  Based on numerical solutions of the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation for
either one or two active electrons, we propose a method for observing
instantaneous level shifts in an oscillating strong infrared (IR) field in
time, using a single tunable attosecond pulse to probe excited states of the
perturbed atom. The ionization probability in the combined fields depends on
both, the frequency of the attosecond pulse and the time delay between both
pulses, since the IR field shifts excited energy levels into and out of
resonance with the attosecond probe pulse. We show that this method (i) allows
the detection of instantaneous atomic energy gaps with sub-laser-cycle time
resolution and (ii) can be applied as an ultrafast gate for more complex
processes such as non-sequential double-ionization.
