PHYSICS PHD DISSERTATION DEFENSE: Chelsea Liekhus-Schmaltz

Ph.D. Candidate:  Chelsea Liekhus-Schmaltz
Research Advisor:  Philip Bucksbaum

Date: Friday, December 14th, 2018
Time: 10:30 am
Location: PAB 232

Title: Measurement and Control of Non-Adiabatic Dynamics

Abstract:

Non-adiabatic dynamics occur in lighter molecules with at least three atoms and are often described using Conical Intersections (CI).  Light that is resonant near regions of strong non adiabatic coupling can play an important role in controlling and understanding these dynamics.  This thesis presents both toy model simulations and experimental data in the acetylene dication to analyze how light interacts with highly non-adiabatic dynamics.  A key parameter that relates how the nuclei change in time compared to the photon energy is used to explain and predict the role that dipole coupling has in controlling non-adiabatic dynamics.