Magnetic field of a plasma wake driven by a laser pulse
- Plasma Theory Division, Lebedev Physical Institute of RAS, Leninsky pr. 53, Moscow, 117924 (Russia)
The quasistatic magnetic field generated by a short laser pulse in a uniform rarefield plasma is found analytically and compared to two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. It is shown that in a frame moving with the pulse the magnetic field contains a component which is homogeneous in longitudinal direction and a component which is oscillating at the wave number 2{ital k}{sub {ital p}}, where {ital k}{sub {ital p}} is the wave number of the plasma wake. Particle simulations confirm the analytical results and are also used to treat the case of high intense laser pulses with {ital v}{sub {ital E}}/{ital c}{approx_gt}1. The resultant magnetic field has a focusing effect on relativistic electrons in the plasma wakefield accelerator context. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}
- OSTI ID:
- 284471
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review Letters, Vol. 76, Issue 14; Other Information: PBD: Apr 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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