Large amplitude plasma wave excitation by means of sequences of short laser pulses

Abstract

The generation of a large amplitude electron plasma wave by means of n short laser pulses is studied in the quasistatic approximation using a one-dimensional relativistic cold plasma model. The problem is reduced to considering the coupled equations for the vector and the scalar potentials. Preliminary results are obtained by means of a linear stability analysis of the system and by the integration of the Poisson equation for constant pulses. The energetics and time evolution of the excitation process are described by the numerical integration of the relevant equations.