Observation of Strong Electron Correlation in Planetary Atomic Structure

TL;DR

This study provides direct experimental evidence of strong electron correlation in planetary atomic systems through multi-photon double ionization measurements, revealing how doubly excited states influence electron dynamics.

Contribution

It demonstrates the role of doubly excited states in correlated electron emission during laser-driven double ionization in cold atoms, a novel insight into electron correlation mechanisms.

Findings

Identification of well-defined energy and angular electron correlations.

Confirmation of doubly excited states as transition states in ionization.

Evidence of synchronous excitation and ionization via resonant DES transitions.

Abstract

Unravelling two-electron correlation is a long-standing challenge at the heart of few-body quantum physics, underlying correlated phenomena across atomic, molecular and condensed-matter science. In prototypical three-body Coulomb systems, such strong correlation in doubly excited states (DESs) of planetary atomic systems leaves distinct signatures in nonsequential above-threshold double ionization (NS-ATDI) driven by coherent laser fields, yet such targeted study has long remained elusive. Here we present kinematically complete measurements of multi-photon double ionization in cold strontium atoms. Our results reveal a dominant NS-ATDI channel exhibiting well-defined band structures that encode pronounced energy and angular correlations between the two emitted electrons. Autoionization spectra confirm the presence of DESs as transition states that effectively promote the NS-ATDI process. These observations provide direct evidence that both electrons are synchronously excited and ionized via resonant high-lying DES transitions, meaning the structure-linked two-electron correlation of DES is preserved and propagated in the laser-driven time-dependent three-body system. Our work transcends the traditional paradigm of multi-photon double ionization, and fundamentally reshapes the core understanding of intrinsic electron correlation governing many-body systems in nature.