The dynamics of molecules under strong laser pulses is characterized by large Stark effects that modify and reshape the electronic potentials, known as laser-induced potentials (LIPs). If the time scale of the interaction is slow enough that the nuclear positions can adapt to these externally driven changes, the dynamics proceeds by adiabatic following, where the nuclei gain very little kinetic energy during the process. In this regime we show that the molecular dynamics can be simulated quite accurately by a semiclassical surface-hopping scheme formulated in the adiabatic representation. The nuclear motion is then influenced by the gradients of the laser-modified potentials, and nonadiabatic couplings are seen as transitions between the LIPs. As an example, we simulate the process of adiabatic passage by light induced potentials in Na(2) using the surface-hopping technique both in the diabatic representation based on molecular potentials and in the adiabatic representation based on LIPs, showing how the choice of the representation is crucial in reproducing the results obtained by exact quantum dynamical calculations.

This article examines Mexico's industrial policy and economic performance, focusing on an analysis of the structural changes in its manufacturing sector associated with NAFTA. The aim of the article is to improve our understanding of why the post-NAFTA evolution of the Mexican economy has been characterized by lights and shadows, with low inflation, low budget deficits and a surge in non-oil exports on the one hand, and on the other hand a slower than expected expansion of economic activity and employment. The article also presents some policy implications on the need for a new development agenda if Mexico is to finally succeed in its quest for high and sustained economic growth.

Lead(II) alkanoates, from hexanoate to dodecanoate, have been analyzed by means of XRD, optical microscopy, DSC, FTIR, and electric spectroscopy. Four different phases have been identified, corresponding to the three thermal transitions measured by DSC:  two of them solid (crystal and “intermediate” phases), and another two fluid (neat phase and isotropic liquid). Powder crystal XRD data indicate that the samples present a bilayered structure. The analysis of the (00l) spacing dependence with temperature in the three ordered phases strongly points to the intermediate phase to be a rotator phase. Optical microscopy and FTIR versus temperature also confirm a structural change from the crystal to the intermediate phase and its solid-state nature. Electrical conductivity maps the thermal transitions of the samples and shows a high ionic conductivity in the intermediate phase, which does not depend much on the carbon chain length. The high conductivity values (3 orders of magnitude higher in comparison with that of the ordered crystal at room temperature) obtained for the intermediate phase gave a further support to the existence of a rotator mesophase in the lead(II) alkanoate series.

In this Letter we describe a method for population transfer using intense, ultrafast laser pulses. The selectivity is accomplished by careful shaping of light-induced potentials (LIPs). Creation and control of the LIPs is accomplished by choosing pairs of pulses with proper frequency detunings and time delays. As an example, selective population transfer is demonstrated for a three-state model of the sodium dimer.

Adiabatic passage induced by chirped laser pulses in three-level ⌳ systems is investigated. Two different strategies for efficient population transfer ͑equal and opposite sign of the chirp͒ are analyzed. The role of detuning, crucial for the attempt to reduce the population of the intermediate state, is demonstrated. The scheme of adiabatic passage by laser pulses with chirps of different sign is not symmetric with respect to the sign of the one-photon detuning. Blue detuning results in a smaller transient population of the intermediate state than does red detuning. The results are explained on the basis of dressed states. Numerical results for a fully off-resonant adiabatic passage scheme, based on two pulses with the same sign of the chirps, are also considered. The robustness of the schemes in terms of the Rabi frequency, chirp rate, detuning, and time delay of the pulses is explored.