Relativistic Plasma Polarizer: Impact of Temperature Anisotropy on Relativistic Transparency

3D particle-in-cell simulations demonstrate that the enhanced transparency of a relativistically hot plasma is sensitive to how the energy is partitioned between different degrees of freedom. For an anisotropic electron distribution, propagation characteristics, like the critical density, will depen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2015-07, Vol.115 (2), p.025002-025002, Article 025002
Main Authors: Stark, David J, Bhattacharjee, Chinmoy, Arefiev, Alexey V, Toncian, Toma, Hazeltine, R D, Mahajan, S M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anisotropy
Density
Particle in cell technique
Polarization
Polarizers
Three dimensional
Wave plates
Wave propagation
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Summary:3D particle-in-cell simulations demonstrate that the enhanced transparency of a relativistically hot plasma is sensitive to how the energy is partitioned between different degrees of freedom. For an anisotropic electron distribution, propagation characteristics, like the critical density, will depend on the polarization of the electromagnetic wave. Despite the onset of the Weibel instability in such plasmas, the anisotropy can persist long enough to affect laser propagation. This plasma can then function as a polarizer or a wave plate to dramatically alter the pulse polarization.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.115.025002