Quantum rates in dissipative systems with spatially varying friction.

We investigate whether making the friction spatially dependent on the reaction coordinate introduces quantum effects into the thermal reaction rates for dissipative reactions. Quantum rates are calculated using the numerically exact multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree method, as well as the approximate ring-polymer molecular dynamics (RPMD), ring-polymer instanton methods, and classical molecular dynamics. By conducting simulations across a wide range of temperatures and friction strengths, we can identify the various regimes that govern the reactive dynamics. At high temperatures, in addition to the spatial-diffusion and energy-diffusion regimes predicted by Kramer's rate theory, a (coherent) tunneling-dominated regime is identified at low friction. At low temperatures, incoherent tunneling dominates most of Kramer's curve, except at very low friction, when coherent tunneling becomes dominant. Unlike in classical mechanics, the bath's influence changes the equilibrium time-independent properties of the system, leading to a complex interplay between spatially dependent friction and nuclear quantum effects even at high temperatures. More specifically, a realistic friction profile can lead to an increase (or decrease) of the quantum (classical) rates with friction within the spatial-diffusion regime, showing that classical and quantum rates display qualitatively different behaviors. Except at very low frictions, we find that RPMD captures most of the quantum effects in the thermal reaction rates.

No Retrenchment From Employee Empowerment: Employer Wellness Imperatives and Opportunities Emerging From the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The impact of two years of the COVID-19 pandemic on the relationship between employers and employees are explored, including changing employee sensibilities with respect to future employment, work-life balance, remote and flexible work, and the great resignation. Lasting work changes induced by the pandemic expand employee empowerment and demand for greater work flexibility. Flexibility no longer provides employers a unique selling point and hiring/retention competitiveness - it has become an expected standard. Evolving workplace expectations are tied to realizations of the value of work within the broader context of employees' lives, changing business culture across many industries. Demand for increased work/employment individualization and personalization overlaps unprecedented personalization of and power of mobile technologies. Human-centered employee management in the post-COVID-19 era will become imperative, with many opportunities for employers to enable greater impact in employee wellness and health promotion driven by deploying compelling virtual-remote engagement and behavioral change technologies.