Time Operator, Real Tunneling Time in Strong Field Interaction and the Attoclock

Ossama Kullie

doi:10.3390/quantum2020015

Abstract

Attosecond science, beyond its importance from application point of view, is of a fundamental interest in physics. The measurement of tunneling time in attosecond experiments offers a fruitful opportunity to understand the role of time in quantum mechanics. In the present work, we show that our real T-time relation derived in earlier works can be derived from an observable or a time operator, which obeys an ordinary commutation relation. Moreover, we show that our real T-time can also be constructed, inter alia, from the well-known Aharonov–Bohm time operator. This shows that the specific form of the time operator is not decisive, and dynamical time operators relate identically to the intrinsic time of the system. It contrasts the famous Pauli theorem, and confirms the fact that time is an observable, i.e., the existence of time operator and that the time is not a parameter in quantum mechanics. Furthermore, we discuss the relations with different types of tunneling times, such as Eisenbud–Wigner time, dwell time, and the statistically or probabilistic defined tunneling time. We conclude with the hotly debated interpretation of the attoclock measurement and the advantage of the real T-time picture versus the imaginary one.

Highlights

IntroductionAttosecond science (attosecond = 10−18 s) concerns primarily electronic motion and energy transport on atomic scales
Attosecond science concerns primarily electronic motion and energy transport on atomic scales
As we found τEWS permits a scattering mechanism interpretation for the tunneling time (T-time) total = τ where the attoclock offset angle (ACOA) corresponds to a real τEWS

Summary

Introduction

Attosecond science (attosecond = 10−18 s) concerns primarily electronic motion and energy transport on atomic scales. Our T-time is in good agreement with the attosecond (angular streaking) experiment for He-atom [1] with the experimental finding of Eckle et al [4,5,6], and for hydrogen atoms [7] with the experimental finding of Sainadh et al [8]. Our model presents a real T-time picture or a delay time with respect to the ionization time at atomic field strength Fa (see below, compare Figure 1). Our T-time model is interesting for the tunneling theory in general because it relates T-time to the energy gap or the height of the barrier [1,2]. The role of time has been controversial since the appearance of quantum mechanics (QM)

Objectives

Discussion

Conclusion