ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR-DYNAMICS IN INTENSE OPTICAL-FIELDS

The unprecedented high intensities made accessible by the development of ultrashort pulse laser systems have uncovered a host of new phenome na and changed the way that we think about atomic and molecular dynami cs. We review these developments in the context of some of the basic m odels that have evolved to explain them. The successes and limitations of simple semiclassical models of strong-held atomic phenomena are di scussed. Photodissociation dynamics have shown a rich complexity in st rong fields-bond softening, above-threshold dissociation, coulomb expl osion-which we review. The promise of the new laser systems in the fie ld of coherent control of molecular dynamics is also discussed.