Hannover 2013 – scientific programme
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A: Fachverband Atomphysik
A 50: Atomic systems in external fields II
A 50.6: Talk
Friday, March 22, 2013, 15:15–15:30, B 302
Spin dynamics in the relativistic Kapitza-Dirac effect — •Sven Ahrens1, Heiko Bauke1, Christoph H. Keitel1, and Carsten Müller1,2 — 1Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117 Heidelberg — 2Institut für Theoretische Physik I, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Universitätsstraße 1, 40225 Düsseldorf
The Kapitza-Dirac effect [1], which is the diffraction of electrons at a standing wave of light, has been observed experimentally in the last decade [2]. The availability of novel high intensity X-ray laser sources calls for a relativistic description of this electron scattering process.
We discuss the quantum dynamics of the electron diffraction by solving the Dirac equation in momentum space [3]. We demonstrate that generalized 3-photon Kapitza-Dirac scattering of the electron with the laser beam occurs if the energy and the momentum of corresponding classical kinematics are conserved. This 3-photon Kapitza-Dirac effect features a tunable electron spin-flip probability. We emphasize the significance of the electron’s spin-degree of freedom by a comparison with corresponding quantum dynamics of the Klein-Gordon equation.
[1] P. L. Kapitza, P. A. M. Dirac, Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 29, 297–300 (1933)
[2] D. L. Freimund, K. Aflatooni, H. Batelaan, Nature 413, 142–143 (2001)
[3] S. Ahrens, H. Bauke, C. H. Keitel, C. Müller, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 043601 (2012)