The atomic motions that make chemistry possible unfold on the Angstrom spatial scale and the femtosecond temporal scale, this joint space-time resolution is now becoming accessible. Whereas scan probe technologies routinely offer sub-molecular spatial resolution and optical methods have pushed temporal resolution into the attosecond territory, merging of the two realms of space and time into a single tool for molecular videography is a current grand challenge. Over the past decade, important strides have been made to bring molecular motions into clearer view, using a plethora of approaches. Spectroscopy with light confined on atomic scales, where electromagnetic fields, forces and currents become fully entangled is a common theme. This emerging field aimed at uncovering the most fundamental motions of chemical change brings together several active scientific communities, including the fields of light-coupled scan-probe microscopy, tip-enhanced Raman scattering, spatially resolved photo-electron emission spectroscopy, photo-induced force microscopy, cavity quantum electrodynamics, and more. It is likely that as these communities grow closer and coalesce into a new field of molecular videography at the A/fs limit, the next decade will produce the first close ups of chemistry in the act.

The proposed meeting will bring together trailblazers from different communities that share a common goal of opening up the A/fs world to human eyes. This group of people necessarily includes experimentalists and theorists from different disciplines. By fostering interactions between the participants, the process of finding a common language is greatly facilitated. In doing so, the proposed meeting will play an important role in accelerating the anticipated science of chemistry at the ultimate resolution of space and time.