Nonlinear birefringence in plasmas: Polarization dynamics, vector modulational instability, and vector solitons

The propagation of an elliptically polarized intense laser pulse in an unmagnetized collisionless uniform plasma is considered. A multiple scale perturbation theory is employed to show that in a weakly relativistic regime, evolution of the components of vector potential is governed by two coherently...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physics of plasmas 2014-06, Vol.21 (6)
Main Author: Borhanian, Jafar
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
AMPLITUDES
APPROXIMATIONS
BIREFRINGENCE
Continuous radiation
Dynamic stability
EQUATIONS
Evolution
LASERS
Nonlinear equations
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
Perturbation theory
PLASMA
PLASMA INSTABILITY
Plasma physics
Plasmas (physics)
POLARIZATION
POTENTIALS
RELATIVISTIC RANGE
Solitary waves
SOLITONS
Stability analysis
STOKES PARAMETERS
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Summary:The propagation of an elliptically polarized intense laser pulse in an unmagnetized collisionless uniform plasma is considered. A multiple scale perturbation theory is employed to show that in a weakly relativistic regime, evolution of the components of vector potential is governed by two coherently coupled nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equations. A set of equations describing the evolution of Stokes parameters is derived within the continuous wave approximation and the dynamics of components of field amplitude is studied. The polarization dynamics of a pulse is investigated by means of numerical solution of the coupled NLS equations. A detailed analysis of vector modulational instability is presented and the possibility for occurrence of various kinds of vector solitary waves is addressed.
ISSN:1070-664X
1089-7674
DOI:10.1063/1.4885091