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The relativistic energies and widths of hydrogen-like ions exposed to the uniform electric field are calculated. The calculations are performed for the ground and lowest excited states using the complex scaling technique in combination with a finite-basis method. The obtained results are compared with the non-relativistic values. The role of relativistic effects is investigated., Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures

The problem of spontaneous vacuum decay in low-energy collisions of heavy nuclei is considered beyond the scope of the monopole approximation. The time-dependent Dirac equation is solved in a rotating coordinate system with $z$-axis directed along the internuclear line and the origin placed at the center of mass. The probabilities of electron-positron pair creation and the positron energy spectra are calculated in the approximation neglecting the rotational coupling. The two-center potential is expanded over spherical harmonics and the convergence with respect to the number of terms in this expansion is studied. The results show that taking into account the two-center potential instead of its spherically symmetric part preserves all the signatures of the transition to the supercritical regime that have been found in the framework of the monopole approximation and even enhances some of them., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, 1 table

The behavior of a twisted electron colliding with a linearly polarized laser pulse is investigated within relativistic quantum mechanics. In order to better fit the real experimental conditions, we introduce a Gaussian spatial profile for the initial electron state as well as an envelope function for the laser pulse, so the both interacting objects have a finite size along the laser propagation direction. For this setup we analyze the dynamics of various observable quantities regarding the electron state: the probability density, angular momentum, and mean values of the spatial coordinates. It is shown that the motion of a twisted wavepacket can be accurately described by averaging over classical trajectories with various directions of the transverse momentum component. On the other hand, full quantum simulations demonstrate that the ring structure of the wavepacket in the transverse plane can be significantly distorted leading to large uncertainties in the total angular momentum of the electron. This effect remains after the interaction once the laser pulse has a nonzero electric-field area., Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures

In slow collisions of two bare nuclei with the total charge number larger than the critical value, $Z_{\rm cr} \approx 173$, the initially neutral vacuum can spontaneously decay into the charged vacuum and two positrons. Detection of the spontaneous emission of positrons would be the direct evidence of this fundamental phenomenon. However, the spontaneous emission is generally masked by the dynamical positron emission, which is induced by a strong time-dependent electric field created by the colliding nuclei. In our recent paper [I.A. Maltsev et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 113401 (2019)] it has been shown that the spontaneous pair production can be observed via measurements of the pair-production probabilities for a given set of nuclear trajectories. In the present paper, we have significantly advanced this study by exploring additional aspects of the process we are interested in. We calculate the positron energy spectra and find that these spectra can give a clear signature of the transition from the subcritical to the supercritical regime. It is found that focusing on a part of the positron spectrum, which accounts for the energy region where the spontaneously created positrons can contribute, allows to get a much stronger evidence of the transition to the supercritical mode, making it very well pronounced in collisions, for example, of two uranium nuclei. The possibility of extending this study to collisions of bare nuclei with neutral atoms is also considered. The probability of a vacancy in the lowest-energy state of a quasimolecule which is formed in collisions of a bare U nucleus with neutral U and Cm atoms has been calculated. The relatively large values of this probability make such collisions suitable for observing the vacuum decay., Comment: 18 pages, 22 figures, 1 table Minor corrections, results unchanged

Wavefunction-splitting or mask method, widely used in the non-relativistic calculations of the photoelectron angular distributions, is extended to the relativistic domain within the dipole approximation. Since the closed-form expressions for the relativistic Volkov states are not available within the dipole approximation, we build such states numerically solving a single second-order differential equation. We calculate the photoelectron energy spectra and angular distributions for highly charged ions under different ionization regimes with both the direct and the relativistic mask methods. We show that the relativistic mask method works very well and reproduces the electron energy and angular distributions calculated by the direct method in the energy range where both methods can be used. On the other hand, the relativistic mask method can be applied for longer laser pulses and/or higher photoelectron energies where the direct method may have difficulties.

The behavior of an electron spin interacting with a linearly polarized laser field is analyzed. In contrast to previous considerations of the problem, the initial state of the electron represents a localized wave packet, and a spatial envelope is introduced for the laser pulse, which allows one to take into account the finite size of both objects. Special attention is paid to ultrashort pulses possessing a high degree of unipolarity. Within a classical treatment (both nonrelativistic and relativistic), proportionality between the change of the electron spin projections and the electric field area of the pulse is clearly demonstrated. We also perform calculations of the electron spin dynamics according to the Dirac equation. Evolving the electron wave function in time, we compute the mean values of the spin operator in various forms. It is shown that the classical relativistic predictions are accurately reproduced when using the Foldy-Wouthuysen operator. The same results are obtained when using the Lorentz transformation and the nonrelativistic (Pauli) spin operator in the particle's rest frame., Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures

The current status of tests of quantum electrodynamics with heavy ions is reviewed. The theoretical predictions for the Lamb shift and the hyperfine splitting in heavy ions are compared with available experimental data. Recent achievements and future prospects in studies of the $g$ factor with highly charged ions are also reported. These studies can provide precise determination of the fundamental constants and tests of QED within and beyond the Furry picture at the strong-coupling regime. Theoretical calculations of the electron-positron pair creation probabilities in low-energy heavy-ion collisions are also considered. Special attention is paid to tests of QED in supercritical-field regime, which can be accessed in slow collisions of two bare nuclei with the total charge number larger than the critical value, $Z_{\rm crit} \approx 173$. In the supercritical field, the initially neutral vacuum can spontaneously decay into the charged vacuum and two positrons. It is demonstrated that this fundamental phenomenon can be observed via impact-sensitive measurements of the pair-production probabilities., Comment: Presented at International Conference on Precision Physics and Fundamental Physical Constants - FFK2019, 9-14 June, 2019, Tihany, Hungary

We calculate two-dimensional photoelectron momentum distributions and energy spectra after multiphoton ionization of Li atoms subject to intense laser fields in one-photon Rabi-flopping regime. The time-dependent Schr\"{o}dinger equation is solved within the single-active-electron approximation using a model potential which reproduces accurately the binding energies and dipole matrix elements of the Li atom. Interaction with the external electromagnetic field is treated within the dipole approximation. We show that the Rabi oscillations of the population between the ground $2s$ state and the excited $2p$ state in the one-photon resonance regime are reflected in the energy spectra of emitted photoelectrons which manifest interference structures with minima. Transformations of the interference structures in the photoelectron energy spectra caused by the variation of the laser peak intensity and pulse duration are analyzed.

In slow collisions of two bare nuclei with the total charge larger than the critical value $Z_{\rm cr} \approx 173$, the initially neutral vacuum can spontaneously decay into the charged vacuum and two positrons. Detection of the spontaneous emission of positrons would be the direct evidence of this fundamental phenomenon. However, the spontaneously produced particles are indistinguishable from the dynamical background in the positron spectra. We show that the vacuum decay can nevertheless be observed via impact-sensitive measurements of pair-production probabilities. Possibility of such observation is demonstrated using numerical calculations of pair production in low-energy collisions of heavy nuclei.