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Propagation of high-current relativistic electron beam (REB) in plasma is relevant to many high-energy astrophysical phenomena as well as applications based on high-intensity lasers and charged-particle beams. Here we report a new regime of beam-plasma interaction arising from REB propagation in medium with fine structures. In this regime, the REB cascades into thin branches with local density hundred times the initial value and deposits its energy two orders of magnitude more efficiently than that in homogeneous plasma, where REB branching does not occur, of similar average density. Such beam branching can be attributed to successive weak scatterings of the beam electrons by the unevenly distributed magnetic fields induced by the local return currents in the skeletons of the porous medium. Results from a model for the excitation conditions and location of the first branching point with respect to the medium and beam parameters agree well with that from pore-resolved particle-in-cell simulations., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures

Terahertz (THz) radiation from a plasma cylinder with embedded radial electric and axial magnetic fields is investigated. The plasma density and the electric and magnetic fields are such that the electron plasma frequency is near the electron cyclotron frequency and in the THz regime. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that the plasma electrons oscillate not only in the azimuthal direction but also in the radial direction. Spectral analysis shows that the resulting oscillating current pattern has a clearly defined characteristic frequency near the electron cyclotron frequency, suggesting resonance between the cyclotron and plasma oscillations. The resulting far-field THz radiation in the axial direction is also discussed.

Transport of high-current relativistic electron beams in dense plasmas is of interest in many areas of research. However, so far the mechanism of such beam-plasma interaction is still not well understood due to the appearance of small time- and space-scale effects. Here we identify a new regime of electron beam transport in solid-density plasma, where kinetic effects that develop on small time and space scales play a dominant role. Our three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that in this regime the electron beam can evolve into layered short microelectron bunches when collisions are relatively weak. The phenomenon is attributed to a secondary instability, on the space- and timescales of the electron skin depth (tens of nanometers) and few femtoseconds of strong electrostatic modulation of the microelectron current filaments formed by Weibel-like instability of the original electron beam. Analytical analysis on the amplitude, scale length, and excitation condition of the self-generated electrostatic fields is clearly validated by the simulations.

A simple model including the effects of initial velocity, air drag, gravity, and electrostatics on the dynamics of airborne droplets emitted from humans is presented. It is found that relatively large droplets can also travel far if their charge and/or the atmospheric electric field is sufficiently large.

The authors propose a scheme utilizing an underdense plasma of spiral thickness in generating relativistic vortex laser light with axial orbital angular momentum. The laser ponderomotive and the plasma charge-separation forces exert a torque on the plasma ions, resulting in creation of oppositely directed forces in the plasma ions and the laser light.

An effective resistivity relevant to collisionless magnetic reconnection (MR) in plasma is presented. It is based on the argument that pitch angle scattering of electrons in the small electron diffusion region around the X line can lead to an effective, resistivity in collisionless plasma. The effective resistivity so obtained is in the form of a power law of the local plasma and magnetic field parameters. Its validity is confirmed by direct collisionless particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation. The result agrees very well with the resistivity (obtained from available data) of a large number of environments susceptible to MR: from the intergalactic and interstellar to solar and terrestrial to laboratory fusion plasmas. The scaling law can readily be incorporated into existing collisional magnetohydrodynamic simulation codes to investigate collisionless MR, as well as serve as a guide to ab initio theoretical investigations of the collisionless MR process.

In experiments on the effect of magnetic field on electron transportation in laser–plasma interaction, the magnetic field is often produced by two coils and is mirror-like. In this paper, the transport and the reflection of fast electron beam generated in laser–plasma interaction in solid-density plasma immersed in a mirror magnetic field are studied using particle-in-cell simulation. The helicoidal motion of fast electrons in the field and the convergence of magnetic induction lines leads to the collimated transport and focusing of the fast electrons. The reflection of the fast electrons can lead to the decrease in the transmission ratio, and this reflection increases with the magnetic mirror ratio, but saturates at a certain level.

