Higher-Order Nonlocal Effects of a Relativistic Ponderomotive Force in High-Intensity Laser Fields

Abstract

We have developed a new formula for a relativistic ponderomotive force of transversely localized laser fields based on the noncanonical Lie perturbation method by finding proper coordinates and gauges in the variational principle. The formula involves new terms represented by second and third spatial derivatives of the field amplitude, so that the ponderomotive force depends not only on the local field gradient, but also on the curvature and its variation. The formula is then applicable to a regime in which the conventional formula is hardly applied such that nonlocal and/or global extent of the field profile becomes important. The result can provide a theoretical basis for describing nonlinear laser-plasma interaction including such nonlocal effects, which is examined via particle-in-cell simulation of laser propagation in a plasma with a super Gaussian transverse field profile.