Longitudinal field components for laser beams in vacuum

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 t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. A, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics Atomic, molecular, and optical physics, 1990-04, Vol.41 (7), p.3727-3732
Main Authors: CICCHITELLI, L, HORA, H, POSTLE, R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
426002 - Engineering- Lasers & Masers- (1990-)
AXIAL SYMMETRY
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ENGINEERING
EQUATIONS
Exact sciences and technology
Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications)
Holography
LASER RADIATION
MAXWELL EQUATIONS
Optics
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
Physics
RADIATIONS
SYMMETRY
WAVE PROPAGATION
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0556-2791
1050-2947
1094-1622
DOI:10.1103/physreva.41.3727