Laser Plasma Interaction

This book is a theoretical study of the propagation of intense laser pulses in plasmas. The high intensity laser plasma interaction is a subject of worldwide research because of its numerous applications which include magnetic field generation, harmonic radiation generation, laser driven accelerators, laser fusion schemes, and X-ray lasers. All these applications require the laser beam to propagate over several Rayleigh length in the plasma without divergence. We described the optical guiding of an electromagnetic beam in a plasma by considering the amplitude modulation of the fundamental beam. Also, the laser-pulse compression in a collisional plasma under the weak-relativistic ponderomotive nonlinearly is studied. Further, the second- and third-harmonic generation by considering the amplitude-modulation of the fundamental laser pulse is presented. The relativistic third-harmonics of a laser in a magnetized plasma channel is described. We have also covered the interaction of an asymmetric laser pulse with a plasma for magnetic field enhancement.