Ionization of hydrogen targets by short laser pulses.

Abstract

We present a distorted-wave formulation of atomic ionization by short laser pulses based on Coulomb-Volkov states. The method is applied to atomic-hydrogen targets, for different interaction times and frequencies. Results are compared with the predictions of an exact numerical treatment, and good agreement is obtained as long as the convergence conditions of the perturbative series hold. The applicability of the method depends on the field intensity but not on the pulse duration, permitting a unified description of various ionization mechanisms.