Two-dimensional s-polarized solitary waves in plasmas. II. Stability, collisions, electromagnetic bursts, and post-soliton evolution

Journal Article · Thu Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics (Print)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVE.84.036404· OSTI ID:21611751

Sanchez-Arriaga, G; Lefebvre, E ^[1]

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1. CEA, DAM, DIF, F-91297 Arpajon (France)

The dynamics of two-dimensional s-polarized solitary waves is investigated with the aid of particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. Instead of the usual excitation of the waves with a laser pulse, the PIC code was directly initialized with the numerical solutions from the fluid plasma model. This technique allows the analysis of different scenarios including the theoretical problems of the solitary wave stability and their collision as well as features already measured during laser-plasma experiments such as the emission of electromagnetic bursts when the waves reach the plasma-vacuum interface, or their expansion on the ion time scale, usually named post-soliton evolution. Waves with a single density depression are stable whereas multihump solutions decay to several waves. Contrary to solitons, two waves always interact through a force that depends on their relative phases, their amplitudes, and the distance between them. On the other hand, the radiation pattern at the plasma-vacuum interface was characterized, and the evolution of the diameter of different waves was computed and compared with the ''snow plow'' model.

• OSTI ID: 21611751
• Journal Information: Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics (Print), Vol. 84, Issue 3; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.84.036404; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1539-3755
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
COLLISIONS
EXCITATION
IONS
LASERS
MATHEMATICAL EVOLUTION
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
PLASMA
PULSES
SIMULATION
SOLITONS
STABILITY
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
CHARGED PARTICLES
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
EVOLUTION
MATHEMATICAL SOLUTIONS
QUASI PARTICLES