title: Macroscopic evidence of soliton formation in multiterawatt laser-plasma interaction.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pure & Applied Physics, Queen's University, Belfast, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borghesi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bulanov
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: T Zh
authors.initials: TZh
authors.lastname: Esirkepov
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Galimberti
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Gizzi
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: MacKinnon
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Naumova
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pegoraro
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ruhl
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schiavi
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Willi