Polarization dependence in inelastic scattering of electrons by hydrogen atoms in a circularly polarized laser field
We theoretically study the influence of laser polarization in inelastic scattering of electrons by hydrogen atoms in the presence of a circularly polarized laser field in the domain of field strengths below $10^{7}$ V/cm and high projectile energies. A semi-perturbative approach is used in which the interaction of the projectile electrons with the laser field is described by Gordon-Volkov wave functions, while the interaction of the hydrogen atom with the laser field is described by first-order time-dependent perturbation theory. A \textit{closed analytical solution} is derived in laser-assisted inelastic electron-hydrogen scattering for the $1s \to nl$ excitation cross section which is valid for both circular and linear polarizations. For the excitation of the $n=2$ levels simple analytical expressions of differential cross section are derived for laser-assisted inelastic scattering in the perturbative domain, and the differential cross sections by the circularly and linearly polarized laser fields and their ratios for one- and two-photon absorption are calculated as a function of the scattering angle. Detailed numerical results for the angular dependence and the resonance structure of the differential cross sections is discussed for the $1s \to 4l$ excitations of hydrogen in a circularly polarized laser field.