Quantum Kinetic Theory for Laser Plasmas. Dynamical Screening in Strong Fields

A quantum kinetic theory for correlated charged-particle systems in strong time-dependent electromagnetic fields is developed. Our approach is based on a systematic gauge-invariant nonequilibrium Green's functions formulation. Extending our previous analysis [1] we concentrate on the selfconsistent treatment of dynamical screening and electromagnetic fields which is applicable to arbitrary nonequilibrium situations. The resulting kinetic equation generalizes previous results to quantum plasmas with full dynamical screening and includes many-body effects. It is, in particular, applicable to the interaction of dense plasmas with strong electromagnetic fields, including laser fields and x-rays. Furthermore, results for the modification of the plasma screening and the longitudinal field fluctuations due to the electromagnetic field are presented.     

Quantum effects on magnetization due to ponderomotive force in cold quantum plasmas

The quantum effects on the magnetization due to the ponderomotive force are investigated in cold quantum plasmas. It is shown that the ponderomotive force of the electromagnetic wave induces the magnetization and cyclotron motion in quantum plasmas. We also show that the magnetic field would not be induced without the quantum effects in plasmas. It is also found that the quantum effect enhances the cyclotron frequency due to the ponderomotive force related to the time variation of the field intensity. In addition, it is shown that the magnetization diminishes with an increase of the frequency of the electromagnetic field.     

The investigation of the optics of shock-compressed strongly correlated plasma

Rare gas plasmas at high temperatures and pressures, produced by explosive shock fronts, are explored using laser diagnostics. The analysis of the response of a dense plasma to an electromagnetic wave of moderate-intensity proves successful for investigating properties and the validity of physical models describing the behaviour of dense and non-ideal plasmas. We present new experimental data for the reflectivity of oblique incidence of polarized electromagnetic waves on the front of shock-compressed xenon plasmas. The optical properties of strongly correlated plasma were studied in the near-infrared and green spectral regions at a plasma mass density ρ = 0.83 g/cm³ and temperature T = 32900 K. The spatial parameters of the plasma transition shock-front layer are determined by solving numerically the electromagnetic field equations.     

Vacuum heating evaluation for plasmas of exponentially decreasing density profile

Ultra-short pulse lasers have opened a regime of laser-plasma interaction where plasmas have scale lengths shorter than the laser wavelength and allow the possibility of generating near-solid density plasmas. The interaction of high-intensity laser beams with sharply bounded high-density and small scale length plasmas is considered. Absorption of the laser energy associated with the mechanism of dragging electrons out of the plasma into the vacuum and sending them back into the plasma with the electric field component along the density gradient, so called vacuum heating, is studied. An exponentially decreasing electron density profile is assumed. The vector potential of the electromagnetic field propagating through the plasma is calculated and the behaviour of the electric and magnetic components of the electromagnetic field is studied. The fraction of laser power absorbed in this process is calculated and plotted versus the laser beam incidence angle, illumination energy, and the plasma scale length.     

An exact solution of the relativistic equation of motion of acharged particle driven by a circularly polarized electromagnetic waveand a constant magnetic field

An exact solution is found for the relativistic equation of motion of a charged particle driven by a circularly polarized electromagnetic wave and a constant magnetic field. The explicit expressions of particle position and velocity are obtained for certain initial conditions. The results are of interest to the interaction of the high-power laser with the magnetized plasma, electromagnetically pumped free-electron laser with a guide magnetic field, propagation of electromagnetic wave signals through a re-entry plasma sheath in the presence of a strong magnetic field, and magnetic confinement plasmas     

Kinetic theory of radiation in non-equilibrium relativistic plasmas

Many-particle QED is applied to kinetic theory of radiative processes in many-component plasmas with relativistic electrons and non-relativistic heavy particles. Within the framework of non-equilibrium Green’s function technique, transport and mass-shell equations for fluctuations of the electromagnetic field are obtained. We show that the transverse field correlation functions can be decomposed into sharply peaked (non-Lorentzian) parts that describe resonant (propagating) photons and off-shell parts corresponding to virtual photons in plasmas. Analogous decompositions are found for the longitudinal field correlation functions and the correlation functions of relativistic electrons. As a novel result a kinetic equation for the resonant photons with a finite spectral width is derived. The off-shell parts of the particle and field correlation functions are shown to be essential to calculate the local radiating power in relativistic plasmas and recover the results of vacuum QED. The influence of plasma effects and collisional broadening of the relativistic quasiparticle spectral function on radiative processes is discussed.     

