Angular distribution of photoelectrons in above-threshold ionization of atomic hydrogen

A multichannel version of the quantum-optical model of above-threshold ionization is used in a calculation of the angular distribution of photoelectrons for atomic hydrogen irradiated by a high-power linearly polarized laser pulse. An account is taken of the distortion of atomic continua by the presence of a strong laser field. The distributions are peaked along the polarization direction. The results are in striking but qualitative agreement with recent experiments.