Introduction

Abstract

The 46th annual Sanibel Symposium, organized by the faculty, students, and staff of the Quantum Theory Project of the University of Florida, was held February 26–March 3, 2006. About 250 scientists gathered at the King and Prince Beach and Golf Resort on St. Simons Island, Georgia. For the second consecutive year, this venue offered excellent conference facilities and an ambiance that resembled the original conference site on Sanibel Island, Florida. The 2006 symposium followed the established format with plenary lectures and poster sessions and offered a compact six-day program of quantum chemistry, theoretical biological chemistry, and condensed matter physics, with lively cross-disciplinary discussions. The topics of the various plenary sessions covered by these proceedings include Metals in Biology, Advanced Methods in Biosimulation, Theory in Structural Biology, Radiation Damage in Biosystems, Ligand Docking, Molecular Electronics, DFT Methods for Large Molecules, Prospects for OEP Methods in DFT, Grid Chemistry, Fundamentals and Generalizations of DFT, Molecular Propagator Theory, Applications of Couple Cluster Theory to Large Molecules, Many-Body Theory of Nuclear Motion, and Quantum Dynamics at Solid Surfaces. Participating students were introduced to the conference subjects dealing with biomolecules by well-attended tutorials offered by Professors Kennie Merz and Nigel Richards on the evening of the opening Saturday, February 25. The articles in these proceedings have been subjected to the standard refereeing procedures of the International Journal of Quantum Chemistry. The organizers acknowledge the following sponsors for their support of the 2006 Sanibel Symposium: U. S. Office of Naval Research (contract grant number N00014-06-1-0238), the IBM Corporation, and the University of Florida. Very special thanks go to the staff of the Quantum Theory Project of the University of Florida for handling the numerous administrative, clerical, and practical details. The organizers are proud to recognize the contributions of Mrs. Judy Parker, Mrs. Coralu Clements, Mr. Jim Folks, and Mr. Josh McClellan. All the graduate students of the Quantum Theory Project, who served as “gofers,” are gratefully recognized for their contributions to the 2006 Sanibel Symposium.