Resonant and quasi-resonant excitation of plasma waves by means of sequences of laser pulses

Abstract

The possibility of generating large amplitude electron plasma waves by means of n short laser pulses in a cold collisionless electron plasma is investigated in detail on the basis of a fluid relativistic model. The problem of the 'resonant' interaction between a synchronized sequence of laser pulses and the plasma is solved analytically up to the wavebreaking limit. The potentialities of the 'quasi-resonant' interaction are investigated numerically paying attention to the sensitivity of the evolution of the system to the number and to the length of the pulses, the distance between successive pulses, and their shape. The possibility of performing photon acceleration experiments is also demonstrated.