Erratum: Semirelativistic Schrödinger Equation for Relativistic Laser-Matter Interactions [Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 253202 (2018)].

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.253202.

Semirelativistic Schrödinger Equation for Relativistic Laser-Matter Interactions.

A semirelativistic formulation of light-matter interaction is derived using the so called propagation gauge and the relativistic mass shift. We show that relativistic effects induced by a superintense laser field can, to a surprisingly large extent, be accounted for by the Schrödinger equation, provided that we replace the rest mass in the propagation gauge Hamiltonian by the corresponding time-dependent field-dressed mass. The validity of the semirelativistic approach is tested numerically on a hydrogen atom exposed to an intense extreme ultraviolet laser pulse strong enough to accelerate the electron towards relativistic velocities. It is found that while the results obtained from the ordinary (nonrelativistic) Schrödinger equation generally differ from those of the Dirac equation, demonstrating that relativistic effects are significant, the semirelativistic formulation provides results in quantitative agreement with a fully relativistic treatment.

Nonsequential two-photon double ionization of atoms: identifying the mechanism.

We develop an approximate model for the process of direct (nonsequential) two-photon double ionization of atoms. Employing the model, we calculate (generalized) total cross sections as well as energy-resolved differential cross sections of helium for photon energies ranging from 39 to 54 eV. A comparison with results of ab initio calculations reveals that the agreement is at a quantitative level. We thus demonstrate that this complex ionization process can be described by the simple model, providing insight into the underlying physical mechanism. Finally, we use the model to calculate generalized cross sections for the two-photon double ionization of neon in the nonsequential regime.

Nuclear interference in the Coulomb explosion of H2+ in short vuv laser fields.

We report ab initio calculations of H2+ three-photon ionization by vuv/fs 10(12) W/cm(2) laser pulses including electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom in the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. The initial nuclear wave packet of H2+(1ssigma(g)) is assumed to be equal to the H2 vibrational ground state. For pulse durations longer than 10 fs, we find an unexpected modulation in the kinetic energy spectra of the correlated fragments (H++H+). It is shown that the structures in the spectra originate from the interference between a direct and a sequential dissociation channel. While the first channel is open even for relatively short pulses, the sequential one only opens for pulse durations longer than 10 fs. In the latter case we show that interference between the two components results in a modulated kinetic energy release spectrum in the dissociation channel 3dsigma(g), which is reflected in the ionization spectrum.