Wakefield by a short laser pulse

The equation describing the plasma response to the acting laser pulse is derived by using the Hamilton-Jacobi equation for the case vg approximately equals vph approximately equals w <EQ c. The equation is solved numerically for one-dimensional Gaussian pulse and analytically for a square-shaped laser pulse. It is shown that the amplitude and the wavelength of the wake wave depend strongly on the amplitude and the length of the laser pulse.