Professor Robert Silbey, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is supported by the Theoretical and Computational Chemistry Program to perform theoretical studies of spectroscopy, relaxation and energy transfer in condensed-matter molecular systems. He is extending theories of four-wave mixing spectroscopy for multilevel systems. Such analyses allow one to unravel microscopic molecular processes, which are otherwise averaged out when spectra of a large number of disordered molecules are simultaneously probed. Silbey's methods account for both fluctuating environmental effects and perturbations due to the incident light. Applications include light harvesting complexes, other multichromophoric systems, and single quantum nanocrystals.
The ability to understand energy transfer in biologically relevant molecules is necessary for many biochemical applications, which include green catalysis, energy storage and controlled photolysis. Observation and control of such processes are difficult using ordinary spectroscopic methods because the molecules are disordered and because the experimental probe itself may alter the standard properties of the molecules. Silbey has devised a theoretical means, which allows one to effectively deduce properties and processes in single molecules. The same techniques are thought to be of significance to quantum-computing applications as it enables a means for directly probing the state of a quantum dot. The award will support education of two graduate students and one half of a postdoctoral student during the course of the grant. Outreach activities to high school students and teachers are also supported.