Long-time evolution of charged grains in a two-dimensional magnetized plasma under a spatially harmonic external force is investigated using molecular dynamics simulation. It is found that the grains can converge into a single quasi-steady crystal disc, and their trajectories trace out a complex but regular flowery pattern that gradually becomes simpler in time until a quasi-steady rotating pattern is reached.

We present a scheme to entangle two magnon modes in two macroscopic yttrium-iron-garnet spheres. The two spheres are placed inside two microwave cavities, which are driven by a two-mode squeezed microwave field. By using the linear state-swap interaction between the cavity and the magnon mode in each cavity, the quantum correlation of the two driving fields is with high efficiency transferred to the two magnon modes. Considerable entanglement could be achieved under experimentally achievable conditions $g \gg \kappa_a \gg \kappa_m$, where $g$ is the cavity-magnon coupling rate and $\kappa_a$, $\kappa_m$ are the decay rates of the cavity and magnon modes, respectively. The entanglement is in the steady state and robust against temperature, surviving up to hundreds of milliKelvin with experimentally accessible two-mode squeezed source., Comment: Comments are welcome

The idiopathic optic neuritis (ION) which is related to neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) is called optic neuritis related to neuromyelitis optica (NMO-ON). Because of the high rates of blindness, disability and fatality of NMO, the heterogeneous clinical presentation, severity of neurologic disability following relapses, and variability of therapeutic responses, reliable and sensitive biomarkers for onset, relapse, and progression in NMO are urgently needed. Currently, detecting aquaporin-4 (AQP4) antibodies (AQP4-IgG or NMO-IgG) in serum is employed as the major supporting approach for the diagnosis of seropositive NMO, however, AQP4-IgG seronegativity in 10% to 25% of NMO patients suggests that there are several other factors involved in NMO immunopathogenesis. Collaborative international studies hold great promise for establishing and validating biomarkers of NMO. This article discusses known and potential biomarkers for NMO. The biomarkers of NMO maybe the potential biomarkers of NMO-ON, for ION is the initial presentation and the earliest stage.与视神经脊髓炎（NMO）或NMO谱系疾病（NMOSD）相关的特发性视神经炎称为NMO相关视神经炎（NMO-ON）。NMO-ON具有高致盲率，NMO具有较高的致残率和病死率，因此发现NMO的生物学标志物尤为重要。目前，临床主要靠检测血清中水通道蛋白4抗体（AQP4-IgG或NMO-IgG）辅助诊断血清反应阳性的NMO或NMOSD，而仍有部分AQP4-IgG血清阴性的NMO或NMOSD患者无法依其作出诊断。国际上有关NMO生物学标志物的研究很多，本文对其进行归纳和总结，以期增强临床对该病的认识，提高相关诊疗水平。

We present a scheme to entangle two microwave fields by using the nonlinear magnetostrictive interaction in a ferrimagnet. The magnetostrictive interaction enables the coupling between a magnon mode (spin wave) and a mechanical mode in the ferrimagnet, and the magnon mode simultaneously couples to two microwave cavity fields via the magnetic dipole interaction. The magnon-phonon coupling is enhanced by directly driving the ferrimagnet with a strong red-detuned microwave field, and the driving photons are scattered onto two sidebands induced by the mechanical motion. We show that two cavity fields can be prepared in a stationary entangled state if they are respectively resonant with two mechanical sidebands. The present scheme illustrates a new mechanism for creating entangled states of optical fields, and enables potential applications in quantum information science and quantum tasks that require entangled microwave fields., Comment: A new mechanism is introduced to produce entangled microwave fields. To appear in PRL

We propose to use intense optical vortex to control laser-based ion acceleration for obtaining high-quality ion beams. An acceleration field favorable for generating well-collimated energetic proton beams results from the interaction of a tailored vortex laser pulse with thin solid-density foil in a blowout regime. Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that the foil protons can be efficiently accelerated to the GeV level in the form of a beam with small radius (μm), narrow divergence (π mm mrad). The proton beam is of high energy density (>1018 J m−3) and high brightness (>1022 A m−2 rad−2), exceeding that of the Gaussian laser case by four orders of magnitude, and the energy conversion efficiency is about 12 times that under the same laser intensity. The scheme can also be used to accelerate heavier, such as carbon, ions. The resulting ion beams should be useful as compact neutron source, for creation of warm dense matters, as well as ion-beam direct and indirect drive inertial confinement fusion, ultrafast diagnostics of the implosion dynamics in the latter, etc.

