Attosecond photoionization dynamics in the vicinity of the Cooper minima in argon

Using a spectrally resolved electron interferometry technique, we measure photoionization time delays between the 3s and 3p subshells of argon over a large 34-eV energy range covering the Cooper minima in both subshells. The observed strong variations of the 3s-3p delay difference, including a sign change, are well reproduced by theoretical calculations using the two-photon two-color random-phase approximation with exchange. Strong shake-up channels lead to photoelectrons spectrally overlapping with those emitted from the 3s subshell. These channels need to be included in our analysis to reproduce the experimental data. Our measurements provide a benchmark for multielectronic theoretical models aiming at an accurate description of interchannel correlation.