Strong-Field and Attosecond Theory

 Strong-Field and Attosecond Science deals with matter in extreme conditions:  Extreme intensities, of the order of 10  W/cm   or higher, and ultrashort time scales, of the order of attoseconds (10  s).  These are some of the shortest time scales in nature, and open up the possibility for steering electron dynamics in real time. Electrons influence chemical bonds, and carry energy in a wide range of systems, such as biomolecules, solids and nanostructure. Therefore,  attoscience may have a huge impact in several areas of knowledge, such as chemistry, physics and biology and even lead to optoelectronic computers with switching rates 100,000 times higher than existing  systems. The modeling of strong-field phenomena has posed a great challenge due to the extremely short scales involved and because the external laser field can no longer be treated as a perturbation. This means that alternative methods are needed to describe the attosecond  dynamics of matter.

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Research interests include high-order harmonic generation and above-threshold ionization in atoms and molecules, correlated multielectron processes in strong fields, attosecond pulses, tailored fields, ultrafast imaging and photoelectron holography. We also bring novel approaches from other areas, such as quantum chemistry and mathematical physics, to attoscience. In recent years, we have focused on quantum effects in the attosecond domain, and on novel approaches such as the Coulomb Quantum Orbit Strong-Field Approximation (CQSFA). Further research (beyond attoscience) includes non-Hermitian Hamiltonian systems, and short-pulse propagation.