Multistream instabilities in the one-dimensional Vlasov−Poisson system are studied numerically by using plasmas with multi-humped electron distributions. The evolution of the total wave energy of the plasma oscillations excited by (numerical) noise consists of transient, growth, and nonlinear saturation stages. It is found that, in the growth stage, the total wave energy oscillates for odd number of streams, but it does not oscillate for even number of streams. It is also found that different spectral (Fourier) modes can dominate different stages of the “linear” growth and nonlinear saturation stages.

The dynamics of electron injection in the direct laser acceleration (DLA) regime is investigated using three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations and theoretical analyses. It is shown that, as an ultraintense laser pulse propagates into a near-critical density or relativistically transparent plasma, the longitudinal charge-separation electric field excites ion density spikes, which modulate the local electric field. The corresponding electric field acts as a series of potential wells to guide the electrons on the edge of the plasma channel into its center where the DLA can take place. On the other hand, an azimuthal magnetic field is self-generated, and it can deflect the injected electrons from the intense laser-field region. Understanding these physical processes paves the way for further optimizing the properties of direct-laser accelerated electron beams and the associated x- and $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray sources.

A charged object moving in plasma can excite plasma waves that inevitably modify its Debye shielding characteristics. When the excited waves propagate sufficiently fast, the shielding can even break down. Here the properties of finite amplitude plasma waves excited by a moving line charge are investigated. It is found that when the speed of the latter is close to but less than the thermal speed of the background plasma electrons, only a localized disturbance in the form of a soliton that moves together with the line charge is excited. That is, the line charge is well shielded even though it is moving at a high speed and has generated a large local electrostatic field. However, for a pair of line charges moving together, such complete shielding behavior could not be found.

It is shown by particle-in-cell simulation that intense circularly polarized (CP) laser light can be contained in the cavity of a solid-density circular Al-plasma shell for hundreds of light-wave periods before it is dissipated by laser-plasma interaction. A right-hand CP laser pulse can propagate with almost no reflection and attenuation into the cavity through a highly magnetized overdense H-plasma slab filling the entrance hole. The entrapped laser light is then multiply reflected at the inner surfaces of the slab and shell plasmas, slowly losing energy to the latter. Compared to that of the incident laser, the frequency is only slightly broadened and the wave vector slightly modified by the appearance of weak nearly isotropic and homogeneous fluctuations.

Effects of the system temperature on dust aggregation in plasmas are investigated using two-dimensional molecular dynamics simulations. It is shown that as the system temperature increases, the boundary of the clusters becomes gradually irregular (i.e., deviating from sphere-like), and the cluster system gradually changes from solid to liquid and finally to gas state. The mean square displacement, mean nearest-neighbor distance in the clusters, cluster size and coupling parameter of the system are obtained and the properties of the system structure and dynamics are investigated. The time τ needed for reaching equilibrium for different temperatures is obtained. It is shown that τ firstly decreases and then increases with the temperature, indicating that there is an optimum temperature allowing a dust aggregation to reach an equilibrium state most rapidly. The simulation results agree qualitatively with the experimental observations. (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Target-normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) of ions by >100-fs relativistic laser pulses irradiating a multichannel target consisting of a row of parallel long wires and a plane back foil is studied. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that the laser light pulls out from the wires a large number of dense hot attosecond electron bunches, which are synergetically accelerated forward by the relativistic ponderomotive force of the laser as well as the longitudinal electric field of a transverse magnetic mode that is excited in the vacuum channels between the wires. These electrons are characterized by a distinct two-temperature energy spectrum, with the temperature of the more energetic electrons close to twice the ponderomotive potential energy. After penetrating through the foil, they induce behind its rear surface a sheath electric field that is both stronger and frontally more extended than that without the channels. As a result, the TNSA ions have much higher maximum energy and the laser-to-ion energy conversion efficiency is also much higher. It is found that a laser of intensity 1.37 × 1020 W/cm2, duration 165 fs, and energy 25.6 J can produce 85 MeV protons and 31 MeV/u carbon ions, at 30% laser-to-ion energy conversion efficiency. The effects of the channel size and laser polarization on the TNSA ions are also investigated.

