arXiv subjects

J. M. Rost

Publications and source records attributed to J. M. Rost.

30 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2005

Relaxation to non-equilibrium in expanding ultracold neutral plasmas

We investigate the strongly correlated ion dynamics and the degree of coupling achievable in the evolution of freely expanding ultracold neutral plasmas. We demonstrate that the ionic Coulomb coupling parameter $Γ_{\rm i}$ increases considerably in later stages of the expansion, reaching the strongly coupled regime despite the well-known initial drop of $Γ_{\rm i}$ to order unity due to disorder-induced heating. Furthermore, we formulate a suitable measure of correlation and show th at $Γ_{\rm i}$ calculated from the ionic temperature and density reflects the degree of order in the system if it is sufficiently close to a quasisteady state. At later times, however, the expansion of the plasma cloud becomes faster than the relaxation of correlations, and the system does not reach thermodynamic equilibrium anymore.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2004

Influence of electron-ion collisions on Coulomb crystallization of ultracold neutral plasmas

While ion heating by elastic electron-ion collisions may be neglected for a description of the evolution of freely expanding ultracold neutral plasmas, the situation is different in scenarios where the ions are laser-cooled during the system evolution. We show that electron-ion collisions in laser-cooled plasmas influence the ionic temperature, decreasing the degree of correlation obtainable in such systems. However, taking into account the collisions increases the ion temperature much less than what would be estimated based on static plasma clouds neglecting the plasma expansion. The latter leads to both adiabatic cooling of the ions as well as, more importantly, a rapid decrease of the collisional heating rate.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2004

Surface plasma resonance in small rare gas clusters by mixing IR and VUV laser pulses

The ionization dynamics of a Xenon cluster with 40 atoms is analyzed under a pum p probe scenario of laser pulses where an infrared laser pulse of 50 fs length follows with a well defined time delay a VUV pulse of the same length and peak intensity. The mechanism of resonant energy absorption due to the coinc idence of the IR laser frequency with the frequency of collective motion of quasi free electrons in the cluster is mapped out by varying the time delay between the pulses.

physics.atm-clus↗

arXiv2004

On the recombination in high-order harmonic generation in molecules

We show that the dependence of high-order harmonic generation (HHG) on the molecular orientation can be understood within a theoretical treatment that does not involve the strong field of the laser. The results for H_2 show excellent agreement with time-dependent strong field calculations for model molecules, and this motivates a prediction for the orientation dependence of HHG from the N_2 3s_g valence orbital. For both molecules, we find that the polarization of recombination photons is influenced by the molecular orientation. The variations are particularly pronounced for the N_2 valence orbital, which can be explained by the presence of atomic p-orbitals.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2004

Kinetic modelling and molecular dynamics simulation of ultracold neutral plasmas including ionic correlations

A kinetic approach for the evolution of ultracold neutral plasmas including interionic correlations and the treatment of ionization/excitation and recombination/deexcitation by rate equations is described in detail. To assess the reliability of the approximations inherent in the kinetic model, we have developed a hybrid molecular dynamics method. Comparison of the results reveals that the kinetic model describes the atomic and ionic observables of the ultracold plasma surprisingly well, confirming our earlier findings concerning the role of ion-ion correlations [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 68}, 010703]. In addition, the molecular dynamics approach allows one to study the relaxation of the ionic plasma component towards thermodynamical equilibrium.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2004

On the possibility of "correlation cooling" of ultracold neutral plasmas

Recent experiments with ultracold neutral plasmas show an intrinsic heating effect based on the development of spatial correlations. We investigate whether this effect can be reversed, so that imposing strong spatial correlations could in fact lead to cooling of the ions. We find that cooling is indeed possible. It requires, however, a very precise preparation of the initial state. Quantum mechanical zero-point motion sets a lower limit for ion cooling.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2003

Long-time and unitary properties of semiclassical initial value representations

We numerically compare the semiclassical ``frozen Gaussian'' Herman-Kluk propagator [Chem. Phys. 91, 27 (1984)] and the ``thawed Gaussian'' propagator put forward recently by Baranger et al. [J. Phys. A 34, 7227 (2001)] by studying the quantum dynamics in some nonlinear one-dimensional potentials. The reasons for the lack of long time accuracy and norm conservation in the latter method are uncovered. We amend the thawed Gaussian propagator with a global harmonic approximation for the stability of the trajectories and demonstrate that this revised propagator is a true alternative to the Herman-Kluk propagator with similar accuracy.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2003

Coulomb crystallization in expanding laser-cooled neutral plasmas

We present long-time simulations of expanding ultracold neutral plasmas, including a full treatment of the strongly coupled ion dynamics. Thereby, the relaxation dynamics of the expanding laser-cooled plasma is studied, taking into account elastic as well as inelastic collisions. It is demonstrated that, depending on the initial conditions, the ionic component of the plasma may exhibit short-range order or even a superimposed long-range order resulting in concentric ion shells. In contrast to ionic plasmas confined in traps, the shell structures are built up from the center of the plasma cloud rather than from the periphery.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2003

Small rare gas clusters in soft X-ray pulses

We develop a microscopic model for the interaction of small rare gas clusters with soft X-ray radiation. It is shown that, while the overall charging of the clusters is rather low, unexpectedly high atomic charge states can arise due to charge imbalances inside the cluster. The mechanism does not require unusually high absorption rates, and the heating can be described by standard inverse bremsstrahlung formulae.

physics.atm-clus↗

arXiv2003

On the role of shake-off in single-photon double ionization

The role of shake-off for double ionization of atoms by a single photon with finite energy has become the subject of debate. In this letter, we attempt to clarify the meaning of shake-off at low photon energies by comparing different formulations appearing in the literature and by suggesting a working definition. Moreover, we elaborate on the foundation and justification of a mixed quantum-classical ansatz for the calculation of single-photon double ionization.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2003

Plasma formation from ultracold Rydberg gases

Recent experiments have demonstrated the spontaneous evolution of a gas of ultracold Rydberg atoms into an expanding ultracold plasma, as well as the reverse process of plasma recombination into highly excited atomic states. Treating the evolution of the plasma on the basis of kinetic equations, while ionization/excitation and recombination are incorporated using rate equations, we have investigated theoretically the Rydberg-to-plasma transition. Including the influence of spatial correlations on the plasma dynamics in an approximate way we find that ionic correlations change the results only quantitatively but not qualitatively.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2001

Resonant enhancements of high-order harmonic generation

Solving the one-dimensional time-dependent Schrödinger equation for simple model potentials, we investigate resonance-enhanced high-order harmonic generation, with emphasis on the physical mechanism of the enhancement. By truncating a long-range potential, we investigate the significance of the long-range tail, the Rydberg series, and the existence of highly excited states for the enhancements in question. We conclude that the channel closings typical of a short-range or zero-range potential are capable of generating essentially the same effects.

physics.atom-ph↗