Molecular dynamics and elementary
chemical reactions

C.2.1 | Femtosecond x-ray and electron diffraction for the study of the ultrafast structural dynamics in molecular systems

C.2.2 | Time-resolved diffraction of single molecules with spatial localisation, cooling and orientation: structure of short-lived intermediates

C.2.3 | Elementary steps of photo-chemical processes in the condensed phase revealed by ultrafast structure-sensitive vibrational spectroscopy

C.2.4 | Full resolution of the electronic and nuclear dynamics in elementary chemical reactions by photoelectron spectroscopy with 100-as to 10-fs pulses

C.2.5 | Optical control of competing chemical channels at the full speed of intramolecular motion

C.2.6 | Spectroscopy and control of strongly entangled electronic and nuclear motions in molecules: theoretical aspects

C.2.7 | Ultrafast chemical imaging

The intrinsic speed of molecular dynamics and elementary chemical reactions is given by the speed of the atoms within the molecules. We propose to implement photon-based methods with sub-10-fs timing to record “atomic scale movies” that fully resolve the primary processes. A focus of the experimental and theoretical work will be electron and proton transfer, both of fundamental importance for the building blocks of life. With the light sources of MAP we will be able to coherently excite multiple electronic states and steer as well as probe the evolution of the resulting electronic wavepacket with attosecond resolution. We expect that this new tool will allow an unprecedented degree of coherent control over the outcome of chemical reactions. This work will be in the regime of exceptionally pronounced entangling of electronic and nuclear motions, implying the complete breakdown of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation.

• Real-time observation, control and steering of the highly entangled motions of electrons and nuclei in molecules
• Atomic scale movies of elementary chemical reactions, temporal resolution approaching the attosecond regime
• Complementary information from femtosecond-resolved x-ray and electron diffraction, infrared and coherent Raman, and photo-electron spectroscopy
• Quantum-dynamics and quantum-control theory