Quasiphoton at the Subcycle Level in Strong-Field Ionization

Photon is an energy quanta of light that does not exist at the sub-optical-cycle level. Exploiting the dynamical rotational symmetry of circularly or elliptically polarized light pulses, however, we demonstrate the existence of quasiphotons down to the subcycle level. We illustrate the concept of quasiphotons in strong-field ionization through the correlated spectrum of angular momentum and energy (SAME) of photoelectrons, both at the tunnel exit and in the asymptotic region. Moreover, we propose a protocol based on electron vortices to directly visualize the existence of quasiphotons. Our work paves the pathway towards a deeper understanding of fundamental light-matter interactions with photonic characteristics on the subcycle scale.