Classical and quantum mechanical studies of HF in an intense laser field

The behavior of an HF molecule in an intense laser field is investigated with both classical trajectories and quantum dynamics. Vibration‐rotation transition probabilities and energy absorption as a function of laser pulse time are calculated for the diatomic initially in its ground state. For comparison, results are also reported for a model nonrotating HF molecule. It is found that classical mechanics does not predict the correct time behavior of the system, nor does it predict the correct rotational state distributions. Classical mechanics does, however, predict pulse time averaged quantities to be the correct order of magnitude. There is also a correct general trend of increased multiphoton excitation for laser frequencies red‐shifted from the one‐photon resonance, although multiphoton resonance peaks are not observed in the classical results and far too little multiphoton excitation is predicted. The effect of laser phase has also been investigated and shown to be relatively unimportant in both the c...