arXiv subjects

Lars Bojer Madsen

Publications and source records attributed to Lars Bojer Madsen.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Coherent scattering of an optically-modulated electron beam by atoms

Recent technological advances allowed the coherent optical manipulation of high-energy electron wavepackets with attosecond precision. Here we theoretically investigate the collision of optically-modulated pulsed electron beams with atomic targets and reveal a quantum interference associated with different momentum components of the incident broadband electron pulse, which coherently modulates both the elastic and inelastic scattering cross sections. We show that the quantum interference has a high spatial sensitivity at the level of Angstroms, offering potential applications in high-resolution ultrafast electron microscopy. Our findings are rationalized by a simple model.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2021

Nonadiabatic effects in attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy

We study effects of nonadiabatic couplings in a model of a diatomic molecule in the context of attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. By using a model system consisting of four diabatic electronic states and with a variable strength of the diabatic coupling, we can explore attosecond transient absorption spectra in different regimes of the vibronic couplings between the electronic and nuclear dynamics, and determine when nonadiabatic couplings can be ignored or when they have a substantial effect. The findings are rationalized in terms of a multilevel model, which captures aspects of both electronic and nuclear degrees of freedom.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2020

Photoionization of aligned excited states in neon by attosecond laser pulses

We describe numerically the ionization process induced by linearly and circularly polarized XUV attosecond laser pulses on an aligned atomic target, specifically, the excited state Ne$^*(1s^22s^22p^5[{}^2\text{P}^\text{o}_{1/2}]3s[^1\text{P}^o])$. We compute the excited atomic state by applying the time-dependent restricted-active-space self-consistent field (TD-RASSCF) method to fully account for the electronic correlation. We find that correlation-assisted ionization channels can dominate over channels accessible without correlation. We also observe that the rotation of the photoelectron momentum distribution by circularly polarized laser pulses compared to the case of linear polarization can be explained in terms of differences in accessible ionization channels. This study shows that it is essential to include electron correlation effects to obtain an accurate description of the photoelectron emission dynamics from aligned excited states.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2020

Edge-state-induced correlation effects in two-color high-harmonic generation

We show that two-color high-harmonic spectroscopy can reveal finite-size and edge-state-induced dynamic electron correlation effects in a generic nanostructured band-gap material. Compared to the response of a bulk sample, we demonstrate a significant correlation-induced increase in the efficiency of the generated signal over a wide range of frequencies by harnessing the power of these ultrafast many-electron dynamics.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2020

Multielectron effects in strong-field ionization of oriented OCS

We present theoretical calculations of orientation-dependent total ionization yields from the highest occupied molecular orbitals of the oriented OCS molecule by solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation in three dimensions. The calculations were performed within the single-active-electron approximation including multielectron polarization. The multielectron polarization term was represented by an induced dipole term which contains the polarizability of the OCS + cation parallel to the laser polarization. Upon accounting for multielectron polarization, the calculated total ionization yields and their orientation dependence are in good agreement with experimental data.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2020

Crystal-momentum-resolved contributions to multiple plateaus of high-order harmonic generation from band-gap materials

We study the crystal-momentum-resolved contributions to the high-order harmonic generation (HHG) in band-gap materials, and identify the relevant initial crystal momenta for the first and higher plateaus of the HHG spectra. We do so by using a time-dependent density-functional theory model of one-dimensional linear chains. We introduce a self-consistent periodic treatment for the infinitely extended limit of the linear chain model, which provides a convenient way to simulate and discuss the HHG from a perfect crystal beyond the single-active-electron approximation. The multi-plateau spectral feature is elucidated by a semiclassical k-space trajectory analysis with multiple conduction bands taken into account. In the considered laser-interaction regime, the multiple plateaus beyond the first cutoff are found to stem mainly from electrons with initial crystal momenta away from the Gamma point (k = 0), while electrons with initial crystal momenta located around the Gamma point are responsible for the harmonics in the first plateau. We also show that similar findings can be obtained from calculations using a sufficiently large finite model, which proves to mimic the corresponding infinite periodic limit in terms of the band structures and the HHG spectra.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2020

Time-resolved Spectroscopy of Interparticle Coulombic Decay Processes

We report theory for time-resolved spectator resonant Interparticle Coulombic Decay (ICD) processes. Following excitation by a short extreme ultraviolet pulse, the spectrum of the resonant ICD electron develops. Strong-field ionization is imagined to quench the decay at different time delays and to initiate regular ICD. In this latter process, the ICD electron signal can be measured without interference effects. The typical lifetimes of ICD processes allow for the observation of oscillations of the time- and energy-differential ionization probability. We propose to utilize this oscillation to measure lifetimes of electronic decay processes.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Enhanced high-order harmonic generation in donor-doped band-gap materials

