Reachable sets for a 3D accidentally symmetric molecule

Abstract

Abstract In this paper we study the controllability properties of the quantum rotational dynamics of a 3D symmetric molecule, with electric dipole moment not collinear to the symmetry axis of the molecule (that is, an accidentally symmetric-top). We control the dynamics with three orthogonally polarized electric fields. When the dipole has a nonzero component along the symmetry axis, it is known that the dynamics is approximately controllable. We focus here our attention to the case where the dipole moment and the symmetry axis are orthogonal (that is, an orthogonal accidentally symmetric-top), providing a description of the reachable sets.