Prof. Dan Huppert

We use short pulse lasers of 100 femtoseconds (fs) duration (10-13 seconds) to excite molecules from their ground electronic state to an excited state. Relaxation processes occur on many time scales from 10-14 seconds (10 fs) to about 10-7 seconds. We follow the relaxation times of excited molecules. Of particular interest we find the phenomena of photoacids. A photoacid molecule is a weak acid in its ground electronic state and a much stronger acid in the excited state. We found that very strong photoacids can transfer a proton within 100 fs (10-13 second). At these short times molecular motions are frozen except for high frequency vibrations. For the last year (2015) we are looking at photoacidic properties in biopolymers. Plants may use photoacid properties for signaling and protection.

• B.Sc., Tel Aviv University, 1967

• M.Sc., Tel Aviv University, 1970

• Ph.D., Tel Aviv University, 1974

• Professor Emeritus, Tel Aviv University, 2012-Present

• Letay cathedral, 2010-2014 

• Professor, Tel Aviv University, 1991-2012

• Special dean of Aliyah, Tel Aviv University, 1994-2001