We find that a donor-doped band-gap material can enhance the overall high-order harmonic generation (HHG) efficiency by several orders of magnitude, compared with undoped and acceptor-doped materials. This significant enhancement, predicted by time-dependent density functional theory simulations, originates from the highest-occupied impurity state which has an isolated energy located within the band gap. The impurity-state HHG is rationalized by a three-step model, taking into account that the impurity-state electron tunnels into the conduction band and then moves according to its band structure until recombination. In addition to the improvement of the HHG efficiency, the donor-type doping results in a harmonic cutoff different from that in the undoped and acceptor-doped cases, explained by semiclassical analysis for the impurity-state HHG.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Electron correlation effects in enhanced-ionization of diatomic molecules in near-infrared fields

We investigate electron correlation effects in internuclear-distance-dependent enhanced ionization of $\mathrm{H}_2$, $\mathrm{LiH}$, and $\mathrm{HF}$ molecules by intense near-infrared laser pulses using a 3D description of the systems with the time-dependent generalized-active-space configuration-interaction method. This method systematically incorporates electron-electron correlation of the quantum many-electron system under consideration. Our correlated description of diatomic molecules shows that enhanced ionization occurs at certain critical internuclear separations and electron correlation systematically improves the ionization probability in this process until convergence is reached. We demonstrate the failure of the single-active-electron and the configuration-interaction singles approximations to produce the correct internuclear position and probability of the strong-field enhanced-ionization process. We elucidate the role of low-lying electronic excited states in the enhanced ionization process of diatomic molecules. There is clear evidence that an accurate description of low-lying electronically excited states is important to describe the non-perturbative enhanced ionization phenomenon in the ultrashort intense near infrared laser pulses.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2018

Effects of core space and excitation levels on ground-state correlation and photoionization dynamics of Be and Ne

We explore the effects of correlation on the ground-state energies and on photoionization dynamics in atomic Be and Ne. We apply the time-dependent restricted-active-space self-consistent-field method for several excitation schemes and active orbital spaces with and without a dynamic core to address the effects systematically at different levels of approximation. For the ground-state many-electron wave functions, we compare the correlation energies with entropic measures of entanglement. A larger magnitude of the correlation energy does not always correspond to a larger value of the considered entanglement measures. To evaluate the impact of correlation in a process involving continua, we consider photoionization by attosecond pulses. The photoelecton spectra may be significantly affected by including a dynamical core.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2018

Attosecond transient-absorption spectroscopy of polar molecules

We apply attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy (ATAS) to explore the effects of a nonzero permanent dipole on electron dynamics at the subfemtosecond scale, exemplified in the polar LiF molecule. In contrast with nonpolar systems, a familiar feature of the ATA spectra--the light-induced structures--are observed adjacent to a bright state. Moreover, a previously unobserved ladder structure is identified. The new observations are analyzed in the context of a model based on fixed-nuclei adiabatic states, supported by full numerical simulations. Analytic calculations originating in the adiabatic model shed light on the nature and origins of the new findings.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2018

Entangled Quantum Dynamics of Many-Body Systems using Bohmian Trajectories

Bohmian mechanics is an interpretation of quantum mechanics that describes the motion of quantum particles with an ensemble of deterministic trajectories. Several attempts have been made to utilize Bohmian trajectories as a computational tool to simulate quantum systems consisting of many particles, a very demanding computational task. In this paper, we present a novel ab-initio approach to solve the many-body problem for bosonic systems by evolving a system of one-particle wavefunctions representing pilot waves that guide the Bohmian trajectories of the quantum particles. In this approach, quantum entanglement effects arise due to the interactions between different configurations of Bohmian particles evolving simultaneously. The method is used to study the breathing dynamics and ground state properties in a system of interacting bosons.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Multispecies time-dependent restricted-active-space self-consistent-field theory for ultracold atomic and molecular gases