On the angular momentum transferred during electromagnetic energy absorption and emission

In the framework of classical electrodynamics, the angular momentum transported into (and/or from) a volume bounded by a rotational surface is derived. The dependences of electromagnetic field on space and time, and also the electromagnetic properties of the interacting masses are arbitrary. The results may be useful for the theory of toroidal currents induced by high-frequency heating of plasmas. A connection with the Manley-Rowe equations is given.     

Solitary Waves in Relativistic Electromagnetic Plasma

Solitary waves in relativistic electromagnetic plasmas are obtained numerically. The longitudinal momentum of electrons has been taken into account in the problem. It is found that in the moving frame with electromagnetic field propagating the solitary waves can exist in both cases, where the vector potential frequency is larger or smaller than the plasma characteristic frequency.     

Anomalous kinetics of plasmas in high-power radiation fields

Transport equations are obtained in the nine-moment approximation for plasmas in intense radiation fields where the amplitude of the electron oscillations in the electromagnetic field exceeds the thermal speed. It is shown that for plasmas with a high degree of ionization, Z, the electron thermal conductivity is higher by approximately a factor of Z. The change in the frictional force on electrons colliding with ions owing to the effect of the radiation field leads to the possibility of electron acceleration and to a change in the sign of the dc and low-frequency electrical conductivities. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 111, 478–495 (February 1997)     

Quasi-static electromagnetic pulse generated by ultra-intense laser pulses

A solitary structure of quasi-static electromagnetic pulse is formed in moderate density plasmas by a propagation of ultra-intense and ultra-short laser pulse, which is formed after the laser pulse is depleted and slowly propagates in the laser propagation direction. The structure is sustained by huge magnetic pressure and compensating electric field which are in an electromagnetic equilibrium together with the plasma motion. The solitary structure is formed when the resonance condition is satisfied and laser intensity is high enough to induce huge magnetic field pressure.     

Skin effect during propagation of high-power short-wavelength microwaves in a partially ionized semiconductor plasma

A study is made of the propagation of high-power electromagnetic waves in spatially inhomogeneous plasmas of thin semiconducting elements and films. The effect of surface recombination and an external magnetic field on the depth of penetration of an ionizing field into the semiconductor plasma is examined. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 135–136 (May 1999)     

New measure of the dissipation region in collisionless magnetic reconnection

A new measure to identify a small-scale dissipation region in collisionless magnetic reconnection is proposed. The energy transfer from the electromagnetic field to plasmas in the electron's rest frame is formulated as a Lorentz-invariant scalar quantity. The measure is tested by two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations in typical configurations: symmetric and asymmetric reconnection, with and without the guide field. The innermost region surrounding the reconnection site is accurately located in all cases. We further discuss implications for nonideal MHD dissipation.     

Comparison of different techniques for the FLUENT$^{\copyright}$-based treatment of the electromagnetic field in inductively coupled plasma torches

A new technique for using the CFD commercial code FLUENT ^©^{\copyright} to simulate inductively coupled plasma torches by means of two-dimensional axisymmetric models is presented. The method is based on an external user-defined function (UDF) which fully solves the electromagnetic field equations, letting the FLUENT ^©^{\copyright} built-in module calculate only the plasma temperature and velocity fields inside the torch region. In this framework, computations have been carried out for LTE, optica lly thin argon plasmas at atmospheric pressure, using extended grid models with either magnetic dipole or vanishing vector potential boundary conditions for the electromagnetic field. It is shown that our newly developed technique is up to 60% faster on each iteration than that using user-defined scalars (UDS) previously proposed in the literature, as the need of solving flow field equations also outside the plasma zone is eliminated. Calculations are also performed using exact integral boundary conditions for the vector potential, as given by the standard electromagnetic field approach, taking into account the effects of both exciting and induced currents. The corresponding results are compared with the approximate ones obtained by employing extended grid models, showing that for small radial dimensions of the electromagnetic field domain, the magnetic dipole boundary conditions give more realistic solutions than those assuming a vanish ing vector potential.     

