Professor Deutch's research applies statistical mechanics to equilibrium and time dependent problems in physical chemistry. Emphasis is placed on developing techniques that permit the quantitative understanding of a wide variety of phenomena. Three distinct areas of research are under investigation.

One area is the theory of dilute and concentrated polymer solutions with attention placed on understanding the frictional properties of these solutions, for example, diffusion and viscous flow. Recent efforts have been directed to modeling the solution as fluid in a porous medium; to investigating polymer behavior in constrained spaces, such as, pores or thin films; and to applying the renormalization group technique to polymer problems.

A second area of interest involves two-dimensional chemistry. This work includes study of the chemistry that takes place in constrained environments such as at fluid interfaces, inside cells, and in liquid crystal solvents, where the environment influences both the equilibrium distribution of particles and their dynamic motion. Most recently, a theory has been developed to predict the equilibrium shape of lipid bilayers (both on surfaces and in three dimensional vesciles) based on the competition between surface tension and dipolar forces.

The third area concerns the theory of diffusion controlled reactions. Here the interest is in studying situations that arise frequently in practice but are not correctly described by conventional theory. A specific example is the enhancement in chemical rates that can be realized by modifying the dynamical pathways available for reactants to find each other.

In recent years, John Deutch's research interests have turned to physical chemistry and energy technology. Currently a major project is underway to analyze and model fuel cell behavior including technical, economic, and environmental aspects of these systems. A comprehensive interdisciplinary faculty study of the future of nuclear power has recently been completed [view this publication] and a follow-on faculty study on the future of coal (including CO2 capture and sequestration) is underway.

Public Policy Articles -
Nuclear Material Loopholes (with Ernest Moniz), Letter to Science magazine, Science, 306, 1890, December 2004.

Security and Energy. Short term implications of a long-term view, in "Thinking the Unthinkable," Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, Editor, The XIII Repsol-YPF Harvard Seminar Series, J.F. Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge MA. May, 2003.

Improving Weapons of Mass Destruction Intelligence (with Arnold Kanter). Paper for the Aspen Strategy Group, August 2004.

Commission to assess the organization of the federal government to combat the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (J.M. Deutch, Chairman). Washington D.C. July 14, 1998.

Technical Articles -
Solving Mazes Using Microfluidic Networks, (with M. J. Fuerstman, P. Deschatelets, R. Kane, A. Schwartz, P. J. A. Kenis, and G. M. Whitesides). Langmuir, 19, 4714 (2003).

Correlations Between the Charge of Proteins and the Number of Ionizable Groups They Incorporate: Studies Using Protein Charge Ladders, Capillary Electrophoresis, and Debye-Huckel Theory, (with J.I. Carbeck, I.J. Colton, J.R. Anderson, and G. M. Whitesides). J. Am. Chem. Soc., 121, 10671 (1999).

Transient relaxation of a charged polymer chain subject to an external field in a random tube, (with S. F. Burlatskya). J. Chem. Phys. 109, 2572 (1998).

Dynamical catalysis. J. Chem. Phys. 108, 937 (1998).