Relativistic channeling of a linearly polarized laser pulse in overdense plasma

Abstract

We investigated a dynamic procedure for relativistic channeling by a linearly polarized ultraintense laser pulse in overdense plasma, subsequently determining a phenomenological formula for the channel-digging speed. Channeling of the linearly polarized pulse usually results in a sharp-cut (non-adiabatic) pulse front, since the pulse is continuously reflected on the transparency-opacity interface during the channeling process. Using the novel formula for the channel-digging speed, it was possible to analytically predict where such a sharp-cut occurs longitudinally.