No Arabic abstract
The subject of this paper is the scattering of a very intense laser pulse (intensity $Isim10^{21};{mathrm{W/cm^2}}$) on relativistic electrons with Lorentz factor between 10 and 45. The laser pulse is modeled by a plane wave with finite length and the calculations are performed within the framework of the classical electrodynamics, which is valid for the field intensity and range of electron energies we consider. For a pulse with the central wavelength $lambda=1060;{mathrm{nm}}$ and circular polarization, we study systematically the angular distribution of the emitted radiation, $dW/dOmega$, in its dependence on the electron energy for two collision geometries: the head-on collision (counterpropagating electron and laser pulse), and the 90 degrees collision (the initial electron momentum orthogonal to the laser propagation direction). We investigate the relation between $dW/dOmega$ and the trajectory followed by the electron velocity during the laser pulse and, for the case of a short laser pulse, we discuss the carrier-envelope phase effects. We also present, for the two mentioned geometries, an analysis of the polarization of the emitted radiation and a comparison of the results predicted by the exact classical formula with a high-energy approximation of it.
We calculate the Thomson scattering cross section in a non-relativistic, magnetized, high density plasma -- in a regime where collective excitations can be described by magnetohydrodynamics. We show that, in addition to cyclotron resonances and an elastic peak, the cross section exhibits two pairs of peaks associated with slow and fast magnetosonic waves; by contrast, the cross section arising in pure hydrodynamics possesses just a single pair of Brillouin peaks. Both the position and the width of these magnetosonic-wave peaks depend on the ambient magnetic field and temperature, as well as transport and thermodynamic coefficients, and so can therefore serve as a diagnostic tool for plasma properties that are otherwise challenging to measure.
The inclusion of atomic inversion in Raman scattering can significantly alter field dynamics in plasmonic settings. Our calculations show that large local fields and femtosecond pulses combine to yield: (i) population inversion within hot spots; (ii) gain saturation; and (iii) conversion efficiencies characterized by a switch-like transition to the stimulated regime that spans twelve orders of magnitude. While in Raman scattering atomic inversion is usually neglected, we demonstrate that in some circumstances full accounting of the dynamics of the Bloch vector is required.
The average-atom model is applied to study Thomson scattering of x-rays from warm-dense matter with emphasis on scattering by bound electrons. Parameters needed to evaluate the dynamic structure function (chemical potential, average ionic charge, free electron density, bound and continuum wave-functions and occupation numbers) are obtained from the average-atom model. The resulting analysis provides a relatively simple diagnostic for use in connection with x-ray scattering measurements. Applications are given to dense hydrogen, beryllium, aluminum and titanium plasmas. In the case of titanium, bound states are predicted to modify the spectrum significantly.
Thomson scattering of laser light is one of the most fundamental diagnostics of plasma density, temperature and magnetic fields. It relies on the assumption that the properties in the probed volume are homogeneous and constant during the probing time. On the other hand, laboratory plasmas are seldom uniform and homogeneous on the temporal and spatial dimensions over which data is collected. This is partic- ularly true for laser-produced high-energy-density matter, which often exhibits steep gradients in temperature, density and pressure, on a scale determined by the laser focus. Here, we discuss the modification of the cross section for Thomson scattering in fully-ionized media exhibiting steep spatial inhomogeneities and/or fast temporal fluctuations. We show that the predicted Thomson scattering spectra are greatly altered compared to the uniform case, and may even lead to violations of detailed balance. Therefore, careful interpretation of the spectra is necessary for spatially or temporally inhomogeneous systems.
In this work we study the scattering of pairs of photons by a two-level system ultrastrongly coupled to a one-dimensional waveguide. We describe this problem using a spin-boson model with an Ohmic environment $J(omega)=pialphaomega^1.$ We show that when coupling strength lays is about $alphaleq 1,$ the dynamics is well approximated by a polaron Hamiltonian, under the approximation of a conserved number of excitations. In this regime, we develop analytical predictions for the single- and two-photon scattering matrix computed with a Greens function method.