Strong field ionization in arbitrary laser polarizations

Summary form only given. Numerical models have been developed in the 1990s; however, most theoretical investigations have dealt only with linearly polarized light. The reason for this is that al least two dimensions are needed for the case of arbitrary polarization, and current three dimensional approaches are unable to deal with the enormous basis set needed to represent (for arbitrary polarization) the evolving wave function. Consequently, little work has been carried out for the general case of atomic response in the plane of an arbitrary laser polarization. We have developed a method for numerically integrating the two-dimensional Schrodinger equation without using a restrictive basis expansion, enabling us to study light of arbitrary polarization and with realistic frequencies, interacting within a two-dimensional representation of a hydrogenic atom.