Intense short-pulse lasers irradiating wire and hollow plasma fibers

When an intense laser pulse irradiates a solid-density foil target, electrons produced at the relativistic critical density can be accelerated to relativistic energy by the ponderomotive force. When a plasma fiber is attached to the back of the foil, the produced relativistic electrons are guided to propagate along the fiber for a long distance, because the high-current electron beam induces strong radial electric fields in the fiber. Transport and heating of intense laser-driven relativistic electrons in both wire and hollow plasma fibers are compared theoretically and numerically. We found that the coupling efficiency from the laser to the plasma fiber depends on the fiber structure. Because of the enhanced return currents in the wire fiber, the temperature in the wire fiber is higher than that in the hollow fiber.     

极强激光场驱动超亮伽马辐射和正负电子对产生的研究进展

高功率超短超强激光脉冲的诞生开启了相对论非线性光学、高强场物理、新型激光聚变、实验室天体物理等前沿领域.近年来,随着数拍瓦级乃至更高峰值功率激光装置的建成,超强激光与等离子体相互作用进入到一个全新的高强场范畴.这种极强激光场与等离子体相互作用蕴含着丰富的物理过程,除了经典的波与粒子作用、相对论效应、有质动力效应等非线性物理过程外,量子电动力学(QED)效应变得格外重要,例如辐射阻尼效应、正负电子对产生、强伽马射线辐射、QED级联、真空极化等.本文主要介绍我们近年来在极端强激光场与等离子体相互作用中激发的QED效应以及伴随的超亮强伽马射线辐射和稠密正负电子对产生等方面的研究进展.     

Drift Lagrangian for a relativistic particle in an intense laser field

The Lagrangian and Hamiltonian functions describing the average motion of a relativistic particle under the action of a slightly inhomogeneous intense laser field are obtained. In weak low-frequency background fields, such a particle on average drifts with an effective relativistically invariant mass, which depends on the laser intensity. The essence of the proposed ponderomotive formulation is presented in a physically intuitive and mathematically simple form yet represents a powerful tool for studying various nonlinear phenomena caused by the interaction of currently available smooth ultraintense laser pulses with plasmas.     

Relativistic ponderomotive forces

The interaction of a relativistic classical electron with an inhomogeneous electromagnetic field is investigated. In second-order perturbation theory the motion is separated into fast and slow motions, and the relativistic Newtonian equation is averaged over the fast oscillations. The rate of change obtained for the slow component of the electron momentum is interpreted as a relativistic ponderomotive force. The result is generalized to the relativistic case of the wellknown expression for the Gaponov-Miller force acting on an electron at rest. The expressions obtained for the relativistic ponderomotive forces are very complicated in the general case. They simplify in the limit of a stationary field (pulses of long duration) and a small gradient. The most typical and simplest special case of an inhomogeneous field—a stationary plane-focused beam—is investigated. The main difference between relativistic ponderomotive forces and their nonrelativistic limit is they have multiple components. In addition to the usual force directed along the gradient of the field, the relativistic case is also characterized by force components that do not have the form of the gradient of a potential and are parallel to the wave vector and the direction of the field polarization. It is shown that when a relativistic electron travels in a direction close to the direction of the wave vector of a focused laser beam, these components can greatly exceed the gradient force. A force directed along the field polarization vector arises even when the gradient of the field in this direction is zero. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 116, 1198–1209 (October 1999)     

Additional acceleration and collimation of relativistic electron beams by magnetic field resonance at very high intensity laser interaction

For the interpretation of experiments for acceleration of electrons at interaction up to nearly GeV energy in laser produced plasmas, we present a new model using interaction magnetic fields. In addition to the ponderomotive acceleration of highly relativistic electrons at the interaction of very short and very intense laser pulses, a further acceleration is derived from the interaction of these electron beams with the spontaneous magnetic fields of about 100 MG. This additional acceleration is the result of a laser-magnetic resonance acceleration (LMRA) around the peak of the azimuthal magnetic field. This causes the electrons to gain energy within a laser period. Using a Gaussian laser pulse, the LMRA acceleration of the electrons depends on the laser polarization. Since this is in the resonance regime, the strong magnetic fields affect the electron acceleration considerably. The mechanism results in good collimated high energetic electrons propagating along the center axis of the laser beam as has been observed by experiments and is reproduced by our numerical simulations. PACS 41.75.Jv; 52.38.Kd; 52.65.Cc     

Effects of relativistic and ponderomotive nonlinearities on the interaction of high-power laser beam with an inhomogeneous warm plasma

The influence of relativistic-ponderomotive nonlinearities and the plasma inhomogeneity on the nonlinear interaction between a high-power laser beam and a warm underdense plasma are studied. It is clear that the relativistic ponderomotive force and the electron temperature modify the electron density distribution and consequently change the dielectric permittivity of the plasma. Therefore, by presenting the modified electron density and the nonlinear dielectric permittivity of the warm plasma, the electromagnetic wave equation for the propagation of intense laser beam through the plasma is derived. This nonlinear equation is numerically solved and the distributions of electromagnetic fields in the plasma, the variations of electron density, and plasma refractive index are investigated for two different background electron density profiles. The results show that the amplitude of the electric field and electron density oscillations gradually increase and decrease, during propagation in the inhomogeneous warm plasma with linear and exponential density profiles, respectively, and the distribution of electron density becomes extremely sharp in the presence of intense laser beam. It is also indicated that the electron temperature and initial electron density have an impact on the propagation of the laser beam in the plasma and change the plasma refractive index and the oscillations' amplitude and frequency. The obtained results indicate the importance of a proper choice of laser and plasma parameters on the electromagnetic field distributions, density steepening, and plasma refractive index variations in the interaction of an intense laser beam with an inhomogeneous warm plasma.     

