Laser-assisted nuclear photoeffect

Abstract

Proton emission from nuclei via the nuclear photoeffect in the combined electromagnetic fields of a gamma-ray photon and an intense laser wave is studied. An S-matrix approach to the process is developed by utilizing methods known from the theory of nonperturbative laser-atom interactions. As a specific example, photo-proton ejection from halo nuclei is considered. We show that, due to the presence of the laser field, rich sideband structures arise in the photo-proton energy spectra. Their dependence on the parameters and relative orientation of the photon fields is discussed.