RUI: High Resolution Spectroscopy of Stable Molecular Species and Free Radicals

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This award in the Experimental Physical Chemistry program supports the collaborative effort between Physics Departments at two undergraduate institutions, Central Washington University and the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Both Universities are public, four-year comprehensive institutions and the principal investigators mentor undergraduate students studying physics, engineering, and chemistry. The research component of this program will be to enhance our understanding of atmospheric and interstellar free radicals. A free radical is a substance with an unpaired electron; typically unstable, they are important intermediates in a number of chemical reactions occurring in the Earth's atmosphere and in space. Using a variety of high-resolution experiments, several free radicals such as ND, FeD, and CH3O will be investigated in the far-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum (the area between the infrared and microwave regions). To enhance these investigations, continued work on the discovery of far-infrared laser lines will be performed. Once detected, the frequencies of these laser lines will be measured to fractional uncertainties of a few parts in ten million. Other spectroscopic studies investigating "forbidden" transitions in stable symmetric- and asymmetric-top molecules are also planned. This research is performed in collaboration with a number of visiting scholars, including faculty and students at the University of Oxford, England. Since 1999, twenty-three undergraduates and four visiting graduate students have co-authored nineteen publications from this research laboratory. While sustaining a rigorous research program, the principal investigators will focus their educational efforts on mentoring undergraduate students. Students, from their freshmen through senior years, comprise the bulk of the research team. This experience will provide students with a deeper and broader educational experience, exposing them to research early in their academic careers and serving as excellent preparation for future professional endeavors and graduate school. Beyond the laboratory experience, the principal investigators and undergraduates involved in this research will connect with elementary and middle school students and teachers in a variety of outreach programs through the Center for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education (CESME).