Discriminatory interactions between chiral molecules in the presence of an intense radiation field

Abstract

The theory of the effect of an intense radiation field on the interaction between two chiral molecules is presented. Two types of energy shifts are distinguished, one involving the molecular polarizabilities and fourth rank hyperpolarizabilities, and the other the third rank hyperpolarizabilities. The former is non-discriminatory whereas the latter is discriminatory with respect to the relative handedness of the optical isomers. In both cases the energy shifts are linearly dependent on the intensity of the incident field. In the near-zone they show an R ^-6 dependence similar to the conventional dispersion-type energies. Expressions for pair-polarizabilities are given.