Optimal control of photoassociation via variation calculus

• Grant number: 17/26463-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2018
• End date: March 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - General Physics
• Principal Investigator: Emanuel Fernandes de Lima
• Grantee: Felipe Oliveira Paulino
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In photoassociation, a colliding pair of atoms is bounded to form a molecule due to the action of external electromagnetic field. The theme of the present proposal is the control of the photoassociation process based on classical mechanics. The central goal of the project is to find optimized external field leading to the formation of vibrationally stable molecules in the electronic ground state. To this end, we intent to apply optimal control theory formulated in the variation calculus framework. The Morse oscillator under the action of time-dependent fields will be used as a model. We intend to investigate the nonlinear dynamics associated to the control fields considering several initial conditions and several molecule-field couplings. (AU)