Observation of Rayleigh optical activity for chiral molecules: a new chiroptical tool

arXiv:2508.02696v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: By measuring a small circularly polarized component in the scattered light, we report the first observation of Rayleigh optical activity (RayOA) for typical chiral molecules, namely the two enantiomers of $alpha$-pinene. Our work validates fundamental theoretical predictions made over fifty years ago and expands the chiroptical toolkit.