title: Nuclear excitation by a zeptosecond multi-MeV laser pulse.
abstract: A zeptosecond multi-MeV laser pulse may either excite a "plasma" of strongly interacting nucleons or a collective mode. We derive the conditions on laser energy and photon number such that either of these scenarios is realized. We use the nuclear giant dipole resonance as a representative example, and a random-matrix description of the fine-structure states and perturbation theory as tools.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, D-69029 Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Weidenmüller