  In our model the electron dynamics are described by a two-state
approximation. This might appear a rough approximation since it neglects
coupling through excited electronic states and ionization channels. However at
high intensity (laser fields equivalent to the Coulomb force) and long
wavelength (photon energy much lower than the ionization potential) the
dissociation process occurs by adiabatic polarization involving the lowest
electronic states. For the experiment in question, with intensities above 10x14
W cm-2 and photon energies of 1.5eV, such an approach is well justified. More
contentious is the neglect of rotational heating (that is molecular
realignment) during the pulse. However, this process is essentially an internal
relaxation and for a 50fs pulse it has a small effect. To calculate the
dissociation spectrum, we have applied discretization methods developed for
photoionization of molecules4) to solve the quantum equations in a dual
configuration and momentum space. Technical details are discussed in the paper
by Peng et al.
