https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201816701003
Ray optics hamiltonian approach to relativistic self focusing of ultraintense lasers in underdense plasmas
1
INFN-LNF, via Enrico Fermi 40, 00044 Frascati, Rome, Italy
2
Department of Physics, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Piazzale A. Moro 2, I-00185 Rome, Italy
3
Physics Department of the University and INFN, Largo Bruno Pontecorvo 3, 56127 Pisa, Italy
4
Department of Basic and Applied Sciences for Engineering (SBAI) and INFN-Roma1, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Via A. Scarpa 14, 00161 Rome, Italy
* e-mail: alessandro.curcio@uniroma1.it
Published online: 9 January 2018
The relativistic self focusing of an ultraintense laser propagating through an underdense plasma is analyzed from a geometrical optics point of view, exploiting the classical hamiltonian formalism. The distribution of the laser intensity along the self-generated plasma channel is studied and compared to measurements.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2018
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
