On the cutoff law of laser induced high harmonic spectra

Abstract

The currently well accepted cutoff law for laser induced high harmonic spectra predicts the cutoff energy as a linear combination of two interaction energies, the ponderomotive energy U_p and the atomic biding energy I_p, with coefficients 3.17 and 1.32, respectively. Even though, this law has been there for twenty years or so, the background information for these two constants, such as how they relate to fundamental physics and mathematics constants, is still unknown. This simple fact, keeps this cutoff law remaining as an empirical one. Based on the cutoff property of Bessel functions and the Einstein photoelectric law in the multiphoton case, we show these two coefficients are algebraic constants, 9 - \mathrm{4}\sqrt{\mathrm{2}}≈ 3.34 and \mathrm{2}\sqrt{\mathrm{2}}- 1 ≈ 1.83, respectively. A recent spectra calculation and an experimental measurement support the new cutoff law.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

high harmonic generation / cutoff law / strong laser physics / nonperturbative quantum electrodynamics / Bessel functions / Einstein photoelectric effect

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2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg