Inelastic processes and interference effects during the interaction of positronium with ultrashort electromagnetic pulses

The excitation, breakup, and reradiation during the interaction of a positronium atom with ultrashort electromagnetic pulses are considered. The probabilities of inelastic processes and reradiation spectra have been obtained. The interference between the amplitudes of the photon emission by the electron and positron is shown to contribute noticeably to the reradiation spectra. The developed approach is applicable for describing the interaction of positronium with ultrashort pulses of attosecond or shorter duration.     

Ultrashort pulse rescattering on atomic and molecular anions in the zero radius potential model

We calculate the reradiation spectra of ultrashort pulses of an electromagnetic field on single- and double-centered negative ions in the zero radius potential approximation. We show that the cross sections and reradiation spectra of ultrashort pulses essentially depend on the affinity energy of a weakly bound electron and the orientation of the internuclear axis of double-centered targets relative to the direction of the incoming ultrashort pulse.     

Interference effects during the reradiation of ultrashort electromagnetic pulses by polyatomic systems

A theory of the reradiation of ultrashort electromagnetic pulses by arbitrary polyatomic systems of isolated complex atoms has been developed. The technique used allows the spatial inhomogeneity of the field of an ultrashort pulse and photon momenta in reradiation processes to be accurately taken into account. The angular distributions of the reradiation spectra have been obtained for an arbitrary number of atoms in the system. The processes of interference between the photon emission amplitudes are shown to give rise to characteristic “diffraction” maxima. We consider one-dimensional, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional rectangular lattices as examples as well as planar and cylindrical structures as models of planar nanosystems and nanotubes.     

Scattering of an ultrashort electromagnetic radiation pulse by an atom in a broad spectral range

The scattering of an ultrashort electromagnetic pulse by atomic particles is described using a consistent quantum-mechanical approach taking into account excitation of a target and nondipole electromagnetic interaction, which is valid in a broad spectral range. This approach is applied to the scattering of single- and few-cycle pulses by a multielectron atom and a hydrogen atom. Scattering spectra are obtained for ultrashort pulses of different durations. The relative contribution of “elastic” scattering of a single-cycle pulse by a hydrogen atom is studied in the high-frequency limit as a function of the carrier frequency and scattering angle.     

Emission of an atom during its interaction with an ultrashort pulse of electromagnetic field

The electronic transitions and emission of an atom during its interaction with a spatially inhomogeneous ultrashort pulse of electromagnetic field are considered. The probabilities of excitation and ionization, as well as the spectra and cross sections of reemission of such a pulse by the atom, are obtained. As an example, the one-and two-electron inelastic processes accompanying the interaction of ultrashort pulses with hydrogen-and helium-like atoms are considered.     

Excitation and Emission of an Atom in Its Interaction with an Ultrashort Electromagnetic Field Pulse

Based on the approximation of sudden perturbations, the excitation and ionization of an atom in its interaction with an ultrashort electromagnetic field pulse are examined. The probabilities of excitation and ionization are obtained together with the spectra and cross sections of pulse re-emission by the atom.     

Interaction of a Hydrogen-Like Atom with an Ultrashort Pulse of Electromagnetic Waves

In the approximation of sudden perturbations, a solution of the Dirac equation describing the behavior of a hydrogen-like atom interacting with a spatially inhomogeneous ultrashort pulse of electromagnetic waves is derived. As an example, the single-electron inelastic processes accompanying the interaction of ultrashort pulses with hydrogen-like atoms are considered. The method developed here allows the spatial inhomogeneity of the ultrashort pulse of electromagnetic waves to be taken into account.     

Inelastic processes in the interaction of an atom with an ultrashort electromagnetic pulse

Electron transitions occurring during the interaction of a heavy relativistic atom with a spatially inhomogeneous ultrashort electromagnetic pulse are considered by solving the Dirac equation. The corresponding transition probabilities are expressed in terms of known inelastic atomic form factors, which are widely used in the theory of relativistic collisions between charged particles and atoms. By way of example, the inelastic processes accompanying the interaction of ultrashort pulses with hydrogen-like atoms are considered. The probabilities of ionization and production of a bound-free electron-positron pair on a bare nucleus, which are accompanied by the formation of a hydrogen-like atom in the final state and a positron in the continuum, are calculated. The developed technique makes it possible to take into account exactly not only the spatial inhomogeneity of an ultrashort electromagnetic pulse, but also the magnetic interaction.     

Spectra induced by interactions of atoms with ultrashort electromagnetic pulses

An ultrashort pulse of an electromagnetic field incident on an atom shakes the atom and gives rise to various electron transitions in it. These processes are accompanied by the reemission of the incident ultrashort pulse. This paper studies the relation between the spectra of reemitted photons of an ultrashort pulse and the transitions of atomic electrons into particular states. The obtained partial reemission spectra can allow one to relate direction patterns to the probability of the excitation of an atom into different states.     

Calculation of the probability of photoprocesses induced by ultrashort electromagnetic pulses

An expression for the total probability of photoprocesses induced by ultrashort electromagnetic pulses in terms of the excited transition cross-section has been derived by using perturbation theory. The expression obtained is valid for any radiation spectral width and for various types of transition: bound-bound and bound-free. By way of illustration the excitation of a two-level system by an ultrashort pulse with a controlled carrier–envelope phase and the photoionization of a hydrogen atom under the action of a sequence of two-cycle electromagnetic pulses are considered.     

