Restricted Correlation Space B-Spline ADC Approach to Molecular Ionization: Theory and Applications to Total Photoionization Cross-Sections

Charge-induced chemical dynamics in glycine probed with time-resolved Auger electron spectroscopy

In the present contribution, we use x-rays to monitor charge-induced chemical dynamics in the photoionized amino acid glycine with femtosecond time resolution. The outgoing photoelectron leaves behind the cation in a coherent superposition of quantum mechanical eigenstates. Delayed x-ray pulses track the induced coherence through resonant x-ray absorption that induces Auger decay. Temporal modulation of the Auger electron signal correlated with specific ions is observed, which is governed by the initial electronic coherence and subsequent vibronic coupling to nuclear degrees of freedom. In the time-resolved x-ray absorption measurement, we monitor the time-frequency spectra of the resulting many-body quantum wave packets for a period of 175 fs along different reaction coordinates. Our experiment proves that by measuring specific fragments associated with the glycine dication as a function of the pump-probe delay, one can selectively probe electronic coherences at early times associated with a few distinguishable components of the broad electronic wave packet created initially by the pump pulse in the cation. The corresponding coherent superpositions formed by subsets of electronic eigenstates and evolving along parallel dynamical pathways show different phases and time periods in the range of ( - 0.3 ± 0.1 ) π ≤ ϕ ≤ ( 0.1 ± 0.2 ) π and 18.2 - 1.4 + 1.7 ≤ T ≤ 23.9 - 1.1 + 1.2 fs. Furthermore, for long delays, the data allow us to pinpoint the driving vibrational modes of chemical dynamics mediating charge-induced bond cleavage along different reaction coordinates.

Quantum coherence in molecular photoionization

The study of onset and decay, as well as control of ultrafast quantum coherence in many-electron systems is in the focus of interest of attosecond physics. Interpretation of attosecond experiments detecting the ultrafast quantum coherence requires application of advanced theoretical and computational tools combining many-electron theory, description of the electronic continuum, including in the strong laser field scenario, as well as nuclear dynamics theory. This perspective reviews the recent theoretical advances in understanding the attosecond dynamics of quantum coherence in photoionized molecular systems and outlines possible future directions of theoretical and experimental study of coherence and entanglement in the attosecond regime.

Electronic quantum coherence in glycine molecules probed with ultrashort x-ray pulses in real time

Here, we use x-rays to create and probe quantum coherence in the photoionized amino acid glycine. The outgoing photoelectron leaves behind the cation in a coherent superposition of quantum mechanical eigenstates. Delayed x-ray pulses track the induced coherence through resonant x-ray absorption that induces Auger decay and by photoelectron emission from sequential double photoionization. Sinusoidal temporal modulation of the detected signal at early times (0 to 25 fs) is observed in both measurements. Advanced ab initio many-electron simulations allow us to explain the first 25 fs of the detected coherent quantum evolution in terms of the electronic coherence. In the kinematically complete x-ray absorption measurement, we monitor its dynamics for a period of 175 fs and observe an evolving modulation that may implicate the coupling of electronic to vibronic coherence at longer time scales. Our experiment provides a direct support for the existence of long-lived electronic coherence in photoionized biomolecules.

Continuum Electronic States: The Tiresia Code

A multicenter (LCAO) B-spline basis is described in detail, and its capabilities concerning affording convergent solutions for electronic continuum states and wavepacket propagation are presented. It forms the core of the Tiresia code, which implements static-DFT and TDDFT hamiltonians, as well as single channel Dyson-DFT and Dyson-TDDFT descriptions to include correlation in the bound states. Together they afford accurate and computationally efficient descriptions of photoionization properties of complex systems, both in the single photon and strong field environments. A number of examples are provided.

Dialogue on analytical and ab initio methods in attoscience

The perceived dichotomy between analytical and ab initio approaches to theory in attosecond science is often seen as a source of tension and misconceptions. This Topical Review compiles the discussions held during a round-table panel at the 'Quantum Battles in Attoscience' cecam virtual workshop, to explore the sources of tension and attempt to dispel them. We survey the main theoretical tools of attoscience-covering both analytical and numerical methods-and we examine common misconceptions, including the relationship between ab initio approaches and the broader numerical methods, as well as the role of numerical methods in 'analytical' techniques. We also evaluate the relative advantages and disadvantages of analytical as well as numerical and ab initio methods, together with their role in scientific discovery, told through the case studies of two representative attosecond processes: non-sequential double ionisation and resonant high-harmonic generation. We present the discussion in the form of a dialogue between two hypothetical theoreticians, a numericist and an analytician, who introduce and challenge the broader opinions expressed in the attoscience community.

