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Simulating Poynting Flux Acceleration in the Laboratory with Colliding Laser Pulses

Edison Liang
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Abstract

We review recent PIC simulation results which show that double-sided irradiation of a thin over-dense plasma slab with ultra-intense laser pulses from both sides can lead to sustained comoving Poynting flux acceleration of electrons to energies much higher than the conventional ponderomotive limit. The result is a robust power-law electron momentum spectrum similar to astrophysical sources. We discuss future ultra-intense laser experiments that may be used to simulate astrophysical particle acceleration.

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Edison Liang. 2006-11-21. Simulating Poynting Flux Acceleration in the Laboratory with Colliding Laser Pulses. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-006-9281-y

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