ELECTRON-ION RELAXATION IN A PLASMA INTERACTING WITH AN INTENSE LASERFIELD

The effect of an external high-frequency electromagnetic field on the electron-ion energy exchange rate in a plasma is considered. Particula r consideration is given to very high intensities of the laser field a nd explicit analytical formulas are obtained for this case. The implic ation of the present approach for the more simple case of electron hea ting is also briefly considered. For practical use, simple interpolati on formulas for the variation rate of the ion and electron temperature s are suggested, describing the entire region from zero intensity to e xtremely high intensities below the relativistic threshold.