Scaling of plasmas, heated and ponderomotively confined by powerful laser radiation

Abstract

It is shown that a powerful laser beam is capable of the ponderomotive confinement of plasma with electron density exceeding the critical density for the radiation under review. The theory describing force and heat balances of the plasma together with the propagation of the laser radiation is developed. The laws of the dense plasma scaling for controlled thermonuclear fusion (CTF) and other applications are formulated.