Photo-Fragmentation of Lithium Atoms in FEL Radiation Fields

Multi-electron ejection from lithium induced by absorption of a single photon is a fundamental few-body reaction that tests the correlated interaction dynamics between atomic constituents. Experiments have been proposed using intense FEL radiation at FLASH in combination with reaction microscopes to measure four-body dynamics. These proposed experiments will first measure the double ionization dynamics from both the even parity Li ground state and the laser excited odd parity Li(2p $^2P^o$) state. We will present theoretical calculations using the time-dependent close-coupling method (TDCC) to assist in the experimental search for interesting correlation effects for both double and triple ionization of lithium.