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Geometric mechanisms enabling spin- and enantio-sensitive observables in one-photon ionization of chiral molecules

Philip Caesar M. Flores1,*, Stefanos Carlström1, Serguei Patchkovskii1, Misha Ivanov1,2,3, Andres F. Ordonez1,4,5, and Olga Smirnova1,3,6,†

  • *Contact author: flores@mbi-berlin.de
  • †Contact author: smirnova@mbi-berlin.de
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Phys. Rev. A 114, 013110 – Published 13 July, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/cqqs-77rg

Abstract

We examine the spin-resolved photoionization of randomly oriented chiral molecules via circularly polarized light, and revisit earlier predictions of Cherepkov [J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Phys. 16, 1543 (1983)]. We will show that the dynamical origin of spin- and enantio-sensitive observables arise from two intrinsic mechanisms that are quantified by two pseudovectors stemming from the geometric properties of the photoionization dipoles in spin space and in real space, and an extrinsic mechanism which is a directional bias introduced by the well-defined direction of light polarization. These mechanisms arise solely from electric-dipole interactions. Consequently, this means that the ten independent parameters that were earlier predicted by Cherepkov to fully describe the spin-resolved photoionization of chiral molecules can be reduced as moments of these three pseudovectors. We also find that the molecular pseudoscalars describing the spin- and enantio-sensitive components of the yield can be described by the flux of these pseudovectors through the energy shell, which changes sign upon switching enantiomers. Our results provide compact expressions for these observables which provide an intuitive picture on what determines the strength of these spin- and enantio-sensitive observables. The approach can be readily generalized to photoexcitation, multiphoton processes, and arbitrary field polarizations. Regardless of the specific driving conditions, the resulting spin- and enantio-sensitive observables are still controlled by the same three pseudovectors, underscoring their universal role as the primary generators of chirality-induced spin asymmetries, emphasizing their fundamental geometric origin and the universality of the mechanism identified here.

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Enantiosensitivity of spin polarization in molecular photoionization

Anton N. Artemyev, Daniel M. Haubenreißer, Boris M. Lagutin, and Philipp V. Demekhin
Phys. Rev. A 114, 013111 (2026)

Article Text

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Phys. Rev. A 114, 013110– Published 13 July, 2026
  • Received 13 March 2026
  • Accepted 25 June 2026
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