Physics Colloquium

Ralf Wehlitz

University of Wisconsin Synchrotron Radiation Center

Probing Electron Correlations in Aromatic Molecules

Electron correlations can be found in various fields of physics whenever we have to go beyond the independent particle model. A convenient method to study electron correlations in gas-phase atoms and molecules is to measure the probability to remove two electrons simultaneously with a single photon (called double photoionization) from the sample. Because a single photon can interact with only one electron, the removal of two electrons is due to electron correlations. I will present our recent results on double photoionization of aromatic hydrocarbons over a broad range of photon energies. Our goal is to find systematic trends as the structure of our different sample molecules changes. Questions that will be addressed in the talk are: How differ molecules from atoms regarding double photoionization? How does the structure of a molecule affect the double-photoionization process? Which mechanisms contribute to double photoionization?