Atomic and Molecular Physics

Atomic and molecular physics investigates how light and matter interact at the level of individual atoms, molecules, and subatomic particles, probing phenomena that range from the quantum structure of hydrogen-like atoms to the behavior of low-energy electrons colliding with complex biological molecules. A striking recent finding is that electrons carrying only a few electron-volts of energy—far less than previously thought necessary—can rupture the chemical bonds of DNA, raising fundamental questions about the mechanisms underlying radiation damage in living tissue. On the antimatter frontier, researchers are producing and studying antihydrogen through radiative recombination of positrons with antiprotons, testing whether quantum electrodynamics applies symmetrically to matter and antimatter with extraordinary precision. Soft X-ray laser spectroscopy and studies of positron-molecule interactions are opening further windows into electron correlation effects and the subtle ways quantum particles bind and scatter in regimes that classical intuition cannot reach.

Works

168,664

Total citations

1,940,804

Keywords

Low-Energy ElectronsDNA Strand BreaksAtomic StructureQuantum ElectrodynamicsAntihydrogen ProductionRadiative Recombination