Berlin 2001 – scientific programme

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P: Plasmaphysik

P VII: HV VII

P VII.1: Invited Talk

Thursday, April 5, 2001, 15:00–15:30, 2053

Relativistic Plasma Physics with Ultra-Short High-Intensity Laser Pulses — •Alexander Pukhov and Juergen Meyer-ter-Vehn — Max-Planck-Institut for Quantum Optics, 85748 Garching

A most remarkable feature of laser-plasma interaction at intensities beyond 10¹⁸ W/cm² is the generation of well collimated relativistic electron beams with currents close to the Alfven limit. These beams emerge from self-focussing channels with energies up to GeV. In dense matter they trigger cascades of gamma-rays, e+ e- pairs and a host of nuclear and particle processes. One of the applications may be fast ignition of compressed inertial confinement targets. Three-dimensional (3D-PIC) simulations turn out to be the superior tool to explore the relativistic plasma kinetics at such intensities. Results obtained with the VLPL code [1] are presented. Different mechanisms of particle acceleration are discussed. Both laser wakefield and direct laser acceleration in plasma channels by a mechanism similar to inverse free electron lasers have been idenstified. The latter describes recent MPQ experimental results. [1] A. Pukhov, J. Plasma Phys. Vol. 61, pp.425-433 (1999).