Particle Simulation of Relativistic Laser Pulse Density Channeling

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Particle Simulation of Relativistic Laser Pulse Density Channeling

Two-dimensional particle simulation is carried out to study the interaction between a high-intensity finite-size spot laser beam and a plasma with linear density profile. The laser is allowed to propagate in underdense corona until it is cut off near the critical surface. The intense laser can drive various instabilities through particle collective motion and result in electron heating,while relativistic effect and ponderomotive force can bring strong energy absorption and electron heating in the overdense region. As the laser beam is nonuniform in the transverse direction,a density channel forms and hole boring effect occurs as a result of strong ponderomotive force pushing particle outwards. These processes can be investigated well by particle simulation.     

Investigation of self-focusing a Gaussian laser pulse in a weakly relativistic and ponderomotive regime inside a collisionless warm quantum plasma

This article investigates nonlinear self-focusing of an intense right hand circularly polarized Gaussian profile laser pulse in a weakly relativistic and ponderomotive regime inside a collisionless and unmagnetized warm quantum plasma. The nonlinear propagation equation for laser pulse in plasma has been derived. Then, the evolution differential equation for laser spot-size was obtained with considering the parabolic equation approach under the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin and paraxial ray approximations. This differential equation was solved numerically by fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. It is shown that our solution confirms the results of the self-focusing of the laser pulse in a weakly relativistic ponderomotive regime in cold quantum plasma in extreme conditions. Numerical results indicate that self-focusing of the laser pulse in the presence of relativistic and ponderomotive nonlinearity inside warm quantum plasma is improved in comparison with relativistic and ponderomotive cold quantum plasma.     

激光等离子体不稳定性的入射光强度效应

用3维粒子模拟程序研究了相对论强激光和高密度等离子体相互作用引起的电磁不稳定。数值模拟表明,在线偏振强激光作用下,等离子体表面出现了电磁不稳定性。形成的不稳定结构随时间发展和激光功率密度的增加进一步深入到等离子体内部,最终使等离子体表面处激发饱和自生磁场。这种由电子速度各向异性而产生的自生磁场对激光有质动力推开电子时所形成的电子热流产生抑制作用,并将直接影响电子加速效率。     

Scattering of relativistic electrons by a focused laser pulse

The problem of the motion of a classical relativistic electron in a focused high-intensity laser pulse is solved. A new three-dimensional model of the electromagnetic field, which is an exact solution of Maxwell’s equations, is proposed to describe a stationary laser beam. An extension of the model is proposed. This extension describes a laser pulse of finite duration and is an approximate solution of Maxwell’s equations. The equations for the average motion of an electron in the field of a laser pulse, described by our model, are derived assuming weak spatial and temporal nonuniformities of the field. It is shown that, to a first approximation in the parameters of the nonuniformities, the average (ponderomotive) force acting on a particle is described by the gradient of the ponderomotive potential, but it loses its potential character even in second order. It is found that the three-dimensional ponderomotive potential is asymmetric. The trajectories of relativistic electrons moving in a laser field are obtained and the cross sections for scattering of electrons by a stationary laser beam are calculated. It is shown that reflection of electrons from the laser pulse and the surfing effect are present in the model studied. It is found that for certain impact parameters of the incident electrons the asymmetic ponderomotive potential can manifest itself effectively as an attractive potential. It is also shown that even in the case of a symmetric potential the scattering cross section contains singularities, known as rainbow scattering. The results are applicable for fields characterized by large (compared to 1) values of the dimensionless parameter η² = e ²〈E ²〉/m ²ω² and arbitrary electron energies.     

强激光脉冲在部分离化等离子体中的传播特性

采用变分法给出了强激光脉冲在部分离化等离子体中传播的参数演化方程,其中考虑了相对论自聚焦、有质动力激发尾波场以及部分离化非线性极化强度的影响。通过非线性动力学分析的方法,得到了强激光脉冲以恒定焦斑半径传播时的激光、等离子体参数匹配条件。研究表明:在部分离化等离子体中,激光自聚焦随着电离程度的增大而增强;有质动力激发的尾波场进一步增强激光脉冲的自聚焦;相对于等离子体密度而言,激光强度对激光脉冲的自聚焦更有影响。     

Effects of Relativistic and Ponderomotive Nonlinearities on an Intense Laser Pulse Propagation in a Plasma Channel

The optical guiding of a moderately intense laser pulse in a parabolic preformed plasma channel is analyzed by means of the variational method.Relativistic,ponderomotive and their coupling nonlinearities are included.The conditions for periodic defocusing and focusing,as well as constant spot size propagation are given.It is found that the laser focusing is released by the coupling of relativistic and ponderomotive nonlinearities.     

