Quantum assisting spectroscopic studies

With the intensive development of ultrafast spectroscopic methods, reaction dynamics can be investigated at the subpicosecond time scale. Femtosecond spectroscopy of liquids and solutions allows the study of sol-vent-cage effects on elementary charge-transfer processes. Recent work on ultrafast electron-transfer channels in aqueous ionic solutions is presented (electron-atom or electron-ion radical pairs, early geminate recombination, and concerted electron-proton transfer) and discussed in the framework of quantum theories on nonequilibrium electronic states. These advances permit us to understand how the statistical density fluctuations of a molecular solvent can assist or impede elementary electron-transfer processes in liquids and solutions. 

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