Relativistic light-matter interaction
Abstract
During recent years, the ongoing development in laser technology has enabled experiments probing the electronic motion in atoms and molecules. In the hunt for shorter and stronger laser pulses, experimental scenarios may soon enter a regime where relativistic effects play a crucial role in the light-matter interaction. As always, the understanding of nature is intimately coupled between observation and theoretical predictions. This project aims to discern what type of pulse parameters, i.e central frequency, field strength and pulse duration require the light-matter interaction to take relativistic as well as higher order multi-pole effects into account. To do this, the time dependent Dirac equation for hydrogen-like systems interacting with super-intense electromagnetic pulses is solved. We specifically go beyond the electric dipole approximation, a first order type of interaction, that is commonly applied.
