arXiv · 1806.09921
Rotational Alignment Decay and Decoherence of Molecular Superrotors
Abstract
We present the quantum master equation describing the coherent and incoherent dynamics of a rapidly rotating molecule in presence of a thermal background gas. The master equation relates the rate of rotational alignment decay and decoherence to the microscopic scattering amplitudes, which we calculate for anisotropic van der Waals scattering. For large rotational energies, we find excellent agreement of the resulting alignment decay rate with recent superrotor experiments.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
Explore connections, maps & timelines
Benjamin A. Stickler, Farhad T. Ghahramani, Klaus Hornberger. 2018-06-26. Rotational Alignment Decay and Decoherence of Molecular Superrotors. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.121.243402
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.