Ultrarelativistc regime in the propagation of an ultrastrong, femtosecond laser pulse in plasmas (original) (raw)

2014, arXiv: Plasma Physics

SPIN-CNR, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, Napoli, Italy(Dated: July 31, 2014)The interaction of a multi-Petawatt, pancake-shaped laser pulse with an unmagnetized plasma isstudied analytically and numerically in the regime of fully relativistic electron jitter velocities andin the context of the laser wakefield acceleration scheme. The study is applied to the specificationsavailable at present time, or planned for the near future, of the Ti:Sa Frascati Laser for Accelerationand Multidisciplinary Experiments (FLAME) in Frascati. A set of novel nonlinear equations isderived using a three-timescale description, with an intermediate timescale associated with thenonlinear phase of the electromagnetic wave and with the spatial bending of its wave front. Theydescribe on an equal footing both the strong and moderate laser intensity regimes, pertinent to thecore and the edges of the pulse. These have fundamentally different dispersive properties since,in the core, the electrons are almos...

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