  The control of physical properties of solids with short laser pulses is an
intriguing prospect of ultrafast materials science. Continuous-wave
high-frequency laser driving with circular polarization was predicted to induce
a light-matter coupled new state possessing a quasi-static band structure with
an energy gap and a quantum Hall effect, coined "Floquet topological
insulator". Whereas the envisioned Floquet topological insulator requires well
separated Floquet bands and therefore high-frequency pumping, a natural
follow-up question regards the creation of Floquet-like states in graphene with
realistic pump laser pulses. Here we predict that with short low-frequency
laser pulses attainable in pump-probe experiments, states with local spectral
gaps at the Dirac points and novel pseudospin textures can be achieved in
graphene using circular light polarization. We demonstrate that time- and
angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy can track these states by measuring
sizeable energy gaps and quasi-Floquet energy bands that form on femtosecond
time scales. By analyzing Floquet energy level crossings and snapshots of
pseudospin textures near the Dirac points, we identify transitions to new
states with optically induced nontrivial changes of sublattice mixing that can
lead to Berry curvature corrections of electrical transport and magnetization.
