ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

guidance from many people to whom I am exceedingly grateful. First and foremost, I would rst like to thank my wife Malini for all of her kind support, encouragement, and unconditional love. She is my best friend and her love and support mean the world to me. My family and friends scattered around the globe have been a continual source of support and encouragement. I can't imagine a graduate school experience that would be better for me than the one I experienced. For that, my advisors Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn must take a large share of the credit. They have been friends and mentors to me, allowing me to explore just about anything that interested me. In fact, we even did a few of Henry's famous "one-day " experiments in more-or-less a day. At the same time gently nudging me in the direction they, in their wisdom, deemed best for my career. As a result, I have learned far more about a broad range of elds than I could have imagined would have happened during my Ph.D. work. I count Margaret and Henry among the most generous, genuine, and supportive people I know. On top of that, they are truly world-class scientists and it has been an honor and a privileg