Density Matrix and Rate Equation Analyses for Picosecond Pump/Probe Combustion Diagnostics

Further developments in picosecond pump/probe combustion diagnostics are described. The rate equation formalism originally used to model the pump/probe interaction is not entirely appropriate for a 2-ps interaction. For that reason, a new nonperturbative density matrix model that more exactly describes the pump/probe interaction is presented. Our goal is to discover how well the pump/probe interaction is described by the rate equations, when the interaction occurs within the rate equation limits, or to find a similarly simple expression. The model is described, results are presented, and then a comparison between the two formalisms is made.