Nonlinear optical effects in a nucleus

Abstract

Intense laser technologies generate light with unprecedented and growing intensities. The possibility emerges that a nucleus responds nonlinearly to an intense light field, pointing to an emerging research area of nuclear nonlinear optics. Here we consider two-photon and three-photon absorption (with subsequent disintegration) processes of the deuteron, the simplest and the most fundamental nontrivial nucleus, as prototypes of nuclear nonlinear optical effects. Novel observable effects are predicted. Two-photon and three-photon absorptions are shown to lead to remarkably different angular distributions compared to one-photon absorption. Absorption rates are calculated supporting the feasibility of near-future experimental realization. This work paves a way to the emerging field of nuclear nonlinear optics.