Evolution of chirped laser pulses in a magnetized plasma channel

Abstract

The propagation of intense, short, sinusoidal laser pulses in a magnetized plasma channel has been studied. The wave equation governing the evolution of the radiation field is set up and a variational technique is used to obtain the equations describing the evolution of the laser spot size, pulse length and chirp parameter. Numerical methods are used to analyze the simultaneous evolution of these parameters. The effect of the external magnetic field on initially chirped as well as unchirped laser pulses on the spot size, pulse length and chirping has been analyzed.