Longitudinal field components for laser beams in vacuum

Journal Article · Sun Apr 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990 · Physical Review, A (General Physics); (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.41.3727· OSTI ID:6944235

Cicchitelli, L; Hora, H ^[1]; Postle, R ^[2]

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1. Department of Theoretical Physics, University of New South Wales, Kensington 2033, Australia (AU)
2. Department of Theoretical Physics and the School of Fiber Science Technology, University of New South Wales, Kensington 2033, Australia (AU)

The discovery of Lax, Louisell, and Knight (LLK) (Phys. Rev. 9, 378 (1974)) that electromagnetic beams in vacuum do have a longitudinal component can be proved experimentally from the polarization independence of the energy of electrons from the focus of a laser. For this purpose we had to develop the LLK paraxial approximation to a Maxwellian exact solution for a Gaussian beam. Inserting the exact solutions into the Maxwellian stress tensor expression of the nonlinear force for the electron acceleration demonstrates a polarization dependence if only the transversal optical components are used. Including the exact longitudinal fields results in the experimentally proven polarization independence.

• OSTI ID: 6944235
• Journal Information: Physical Review, A (General Physics); (USA), Journal Name: Physical Review, A (General Physics); (USA) Vol. 41:7; ISSN PLRAA; ISSN 0556-2791
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
426002* -- Engineering-- Lasers & Masers-- (1990-)
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PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
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