Ultrafast Dynamics of Stretched Liquids

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9418361 Fourkas This starter grant award to Boston College will support the research of Professor John Fourkas. The research will focus on ultrafast dynamics of stretched liquids. Negative presure techniques will be used to control the relative importance of intermolecular attractive forces. Ultrafast nonlinear-optical spectroscopic techniques will be used as a sensitive, real-time probe of the microscopic dynamics that are affected by tension-induced changes in the intermolecular potential. Optical Kerr effect experiments will monitor the effects of stretching on intermolecular vibrational and intramolecular reorientational dynamics, both of which are strongly affected by attractive forces. Initial experiments will involve studying anomalous behavior of water, and techniques will be developed to study arbitrary liquids at substantial negative pressures. A detailed knowledge of the roles of attractive and repulsive intermolecular interactions is essential in developing an understanding of the microscopic details of chemical processes in solution with the ultimate goal of being able to observe and control directly the course of chemical reactions in solution through changes in the nature of the liquid itself.