratory II

Professional Experience 

  • Assistant Professor, Saint Mary's College (2023-Present)
  • Graduate Research Assistant, Mazziotti Group, University of Chicago (2018-2023)
  • National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow (2020-2023)
  • Undergraduate Research Assistant (Cox Research Scholarship), Indiana University (2014-2018)

Creative and Scholarly Work 

  • L. M. Sager-Smith and D. A. Mazziotti, "Predicting molecular energies via ‘learning’ approximate geminal distributions," J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2022);DOI:10.1021/jacs.2c07112.
  • L. M. Sager, A. O. Schouten, and D. A. Mazziotti, "Beginnings of exciton condensation in coronene analog of graphene double layer," J. Chem. Phys. 156, 154702 (2022); DOI:10.1063/5.0084564.
  • L. M. Sager and D. A. Mazziotti, "Entangled phase of simultaneous fermion and exciton condensations realized," Phys. Rev. B 105, L121105 (2022); DOI:10.1103/PhysRevB.105.L121105.
  • L. M. Sager and D. A. Mazziotti, "Simultaneous fermion and exciton condensations from a model Hamiltonian," Phys. Rev. B 105, 035143 (2022); DOI:10.1103/PhysRevB.105.035143.
  • L. M. Sager and D. A. Mazziotti, "Cooper-pair condensates with nonclassical long-range order on quantum devices," Phys. Rev. Res. 4, 013003 (2022); DOI:10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.013003.
  • L. M. Sager, S. E. Smart, and D. A. Mazziotti, "Preparation of exciton condensate of photons on a 53-qubit quantum computer," Phys. Rev. Res. 2, 043205 (2020); DOI:10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.043205.