Comment on “Laser-enhanced antihydrogen formation”

The formation of antihydrogen in the laser-assisted charge-transfer reaction between the antiproton and positronium is investigated within the first Born approximation, including dressing of the asymptotic scattering states by the laser field. Through a quantitative study it is shown that, if the field intensity is sufficiently high so as to begin influencing the charge-exchange cross section, the positronium will break up and therefore lower the production of antihydrogen. This conclusion is in contrast to results recently reported by Li et al. [Phys. Rev. A 59, 1697 (1999)], where an enhancement effect is predicted using a similar model for the antihydrogen formation, but neglecting the role of the photobreakup channel.