Dynamics of the wakefield of a multi-petawatt, femtosecond laser pulse in a configuration with ultrarelativistic electrons

Abstract: The wake field excitation in an unmagnetized plasma by a multi-petawatt, femtosecond, pancake-shaped laser pulse is described both analytically and numerically in the regime with ultrarelativistic electron jitter velocities, when the plasma electrons are almost expelled from the pulse region. This is done, for the first time, in fluid theory. A novel mathematical model is devised that does not break down for very intense pump strengths, in contrast to the standard approach that uses the laser field envelope and the ponderomotive guiding center averaging. This is accomplished by employing a three-timescale description, with the intermediate scale associated with the nonlinear phase of the electromagnetic wave and with the bending of its wave front. The evolution of the pulse and of its electrostatic wake are studied by the numerical solution in a two-dimensional geometry, with the spot diameter \geq 100 microns. It reveals that the optimum initial pulse length needs to be somewhat bigger than 1 micron (1-2 oscillations), as suggested by simple analytical local estimates, because the nonlocal plasma response tends to stretch very short pulses.