NODAL RESONANCE IN A STRONG STANDING WAVE

The motion of charged particles in a standing electromagnetic wave is considered. For amplitudes that are not too high, the wave causes an effect of attraction of particles to the nodal points, resembling the channeling effect reported by Salomon, Dalibard, Aspect, Metcalf, and Cohen-Tannoudji [Phys. Rev. Lett. 59, 1659 (1987)] consistent with the high-frequency potential of Kapitza [Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 21, 588 (1951)]. For high-field intensities, however, the nodal points undergo a qualitative metamorphosis, converting themselves from particle attractors into resonant centers. Some chaotic phenomena arise and the description of the oscillating field in terms of an effective potential becomes inappropriate. The question of a correct Floquet Hamiltonian that could describe the standing wave within this amplitude and frequency regime is open. © 1990 The American Physical Society.