Coupling between electron plasma waves in laser–plasma interactions*

ALagrangian fluid model ~cold plasma, fixed ions! is developed for analyzing the coupling between electron plasma waves. This model shows that a small wave number electron plasma wave (v2 ,k2) will strongly affect a large wave number electron plasma wave (v1 ,k1), transferring its energy into daughter waves or sidebands at (v11nv2 ,k11nk2) in the lab frame. The accuracy of the model is checked via particle-in-cell simulations, which confirm that the energy in the mode at (v1 ,k1) can be completely transferred to the sidebands at (v11nv2 ,k11nk2) by the presence of the electron plasma mode at (v2 ,k2). Conclusive experimental evidence for the generation of daughter waves via this coupling is then presented using timeand wave number-resolved spectra of the light from a probe laser coherently Thomson scattered by the electron plasma waves generated by the interaction of a two-frequency CO2 laser with a plasma. © 1996 American Institute of Physics. @S1070-664X~96!90805-3#