Approximated Vector Potential of Intense Laser Pulses in a Pair Plasma

A （3＋1 ）-dimensional Kadomtse-Petviashvili （KP） equation for nonlinearly interacting intense laser pulses with an electron-positron （e-p） plasma is derived. Taking into account the combined action of the relativistic particle mass increase and the relativistic light ponderomotive force, using the perturbation method, and allowing different types solution, we discuss the analytical solution of （3＋1）-dimensional KP-I equation, and give the approximate solutions of vector potential of the intense laser pulse in e-p plasma. Our results may be significantly useful in understanding the nonlinear wave propagation and interaction of intense laser beams in an e-p plasma.     

Excitation of an upper hybrid wave by two intense laser beams and particle acceleration

This Letter presents an investigation of the excitation of an upper hybrid wave (UHW) by cross focusing of two intense laser beams in a collisionless hot magnetoplasma, when relativistic and ponderomotive nonlinearities are operative. The electric vectors of the two beams are polarized along uniform static magnetic field and the beams propagate perpendicular to the static magnetic field. Analytical expressions for the beam width of the laser beams, electric vector and power of the excited UHW and energy gain have been obtained. The UHW generation at the difference frequency and particle acceleration has also been studied. The nonlinear coupling between intense laser beams and UHW is so strong that UHW gets excited and a large fraction of the laser beam energy gets transferred to UHW and this UHW accelerates electrons. It has been shown that the presence of a magnetic field affects significantly the power of the UHW and energy gain by the electron in the presence of the UHW.     

Production of low-emittance MeV protons by localized electrons

Energetic proton beam generation and the suppression of transverse proton beam divergence are investigated in this paper. In laser-foil interactions, foil ions are accelerated by an ambipolar field created by accelerated high-energy electrons. The high-energy electrons are generated by the ponderomotive force of an intense laser. When an intense laser illuminates a hydrogen foil target, the electrons are strongly accelerated longitudinally, and a localized negative electrostatic potential is generated at the opposite side of the laser illumination. Foil protons are accelerated longitudinally and at the same time extracted to the central axis of the laser by the localized potential in the transverse direction. Consequently, transverse proton divergence is suppressed and a low-emittance MeV proton beam is produced.     

Relativistic ponderomotive forces in the field of intense laser radiation

The motion of a relativistic charged particle in the presence of the field of high-power laser radiation represented in the form of a Gaussian beam of arbitrary mode is analyzed. The vector potential of the radiation field is expanded in terms of a small parameter (the ratio of the wavelength to the Gaussian beam waist). A specific feature of averaging with respect to the phases of the high-mode Gaussian beams is demonstrated. The averaged equations for the motion of particle and a general expression for the ponderomotive relativistic force for the circularly polarized radiation are derived. It is demonstrated that relativistic effects suppress the averaged action of high-power laser radiation on the particle.     

Modulation instability of intense laser beam in an electron-positron plasma

Modulation instability of an intense right-hand elliptically polarized laser beam propagating through an electron-positron plasma is investigated by a new method. The nonlinear dispersion relation, in which the relativistic and ponderomotive nonlinearities are taken into account, is obtained for the laser radiation in electron-positron plasma by the Lorentz transformation. The Karpman equation is generalized to the case of three dimensions with three field components. When the nonlinear frequency shift of the electromagnetic field in plasma is involved, the nonlinear evolution equation for the slowly varying envelope of the laser field is obtained. Thus, modulation instability of the intense laser beam in electron-positron plasma is studied and the temporal growth rate of the instability is derived. The analysis shows that the growth rate of modulation instability is increased significantly near the critical surface in a laser-plasma.     

Coupling surface plasmon waves across gaps in a dielectric/metal interface by transformation optics

Propagation of a Gaussian laser beam in a plasma is analyzed by including the nonlinearity associated with the relativistic mass and the ponderomotive force. We set up the nonlinear differential equation for beam width parameter using parabolic equation approach and solve it numerically. Our results show that the ponderomotive self-focusing contributes in the relativistic self-focusing of the laser beam. An impact of plasma electron temperature, relative density parameter, and intensity parameter on the propagation of the laser beam has been explored.     

On the theory of the relativistic motion of a charged particle in the field of intense electromagnetic radiation

Averaged relativistic equations of motion of a charged particle in the field of intense electromagnetic radiation have been obtained in the geometrical optics approximation using the Bogoliubov method. Constraints are determined under which these equations are valid. Oscillating additions to the smoothed dynamical variables of the particle have been found; they are reduced to known expressions in the case of the circularly and linearly polarized plane waves. It has been shown that the expressions for the averaged relativistic force in both cases contain new additional small terms weakening its action. The known difference between the expressions for the ponderomotive force in the cases of circularly and linearly polarized waves has been confirmed.