Abstract
Parametric instabilities driven by partially coherent radiation in plasmas are described by a generalized statistical Wigner-Moyal set of equations, formally equivalent to the full wave equation, coupled to the plasma fluid equations. A generalized dispersion relation for stimulated Raman scattering driven by a partially coherent pump field is derived, revealing a growth rate dependence, with the coherence width of the radiation field, scaling with for backscattering (three-wave process), and with for direct forward scattering (four-wave process). Our results demonstrate the possibility to control the growth rates of these instabilities by properly using broadband pump radiation fields.
- Received 19 January 2007
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.235001
©2007 American Physical Society