Macroscopic evidence of soliton formation in multiterawatt laser-plasma interaction.
A novel physical phenomenon has been observed following the interaction of an intense (10(19) W/cm(2)) laser pulse with an underdense plasma. Long-lived, macroscopic bubblelike structures have been detected through the deflection that the associated electric charge separation causes in a proton probe beam. These structures are interpreted as the remnants of a cloud of relativistic solitons generated in the plasma by the ultraintense laser pulse. This interpretation is supported by an analytical study of the soliton cloud evolution, by particle-in-cell simulations, and by a reconstruction of the proton-beam deflection.
Borghesi
M
M
Department of Pure & Applied Physics, Queen's University, Belfast, United Kingdom.
Bulanov
S
S
Campbell
D H
DH
Clarke
R J
RJ
Esirkepov
T Zh
TZh
Galimberti
M
M
Gizzi
L A
LA
MacKinnon
A J
AJ
Naumova
N M
NM
Pegoraro
F
F
Ruhl
H
H
Schiavi
A
A
Willi
O
O