Time-Resolved Spectroscopy
An Experimental Perspective
Textbook Series in Physical Sciences Series

This concise and carefully developed text offers a reader friendly guide to the basics of time-resolved spectroscopy with an emphasis on experimental implementation. The authors carefully explain and relate for the reader how measurements are connected to the core physical principles. They use the time-dependent wave packet as a building block for understanding quantum dynamics, progressively advancing to more complex topics. The topics are discussed in paired sections, one discussing the theory and the next presenting the related experimental methods.

A wide range of readers including students and newcomers to the field will gain a clear and practical understanding of how to measure aspects of molecular dynamics such as wave packet motion, intramolecular vibrational relaxation, and electron-electron coupling, and how to describe such measurements mathematically.

Contents

Preface ix

Authors xi

Part I Introduction and Background 1

Chapter 1 Introduction 3

Chapter 2 Molecular Structure 11

Chapter 3 Light–Matter Interaction 41

Chapter 4 Introduction to Experimental Techniques 63

Part II Quantum Dynamics in One Dimension 73

Chapter 5 Field-Free Dynamics 75

Chapter 6 Field-Driven Dynamics 93

Part III Measurements of One Dimensional Dynamics 113

Chapter 7 Incoherent Measurements in 1D 115

Chapter 8 Coherent Optical Measurements in 1D 141

Chapter 9 Coherent Diffractive Measurements in 1D 165

Part IV Quantum Dynamics in Multiple Dimensions 183

Chapter 10 Explicit Approach to N-D Dynamics 185

Chapter 11 Implicit Approaches to N-D Dynamics 205

Part V Measurements of Multidimensional Dynamics 215

Chapter 12 Incoherent Measurements in ND 217

Chapter 13 Coherent Optical Measurements in ND 241

Chapter 14 Coherent Diffractive Measurements in ND 275

Chapter 15 One System, Multiple Approaches 283

Appendix A Quantum Mechanics Essentials 297

Appendix B Experimental Considerations 317

Appendix C Additional Problems 325

Bibliography 327

Index 337

Thomas Weinacht is a Professor of Physics at Stony Brook University in New York.

He received his B.S. in physics from the University of Toronto 1995 and a Ph.D. in

physics from the University of Michigan in 2000. He started his position at Stony

Brook University in 2002. His research focuses on controlling and following molecular

dynamics with strong-field ultrafast laser pulses. He has published extensively

in both physics and chemistry journals, with an emphasis on interpreting experimental

measurements. His research group has developed a number of experimental techniques,

and he has organized multiple international conferences and workshops in the

field of time-resolved spectroscopy. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society.

Brett Pearson is an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Dickinson College

in Carlisle, PA. He obtained a B.A. in physics in 1997 from Grinnell College and

then a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Michigan in 2004. He was a postdoctoral

fellow at Stony Brook University before moving to his current position. At Dickinson,

Brett teaches across the curriculum and works with undergraduate students on

research related to both ultrafast pulse shaping and single-photon quantum mechanics.