IONIZATION OF THE ONE-DIMENSIONAL COULOMB ATOM IN AN INTENSE LASER FIELD

Interaction of the one-dimensional (1D) Coulomb atom with an intense radiation field is analyzed using the ''hard'' Coulomb potential V(c)(x)=-1/\x\ and the ''soft'' Coulomb potential V(x)=-1/square-root x2 + 1. Evolution of the probability wave packet and the photoelectron spectra is simulated numerically. In strong fields it is found (a) that the electron wave packet can break up into individual subpackets, (b) that there is a one-to-one correlation between the subpackets in space and the above-threshold-ionization peaks in energy, and (c) that a spatial confinement of the probability density can occur at a very high intensity. Finally, an example is given which indicates that the 1D ''hard'' Coulomb atom is less stable than the 1D ''soft'' Coulomb atom.