Path integral approach to the photoionization of one active electron atom by a pulsed Fock state: Fluctuations contribution

We model in a fully quantum mechanical way the dynamics of an atom of one optically active electron interacting with a pulsed Fock state which is linearly polarized. We use path integral methods. We derive the system's sign solved propagator which gives full information on its dynamics. We apply our method to the ionization of atomic hydrogen by a one-photon pulsed Fock state and study the contribution of the electromagnetic fluctuations. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4737429]