SPATIAL-TEMPORAL THEORY OF RAMAN FORWARD SCATTERING

Raman forward scattering is examined in regimes relevant to short-puls e (<1ps) high-intensity (1 less than or equal to 10(18) W/cm(2)) laser -plasma interactions. A set of coupled differential equations is deriv ed which describes the spatial-temporal growth of forward and near for ward Raman scattering for plane wave pumps. An exact solution for dire ct forward scattering is obtained for physically relevant initial/boun dary conditions. Furthermore, the asymptotic behavior at near forward angles is compared to finite width analyses in which the paraxial ray approximation is made. Noise sources for Raman forward scattering are examined. The consequences of these results to present and near term e xperiments are discussed. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.