Few know that Sir C.V. Raman's first published works were on the vibrational principles of stringed and percussive instruments. I believe that these investigations into musical and acoustical principles must have inspired and informed Raman's discovery of the Raman Scattering Effect and his subsequent research in early vibrational spectroscopy (Raman 1989). Perhaps the musical metaphors and analogical themes have not yet been exhausted in Raman spectroscopy, and future discoveries will be made by revisiting the genus of Raman's scientific legacy.

As Sir C.V. Raman stated in The New Physics: Talks on Aspects of Science, “The quantitative measurement and specification of colour is of scarcely less practical importance than simple photo-metry. The skill and judgment with which a trained [spectroscopist] discriminates between different shades and depths of colour is nearly as marvelous as the precision with which a trained musician can distinguish the finest differences in the quality or pitch of musical notes. As in the case of music, so also in the case of colour, our sensations may be analyzed in their constituent elements (Raman 1951).”

My own interest in acoustics and music theory led me to a greater appreciation of Raman spectroscopy than I might otherwise have had. I recall that when a Nashville Symphony cellist was recording several of my compositions for solo cello in 2012, that a piano in the room was producing sympathetic or resonant frequencies to his deeply resonant cello. The tones of the cellist's richly timbered antique instrument filled the room and reverberated omni-directionally, and the resonant frequencies were produced even though he was not facing the piano. Fortunately, these overtones did not interfere with the recording session, after the lid of the piano was closed. An analogy might be drawn to Raman spectroscopy in that there may be new ways of inducing and augmenting Raman scattered photons without having to utilize a concentrated laser beam with a limited spot size, but rather via an omnidirectional excitation energy source.

Several questions:

Would it be possible to utilize a complex multiband optical filter or a Quantum Cascade Laser to excite a sample compound with its own Raman spectral signature (or its sympathetic electromagnetic frequencies)? In other words, is Sympathetic Frequency Raman Spectroscopy (SFRS) and the triangulation of its location relative to the excitation source worth investigating and could it potentially enhance the trace detection capability of standoff Raman instrumentation in the future?

Sources:

Raman, C.V. comp. Scientific Papers of C.V. Raman: Volume II: Acoustics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1989. Print.

Raman, C.V. The New Physics: Talks on Aspects of Science. New York: Philosophical Library, Inc. 1951. Print.