Temporal ghost imaging for pump-probe X-ray solution scattering

Time-resolved small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering is a valuable tool for investigating biomolecular dynamics on a wide variety of timescales, without cryo-freezing or crystallization. However, some systems, such as the initial excitation of photo-active proteins, evolve dynamically on timescales that may be faster than the duration of the pump and probe beams. Data from a single pump-probe pulse pair therefore contain information from a mixture of time points. In this work, a simple algorithm is developed to recover the dynamics of solution scattering profiles. It leverages information about the pump and probe pulse beams' temporal profiles by using the same mathematical framework as ghost imaging [Pittman et al. (1995). Phys. Rev. A 52, R3429-R3432; Bennink et al. (2002). Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 113601; Gatti et al. (2004). Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 093602]. Results from several simulated data sets are presented.