Strongly encouraged for young graduate students!
When: TODAY from 4 to 6 PM
Where: MIT Building 4, Room 231
What: Paul Brumer
http://www.chem.utoronto.ca/ppl/faculty_profile.php?id=7
is lecturing on:
Quantum Coherence and Incoherence in Molecular Dynamics and Control
Paul Brumer
Chemical Physics Theory Group
Department of Chemistry
University of Toronto
An essential feature of quantum mechanics is interference resulting from
multiple pathways to the same final state. Loss of this coherence
(i.e. decoherence) can lead to classical-like behavior. I will review the
nature of this
interference, the origins of decoherence, and the role of perturbations,
such as lasers, in creating quantum coherence in molecules. Examples of
the role of coherence in controlling molecular processes (such as
internal conversion and chemical reactions) will be described. The
role (?) of quantum coherence in natural biological processes will be
discussed, both in models of retinal isomerization and light harvesting
systems. Time permitting I will introduce a general scheme for assessing
when a given external perturbation creates quantum interference in a
molecular system upon which it acts.
--
Joel Yuen-Zhou
PhD candidate in Chemical Physics
Harvard University CCB,
12 Oxford St. Mailbox 107,
Cambridge, MA, USA.