Spontaneous Faraday rotation due to strong laser radiation in a plasma

Theoretical studies on intense laser radiation interacting with plasma reve al an induced nonlinear birefringence which turns out to be spontaneous Far aday rotation. Here, this rotation is called nonlinear Faraday rotation (NF R). The expressions for the nonlinear refractive indices of the laser field s are calculated both in relativistic and non-relativistic limits for a two -component plasma. The NFR angles due to nonlinear induced birefringence ar e derived in the absence of externally imposed magnetic fields. It is shown that, in the relativistic limit, the electron motion plays an important ro le in producing NFR and so in the generation of induced magnetic fields. (C ) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.