Programme

I.8 -- Invited, VCTP-47

Date: Tuesday, 2 August 2022

Time: 10:30 - 11:10

Novel strong-field techniques for probing ultrafast processes in atoms and molecules

Anh-Thu Le

Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269

In ultrafast chemical reactions, electrons and nuclei in molecules move at attosecond and femtosecond timescales on multidimensional landscapes called potential energy surfaces (PES). Understanding and controlling their complex coupled motions and the outcome of chemical reactions has been a dream of quantum physicists. Recent progress in laser technology has led to new coherent light sources that can be used to investigate ultrafast processes in matter. To take advantage of these new light sources, different experimental techniques have been developed to reveal the inner-workings of coupled electron-nuclear dynamics in molecules. Concurrently, theoretical and computational tools have also been developed to understand and decode hidden information from the experimental measurements. In this talk, I will first review some of those advancements. I will then present our group’s recent progress in understanding intense laser-atom/molecule interactions by using some of the most promising techniques such as laser-induced electron diffraction, high-harmonic generation spectroscopy, and attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. Throughout the talk, I will also address the challenges and opportunities in this field for practical realization of molecular "movies" with atomic resolution in space and time that can provide new insights into fundamental chemical reactions.

Presenter: Anh-Thu Le