Ionization dynamics of muonic hydrogen with ultrastrong laser pulses

Abstract We theoretically investigate the ionization dynamics of the muonic hydrogen under an ultrastrong laser field using quantum and semiclassical models, and calculated the photoionization muon momentum spectrum of the muonic hydrogen under ultrastrong extreme ultraviolet (XUV) and infrared light. Typical interference structures in strong field ionization is clearly displayed with XUV light. The results from the Coulomb corrected strong field approximation model agree well with those from time dependent Schrödinger equation calculations. In the ultrastrong infrared wavelength range, both the muon and proton can be driven to achieve high-energy acceleration. Using a scaling law, we conducted a comparative study of electronic hydrogen atoms under scaled laser parameters. We demonstrated the influence of nuclear size on interference fringes at short wavelengths, and the high-energy acceleration and energy distribution between muons and protons at long wavelengths. By tuning the relative phase of two-color laser pulses, one can control the energy change of the muon and proton as well as induce asymmetric directional emission. The ionized muon interference momentum spectrum shows subcycle time resolution and sub-angstrom spatial resolution features, which holds potential value for extracting nuclear structural and ultrafast nuclear dynamics information. The study driven by near-infrared pulses enables the development of high-energy particle sources with enhanced controllability.