This research program explores the use of optical fields to manipulate atomic collisions. The work has two principal goals, production and trapping of ultracold molecules and ultracold collision spectroscopy in and near a Bose-Einstein condensate, although studies in continuum dynamics in the photoassociative ionization of rubidium atoms and polarization anisotropy of optical shielding and suppression will play a part. All processes rely on the excitation of atoms to selected states that have specific relationships to the intermolecular potential curves, such that bond formation and breaking can occur in a carefully controlled manner.
