Paper detail

Benchmarking strong-field ionisation with atomic hydrogen

As the simplest atomic system, the hydrogen atom plays a key benchmarking role in laser and quantum physics. Atomic hydrogen is a widely used atomic test system for theoretical calculations of strong-field ionization, since approximate theories can be directly compared to numerical solutions of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. However, relatively little experimental data is available for comparison to these calculations, since atomic hydrogen sources are difficult to construct and use. We review the existing experimental results on strong-field ionization of atomic hydrogen in multi-cycle and few-cycle laser pulses. Quantitative agreement has been achieved between experiment and theoretical predictions at the 10% uncertainty level, and has been used to develop an intensity calibration method with 1% uncertainty. Such quantitative agreement can be used to certify experimental techniques as being free from systematic errors, guaranteeing the accuracy of data obtained on species other than H. We review the experimental and theoretical techniques that enable these results.