Optical control of the rotational angular momentum of a molecular Rydberg wave packet

R S Minns1, R Patel, J R R Verlet

  • 1Department of Chemistry, King's College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom.

Physical Review Letters
|December 20, 2003
PubMed

Related Concept Videos

IR Spectroscopy: Molecular Vibration Overview01:24

IR Spectroscopy: Molecular Vibration Overview

When Infrared (IR) radiation passes through a covalently bonded molecule, the bonds transition from lower to higher vibrational levels. The fundamental vibrational motions that result in infrared absorption can be classified as stretching or bending vibrations.
Stretching vibrations are vibrational motions that occur along the bond line, changing the bond length or distance between two bonded atoms. They are further distinguished as symmetric or asymmetric. In symmetric stretching, the...
Conservation of Angular Momentum01:09

Conservation of Angular Momentum

A system's total angular momentum remains constant if the net external torque acting on the system is zero. Considering a system that consists of n tiny particles, the angular momentum of any tiny particle may change, but the system's total angular momentum would remain constant. The principle of conservation of angular momentum only considers the net external torque acting on the system. While there are internal forces exerted by different particles within the system that also produce internal...
Conservation of Angular Momentum: Application01:18

Conservation of Angular Momentum: Application

A system's total angular momentum remains constant if the net external torque acting on the system is zero. Examples of such systems include a freely spinning bicycle tire that slows over time due to torque arising from friction, or the slowing of Earth's rotation over millions of years due to frictional forces exerted on tidal deformations. However in the absence of a net external torque, the angular momentum remains conserved. The conservation of angular momentum principle requires a change...
IR Spectroscopy: Hooke's Law Approximation of Molecular Vibration01:16

IR Spectroscopy: Hooke's Law Approximation of Molecular Vibration

A covalently bonded heteronuclear diatomic molecule can be modeled as two vibrating masses connected by a spring. The vibrational frequency of the bond can be expressed using an equation derived from Hooke's law, which describes how the force applied to stretch or compress a spring is proportional to the displacement of the spring. In this case, the atoms behave like masses, and the bond acts like a spring.
According to Hooke's law, the vibrational frequency is directly proportional to the...
Rotational Motion about a Fixed Axis01:26

Rotational Motion about a Fixed Axis

A rigid body's rotation around a fixed axis makes every point within it trace a circular path around a specific line or point. The term given to this type of spinning is defined by the angular position, symbolized by the angle θ. This angle is gauged from a static reference line to the revolving object. From this angular position, any variation is referred to as angular displacement, denoted by dθ. The extent of this displacement can be calculated in degrees, radians, or revolutions, where one...
UV–Vis Spectroscopy: Molecular Electronic Transitions01:16

UV–Vis Spectroscopy: Molecular Electronic Transitions

In Ultraviolet–Visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy, the absorption of electromagnetic radiation is used to probe the electronic structure of molecules. This technique provides insights into molecular electronic transitions, particularly the movement of electrons between different molecular orbitals. Radiation is absorbed if the energy of the electromagnetic radiation passing through the molecule is precisely equal to the energy difference between the excited and ground states. During this process,...