Abstract
The nonequilibrium dynamics of BCS superconductors after excitation with short THz pulses slightly above the superconducting gap is studied theoretically. Calculated pump-probe spectra show how the gap is influenced by this optical excitation. For ultrashort pump pulses a nonadiabatic regime emerges, in which the BCS order parameter exhibits oscillations. These oscillations do not show up in pump-probe spectra. However they may be made visible by using a coherent control type excitation with two phase-locked pump pulses.