Effects of relativistic and ponderomotive nonlinearities on the interaction of high‐power laser beam with an inhomogeneous warm plasma

Abstract

AbstractThe influence of relativistic‐ponderomotive nonlinearities and the plasma inhomogeneity on the nonlinear interaction between a high‐power laser beam and a warm underdense plasma are studied. It is clear that the relativistic ponderomotive force and the electron temperature modify the electron density distribution and consequently change the dielectric permittivity of the plasma. Therefore, by presenting the modified electron density and the nonlinear dielectric permittivity of the warm plasma, the electromagnetic wave equation for the propagation of intense laser beam through the plasma is derived. This nonlinear equation is numerically solved and the distributions of electromagnetic fields in the plasma, the variations of electron density, and plasma refractive index are investigated for two different background electron density profiles. The results show that the amplitude of the electric field and electron density oscillations gradually increase and decrease, during propagation in the inhomogeneous warm plasma with linear and exponential density profiles, respectively, and the distribution of electron density becomes extremely sharp in the presence of intense laser beam. It is also indicated that the electron temperature and initial electron density have an impact on the propagation of the laser beam in the plasma and change the plasma refractive index and the oscillations' amplitude and frequency. The obtained results indicate the importance of a proper choice of laser and plasma parameters on the electromagnetic field distributions, density steepening, and plasma refractive index variations in the interaction of an intense laser beam with an inhomogeneous warm plasma.