UCI DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY
Faculty Profile
V. Ara Apkarian
Group Page
University of California, Irvine
Department of Chemistry
2125 Natural Sciences II
Irvine, California, 92697-2025
Telephone: 949-824-6851
E-mail: aapkaria@uci.edu
RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Chemical Physics
The major thrust of our research is directed
toward providing a fundamental understanding of photophysics and
chemical
dynamics in condensed media. Both experimental and theoretical studies
are conducted on what may be regarded as model systems: systems, such
as
doped van der Waals solids and fluids, which are simple enough to
afford
a first principles understanding of elementary photoprocesses. The
major
challenge in understanding dynamics in condensed media arises from the
many-body nature of interactions. Collective electronic and nuclear
degrees
of freedom must be taken into account in rigorous descriptions of even
the simplest of chemical processes, such as the breaking or making of a
chemical bond. An understanding of many-body effects is at present
sought
in a variety of phenomena: laser-induced coherences, charge transfer
reactions,
photodissociation, shock-induced chemistry, atomic and molecular
mobility
and diffusion, bimolecular reactions in liquids, and photodynamics in
quantum
hosts. Besides the fundamental interests in these investigations,
several
practical applications are pursued. The devise of the first solid-state
exciplex lasers, optical energy storage via charge separation and
self-trapping,
the devise of energetic materials such as cryogenic propellants, and
the
initiation of shock induced chemistry in solids, are examples.
The experimental studies invariably involve laser-based
spectroscopic
techniques, which are implemented in both frequency and time domain,
over
the spectral range from far infrared to the deep ultraviolet. The time
resolution of studies stretches to the femtosecond domain, which
enables
the observation of atomic motions on a freeze-frame basis, and
therefore
provides the means for following and controlling chem istry as it
evolves
from reagents to products. Given the multidimensional nature of
dynamics
in condensed media, an atomistic level of understanding of the
experimental
findings is only possible by comparisons with detailed simulations.
Iteration
between laboratory experiments and computer experiments, i.e.,
large-scale
simulations, is the method we rely on to make progress in our
understanding
of many-body dynamics and energetics.
COMPLETE
PUBLICATIONS
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