Influence of quantum transitions in the continuum on ionization of atoms in strong fields

Abstract

The tight-binding method is used to analyze the ionization of a hydrogenlike atom by an intense monochromatic laser field. The orthogonal and normalized basis in which the solution of the time-dependent Schrodinger equation is expanded contains unperturbed wave functions of the discrete spectrum and generalized Coulomb wave functions of the continuum. In the solution of the coupled equations we make use of the fact that the bound-free and free-free transitions are efficient in different regions of complex time. Simplified equations are constructed and investigated. Results of calculations for ionization of a hydrogen atom from its ground state and of the energy distribution of the electrons in strong and superstrong linearly polarized fields are presented. It is shown that in this case the ground state decays completely, and free-free transitions play a defining role in the dynamics of the process. It is established that the total probability of population of the upper Rydberg states abutting the continuum does not exceed 0.05. The range of applicability of the approach is discussed. A comparison with numerical results obtained by other authors is given.