The objective of this research is to apply the techniques of coherent transient physics to the study of collisional and other relaxational processes in gases. Coherent transient techniques offer unique and largely unexploited experimental opportunities to separately study the velocity-changing, phase- changing, state-changing, and depolarizing aspects of collisions in a manner which is Doppler-free, independent of laser linewidth, and possessed of such intrinsically large signals that even sub-natural width collisional broadening effects are observable. In addition to contributing to the basic understanding of collision processes, coherent transient collision studies will undoubtedly be useful in the understanding of gas-phase laser operation, in the interpretation of collisional lineshapes observed in astrophysics, and in the development of plasma diagnostics.
