A New Physical Mechanism for the Onset of Atomic Ionization in an Optical Field with Jolts of Phase

“No theory ever agrees with all the facts in its domain, yet it is not always the theory that is to blame. Facts are constituted by older ideologies, and a clash between facts and theories may be proof of progress. It is also a first step in our attempt to find the principles implicit in familiar observational notions.” Abstract A theoretical model that describes a new mechanism of atomic and molecular ionization in a low intensity electromagnetic wave (light or laser beam) with the energy of quanta that is lower than required for a single photon ionization is presented. The essence of the proposed physical mechanism is the step-like gain of energy of a bound electron that occurs every time the phase of the electro-magnetic field jolts. Providing there is sufficiently large number of the phase jolts, the summation of the step increases of the electron oscillation energy can render the total energy of the bound electron such that it exceeds the ionization potential.