Validity of factorization of the high-energy photoelectron yield in above-threshold ionization of an atom by a short laser pulse.

An analytic description for the yield, P(p), of high-energy electrons ionized from an atom by a short (few-cycle) laser pulse is obtained quantum mechanically. Factorization of P(p) in terms of an electron wave packet and the cross section for elastic electron scattering (EES) is shown to occur only for an ultrashort pulse, while in general P(p) involves interference of EES amplitudes with laser-field-dependent momenta. The analytic predictions agree well with accurate numerical results.