Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

We propose a multi-faceted research program based on our proven capabilities in the field of coherent-control. We wish to produce ultracold molecules and control both inter- and the intra-molecular dynamics of diatomic and polyatomic molecules. Due to their sluggish motion, ultracold molecules behave more like waves than particles, thus forming an ideal target for exercising coherent control, a field capitalizing on quantum interferences between matter waves in order to manipulate chemical reactions by lasers. The proposal has two major objectives: (i) To lay the foundations for the new research field of ""Ultracold Coherent Chemistry"". As part of our activities in this field we intend to study the production of ultracold molecules via the coherent photoassociation of laser-cooled atoms (first suggested by us in 1997) . Once produced, due to their long matter waves, the laser-induced manipulation of collisions and reactions between ultracold molecules becomes possible . (ii) To link the above studies to the development of new quantum mechanical tools for controlling the the internal dynamics of polyatomic molecules at room and ultracold temperatures. Such studies are currently limited, due to the near impossibility of performing quantum dynamical calculations on large polyatomic molecules. Based on our ""overlapping resonances"" method, initiated in our study of the control of the intramolecular dynamics of Pyrazine, we intend to develop techniques that allow, given an experimental absorption spectrum, to derive and optimize in an easy manner the intramolecular time-evolution. This would enable the enhancement (or suppression) of both transitions between excited electronic states and the ratio between radiationless vs. radiative events. Some of the applications are: controlling bi-molecular reactions between ultracold molecules; performing logic-gates operations in arrays of molecules trapped in optical lattices and controlling their entanglements with each other; and suppressing/enhancing fluorescence of polyatomic molecules (of great importance to Single Molecule Spectroscopy).