Technical Narrative: This U.S.-Egypt collaborative research project involving chemists from the University of California at Berkeley and Alexandria University in Alexandria, Egypt will investigate the excited state dynamics in liquids using ultrashort pulse techniques. Project funding will enable Dr. Ashraf El-Bayoumi of Alexandria University to spend a total of seven months in the laboratory of Dr. Charles Harris at the University of California at Berkeley. Additionally, Dr. Harris will travel to Alexandria and spend two weeks in Dr. El- Bayoumi's laboratory. This cooperative research project will reveal valuable information regarding fast relaxation processes that occur in the excited state of several molecular systems. This project will provide useful information regarding some features of the potential energy surface along which the relaxation process occurs, the rates of such processes, and the influence of the solvent in altering excited-state dynamics. This project in physical chemistry fulfills the program objective of advancing scientific knowledge by enabling leading experts in the United States and Egypt to combine complementary talents and pool research resources in areas of strong mutual interest and competence.
