Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: A new experimental platform based on laser-plasma interaction is proposed to explore the fundamental processes of wave coupling at the origin of interplanetary radio emissions. It is applied to the study of electromagnetic (EM) emission at twice the plasma frequency (2ω_{p}) observed during solar bursts and thought to result from the coalescence of two Langmuir waves (LWs). In the interplanetary medium, the first LW is excited by electron beams, while the second is generated by electrostatic decay of Langmuir waves. In the present experiment, instead of an electron beam, an energetic laser propagating through a plasma excites the primary LW, with characteristics close to those at near-Earth orbit. The EM radiation at 2ω_{p} is observed at different angles. Its intensity, spectral evolution, and polarization confirm the LW-coalescence scenario.
Source: Physical Review Letters
Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, École Polytechnique, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire pour l'Utilisation des Lasers Intenses, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, Observatoire de Paris, Laboratoire d’études spatiales et d’instrumentation en astrophysique, CEA DAM Île-de-France
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W3014717470