Collisions in the Presence of a Laser Field and the Laser as a Tool for State Selective Preparation of Molecular States in Collisions

In the study of individual collision events laser light can be used to influence or probe the process prior to, during, or after the binary particle interaction. We discuss some problems and particularly challenging possibilities for modifying the collision process in a high, but not too high, laser field. We discuss the possibilities of state selective preparation of quasimolecular I and II states in ion-atom collisions, with asymptotically laser optical pumped atomic p-states.