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Spatial evolution of a q-Gaussian laser beam in relativistic plasma

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2010

A. Sharma  and
I. Kourakis
A. Sharma*
Affiliation:
Centre for Plasma Physics, School of Mathematics & Physics, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom
I. Kourakis
Affiliation:
Centre for Plasma Physics, School of Mathematics & Physics, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: A. Sharma, Centre for Plasma Physics, School of Mathematics & Physics, Queen's University Belfast, BT7 1NN Belfast, United Kingdom. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

In a recent experimental study, the beam intensity profile of the Vulcan petawatt laser beam was measured; it was found that only 20% of the energy was contained within the full width at half maximum of 6.9 μm and 50% within 16 μm, suggesting a long-tailed non-Gaussian transverse beam profile. A q-Gaussian distribution function was suggested therein to reproduce this behavior. The spatial beam profile dynamics of a q-Gaussian laser beam propagating in relativistic plasma is investigated in this article. A non-paraxial theory is employed, taking into account nonlinearity via the relativistic decrease of the plasma frequency. We have studied analytically and numerically the dynamics of a relativistically guided beam and its dependence on the q-parameter. Numerical simulation results are shown to trace the dependence of the focusing length on the q-Gaussian profile.

Keywords

Beam Dynamicsq-GaussianRelativistic Plasma
Type
Research Article
Information
Laser and Particle Beams , Volume 28 , Issue 3 , September 2010 , pp. 479 - 489
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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