title: Observation of magnetized soliton remnants in the wake of intense laser pulse propagation through plasmas.
abstract: Slowly evolving, regularly spaced patterns have been observed in proton projection images of plasma channels drilled by intense (≳10¹⁹ W cm⁻²) short (∼1  ps) laser pulses propagating in an ionized gas jet. The nature and geometry of the electromagnetic fields generating such patterns have been inferred by simulating the laser-plasma interaction and the following plasma evolution with a two-dimensional particle-in-cell code and the probe proton deflections by particle tracing. The analysis suggests the formation of rows of magnetized soliton remnants, with a quasistatic magnetic field associated with vortexlike electron currents resembling those of magnetic vortices.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Plasma Physics, The Queen's University of Belfast, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Romagnani
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bigongiari
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kar
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Bulanov
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Cecchetti
authors.forename: T Zh
authors.initials: TZh
authors.lastname: Esirkepov
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Galimberti
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: T V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Liseykina
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Macchi
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Osterholz
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pegoraro
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Willi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borghesi