In this project in the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division, Hochstrasser will study ultrafast molecular dynamics in condensed phases using femtosecond laser pulses to obtain spectra in the visible and infrared. Energy flow in molecules which are subject to collisions in a liquid and the flow of the energy out of the molecule into the surroundings are the subject of these experiments. Three areas of study are torsional relaxation of polyenes, proton transfer reactions, and reactive and nonreactive vibrational relaxation. The collisionally induced processes are examined in the liquid phase on the time scale of collisions themselves. %%% The study of the transformation of energetically excited molecules in condensed phases from one molecular isomeric configuration to another will significantly expand our knowledge of how a complex molecule undergoes internal rearrangements and how these are mediated by a surrounding solvent.
