Stochastic dynamics of electronic wavepackets in fluctuating laser fields

Rate equations are developed which describe the dynamics of a laser-excited Rydberg electron under the influence of a fluctuating laser field in the limit of large laser bandwidths. These equations apply whenever all coherent effects have already been damped out. The range of validity of these rate equations is investigated in detail for the case of phase fluctuations. The resulting asymptotic power laws are investigated which characterize the long-time dynamics of the laser-excited Rydberg electron and it is shown to what extent these power laws depend on details of the laser spectrum.