| NSF Org: |
PHY Division Of Physics |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 21, 2023 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 21, 2023 |
| Award Number: | 2309348 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Mike Cavagnero
mcavagne@nsf.gov (703)292-7927 PHY Division Of Physics MPS Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences |
| Start Date: | September 1, 2023 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2026 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $151,880.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $151,880.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
200 MARITIME ACADEMY DR VALLEJO CA US 94590-8181 (707)654-1796 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
200 MARITIME ACADEMY DR VALLEJO CA US 94590-8181 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | AMO Theory/Atomic, Molecular & |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.049 |
ABSTRACT
Electron correlation is a fundamental phenomena which greatly impacts the behavior and structure of all matter. Many decades of research have led to accurate ways of accounting for the dynamics of electrons in the simplest atoms and molecules and have elucidated the impacts of ejecting two electrons by a single photon in purely two electron systems. The goal of this project is to examine the correlated electron dynamics within fundamental molecules with more than two electrons. This work will advance the basic science of understanding this process, which is currently most complete in purely two-electron molecules, to chemically relevant species, e.g. ethylene and water. Correlated electron interactions are fundamental to the organization and structure of matter at the atomic level and continue to be of vital importance to study and better understand. Broader consequences of a more complete understanding of electron correlation in molecules with more than two electrons would impact many other fields of study, including chemistry, atomic and molecular physics, molecular biology, and material science.
Double photoionization (DPI) of molecules involving second-row atoms is a long-term goal of theory and this work seeks to advance these capabilities, in particular to support recent experimental observations via coincidence momentum imaging spectroscopy (e.g., COLTRIMS) measuring the double ionization of ethylene and water molecules that can observe the body-frame angular distributions via a kinematically complete reconstruction of the ionic fragments after Coulomb explosion. Both molecular targets provide a significantly more complicated molecule to compare new theoretical calculations with these measurements at the level of what presently exists for H2. The removal of two electrons from an atom or molecule by photon(s) necessarily requires a correct description of electron correlation and serves as a direct probe of this phenomenon. The development and expansion of theoretical calculations dedicated to double ionization previously employed for studying this process in the simplest molecule, H2 and most recently Li2, will be expanded to consider multi-electron polyatomic molecules as targets, in order to better understand the broader consequences of electron correlation in fundamental molecules containing second-row atoms possessing many more electrons. A fuller understanding and detailed description of the effects of highly correlated electron dynamics, particularly in the continuum, is a long-term goal of the atomic and molecular physics research community.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
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