Strong field physics in open quantum systems

TL;DR

This paper develops a new strong field model incorporating many-body environment effects via a heat bath, overcoming limitations of traditional dephasing approximations in intense laser physics, and enabling exploration of novel phenomena.

Contribution

It introduces a simplified yet effective model for many-body effects in strong-field physics, improving accuracy over relaxation time approximations.

Findings

Ionization can be greatly enhanced or suppressed in extreme regimes.

The model captures many-body effects with minimal computational complexity.

New effects in strong-field and attosecond physics are identified.

Abstract

Dephasing is the loss of phase coherence due to the interaction of an electron with the environment. The most common approach to model dephasing in light-matter interaction is the relaxation time approximation. Surprisingly, its use in intense laser physics results in a pronounced failure, because ionization {is highly overestimated.} Here, this shortcoming is corrected by developing a strong field model in which the many-body environment is represented by a heat bath. Our model reveals that ionization enhancement and suppression by several orders of magnitude are still possible, however only in more extreme parameter regimes. Our approach allows the integration of many-body physics into intense laser dynamics with minimal computational and mathematical complexity, thus facilitating the identification of novel effects in strong-field physics and attosecond {science}.