Kinetic theory, transport, and hydrodynamics of a high-Zplasma in the presence of an intense laser field

Abstract

A systematic treatment of collisional kinetic theory and transport for a high-Z plasma in the presence of an intense laser field is presented. The time-averaged electron kinetic equation is obtained in three ways. Collisionally induced harmonics of the laser frequency in the electron distribution function examined. In the case of high and low laser intensities, the kinetic equation is shown to possess self-similar solutions. In the low field limit, the solution found earlier by Langdon is recovered. In the high field limit, under special conditions, the solution is shown to be a Maxwellian. Monte Carlo calculations are found to corroborate these findings. In the low field limit, it is shown that the anisotropic part of the distribution follows the isotropic part adiabatically. An expression for the anisotropic part is obtained. The inverse bremsstrahlung heating rate is derived and shown to agree with Monte Carlo results. Memory effects in transport are discussed. The bremsstrahlung emission rate and the electron pressure tensor are derived. The thermoelectric transport efficients are calculated. And finally, the electron fluid equations are obtained.