Attosecond light pulses offer opportunities to conduct the most direct and versatile measurements of fast electron dynamics in atoms, molecules, and solids. The interpretation of such measurements is often a challenging task. In order to gain new insights into attosecond-scale quantum dynamics, we make use of extensive simulations and different levels of approximation, often facing the need to advance known theoretical methods and develop new models.
Progress in attosecond science depends on advances in the generation of attosecond pulses: shorter and more intense pulses in the extreme-ultraviolet range enable measurements of effects that would otherwise remain unresolved, while the availability of sufficiently intense pulses in the soft X-ray range would enable many attosecond experiments that cannot be performed nowadays. This motivates us to investigate new regimes of attosecond pulse generation enabled by recent advances in laser technology.
The comparison of experiment with theory is an essential part of research. To properly interpret attosecond measurements, we advance analysis techniques and study, in collaboration with other research groups, underlying many-electron dynamics. This includes modelling attosecond streaking measurements on atoms and molecules within or beyond the single-active electron approximation, and developing advanced algorithms for the analysis of attosecond streaking measurements. The outstanding question here is how the electron motion is affected by electron-electron interactions in systems of ever increasing complexity, since understanding these dynamics would allow us to control matter on the level of electrons.
contact: V. S. Yakovlev