SEP Alignment of Small Molecules for Collision Dynamics Studies - Seeding a New Collaboration Between Howard University (US) and Heriot Watt University (UK)

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Intellectual Merit: Support from the NSF Catalyzing New International Collaborations Program will establish a new collaboration between two groups who have developed different methods for studying the stereodynamics of elastic and inelastic rotational energy transfer (RET): the Halpern group at Howard University in Washington, DC and the McKendrick-Costen group at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. The expertise and instrumentation at Howard and Heriot Watt are complementary. The award will support travel of Prof. Halpern and students to Heriot-Watt to undertake proof of concept experiments. The goal is to prepare oriented samples of vibrationally excited, ground state CN radicals using simulated emission pumping and probe the prepared states by frequency modulated transient absorption spectroscopy. Broader Impacts: This project brings together two groups that have contributed to the study of collisional polarization transfer and quenching. The collaboration will substantially advance our understanding of this basic process, which is a severe test of the ability to calculate potential energy surfaces and carry out dynamics on them. It will provide qualitative insights in areas such as atmospheric and combustion chemical dynamics where small radical energy transfer and reactions are basic. Both sides of the collaboration view this preliminary work which will support further proposals, publications and student training. The international nature of the collaboration advances NSF?s goal of global science. Howard University is an HBCU, serving African Americans and with a substantial number of international students of African descent. The new collaboration, involvement of Howard students in the research visits and the opportunities for them that will grow out of the collaboration in the future will support NSF goal of growing participation from groups that are under-represented in STEM fields in the US as well as having a global outreach.