The TeneMod project (for « Tenebrescent Minerals by In Silico Modeling ») is on the simulation, by quantum chemical methods, of the tenebrescent phenomenon observed with some natural minerals.

This project is funded by the French National Agency for Research (ANR) using the “Jeune Chercheuse – Jeune Chercheur” program (n°ANR-17-CE29-0007).

TeneMod is divided in five tasks (Figure 1), with the following objectives:

Task 1: Development of a computational protocol for calculating the energetic levels of electronic states involved in the tenebrescence phenomenon.

Task 2: Use of the methodology to simulate properties of tenebrescent natural minerals (hackmanites, tugtupites, scapolites).

Task 3: Simulation of photochromic properties of artificial hackmanites, focusing on the effect of compositions and nature of impurities.

Task 4: Development of a protocol to simulate the colour of the mineral, considering not only the absorption spectra simulated ion the previous tasks but also light scattering induced by the surface of the mineral.

Task 5: Extension of the developed computational methodology to investigate other complex spectroscopic phenomena observed in some minerals such as the polychromism of alexandrite and cordierite.

Figure 1: Scheme of tasks in TeneMod

The tasks 3 and 4 will be done in collaboration with the group of Pr. Mika Lastusaari (University Turku, Finland), internationally recognized expert on the synthesis and characterization of artificial hackmanites.