Chirality in matter and optical fields

"Chirality, or "handedness," is a fundamental property in physics that distinguishes objects from their mirror images, a concept stretching many areas, from cosmology over particle physics to biology. Most biologically active molecules are chiral and methods to identify and characterise molecular chirality are in high demand. Many such methods use the interaction of chiral matter with light, but interestingly, light electromagnetic fields can also be used to render normally achiral particles, such as as atoms chiral.

This research explores the intricate relationship between chirality in matter and its interactions with optical fields. The study aims to investigate how chiral molecules respond to circularly light which itself exhibits chiral characteristics, and to identify novel phenomena that arise from these interactions.

Studying these interactions requires the development of novel theoretical approaches. Combining the quantum-optical picture of an atom (an infinitesimal point-like emitter/absorber) and the quantum chemical picture of an atom (a cloud of electrons around a nucleus), allows to identify the relevant aspects of in the interaction between chiral matter and chiral optical fields.

The overall goal of this project is to identify new interactions between light and matter, such as atoms and molecules, which depend on the handedness of the light and matter. To that end we consider synthetic optical fields, and chiral superpositions of atoms and molecules .

The novelty of the methodology is a combination of techniques from symmetry considerations, classical field theory, quantum optics and quantum chemistry, which will allow us to identify new interactions, new measures for optical chirality and helicity and calculate novel effects

The research in this project is about using the handedness of light to manipulate chiral matter and therefore aligns with the Physical Sciences area of EPSRC's remit, in particular with light matter interaction and optical phenomena. The longer-term aspirations of the research lie in optical methods of determining the chirality of matter, including molecules with applications in chemistry and the pharmaceutical research and industry.

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