Time-resolved X-ray scattering by electronic wave packets: analytic solutions to the hydrogen atom

Abstract

Modern pulsed X-ray sources permit time-dependent measurements of dynamical changes in atoms and molecules via non-resonant scattering. The planning, analysis, and interpretation of such experiments, however, require a firm and elaborated theoretical framework. This paper provides a detailed description of time-resolved X-ray scattering by non-stationary electronic wave packets in atomic systems. A consistent application of the Waller–Hartree approximation is discussed and different contributions to the total differential scattering signal are identified and interpreted. Moreover, it is demonstrated how the scattering signal of wave packets in the hydrogen atom can be expressed analytically. This permits simulations without numerical integration and establishes a benchmark for both efficiency and accuracy. Based on that, scattering patterns of an exemplary wave packet in the hydrogen atom are computed for different points in time. In doing so, distinct features of time-resolved X-ray scattering by non-stationary electronic wave packets are illustrated and accentuated in greater detail than it has been done before.