Generalized perspective on chiral measurements without magnetic interactions

Ordonez AF, Smirnova O (2018)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2018

Journal

Physical Review A American Physical Society

Book Volume: 98

Article Number: 063428

Journal Issue: 6

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.98.063428

Abstract

We present a unified description of several methods of chiral discrimination based exclusively on electric-dipole interactions. It includes photoelectron circular dichroism (PECD), enantiosensitive microwave spectroscopy (EMWS), photoexcitation circular dichroism (PXCD), and photoelectron-photoexcitation circular dichroism (PXECD). We show that, in spite of the fact that the physics underlying the appearance of a chiral response is very different in all these methods, the enantiosensitive and dichroic observable in all cases has a unique form. It is a polar vector given by the product of (i) a molecular pseudoscalar and (ii) a field pseudovector specified by the configuration of the electric fields interacting with the isotropic ensemble of chiral molecules. The molecular pseudoscalar is a rotationally invariant property, which is composed from different molecule-specific vectors and in the simplest case is a triple product of such vectors. The key property that enables the chiral response is the noncoplanarity of the vectors forming such triple product. The key property that enables chiral detection without relying on the chirality of the electromagnetic fields is the vectorial nature of the enantiosensitive observable. Our compact and general expression for this observable shows what ultimately determines the efficiency of the chiral signal and if, or when, it can reach 100%. We also discuss the differences between the two phenomena, which rely on the bound states, PXCD and EMWS, and the two phenomena using the continuum states, PECD and PXECD. Finally, we extend these methods to arbitrary polarizations of the electric fields used to induce and probe the chiral response.

Involved external institutions

Max-Born-Institut für Nichtlineare Optik und Kurzzeitspektroskopie im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. / Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Ordonez, A.F., & Smirnova, O. (2018). Generalized perspective on chiral measurements without magnetic interactions. Physical Review A, 98(6). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.98.063428

MLA:

Ordonez, Andres F., and Olga Smirnova. "Generalized perspective on chiral measurements without magnetic interactions." Physical Review A 98.6 (2018).

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