How to describe pump-probe experiments in quantum materials

Speaker: Dr. Jim Freeicks
Affiliation: Georgetown University
Date: September 10, 2026

Abstract:

I will describe both the challenges, and how to address them, when theoretically modelling ultrafast pump-probe experiments in strongly correlated materials and in materials with strong electron-phonon coupling. After providing an introduction, I will focus on three case studies: (i) examining the response at picosecond times of charge-density waves with ultrashort pulses that drive the electrons; (ii) examining the response on femtosecond times for nonresonant electronic Raman scattering; and (iii) examining how one can measure correlated charge dynamics in f-electron systems using x-ray photoemission spectroscopy and x-ray absorption spectroscopy.