Nonlinear regimes of ultrashort pulse propagation in an array of anisotropic tunneling states

Dynamics of an ultrashort electromagnetic pulse in a system with an array of anisotropic tunneling states spanned by the pulse spectrum are analyzed. A system of nonlinear wave equations is derived for the ordinary and extraordinary components of the pulse propagating at an arbitrary angle to the anisotropy axis. Different regimes of ultrashort pulse propagation parallel and perpendicular to the anisotropy axis are examined. Ultrashort-pulse propagation regimes analogous to self-induced transparency and extraordinary transparency are identified. The properties of rational soliton-like pulses having no quasi-monochromatic analogs are analyzed. A longitudinal electric field component is generated in each regime, whereas off-resonance quasi-monochromatic pulses propagating under similar conditions (parallel and perpendicular to the anisotropy axis) have no longitudinal components. Stability of the solutions obtained and the effect of diffraction on ultrashort pulse dynamics are analyzed. The values of pulse parameters for which defocusing dominates over self-focusing are calculated.     

Generation of XUV attosecond pulses in the process of atomic ionization by few-cycle laser radiation

Ionization of a model two-electron atom in the presence of a strong field of ultrashort laser pulses is investigated using the numerical integration of the nonstationary Schrödinger equation, which describes the dynamics of a quantum system in the presence of an electromagnetic wave. The features of two-electron ionization in the presence of one-and two-cycle pulses are analyzed. The suppression of double ionization in the presence of ultrashort laser pulses related to a finite-time interelectron energy exchange upon the laser action is demonstrated. The features of the generation of high-order harmonics and single XUV attosecond pulses are studied for the atomic ionization by few-cycle laser pulses. The parameters of the laser pulse are optimized for the effective generation of a single XUV attosecond pulse.     

Electron transitions as a result of interaction between a heavy ion and an ultrashort electromagnetic pulse

The electron transitions arising when a heavy relativistic ion interacts with a spatially nonuniform ultrashort electromagnetic pulse are studied by solving the Dirac equation, and expressions for the excitation and ionization probabilities are derived. One-electron inelastic processes that accompany the interaction between the ultrashort pulses and hydrogen-like atoms are considered by way of example. The approach developed in this article makes it possible to accurately include the spatial nonuniformity of the ultrashort pulse field.     

Formation of Quantum Vortices at the Ionization of an Atom by an Ultrashort Laser Pulse: Two- and Three-Dimensional Cases

Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics - Quantum vortices formed at the barrier-suppression ionization of an atom by an ultrashort laser pulse have been studied theoretically and...     

Tunneling ionization of a hydrogen atom in short and ultrashort laser pulses

The ionization of a hydrogen atom in a linearly polarized low-frequency electromagnetic field is investigated by direct numerical integration of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. The data obtained for various ionization regimes and various initial atomic states are compared with the Keldysh and Perelomov-Popov-Terent’ev (PPT) theories. The validity ranges for the quasi-static model of tunneling ionization and the PPT theory in laser intensity and frequency are determined. The tunneling ionization of the excited 2s and 2p states is discussed. The ionization of a hydrogen atom in an ultrashort (on the order of one optical period) pulse is investigated.     

Dynamics of Optical Pulse Propagation in the Ribbon Formed by Graphene and Boron Nitride Layers of Finite Width

The propagation of an ultrashort optical pulse in the multilayered structure formed by alternating graphene and boron nitride layers is considered. Conduction electrons of this system at low temperatures are described by the effective long-wavelength Hamiltonian, and the electromagnetic field is considered based on the classical Maxwell equations. Dependence of the evolution on the ultrashort pulse amplitude and nanoribbon layer width is established.     

Harmonic Extension and Enhancement Using a Two-Color Chirped Pulse and an Ultrashort Ultraviolet Pulse

A promising method to both extend the harmonic energy and enhance the harmonic intensity is presented when a He atom is exposed to the combination of a two-color chirped pulse and an ultrashort ultraviolet pulse. It is found that: (1) with the introduction of the two chirps, the harmonic energy has been remarkably extended; (2) by properly adding an ultrashort ultraviolet pulse to this synthesized two-color chirped pulse, the harmonic yield is enhanced by 3 orders of magnitude compared with the two-color chirped case; (3) the harmonic spectrum higher than the 96th order shows an ultrabroad supercontinuum with a 395 eV bandwidth, and the proper superposition over the harmonics directly produced a series of intense 40 as pulses which is 3 orders of magnitude higher than that in the two-color chirped case.     

The decay dynamics of a slab of two-level atoms excited by an ultrashort resonant pulse

The decay dynamics of a slab of two-level atoms excited by an ultrashort resonant pulse are analyzed by means of the eigenmodes determined by the interaction of the resonance with the slab geometry. The node structure in the spatio-temporal excited atom distribution and the forward-backward asymmetry are identified with the decays of individual modes and with interference between adjacent modes.     

Ultrahigh Harmonic Generation from an Atom with Superposition of Ground State and Highly Excited States

We investigate the high-order harmonic generation from an atom prepared in a superposition of ground state and highly excited state. When the atom is irradiated by an ultrashort pulse, the cutoff position of the plateau in the harmonic spectrum is largely extended compared with the case that the atom is initially in the ground state. The physics of the extension of the high-order harmonic plateau can be interpreted by the spatial structure of the atomic initial wave packet. We can optimize the generation of high-order harmonics by substituting the excited state for a particular coherent superposition of some highly excited states to form a spatially localized excited wave packet.     

Diffraction of an ultrashort pulse by a slit

An analysis of a specific feature of the interaction of an ultrashort pulse with a slit is made. Analytical expressions for a monochromatic wave in the form of an ultrashort pulse diffracted by an infinite slit are obtained.