  In this experiment liquid water is subject to an inhomogeneous electric field
(${\nabla}^2 E_a {\approx} 10^{10} \frac{V}{m^2}$ ) using a high voltage (20
kV) point-plane electrode system. With interferometry it was found that the
application of a strong electric field gradient to water generates local
changes in the refractive index of the liquid, polarizes the surface and
creates a downward moving electro-convective jet. A maximum temperature
difference of 1 {\deg}C is measured in the immediate vicinity of the point
electrode. Raman spectroscopy on water reveals an enhancement of the
vibrational collective modes (3250 $cm^{-1}$) as well as an increase in the
local mode (3490 $cm^{-1}$) energy. This bimodal enhancement indicates the
spectral changes are not due to temperature. The intense field gradient thus
establishes an excited subpopulation of vibrational oscillators far from
thermal equilibrium. Delocalization of the collective vibrational mode
spatially expands this excited population beyond the microscale. Hindered
rotational freedom due to electric field pinning of molecular dipoles retards
heat flow and generates a chemical potential gradient. These changes are
responsible for the observed changes in refractive index and temperature. It is
demonstrated that polar liquids can thus support local non-equilibrium
thermodynamic transient states critical to biochemical and environmental
processes.
