TRANSVERSE-WAKE WAVE BREAKING

A finite-width laser pulse of high intensity propagating in an underde nse plasma excites a transversely inhomogeneous, finite amplitude wake field. This wake wave undergoes a transverse wave breaking due to the increase of the wake front curvature, followed by the self-intersectio n of electron trajectories. Transverse break occurs at much lower wave amplitudes than the conventional one-dimensional wave break. The resu lting structures have generic forms that can be described by modified curves parallel to a parabola. Simulations with the particle-in-cell e lectromagnetic relativistic code VLPLZD show such structures appearing .