Dynamic method to distinguish between left- and right-handed chiral molecules

Abstract

We study quantum systems with broken symmetry that can be modeled as cyclic three-level atoms with coexisting one- and two-photon transitions. They can be selectively optically excited to any state. As an example, we show that left- and right-handed chiral molecules starting in the same initial states can evolve into different final states by a purely dynamic transfer process. That means that left- and right-handed molecules can be distinguished purely dynamically.