LIGHT-INDUCED ATOMIC STATES AND DIABATIC PATHS IN INTENSE LASER FIELDS J. C. Wells$^\ast$, I. Simbotin$^\sharp$, and M. Gavrila$^\dag$ $^\ast$Center for Computational Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6203, USA $^\sharp$Faculty of Physics, University of Bucharest, P.O. Box 5211, Bucharest-Magurele, 76900, Romania $^\dag$FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics, Kruislaan 407, 1098 SJ, Amsterdam, Netherlands The physical reality of light-induced states in atoms exposed to intense laser fields remained uncertain, since their discovery by Floquet theory. We have shown that their existence is confirmed by time-dependent wave-packet theory, and should manifest itself experimentally. Choosing the initial state such as to connect to the light-induced states via diabatic Floquet paths enhances the yield.