Making Distinct Dynamical Systems Appear Spectrally Identical

We show that a laser pulse can always be found that induces a desired optical response from an arbitrary dynamical system. As illustrations, driving fields are computed to induce the same optical response from a variety of distinct systems (open and closed, quantum and classical). As a result, the observed induced dipolar spectra without detailed information on the driving field is not sufficient to characterize atomic and molecular systems. The formulation may also be applied to design materials with specified optical characteristics. These findings reveal unexplored flexibilities of nonlinear optics.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Multidimensional quantum tunneling in the Schwinger effect

We study the Schwinger effect, in which the external field having a spatiotemporal profile creates electron-positron pairs via multidimensional quantum tunneling. Our treatment is based on the trace formula for the QED effective action, whose imaginary part is represented by a sum over complex worldline solutions. The worldlines are multiperiodic, and the periods of motion collectively depend on the strength of spatial and temporal inhomogeneity. We argue that the classical action that leads to the correct tunneling amplitude must take into account both the full period, $\tilde{T}$ and the first fundamental period, $T_1$. In view of this argument we investigate pair production in an exponentially damped sinusoidal field and find that the initial momenta for multiperiodic trajectories lie on parabolic curves, such that on each curve the ratio $\tilde{T}/T_1$ stays uniform. Evaluation of the tunneling amplitude using these trajectories shows that vacuum decay rate is reduced by an order of magnitude, with respect to the purely time-dependent case, due to the presence of magnetic field.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Revised and extende

Resonant tunneling controlled by laser and constant electric fields

We develop the concept of scattering matrix and we use it to perform stable numerical calculations of resonant tunneling of electrons through a multiple potential barrier in a semiconductor heterostructure. Electrons move in two external nonperturbative electric fields: constant and oscillating in time. We apply our algorithm for different strengths and spatial configurations of the fields.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure

Photoelectron Angular Distributions for Two-photon Ionization of Helium by Ultrashort Extreme Ultraviolet Free Electron Laser Pulses

Phase-shift differences and amplitude ratios of the outgoing $s$ and $d$ continuum wave packets generated by two-photon ionization of helium atoms are determined from the photoelectron angular distributions obtained using velocity map imaging. Helium atoms are ionized with ultrashort extreme-ultraviolet free-electron laser pulses with a photon energy of 20.3, 21.3, 23.0, and 24.3 eV, produced by the SPring-8 Compact SASE Source test accelerator. The measured values of the phase-shift differences are distinct from scattering phase-shift differences when the photon energy is tuned to an excited level or Rydberg manifold. The difference stems from the competition between resonant and non-resonant paths in two-photon ionization by ultrashort pulses. Since the competition can be controlled in principle by the pulse shape, the present results illustrate a new way to tailor the continuum wave packet.Comment: 5 pages, 1 table, 3 figure