Kinetic Scattering Effects in Laser Plasma Interactions

Introduction Non-Maxwellian particle distributions can allow the plasma to support a variety of modes often omitted from studies of laser-plasma interactions. Such modes, which require a kinetic description of the plasma, can significantly affect the scattering of incident laser light. Both the electron acoustic wave (EAW), which can be supported by electrons trapped in a finite-amplitude wave, and the beam acoustic mode (BAM), which can be supported b