Generalized Riemann sums

The primary aim of this chapter is, commemorating the 150th anniversary of Riemann's death, to explain how the idea of {\it Riemann sum} is linked to other branches of mathematics. The materials I treat are more or less classical and elementary, thus available to the "common mathematician in the streets." However one may still see here interesting inter-connection and cohesiveness in mathematics

Selective excitation of metastable atomic states by femto- and attosecond laser pulses

The possibility of achieving highly selective excitation of low metastable states of hydrogen and helium atoms by using short laser pulses with reasonable parameters is demonstrated theoretically. Interactions of atoms with the laser field are studied by solving the close-coupling equations without discretization. The parameters of laser pulses are calculated using different kinds of optimization procedures. For the excitation durations of hundreds of femtoseconds direct optimization of the parameters of one and two laser pulses with Gaussian envelopes is used to introduce a number of simple schemes of selective excitation. To treat the case of shorter excitation durations, optimal control theory is used and the calculated optimal fields are approximated by sequences of pulses with reasonable shapes. A new way to achieve selective excitation of metastable atomic states by using sequences of attosecond pulses is introduced.Comment: To be published in Phys. Rev. A, 10 pages, 3 figure

Capture into Rydberg states and momentum distributions of ionized electrons

The yield of neutral excited atoms and low-energy photoelectrons generated by the electron dynamics in the combined Coulomb and laser field after tunneling is investigated. We present results of Monte-Carlo simulations built on the two-step semiclassical model, as well as analytic estimates and scaling relations for the population trapping into the Rydberg states. It is shown that mainly those electrons are captured into bound states of the neutral atom that due to their initial conditions (i) have moderate drift momentum imparted by the laser field and (ii) avoid strong interaction ("hard" collision) with the ion. In addition, it is demonstrated that the channel of capture, when accounted for in semiclassical calculations, has a pronounced effect on the momentum distribution of electrons with small positive energy. For the parameters that we investigated its presence leads to a dip at zero momentum in the longitudinal momentum distribution of the ionized electrons.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures in one zip-archiv

Temperature Variation of Ultra Slow Light in a Cold Gas

A model is developed to explain the temperature dependence of the group velocity as observed in the experiments of Hau et al (Nature {\bf397}, 594 (1999)). The group velocity is quite sensitive to the change in the spatial density. The inhomogeneity in the density and its temperature dependence are primarily responsible for the observed behavior.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

Multiphoton Ionization as Time-Dependent Tunneling

A new semiclassical approach to ionization by an oscillating field is presented. For a delta-function atom, an asymptotic analysis is performed with respect to a quantity h, defined as the ratio of photon energy to ponderomotive energy. This h appears formally equivalent to Planck's constant in a suitably transformed Schroedinger equation and allows semiclassical methods to be applicable. Systematically, a picture of tunneling wave packets in complex time is developped, which by interference account for the typical ponderomotive features of ionization curves. These analytical results are then compared to numerical simulations and are shown to be in good agreement.Comment: 36 pages (also printable half size), uuencoded compressed tarred Latex file with 9 Postscript figures included automaticall

The effect of parallel static and microwave electric fields on excited hydrogen atoms

Motivated by recent experiments we analyse the classical dynamics of a hydrogen atom in parallel static and microwave electric fields. Using an appropriate representation and averaging approximations we show that resonant ionisation is controlled by a separatrix, and provide necessary conditions for a dynamical resonance to affect the ionisation probability. The position of the dynamical resonance is computed using a high-order perturbation series, and estimate its radius of convergence. We show that the position of the dynamical resonance does not coincide precisely with the ionisation maxima, and that the field switch-on time can dramatically affect the ionisation signal which, for long switch times, reflects the shape of an incipient homoclinic. Similarly, the resonance ionisation time can reflect the time-scale of the separatrix motion, which is therefore longer than conventional static field Stark ionisation. We explain why these effects should be observed in the quantum dynamics. PACs: 32.80.Rm, 33.40.+f, 34.10.+x, 05.45.Ac, 05.45.MtComment: 47 pages, 20 figure

On the absence of bound-state stabilization through short ultra-intense fields

We address the question of whether atomic bound states begin to stabilize in the short ultra-intense field limit. We provide a general theory of ionization probability and investigate its gauge invariance. For a wide range of potentials we find an upper and lower bound by non-perturbative methods, which clearly exclude the possibility that the ultra intense field might have a stabilizing effect on the atom. For short pulses we find almost complete ionization as the field strength increases.Comment: 34 pages Late

On the Influence of Pulse Shapes on Ionization Probability

We investigate analytical expressions for the upper and lower bounds for the ionization probability through ultra-intense shortly pulsed laser radiation. We take several different pulse shapes into account, including in particular those with a smooth adiabatic turn-on and turn-off. For all situations for which our bounds are applicable we do not find any evidence for bound-state stabilization.Comment: 21 pages LateX, 10 figure

Stochastic ionization through noble tori: Renormalization results

We find that chaos in the stochastic ionization problem develops through the break-up of a sequence of noble tori. In addition to being very accurate, our method of choice, the renormalization map, is ideally suited for analyzing properties at criticality. Our computations of chaos thresholds agree closely with the widely used empirical Chirikov criterion

Strong-field control of x-ray absorption

Strong optical laser fields modify the way x rays interact with matter. This allows us to use x rays to gain deeper insight into strong-field processes. Alternatively, optical lasers may be utilized to control the propagation of x rays through a medium. Gas-phase systems are particularly suitable for illustrating the basic principles underlying combined x-ray and laser interactions. Topics addressed include the impact of spin-orbit interaction on the alignment of atomic ions produced in a strong laser field, electromagnetically induced transparency in the x-ray regime, and laser-induced alignment of molecules.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, LaTe