Time-Resolved Spectroscopy in Complex Liquids: An Experimental Perspective

Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index. Description for Sales People: Time-Resolved Spectroscopy in Complex Liquids introduces the experimental researchers, the "screwdriver scientists," to state-of-the-art techniques in the study of the dynamics of complex liquids. The book s contributors concentrate on time-resolved optical spectroscopy, which recently produced many relevant results and new information about complex liquids. This is an emerging topic of soft-matter science, studying the innovative phenomena appearing in molecular liquids when a process of strong intermolecular interaction takes place. The contributors stress the experimental aspects, even the simple ones. This book succeeds in the full description of the "experimental procedure," overcoming the often-occurring break between "introduction" and the "results discussion.""Table of Contents: Contributing Authors -- Preface -- 1. Two Dimensional Fifth-Order Raman Spectroscopy / Christopher J. Milne, Yun-Liang Li, R. J. Dwayne Miller -- 1.1. Introduction -- 1.2. Theory -- 1.3. Experimental Advances -- 1.4. Experimental Findings -- 1.5. General Discussion and Implications of the Findings for the Liquid State -- 1.6. Summary and Future Perspective -- 2. Optical Kerr Effect Experiments on Complex Liquids / Paolo Bartolini, Andrea Taschin, Roberto Eramo, Renato Torre -- 2.1. Introduction -- 2.2. Time-Resolved OKE Experiments -- 2.3. The Response Function -- 2.4. The Experimental Procedure -- 2.5. Some Experimental Results -- Appendix. Laser Pulses Definition -- 3. Transient Grating Experiments in Glass-Former Liquids / Andrea Taschin, Roberto Eramo, Paolo Bartolini, Renato Torre -- 3.1. Introduction -- 3.2. Theory of the Transient Grating Experiment -- 3.3. Experimental Procedure -- 3.4. Experimental Results -- Appendix. Mathematical Representation of the Stretched Exponential -- 4. Dynamical Processes in Confined Liquid Crystals / M. Vilfan, I. Drevensek Olenik, M. Copic -- 4.1. Introduction -- 4.2. Continuum Description of Nematic Liquid Crystals -- 4.3. Fluctuational Dynamics in Nematic Liquid Crystals -- 4.4. Light Scattering by Director Fluctuations -- 4.5. Confined Liquid Crystals -- 4.6. Fluctuation Spectrum in Confined Geometries -- 4.7. Dynamic Light Scattering Experiments -- 4.8. Conclusions -- 5. Time-Resolved Fluorescence and Dichroism in Absorbing Liquids / D. Paparo, C. Manzo, L. Marrucci -- 5.1. Introduction -- 5.2. Photoinduced Molecular Reorientation of Absorbing Liquids and Liquid Crystals -- 5.3. Theory -- 5.4. Fluorescence Experiments: Observing the Molecule Rotation in its Excited State -- 5.5. Combining Fluorescence and Dichroism Experiments: The Influence of Electronic Excitation on Rotational Friction -- 5.6. Conclusions: The Role of Hydrogen Bonding -- Topic Index. Publisher Marketing: The investigation of liquid properties is as old as the human desire to observe natural phenomena. The paramount relevance of such state of matter is - vious, spanning from the basic theoretical model of random systems to the more advanced technical applications. Nevertheless the interpretation and - derstanding of liquid properties remains a challenge in materials science. In the liquid state, the potential and kinetic energies are characterized by similarvalues, differentlyfromthegasorsolid/crystalphases. Thisfundamental physical property prevents a description of the liquid structure independently fromitsdynamics. Theintermolecularforcesandmolecularmotionsarestrictly interconnected, producing the peculiar features of liquid phases. In particular when the intermolecular potential is characterized by speci?c features, asanisotropicand/orlong-rangeinteractions, theliquidstateshows- cal dynamic aggregation and structuring phenomena. This is the distinguishing characteristic of complex liquids. Typical examples are the hydrogen-bonded liquids, glass formers, polymers and liquid crystals. Also relatively simple molecular liquids, e.g., CS and benzene, clearly show complex dynamics, 2 evidence of local structuring effects. During the last years, researchers have undertaken a steady effort to improve the knowledge of liquid matter, both from experimental and theoretical points of view. New spectroscopic techniques, based on nonlinear optical phenomena, have been realized and applied to the study of simple molecular liquids. On the other hand, standard experiments have been applied to liquids characterized by particularly complex dynamic process