Polarization effects and anisotropy in three-dimensional relativistic self-focusing.
The relativistic self-focusing of high-intensity laser pulses in underdense plasmas is investigated with three-dimensional particle in cell simulations. The different behavior of a linearly polarized pulse in the two transverse directions is interpreted as a combination of two two-dimensional responses with different polarizations. In the polarization plane a high density sheet is formed, which separates the two regions of oppositely directed quasistatic magnetic field.
Naumova
N M
NM
Max-Born Institute für Quantenoptik, Berlin, Germany.
Bulanov
S V
SV
Nishihara
K
K
Esirkepov
T Zh
TZh
Pegoraro
F
F