This book brings together, for the first time, the results of recent research in areas ranging from the chemistry of cold interstellar clouds (10-20 K), through laboratory studies of the spectroscopy and kinetics of ions, radicals and molecules, to studies of molecules in liquid helium droplets, to attempts to create molecular (as distinct from atomic) Bose-Einstein condensates.
The First Book on Ultracold MoleculesCold molecules offer intriguing properties on which new operational principles can be based (e.g., quantum computing) or that may allow researchers to study a qualitatively new behavior of matter (e.g., Bose-Einstein condensates structured by the electric dipole interaction). This interdisciplinary book discusse
The advent of laser cooling of atoms led to the discovery of ultra-cold matter, with temperatures below liquid Helium, which displays a variety of new physical phenomena. Physics of Ultra-Cold Matter gives an overview of this recent area of science, with a discussion of its main results and a description of its theoretical concepts and methods. Ultra-cold matter can be considered in three distinct phases: ultra-cold gas, Bose Einstein condensate, and Rydberg plasmas. This book gives an integrated view of this new area of science at the frontier between atomic physics, condensed matter, and plasma physics. It describes these three distinct phases while exploring the differences, as well as the sometimes unexpected similarities, of their respective theoretical methods. This book is an informative guide for researchers, and the benefits are a result from an integrated view of a very broad area of research, which is limited in previous books about this subject. The main unifying tool explored in this book is the wave kinetic theory based on Wigner functions. Other theoretical approaches, eventually more familiar to the reader, are also given for extension and comparison. The book considers laser cooling techniques, atom-atom interactions, and focuses on the elementary excitations and collective oscillations in atomic clouds, Bose-Einstein condensates, and Rydberg plasmas. Linear and nonlinear processes are considered, including Landau damping, soliton excitation and vortices. Atomic interferometers and quantum coherence are also included.
There are probably few people who do not dream of the good old times, when do ing science often meant fascination, excitement, even adventure. In our time, do ing science involves often technology and, perhaps, even business. But there are still niches where curiosity and fascination have their place. The subject of this book, technological as its title may sound, is one of the fortunate examples. It will report on lasers generating the coldest places in the Universe, and on table top laser microtools which can produce a heat "inferno" as it prevails in the interior of the Sun, or simulate, for specific plant cells, microgravity of the space around our plan et Earth. There will be some real surprises for the reader. The applications range from basic studies of the driving forces of cell division (and thus life) via genetic modification of cells (for example, for plant breeding) to medical applications such as blood cell analysis and finally in vitro fertilization. What are these instruments: laser microbeams and optical tweezers? Both are lasers coupled with a fluorescence microscope. The laser microbeam uses a pulsed ultraviolet laser. Light is focused, as well as possible, in space and time, in order to obtain extremely high light intensities - high enough to generate, for a very short instant, extremely hot spots which can be used to cut, fuse or perforate biological material.
A tutorial for calculating the response of molecules to electric and magnetic fields with examples from research in ultracold physics, controlled chemistry, and molecular collisions in fields Molecules in Electromagnetic Fields is intended to serve as a tutorial for students beginning research, theoretical or experimental, in an area related to molecular physics. The author—a noted expert in the field—offers a systematic discussion of the effects of static and dynamic electric and magnetic fields on the rotational, fine, and hyperfine structure of molecules. The book illustrates how the concepts developed in ultracold physics research have led to what may be the beginning of controlled chemistry in the fully quantum regime. Offering a glimpse of the current state of the art research, this book suggests future research avenues for ultracold chemistry. The text describes theories needed to understand recent exciting developments in the research on trapping molecules, guiding molecular beams, laser control of molecular rotations, and external field control of microscopic intermolecular interactions. In addition, the author presents the description of scattering theory for molecules in electromagnetic fields and offers practical advice for students working on various aspects of molecular interactions. This important text: Offers information on theeffects of electromagnetic fields on the structure of molecular energy levels Includes thorough descriptions of the most useful theories for ultracold molecule researchers Presents a wealth of illustrative examples from recent experimental and theoretical work Contains helpful exercises that help to reinforce concepts presented throughout text Written for senior undergraduate and graduate students, professors, researchers, physicists, physical chemists, and chemical physicists, Molecules in Electromagnetic Fields is an interdisciplinary text describing theories and examples from the core of contemporary molecular physics.
This book summarizes several years of research carried out by a collaboration of many groups on ultrafast photochemical reactions. It emphasizes the analysis and characterization of the nuclear dynamics within molecular systems in various environments induced by optical excitations and the study of the resulting molecular dynamics by further interaction with an optical field.
Polish Quantum Chemistry from Kolos to Now, Volume 87 provides a survey of contributions coauthored by Polish scientists working in Poland, and in European and American Universities. Sections in this release include Review: From the Kolos-Wolniewicz calculations to the quantum-electrodynamic treatment of the hydrogen molecule: competition between theory and experiment, Review: How to make symmetry-adapted perturbation theory more accurate, Review: Advanced models of coupled cluster theory for the ground, excited and ionized states, Can orbital basis sets compete with explicitly correlated ones for few-electron systems?, Converging high-level equation-of-motion coupled-cluster energetics with the help of Monte Carlo and selected configuration interaction, and more. Additional chapters cover Coupled cluster downfolding techniques: a review of existing applications in classical and quantum computing for chemical systems, Exploring the attosecond laser-driven electron dynamics in the hydrogen molecule with different real-time time-dependent configuration interaction approaches, Molecular systems in spatial confinement: variation of linear and nonlinear electrical response of molecules in the bond dissociation processes, and much more. - Updates on the latest developments and performance of SAPT - Presents key theory and applications of high precision calculations for few electron systems - Includes discussions on the development and applications of the DFT approach
The focus of this excellent textbook is the topic of molecular reaction dynamics. The chapters are all written by internationally recognised researchers and, from the outset, the contributors are writing with the young scientist in mind. The easy to use, stand-alone, chapters make it of value to students, teachers, and researchers alike. Subjects covered range from the more traditional topics, such as potential energy surfaces, to more advanced and rapidly developing areas, such as femtochemistry and coherent control. The coverage of reaction dynamics is very broad, so many students studying chemical physics will find elements of this text interesting and useful. Tutorials in Molecular Reaction Dynamics includes extensive references to more advanced texts and research papers, and a series of 'Study Boxes' help readers grapple with the more difficult concepts. Each chapter is thoroughly cross-referenced, helping the reader to link concepts from different branches of the subject. Worked problems are included, and each chapter concludes with a selection of problems designed to test understanding of the subjects covered. Supplementary reading material, and worked solutions to the problems, are contained on a secure website.
This title covers the state of the art in this field both theoretically and experimentally. With contributions from leading researchers including several Nobel laureates, it represents a long-lasting source of reference on all aspects of fundamental research into or using atomic and molecular beams.