There will be TWO talks,

both in Kerchof 317, 3:30-5:30, Wednesday, Nov. 7.  

Speaker: George Hagedorn, (VPI)

Title: The Franck-Condon Effect for a Simple Molecular System subject to
a Laser Pulse

Abstract: We summarize joint work with Vidian Rousse and Steven Jilcott
that describes a simple molecular system that is subject to a short laser
pulse. The frequency of the laser is chosen to induce electronic
transitions. We show that the Franck-Condon principle correctly describes
the transitions for the full molecular wave function, up to errors that
are small when both the Born-Oppenheimer parameter and laser amplitude are
small. In addition, we present explicit formulas for Franck-Condon factors
in the Born-Oppenheimer limit. These factors predict the relative
probabilities for the various vibrational levels of the molecule to become
excited during an electronic transition.


And

Speaker: Alain Joye (Grenoble, Fr.)

Title:Repeated Interaction Quantum Systems: Deterministic and Random.

Abstract: Consider a quantum system of reference interacting in sequence with
the successive elements of an infinite chain of quantum sub-systems.
When the elements of the chain and the interactions between these
elements and the reference system are identical, we speak of
deterministic repeated interaction quantum systems. We will also
consider cases where the elements of the chain and/or the successive
interactions with the reference system are random. We consider the
dynamics of certain observables, in particular those acting on the
reference system only. We show that the states on these observables
almost surely converge asymptotically in time to a deterministic
state, the properties of which will be discussed.
This is joint work with L.Bruneau and M.Merkli.