IMPACT studentship: Coulomb-corrected strong-field theory for laser-induced nonsequential double ionization
Supervisor: Dr Carla Faria (Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London)
The phenomena that occur when matter interacts with an intense laser field are powerful tools for probing structural changes in real time with attosecond (10^-18s) precision. This is a consequence of the fact that such phenomena are caused by the laser-induced recollision or recombination of an electron with its parent ion, which typically occur within hundreds of attoseconds. Controlling how matter evolves in these extremely short timescales may provide answers to fundamental questions, and have a profound impact on physics, chemistry, and biology, and on applied research areas, such as light harvesting technology or medicine. The modelling of strong-field phenomena in multielectron systems, however, is not an easy task. Even for a very simple system such as a diatomic molecule, electron-electron correlation, excitation and the interplay between the binding potentials and the intense laser fields are far from understood. Traditionally, the Coulomb potential is neglected in analytic strong-field theories. The present project aims at developing an analytic approach for strong-field nonsequential double ionization (NSDI) in which the Coulomb potential is incorporated, and which accounts for electron-electron correlation and excitation. This project will involve several analytical methods such as asymptotic expansions, contour integrals, the steepest descent method and also the development of codes. This work will be developed in partnership with Prof Matthias Kling’s experimental group at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, Munich.
Profile: Ideally, the student to be hired should have a background on physics or a related subject, with emphasis on theory. He/she should be interested in analytical methods and have some knowledge of programming languages. Previous knowledge of contour integrals and the steepest descent method are also desirable, but not mandatory. Due to the IMPACT eligibility requirements, he/she should be an EU citizen and/or UK resident.
Duration: 3 years starting from October 2012 or until the position is filled.
Research Environment: Strong-field and attosecond physics is a fast growing area at UCL, with new staff appointments in theory and experiment, several postdoctoral researchers and research students.
Further enquiries can be made by Dr Faria at UCL ([log in to unmask]). For details on Dr Faria's group see www.homepages.ucl.ac.uk/~ucapcfi
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