Vibrating virus capsids and interactions with short light pulses -- picking up good vibrations

Viruses are the simplest ``life'' form. They reproduce by borrowing the machinery of their host cell. Viruses consist of an outer coat (capsid) that protects its genomic material inside. They are pathogenic to plants, bacteria, animals, and of course humans. Experimental studies at ASU by Tsen et al. have discovered that ultra-short laser pulses are capable of ``inactivating'' viruses. One potential mechanism is the coupling of light to the soft dynamical modes of the capsid. We describe theoretical modeling of this effect.