title: Exciting Molecules Close to the Rotational Quantum Resonance: Anderson Wall and Rotational Bloch Oscillations.
abstract: We describe a universal behavior of linear molecules excited by a periodic train of short laser pulses under conditions close to the quantum resonance. The quantum resonance effect causes an unlimited ballistic growth of the angular momentum. We show that a disturbance of the quantum resonance, either by the centrifugal distortion of the rotating molecules or a controlled detuning of the pulse train period from the so-called rotational revival time, eventually halts the growth by causing Anderson localization beyond a critical value of the angular momentum, the Anderson wall. Below the wall, the rotational excitation oscillates with the number of pulses due to a mechanism similar to Bloch oscillations in crystalline solids. We suggest optical experiments capable of observing the rotational Anderson wall and Bloch oscillations at near-ambient conditions with the help of existing laser technology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Chemical Physics Theory Group, University of Toronto , 80 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Floß
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science , 234 Herzl Street, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Ilya Sh
authors.initials: ISh
authors.lastname: Averbukh