An all-optical method for generating ultra-intense high-order-mode light pulse is investigated with three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation. We find that the conversion from a short intense circularly polarized incident Gaussian laser pulse into a transverse magnetic (TM) mode occurs as it propagates into a micro plasma waveguide. The strength of the longitudinal electric field of the excited TM modes can be almost two orders of magnitude higher than that of the original laser. The simulation results show that, for the lower-order modes, the trapped electrons lead to their revolving transverse structures. A linear plasma waveguide model is presented to predict the mode pattern and intensity of the longitudinal electric fields, which are in excellent agreement with those in the simulations. Relativistic-intense high-order-mode light can be useful for many applications, including accelerating charged particles to high energies.

Transport of moderate relativistic micro electron beam in overdense plasma is investigated using numerical simulation and analytical modeling. It is found that if the product of the initial beam current density jb and radius R0 is above a lower limit, which scales like , where ne is the plasma density, the beam will periodically self pinch and relax as it propagates. Otherwise the beam diverges. But if is too large, the pinching behavior becomes quite different. Such micro-beam transport behavior can be attributed to the nonlinear dynamics of the beam electrons in overdense plasma.

The acceleration of protons from the interaction of two intersecting laser pulses in a double-layer target, consisting of a carbon slab with a thin hydrogen layer behind it, is investigated. It is found that a bunch of well-collimated, up to 270 MeV, quasi-monoenergetic protons can be generated. The affected target electrons are heated and accelerated forward by the laser pulses so that the target gradually becomes transparent as the lasers bore into it. Eventually, the thin target becomes fully transparent. The converging laser pulses can then pass through it and the hot backside electron cloud, together with the electrons trapped in them. As a result, behind the target, an inhomogeneous sheath electric field is formed, which not only accelerates the protons but also merges them into a quasi-monoenergetic bunch with low divergence. The energy and spatial spread of the bunch, as well as the peak energy, can be controlled by manipulating the locations of the two lasers.The acceleration of protons from the interaction of two intersecting laser pulses in a double-layer target, consisting of a carbon slab with a thin hydrogen layer behind it, is investigated. It is found that a bunch of well-collimated, up to 270 MeV, quasi-monoenergetic protons can be generated. The affected target electrons are heated and accelerated forward by the laser pulses so that the target gradually becomes transparent as the lasers bore into it. Eventually, the thin target becomes fully transparent. The converging laser pulses can then pass through it and the hot backside electron cloud, together with the electrons trapped in them. As a result, behind the target, an inhomogeneous sheath electric field is formed, which not only accelerates the protons but also merges them into a quasi-monoenergetic bunch with low divergence. The energy and spatial spread of the bunch, as well as the peak energy, can be controlled by manipulating the locations of the two lasers.

When an intense right-hand circularly polarized laser pulse propagates through a highly magnetized (in the direction of laser propagation) foil into the vacuum region between this foil and an unmagnetized foil, it can be multiply reflected and thus quasitrapped between the two foils until its energy is depleted. During the multiple reflections at the magnetized foil, foil electrons are accelerated by the laser light. Electrons that have gained sufficient energy can escape and appear as periodic energetic electron bunches at a time interval determined precisely by the trapping time or the distance between the two foils.

Electron plasma waves excited and/or modified by finite objects such as laser and charged particle pulses are investigated nonperturbatively using a simple model where the driver is unaffected by the interaction. It is shown that smooth as well as sharply peaked electron plasma wake waves of large amplitude can exist. In particular, two charged pulses moving in tandem can excite a highly localized electron plasma wave without producing the expected long wake wave, a configuration that should be particularly useful for efficient trapping and acceleration of electrons to high energies.

