  In a recent experiment (N. Wagner et al., PNAS v103, p13279) on SF$_{6}$, a
high-harmonic generating laser pulse is preceded by a pump pulse which
stimulates Raman-active modes in the molecule. Varying the time delay between
the two pulses modulates high harmonic intensity, with frequencies equal to the
vibration frequencies of the Raman-active modes. We propose an explanation of
this modulation as a quantum interference between competing pathways that occur
via adjacent vibrational states of the molecule. The Raman and high harmonic
processes act as beamsplitters, producing vibrational quantum beats among the
Raman-active vibrational modes that are excited by the first pulse. We
introduce a rigorous treatment of the electron-ion recombination process and
the effect of the ionic Coulomb field in the electron propagation outside the
molecule, improving over the widely-used three-step model.
