We investigate ultrafast vibronic dynamics triggered by intense femtosecond infrared pulses in small molecules. Our study is based on numerical simulations performed with 2D model molecules, and analyzed in the perspective of the renown Lochfrass and Bond-Softening models. We give a new interpretation of the observed nuclear wave packet dynamics, with a focus on the phase of the bond oscillations. Our simulations also reveal intricate features in the field-induced nuclear motion that are not accounted for by existing models. Our analyses assign these features to strong dynamic correlations between the active electron and the nuclei, which significantly depend on the carrier envelope phase of the pulse, even for relatively ``long'' pulses, which should make them experimentally observable.
A variational procedure is described for the computation of the non-adiabatic mass-correction tensor applicable for multi-dimensional electronic manifolds. The 30-year-old computations of Wolniewicz, Dressler, and their co-workers are appended with the computed vibronic mass-correction functions corresponding to the $EF$-$GK$-$H\bar{H}$-$S5$-$S6$ $^1Σ_\text{g}^+$ manifold of the hydrogen molecule. Initial results are reported for the vibronic energies. Necessary further improvements and further developments are discussed.
Two difficulties associated with the computations of thermal vibrational correlation functions are discussed. The first one is the lack of a well-behaved expression that is valid at both high-temperature and $T \to 0$ K limits. Specifically, if the partition function and the propagator are considered separately, then thermal vibrational correlation functions may have an indeterminate form 0/0 in the limit $T \to 0$ K. This difficulty is resolved when the partition function and the propagator are jointly considered in the harmonic approximation, which allows a problematic term that emanates fro…
The excitation of vibrational modes in molecules affects the outcome of chemical reactions, for example by providing molecules with sufficient energy to overcome activation barriers. In this work, we introduce a quantum algorithm for simulating molecular vibrational excitations during vibronic transitions. We discuss how a special-purpose quantum computer can be programmed with molecular data to optimize a vibronic process such that desired modes get excited during the transition. We investigate the effect of such excitations on selective bond dissociation in pyrrole and butane during photoche…
Molecular Vibronic Complexity as a Quantum Resource for Optimal Control: Nonadiabatic Mixing Creates Protected Coherence Subspaces in Dissipative Environments
Theoretical and Computational Chemistry Institute, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf（杜塞尔多夫大学理论与计算化学研究所）
We report a generally applicable computational and experimental approach to determine vibronic branching ratios in linear polyatomic molecules to the $10^{-5}$ level, including for nominally symmetry forbidden transitions. These methods are demonstrated in CaOH and YbOH, showing approximately two orders of magnitude improved sensitivity compared with the previous state of the art. Knowledge of branching ratios at this level is needed for the successful deep laser cooling of a broad range of molecular species.
Ultralong-range Rydberg molecules provide an exciting testbed for molecular physics at exaggerated scales. In the so-called trilobite and butterfly Rydberg molecules, the Born-Oppenheimer approximation can fail due to strong non-adiabatic couplings arising from the combination of radial oscillations and rapid energy variations in the adiabatic potential energy curves. We utilize an accurate coupled-channel treatment of the vibronic system to observe the breakdown of Born-Oppenheimer physics, such as non-adiabatic trapping and decay of molecular states found near pronounced avoided crossings in…
Nuclear-Electronic Orbital Multireference Configuration Interaction for Ground and Excited Vibronic States and Fundamental Insights into Multicomponent Basis Sets
Conical Intersections Enable Ultrafast Molecular Spin Control in a Chromium Complex
Ningbo University（宁波大学）；Rosalind Franklin Institute（罗莎琳德·富兰克林研究所）；STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory（STFC鲁瑟福阿普尔顿实验室）；SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory（SLAC国家加速器实验室）；University of Toronto（多伦多大学）；University of Oxford（牛津大学）
Understanding current-induced bond rupture in single-molecule junctions is both of fundamental interest and a prerequisite for the design of molecular junctions, which are stable at higher bias voltages. In this work, we use a fully quantum mechanical method based on the hierarchical quantum master equation approach to analyze the dissociation mechanisms in molecular junctions. Considering a wide range of transport regimes, from off-resonant to resonant, non-adiabatic to adiabatic transport, and weak to strong vibronic coupling, our systematic study identifies three dissociation mechanisms. In…
In most cases the ultrafast dynamics of resonantly excited molecules are considered, and almost always computed in the molecular frame, while experiments are carried out in the laboratory frame. Here we provide a formalism in terms of a lab frame density matrix which connects quantum dynamics in the molecular frame to those in the laboratory frame, providing a transparent link between computation and measurement. The formalism reveals that in any such experiment, the molecular frame dynamics vary for molecules in different orientations and that certain coherences which are potentially experime…
Among polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pyrene is widely used as an optical probe thanks to peculiar ultraviolet absorption and infrared emission features. Interestingly, this molecule is also an abundant component of the interstellar medium, where it is detected via its unique spectral fingerprints. In this work, we present a comprehensive first-principles study on the electronic and vibrational response of pyrene and its cation to ultrafast, coherent pulses in resonance with their optically active excitations in the ultraviolet region. The analysis of molecular symmetries, electronic structu…
A model designed to mimic the implications of the collective optical response of molecular ensembles in optical cavities on molecular vibronic dynamics is investigated. Strong molecule-radiation field coupling is often reached when a large number N of molecules respond collectively to the radiation field. In electronic strong coupling, molecular nuclear dynamics following polariton excitation reflects (a) the timescale separation between the fast electronic and photonic dynamics and the slow nuclear motion on one hand, and (b) the interplay between the collective nature of the molecule-field c…
In this work, we present a linear optical implementation for analog quantum simulation of molecular vibronic spectra, incorporating the non-Condon scattering operation with a quadratically small truncation error. Thus far, analog and digital quantum algorithms for achieving quantum speedup have been suggested only in the Condon regime, which refers to a transition dipole moment that is independent of nuclear coordinates. For analog quantum optical simulation beyond the Condon regime (i.e., non-Condon transitions) the resulting non-unitary scattering operations must be handled appropriately in …
