Reconciling Conflicting Approaches for the Tunneling Time Delay in Strong Field Ionization

Several recent attoclock experiments have investigated the fundamental question of a quantum mechanically induced time delay in tunneling ionization via extremely precise photoelectron momentum spectroscopy. The interpretations of those attoclock experimental results were controversially discussed, because the entanglement of the laser and Coulomb field did not allow for theoretical treatments without undisputed approximations. The method of semiclassical propagation matched with the tunneled wave function, the quasistatic Wigner theory, the analytical R-matrix theory, the backpropagation method, and the under-the-barrier recollision theory are the leading conceptual approaches put forward to treat this problem, however, with seemingly conflicting conclusions on the existence of a tunneling time delay. To resolve the contradicting conclusions of the different approaches, we consider a very simple tunneling scenario which is not plagued with complications stemming from the Coulomb potential of the atomic core, avoids consequent controversial approximations and, therefore, allows us to unequivocally identify the origin of the tunneling time delay.

High-Brilliance Ultranarrow-Band X Rays via Electron Radiation in Colliding Laser Pulses

A setup of a unique x-ray source is put forward employing a relativistic electron beam interacting with two counterpropagating laser pulses in the nonlinear few-photon regime. In contrast to Compton scattering sources, the envisaged x-ray source exhibits an extremely narrow relative bandwidth of the order of 10^{-4}, comparable with an x-ray free-electron laser. The brilliance of the x rays can be an order of magnitude higher than that of a state-of-the-art Compton source. By tuning the laser intensities and the electron energy, one can realize either a single peak or a comblike x-ray source of around keV energy. The laser intensity and the electron energy in the suggested setup are rather moderate, rendering this scheme compact and tabletop size, as opposed to x-ray free-electron laser and synchrotron infrastructures.

Manipulation of the Vacuum to Control Its Field-Induced Decay

It has long been predicted that permanent electron-positron pairs can be created from the quantum vacuum at those spatial regions where an external electric field exceeds a supercritical value. By solving the Dirac equation numerically, we show that the yield of the created positrons at targeted energies can be controlled via a second (subcritical) electric field that is placed far outside the creation zone. This is a clear indication of the nonlocal character of the pair-creation process, as the second field can be placed at distant spatial regions that are never visited by the created positrons. This counterintuitive phenomenon can be understood in terms of a dressing of the vacuum state long before the particles are actually created. We present an analytical expression for the spectrum of the created particles that describes all quantitative features of this dressing and predicts how the second field can be used to increase as well as decrease the electron-positron yield for desired energies.

Noncompeting channel approach to pair creation in supercritical fields

The Dirac and Klein-Gordon equations are solved on a space-time grid to study the strong-field induced pair creation process for bosons and fermions from the vacuum. If the external field is sufficiently strong to induce bound states that are embedded in the negative energy continuum, a complex scaling technique of the Hamiltonian can predict the longtime behavior of the dynamics. In the case of multiple bound states this technique predicts the occurrence of a new collective time scale. The longtime behavior of the pair creation is not determined by a single (most important) channel, but collectively by the sum of all individual widths of the embedded states.

Magnetic control of the pair creation in spatially localized supercritical fields

We examine the impact of a perpendicular magnetic field on the creation mechanism of electron-positron pairs in a supercritical static electric field, where both fields are localized along the direction of the electric field. In the case where the spatial extent of the magnetic field exceeds that of the electric field, quantum field theoretical simulations based on the Dirac equation predict a suppression of pair creation even if the electric field is supercritical. Furthermore, an arbitrarily small magnetic field outside the interaction zone can bring the creation process even to a complete halt, if it is sufficiently extended. The mechanism for this magnetically induced complete shutoff can be associated with a reopening of the mass gap and the emergence of electrically dressed Landau levels.