Radially polarized intense terahertz (THz) radiation behind a thin foil irradiated by ultrahigh-contrast ultrashort relativistic laser pulse is recorded by a single-shot THz time-domain spectroscopy system. As the thickness of the target is reduced from 30 to 2 \textmu{}m, the duration of the THz emission increases from 5 to over 20 ps and the radiation energy increases dramatically, reaching $\ensuremath{\sim}10.5\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{mJ}$ per pulse, corresponding to a laser-to-THz radiation energy conversion efficiency of $1.7%$. The efficient THz emission can be attributed to reflection (deceleration and acceleration) of the laser-driven hot electrons by the target-rear sheath electric field. The experimental results are consistent with that of a simple model as well as particle-in-cell simulation.

Radially polarized intense terahertz (THz) radiation is measured experimentally behind a thin foil irradiated by ultrashort relativistic intense laser pulse of ultrahigh contrast. As the target thickness is reduced from 30 to 2 μm, the energy of the THz emission increases dramatically, which even reaches up to 10.5 mJ per pulse, corresponding to energy conversion efficiency of 1.7%. This efficient THz emission is attributed to bremsstrahlung radiation of the energetic electrons rapidly refluxing between the target front and back electrostatic sheaths fields created during the laser-target interaction. Analytical modeling and particle-in-cell simulation confirms this interpretation.

A new class of exact electrostatic solutions of the Vlasov-Maxwell equations based on the Jeans's theorem is proposed for studying the evolution and properties of two-dimensional anisotropic plasmas that are far from thermodynamic equilibrium. In particular, the free expansion of a slab of electron-ion plasma into vacuum is investigated., 13 pages, 1 figure

Generation of intense coherent THz radiation by obliquely incidenting an intense laser pulse on a wire target is studied using particle-in-cell simulation. The laser-accelerated fast electrons are confined and guided along the surface of the wire, which then acts like a current-carrying line antenna and under appropriate conditions can emit electromagnetic radiation in the THz regime. For a driving laser intensity ∼3×10^{18}W/cm^{2} and pulse duration ∼10 fs, a transient current above 10 KA is produced on the wire surface. The emission-cone angle of the resulting ∼0.15 mJ (∼58 GV/m peak electric field) THz radiation is ∼30^{∘}. The conversion efficiency of laser-to-THz energy is ∼0.75%. A simple analytical model that well reproduces the simulated result is presented.

The effect of a transient magnetic field on right-hand circularly polarized (RHCP) laser light propagation in overcritical-density plasma is investigated. When the electron gyrofrequency is larger than the wave frequency, RHCP light can propagate along the external magnetic field in an overcritical density plasma without resonance or cutoff. However, when the magnetic field falls to below the cyclotron resonance point, the propagating laser pulse will be truncated and the local plasma electrons resonantly heated. Particle-in-cell simulation shows that when applied to a thin slab, the process can produce intense two-cycle light pulses as well as long-lasting self-magnetic fields.

We have investigated the polarization of attosecond light pulses generated from relativistic few-cycle laser pulse interaction with the surface of overdense plasmas using particle-in-cell simulation. Under suitable conditions, a desired polarization state of the generated attosecond pulse can be achieved by controlling the polarization of the incident laser. In particular, an elliptically polarized laser pulse of suitable ellipticity can generate an almost circularly polarized attosecond pulse without compromising the harmonic generation efficiency. The process is thus applicable as a new tabletop circularly-polarized XUV radiation source for probing attosecond phenomena with high temporal resolution.

It is shown by particle-in-cell simulations that a narrow electron beam with high energy and charge density can be generated in a subcritical-density plasma by two consecutive laser pulses. Although the first laser pulse dissipates rapidly, the second pulse can propagate for a long distance in the thin wake channel created by the first pulse and can further accelerate the preaccelerated electrons therein. Given that the second pulse also self-focuses, the resulting electron beam has a narrow waist and high charge and energy densities. Such beams are useful for enhancing the target-back space-charge field in target normal sheath acceleration of ions and bremsstrahlung sources, among others.