Abstract

Single Molecule Spectroscopy (SMS) is a powerful tool to study molecules in the condensed phase, which has been used to explore many phenomena in physical, chemical and biological systems. The main advantage is that it is free from any ensemble averaging. Hence, it provides a more detailed view on the complex dynamics of single particles and their interactions with the environment. The main topic of my talk will be the theoretical analysis and interpretation of the discrete data stream of spontaneously emitted photons obtained in SMS experiments. First, I will introduce the basic concepts of photon statistics and give simple examples. In the second part, I will show that when applied to assemblies of interacting molecules, fascinating phenomena in the photon statistics result from collective optical transitions.