Particle-in-cell charged-particle simulations, plus Monte Carlocollisions with neutral atoms, PIC-MCC

Many-particle charged-particle plasma simulations using spatial meshes for the electromagnetic field solutions, particle-in-cell (PIC) merged with Monte Carlo collision (MCC) calculations, are coming into wide use for application to partially ionized gases. The author emphasizes the development of PIC computer experiments since the 1950s starting with one-dimensional (1-D) charged-sheet models, the addition of the mesh, and fast direct Poisson equation solvers for 2-D and 3-D. Details are provided for adding the collisions between the charged particles and neutral atoms. The result is many-particle simulations with many of the features met in low-temperature collision plasmas; for example, with applications to plasma-assisted materials processing, but also related to warmer plasmas at the edges of magnetized fusion plasmas     

磁化等离子体光子晶体的FDTD分析

磁化等离子体光子晶体是磁化等离子体和介质(真空)构成的人工周期性结构.本文用磁化等离子体的分段线形电流密度卷积(PLCDRC)时域有限差分(FDTD)算法分析了磁化等离子体光子晶体特性.分析了磁化等离子体参数对电磁带隙的影响.从时域的角度分析了高斯脉冲在磁化等离子体光子晶体中的传播过程，给出了时域反射和透射波形.从频域的角度给出了磁化等离子体光子晶体的电磁反射系数和透射系数，并对结果进行了分析. 关键词： 磁化等离子体 光子晶体 时域有限差分法     

Investigation of the particle spin properties on the velocity space instability in high‐density plasmas

The nonresonant electromagnetic instabilities of the anisotropic velocity space (Weibel‐like) have always been one of the interesting subjects for researchers. These electromagnetic instabilities play an important role in generating strong magnetic fields in laboratory plasmas for applications such as inertial confinement fusion and space plasmas. In this paper, we investigate the quantum effects of the particle spin on the electromagnetic instabilities. In the case of the presence of a magnetic dipole force and an electron precession frequency like the Vlasov equation, we derive the full quantum equation. This study shows that, in the presence of the spin‐polarized effects, the growth rate of the instabilities is reduced compared to the classical cases and will not arise for low fractions of the temperature anisotropy for different values of the magnetic field. Indeed, it is expected that the probability of electron capture in the background magnetic fields and the effective collision with the particle increase because of the spin effect, so that a high portion of the electron energy is transmitted to the background plasma, and the temperature anisotropy governing the electron distribution is reduced.     

Generation of magnetic fields by the non-stationary ponderomotive force of electromagnetic waves in plasmas with streaming electrons

It is shown that the non-stationary ponderomotive force of large amplitude electromagnetic waves in plasmas with streaming electrons can spontaneously create magnetic fields. The present result may account for the magnetic fields in laser-produces plasmas, in cosmic plasmas, as well as in galactic and inter-galactic spaces.     

One-dimensional EM solitons in ultrashort intense laser pulse-partially stripped plasmas

The one-dimensional electromagnetic (EM) envelope solitons in ultrashort intense laser pulse-partially stripped plasmas were discussed based on the wave equation of intense laser pulse propagating in partially stripped plasmas. Under the weakly relativistic assumption, a modified nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation describing the evolution of the EM field was derived. The analytical analysis shows that in the ultra-short broad beam limits, the relativistic nonlinearity and striction nonlinearity cancel each other, and a one-dimensional laser pulse envelope soliton can be formed only due to the polarization nonlinearity. The relationship between the characteristics of soliton and the parameters of laser pulse and partially stripped plasmas was discussed by numerical analysis.     

各向异性磁化等离子体JEC-FDTD算法

将色散介质的电流密度卷积-时域有限差分(JEC-FDTD)算法推广到各向异性磁化等离子体色散介质.该算法同时解决了电磁波在各向异性和频率色散介质中传播的难题，给出了各向异性磁化等离子体JEC-FDTD算法的公式.计算磁化等离子体平板对平行于磁场传播的电磁波的反射和透射系数，通过与解析结果的比较，验证了该算法的高效性和高精度. 关键词： 色散介质 FDTD算法 各向异性 磁化等离子体     

强激光与等离子体相互作用中低频电磁场孤子波的产生及其捕获

用二维粒子模拟程序研究了超短脉冲强激光与等离子体相互作用中局域低频电磁场的产生现象.这种低频电磁场在超短脉冲激光激发尾波场、脉冲后沿产生频率下移的过程中形成.通常它们的振荡频率接近于或低于电子等离子体振荡频率，因而被捕获在等离子体中(即传播速度接近于零).在演化过程中，通常它们以孤子场的形式出现.这种孤子波的形成及其演化与离子运动有极大关系.用相对论强激光脉冲可以产生达到相对论振幅的电磁场孤子波，后者可以把离子加速到非常高的能量.研究还表明，在二维几何位形下，孤子波产生与入射光的偏振态有很大关系.