title: Nonlinear theory of nonparaxial laser pulse propagation in plasma channels
abstract: Nonparaxial propagation of ultrashort, high-power laser pulses in plasma channels is examined. In the adiabatic limit, pulse energy conservation, nonlinear group velocity, damped betatron oscillations, self-steepening, self-phase modulation, and shock formation are analyzed. In the nonadiabatic limit, the coupling of forward Raman scattering (FRS) and the self-modulation instability (SMI) is analyzed and growth rates are derived, including regimes of reduced growth. The SMI is found to dominate FRS in most regimes of interest.
authors.affiliation: Center for Beam Physics, Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Esarey
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Schroeder
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Shadwick
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Wurtele
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Leemans