Quantum and semiclassical phase-space dynamics of a wave packet in strong fields using initial-value representations

Abstract: We assess the suitability of quantum and semiclassical initial value representations, exemplified by the coupled coherent states (CCS) method and the Herman Kluk (HK) propagator, respectively, for modeling the dynamics of an electronic wave packet in a strong laser field, if this wave packet is initially bound. Using Wigner quasiprobability distributions and ensembles of classical trajectories, we identify signatures of over-the-barrier and tunnel ionization in phase space for static and time-dependent fields and the relevant sets of phase-space trajectories in order to model such features. Overall, we find good agreement with the full solution of the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation (TDSE) for Wigner distributions constructed with both initial-value representations. Our results indicate that the HK propagator does not fully account for tunneling and over-the-barrier reflections. However, it is able to partly reproduce features associated with the wave packet crossing classically forbidden regions, although the trajectories employed in its construction always obey classical phase-space constraints. We also show that the Coupled Coherent States (CCS) method represents a fully quantum initial value representation and accurately reproduces the results of a standard TDSE solver. Furthermore, we sow that both the HK propagator and the CCS approach may be successfully employed to compute the time-dependent dipole acceleration and high-harmonic spectra. Nevertheless, the semiclassical propagator exhibits a worse agreement with the TDSE than the outcome of the CCS method, as it neither fully accounts for tunneling nor for over-the-barrier reflections. This leads to a dephasing in the time-dependent wave function which becomes more pronounced for longer times.