Altering the Course of Quantum Dynamics Phenomena

普林斯顿大学的Herschel Rabitz教授获得了化学系化学理论，模型和计算方法项目的奖项。 化学结构，动力学和机制-一个计划共同资助的建议。Rabitz试图了解使用定制激光场在分子尺度上控制现象的基本原理。从世纪后半期开始，加速发展到现在，人们对利用现代激光技术直接操纵原子和分子运动的兴趣日益浓厚。许多实验已经证明了这一概念的可行性。 Rabitz的研究旨在从根本上理解为什么这些实验是成功的。 这种理解有助于为将来进行新的激光实验提供路线图。该路线图包括实现新的激光驱动的原子和分子尺度转换的目标，这是任何其他手段都无法实现的。 此外，Rabitz的研究成果预计将适用于许多科学领域，在这些领域中，即使没有激光的帮助，也需要控制操纵来实现预期的结果，包括化学和生物科学。量子现象的控制通常需要通过引入外场来干预原子和分子动力学事件的正常演化。令人惊讶的是，无论是在模拟还是在实验室中，找到最佳领域都比预期的要容易得多。Herschel Rabitz教授进行了基础研究，以了解这种行为的起源。为了在最基本的层面上解决这个问题，Rabitz探索了控制景观的结构，这是作为控制变量的函数的物理可观察性。最基本的情况将受到特别关注，这与一个量子系统控制另一个量子系统有关。Rabitz将使用一系列理论和计算工具来分析景观的拓扑结构，旨在确定控制量子现象的基本规则。他的部分努力包括开发特殊技术，以揭示实现控制的机制。Rabitz的研究成果有望使人们对受控量子现象有更深入的理解，沿着对未来有前途的实验方向有具体的指导。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Professor Herschel Rabitz of Princeton University is supported by an award from the Chemical Theory, Models, and Computational Methods program in the Division of Chemistry. The Chemical Structure, Dynamics and Mechanisms - A program co-funds the proposal. Rabitz seeks to understand the fundamental principles of using tailored laser fields to control phenomena at the molecular scale. Starting in the latter half of the 20th Century and accelerating to the present time, there is an increasing interest in using modern laser technology to directly manipulate the motion of atoms and molecules. Many experiments have demonstrated the feasibility of this concept. Rabitz's research seeks a fundamental understanding for why such experiments are successful. This understanding helps to provide a roadmap for performing new classes of laser experiments in the future. This roadmap includes the goal of achieving new laser-driven atomic and molecular scale transformations which are not achievable by any other means. Furthermore, Rabitz's research findings are expected to be applicable to many domains of science where controlled manipulation is required to achieve the desired outcome, even without the aid of lasers, including in the chemical and biological sciences. The control of quantum phenomena entails interceding in the normal evolution of atomic and molecular dynamical events generally through the introduction of external fields. Quite surprisingly, finding optimal fields for this purpose is proving to be far easier than anticipated, both in simulations and in the laboratory. Professor Herschel Rabitz undertakes fundamental research to understand the origins of this behavior. To address this matter at the most basic level, Rabitz explores the structure of the control landscape, which is the physical observable as a function of the control variables. The most fundamental circumstance will receive special attention, which the landscape associated with one quantum system controlling another. Rabitz will employ a family of theoretical and computational tools to analyze the landscape's topology, aiming to identify the basic rules for controlling quantum phenomena. Part of his effort includes the development of special techniques to reveal the mechanisms by which control is achieved. The outcome of Rabitz's research is expected to be a deeper understanding of controlled quantum phenomena along with specific guidance towards promising future experimental directions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.