The Interplay of Nuclear and Electron Wavepacket Motion in the Control of Molecular Processes: A Theoretical Perspective. In: Gatti F, editor. Molecular Quantum Dynamics. Berlin: Springer Berlin Heidelberg; 2014. pp. 213-48. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-45290-1_8]

Unlocking the Double Bond in Protonated Schiff Bases by Coherent Superposition of S1 and S2

The primary event occurring during the E-to-Z photoisomerization reaction of retinal protonated Schiff base (rPSB) is single-to-double bond inversion. In this work we examine the nuclear dynamics that occurs when the initial excited state is a superposition of the S₁ and S₂ electronic excited states that might be created in a laser experiment. The nuclear dynamics is dominated by double bond inversion that is parallel to the derivative coupling vector of S₁ and S₂. Thus, the molecule behaves as if it were at a conical intersection even if the states are nondegenerate.