Holographic interferences in photoelectron spectra: different approaches

We perform a theoretical study of the holographic structures in photoelectron spectra for ionization of hydrogen atoms induced by short laser pulses. To elucidate the nature of the holographic structures present in the momentum distributions of photoelectrons, we use several quantum approximations, such as the strong field and Coulomb–Volkov approximations up to second order, as well as semiclassical Monte Carlo simulations. In a single-cycle pulse, we eliminate the intracycle interference from the spectra isolating the holographic structure formed in the photoionization process. We probe the different approaches and analyze the role of electron–core interaction numerically by solving the time dependent Schrödinger equation. We show that the two-step semiclassical model of Shvetsov-Shilovski et al. [Phys. Rev. A 94 , 013415 (2016)] fully considers the effect of the Coulomb potential on the electron dynamics and semiclassical phase reproducing the holographic structure in full quantum calculations. Contrarily, perturbative quantum (strong field and Coulomb–Volkov) and semiclassical (quantum trajectory Monte Carlo) methods account only partially for some of the characteristics of the holographic interference pattern. Graphical abstract