Molecular motion under the influence of a coherent infrared-laser field

The quantum dynamics of molecular vibrations under the influence of coherent infrared-laser multiphoton excitation is irregular, in most cases, on the time scale of experimental interest. This irregularity arises from the anharmonic nature of the molecular force fields and is already present in one dimensional anharmonic oscillators. We analyse the onset of the irregularity in the model of a Morse oscillator and discuss the role of statistical or “chaotic” behaviour of the time dependent probability density. We further discuss the role of direct multiphoton excitation in these multilevel systems and compare the results with exact solutions for the harmonic oscillator.