Molecular fragmentation as a way to reveal early electron dynamics induced by attosecond pulses

We present a theoretical study of the electron and nuclear dynamics that would arise in an attosecond two-color XUV-pump/XUV-probe experiment in glycine. In this scheme, the broadband pump pulse suddenly ionizes the molecule and creates an electronic wave packet that subsequently evolves under the influence of the nuclear motion until it is finally probed by the second XUV pulse. To describe the different steps of such an experiment, we have combined a multi-reference static-exchange scattering method with a trajectory surface hopping approach. We show that by changing the central frequency of the pump pulse, i.e., by engineering the initial electronic wave packet with the pump pulse, one can drive the cation dynamics into a specific fragmentation pathway. Reminiscence of this early electron dynamics can be observed in specific fragmentation channels (not all of them) as a function of the pump-probe delay and in time-resolved photoelectron spectra at specific photoelectron energies. The optimum conditions to visualize the initial electronic coherence in photoelectron and photo-ion spectra depend very much on the characteristics of the pump pulse as well as on the electronic structure of the molecule under study.

Quantum electronic coherences by attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy: ab initio B-spline RCS-ADC study

Here I present a fully ab initio time-resolved study of X-ray attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy (ATAS) in a prototypical polyatomic molecule, pyrazine, and demonstrate the possibility of retrieving the many-electron quantum ionic coherences arising in attosecond molecular photoionisation and pre-determining the subsequent charge-directed photochemical reactivity. Advanced first-principles many-electron simulations are performed, within a hybrid XUV pump/X-ray probe setup, to describe the interaction of pyrazine with both XUV pump and X-ray probe pulses, and study the triggered correlated many-electron dynamics. The calculations are carried out by means of the recently-developed ab initio method for many-electron dynamics in polyatomic molecules, the time-dependent (TD) B-spline Restricted Correlation Space-Algebraic Diagrammatic Construction (RCS-ADC). RCS-ADC simulates molecular ionisation from first principles, combining the accurate description of electron correlation of quantum chemistry with the full account of the continuum dynamics of the photoelectron. Complete theoretical characterisation of the atto-ionised many-electron state and photo-induced attosecond charge dynamics is achieved by calculating the reduced ionic density matrix (R-IDM) of the bipartite ion-photoelectron system, with full inclusion of the correlated shakeup states. Deviations from the sudden approximation picture of photoionisation, in the low-photon-energy limit, are presented. The effect of the multi-channel interaction between the parent-ion and the emitted photoelectron on the onset of the quantum electronic coherences is analysed. Moreover, I show how the Schmidt decomposition of the R-IDM unravels the many-electron dynamics triggered by the pump, allowing for the identification of the key channels involved. Finally, I calculate the X-ray attosecond transient absorption spectra of XUV-ionised pyrazine. The results unveil the mapping of the ATAS measurement onto the quantum electronic coherences, and related non-zero R-IDM matrix elements, produced upon ionisation by the XUV pump laser pulse.

Ultrafast strong-field dissociation of vinyl bromide: An attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy and non-adiabatic molecular dynamics study

Attosecond extreme ultraviolet (XUV) and soft x-ray sources provide powerful new tools for studying ultrafast molecular dynamics with atomic, state, and charge specificity. In this report, we employ attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy (ATAS) to follow strong-field-initiated dynamics in vinyl bromide. Probing the Br M edge allows one to assess the competing processes in neutral and ionized molecular species. Using ab initio non-adiabatic molecular dynamics, we simulate the neutral and cationic dynamics resulting from the interaction of the molecule with the strong field. Based on the dynamics results, the corresponding time-dependent XUV transient absorption spectra are calculated by applying high-level multi-reference methods. The state-resolved analysis obtained through the simulated dynamics and related spectral contributions enables a detailed and quantitative comparison with the experimental data. The main outcome of the interaction with the strong field is unambiguously the population of the first three cationic states, D ₁, D ₂, and D ₃. The first two show exclusively vibrational dynamics while the D ₃ state is characterized by an ultrafast dissociation of the molecule via C-Br bond rupture within 100 fs in 50% of the analyzed trajectories. The combination of the three simulated ionic transient absorption spectra is in excellent agreement with the experimental results. This work establishes ATAS in combination with high-level multi-reference simulations as a spectroscopic technique capable of resolving coupled non-adiabatic electronic-nuclear dynamics in photoexcited molecules with sub-femtosecond resolution.

Onset of ionic coherence and ultrafast charge dynamics in attosecond molecular ionisation

Here is presented a fully ab initio theoretical framework for simulating the correlated many-electron dynamics occurring during and emerging from molecular ionisation by attosecond laser pulses. This is based on the time-dependent (TD) version of the B-spline restricted correlation space (RCS)-algebraic diagrammatic construction (ADC) method, with the full description of the photoelectron and inclusion of electron correlation effects, such as shakeup processes and inter-channel couplings. The nature of the ultrafast charge dynamics in the molecular ion is elucidated by quantitatively predicting the degree of electronic coherence and eigenstate content of the prepared molecular cationic state, beyond the commonly used sudden approximation. The results presented here for the acetylene and ethylene molecules show that even in the high photon energy regime the simulated hole dynamics is quantitatively different from the prediction of the sudden approximation. Moreover, for high-bandwidth ionising pulse, the residual interaction between the cation, in highly-excited shake-up states, and the emitted slow photoelectron gives rise to a loss of coherence in the ionic system which can persist for the first few femtoseconds after ionisation.