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Geometry of chiral temporal structures. I. Physical effects

Andres F. Ordonez1,*, Aycke Roos2, Pablo M. Maier2, Piero Decleva3,4, David Ayuso1,2,5,6, and Olga Smirnova2,7,8,†

  • *Current address: Department of Physics, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
  • †Contact author: smirnova@mbi-berlin.de
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Phys. Rev. A 113, 013110 – Published 9 January, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/xcfl-mqpg

Abstract

In nonrelativistic physics, the concepts of geometry and topology are usually applied to characterize spatial structures or structures in momentum space. We introduce the concept of temporal geometry, which encompasses the geometric and topological properties of temporal shapes, i.e., trajectories traced by the tip of a time-dependent vector. We apply it to electric field polarizations controlling ultrafast electron currents or induced polarization in chiral molecules. The central concepts of temporal geometry—Berry curvature and Berry connection—emerge as ubiquitous features of photoexcited, nonequilibrium, chiral electron dynamics. We demonstrate that the Berry curvature and Berry connection (1) rely on the polarization properties of light pulses, (2) can be introduced for multiphoton processes, and (3) control enantiosensitive geometric observables via nonequilibrium electronic dynamics excited by tailored laser fields. Our findings may open a way to ultrafast, topologically nontrivial, and enantiosensitive chemical dynamics.

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Geometry of chiral temporal structures. II. The formalism

Aycke Roos, Pablo M. Maier, Andres F. Ordonez, and Olga Smirnova
Phys. Rev. A 113, 013111 (2026)

Article Text

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Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. A 113, 013110– Published 9 January, 2026
  • Received 3 June 2025
  • Accepted 12 November 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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