Motion of charged particles in bright squeezed vacuum

Abstract

The motion of laser-driven electrons quivers with an average energy termed pondermotive energy. We explore electron dynamics driven by bright squeezed vacuum (BSV), finding that BSV induces width oscillations, akin to electron quivering in laser light, with an equivalent ponderomotive energy. We identify closed and open trajectories of the electronic width that are associated with high harmonic generation and above-threshold ionization, respectively, similarly to trajectories of the electron position when its motion is driven by coherent light. In the case of bound electrons, the width oscillations may lead to ionization with noisy sub-cycle structure. Our results are foundational for strong-field and free-electron quantum optics, as they shed light on ionization, high harmonic generation, and nonlinear Compton scattering in BSV.