We discuss the multispecies time-dependent restricted-active-space self-consistent-field theory, an \textit{ab initio} wavefunction-based theory for mixtures of ultracold atomic and molecular gases. We present the general theory, based on the time-dependent variational principle, and derive the equations of motion. The theory captures in a time-dependent setting, via the specification of the restricted-active-space scheme, different levels of approximation from the mean-field to the full configuration interaction approach. To assess its accuracy and to illustrate its ability to identify correlation effects at successive approximation levels, we apply the theory to compute the ground state energy of a Bose-Bose mixture interacting through a harmonic potential, for which the exact ground state energy is known analytically. We focus on the case of an ideal Bose gas interacting with a few impurities. The intra-species interaction between the impurities is relatively strong compared to the inter-species interaction between the impurities and the ideal noninteracting Bose gas. For this system, we find that an accurate description of the ground state necessitates the possibility of the theory to account for few-particle excitations out of the condensed phase; a situation well accounted for by the present restricted-active-space theory for mixtures; and not within reach for approaches not incorporating orbital-restriction schemes.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Finite-system effects on high-harmonic generation: from atoms to solids

Using time-dependent density functional theory, high-harmonic generation (HHG) is studied in one-dimensional structures of sizes from a single nucleus up to hundreds of nuclei. The HHG cutoff is observed to extent linearly with the system size from the well known atomic HHG cutoff and is found to converge into the previously observed cutoffs for bulk solids only for large systems. A change in the response from that of single atoms or small molecules is observed from system sizes of $N$ $\approx$ 6 nuclei and becomes independent of system size at $N \gtrsim 60$. The system-size dependence of the observed HHG cutoffs is found to follow the limitations, set by the finite size solid, on the classical motion of electron-hole pairs. Because of the relation between recombination energy and electron-hole propagation length in the system, high-energy recombination events are not possible in small systems but become accessible for larger systems resulting in the change of the cutoff energies with system size. When varying the field intensity we observe that the cutoffs move linearly with the intensity even for small systems of $N\gtrsim 6$ that are far from the limit of a bulk solid.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2017

Attosecond photoionization dynamics in neon

We study the role of electron-electron correlation in the ground-state of Ne, as well as in photoionization dynamics induced by an attosecond XUV pulse. For a selection of central photon energies around 100 eV, we find that while the mean-field time-dependent Hartree-Fock method provides qualitatively correct results for the total ionization yield, the photoionization cross section, the photoelectron momentum distribution as well as for the time-delay in photoionization, electron-electron correlation is important for a quantitative description of these quantities.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2017

Analytic modeling of structures in attosecond transient-absorption spectra

Attosecond transient-absorption spectroscopy (ATAS) is an established method for exploring electron dynamics on the subfemtosecond time-scale. ATAS spectra contain certain ubiquitous features, such as oscillating fringes, light-induced structures and hyperbolic sidebands, representing physical processes. We derive closed analytical expressions describing these features, based on a three-level system responding adiabatically to the influence of an infrared field in conjunction with an extreme ultraviolet pulse, and use He to illustrate the theory. The validity of the formulas is substantiated by comparing their predictions with spectra calculated numerically by the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. The closed analytical forms and the details of their derivation resolve the origins of the features.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2017

Electron correlation in beryllium: Effects in ground state, short-pulse photoionization and time-delay studies

We apply a three-dimensional (3D) implementation of the time-dependent restricted-active-space self-consistent-field (TD-RASSCF) method to investigate effects of electron correlation in the ground state of Be as well as in its photoionization dynamics by short XUV pulses, including time-delay in photoionization. First, we obtain the ground state by propagation in imaginary time. We show that the flexibility of the TD-RASSCF on the choice of the active orbital space makes it possible to consider only relevant active space orbitals, facilitating the convergence to the ground state compared to the multiconfigurational time-dependent Hartree-Fock method, used as a benchmark to show the accuracy and efficiency of TD-RASSCF. Second, we solve the equations of motion to compute photoelectron spectra of Be after interacting with a short linearly polarized XUV laser pulse. We compare the spectra for different RAS schemes, and in this way we identify the orbital spaces that are relevant for an accurate description of the photoelectron spectra. Finally, we investigate the effects of electron correlation on the magnitude of the relative time-delay in the photoionization process into two different ionic channels. One channel, the ground state channel in the ion, is accessible without electron correlation. The other channel is only accessible when including electron correlation. The time-delay is highly sensitivity to the choice of the active space, and hence to the account of electron-electron correlation.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2016

High-order harmonic generation from gapped graphene: perturbative response and transition to non-perturbative regime

We consider the interaction of gapped graphene in the two-band approximation using an explicit time-dependent approach. In addition to the full high-order harmonic generation (HHG) spectrum, we also obtain the perturbative harmonic response using the time-dependent method at photon energies covering all the significant features in the responses. The transition from the perturbative to the fully non-perturbative regime of HHG at these photon energies is studied in detail.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