The fundamental properties of nano-scale systems are relevant to many novel applications in nano-devices. Theoretically, either ab-initio density-functional methods or exact diagonalization schemes for many-body model Hamiltonians can be used, depending on the physical system and the problem under consideration. Some of the research topics pursued by our group in this area involve: (i) Density functional calculations to study the unzipping effect in carbon nano-tubes (scission of the nearest-neighbor C-C bonds) induced by Hydrogen; and ii) Exact diagonalization of model Hamiltonians for magnetic clusters on carbon nanotubes, to study the effect of the (finite) nano-tube lenght on the interplay of the Kondo and RKKY interactions for small clusters. Additionally, by numerical diagonalization, spin singlet-triplet transitions and transport properties are studied for small multilevel quantum dots, where many-body confinement effects are expected to play a significant role.
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