Principal frequency of an ultrashort laser pulse

Abstract

We introduce an alternative definition of the main frequency of an ultrashort laser pulse, the principal frequency $ω_P$. This parameter is complementary to the most accepted and widely used carrier frequency $ω_0$. Given the fact that these ultrashort pulses, also known as transients, have a temporal width comprising only few cycles of the carrier wave, corresponding to a spectral bandwidth $Δω$ covering several octaves, $ω_P$ describes, in a more precise way, the dynamics driven by these sources. We present examples where, for instance, $ω_P$ is able to correctly predict the high-order harmonic cutoff independently of the carrier envelope phase. This is confirmed by solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation in reduced dimensions, supplemented with the time-analysis of the quantum spectra, where it is possible to observe how the sub-cycle electron dynamics is better described using $ω_P$. The concept of $ω_P$, however, can be applied to a large variety of scenarios, not only within the strong field physics domain.