Polarization-dependent ponderomotive gradient force in a standing wave

Journal Article · Wed Jun 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.83.063810· OSTI ID:21550191

Smorenburg, P W; Kanters, J H. M.; Lassise, A; Brussaard, G J. H.; Kamp, L P. J.; Luiten, O J ^[1]

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1. Eindhoven University of Technology, Applied Physics, Coherence and Quantum Technology, P.O. Box 513, NL-5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands)

The ponderomotive force is derived for a relativistic charged particle entering an electromagnetic standing wave with a general three-dimensional field distribution and a nonrelativistic intensity, using a perturbation expansion method. It is shown that the well-known ponderomotive gradient force expression does not hold for this situation. The modified expression is still of simple gradient form but contains additional polarization-dependent terms. These terms arise because the relativistic translational velocity induces a quiver motion in the direction of the magnetic force, which is the direction of large field gradients. Consistent perturbation expansion of the equation of motion leads to an effective doubling of this magnetic contribution. The derived ponderomotive force generalizes the polarization-dependent electron motion in a standing wave obtained earlier [A. E. Kaplan and A. L. Pokrovsky, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 053601 (2005)]. Comparison with simulations in the case of a realistic, nonidealized, three-dimensional field configuration confirms the general validity of the analytical results.

• OSTI ID: 21550191
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 83, Issue 6; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.83.063810; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS
CHARGED PARTICLES
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
ELECTRONS
EQUATIONS OF MOTION
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PERTURBATION THEORY
POLARIZATION
PONDEROMOTIVE FORCE
RELATIVISTIC RANGE
STANDING WAVES
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ENERGY RANGE
EQUATIONS
EVALUATION
FERMIONS
LEPTONS
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS