Abstract
We obtain, for the first time, an analytic theory of the forward stimulated Brillouin scattering instability of a spatially and temporally incoherent laser beam that controls the transition between statistical equilibrium and nonequilibrium (unstable) self-focusing regimes of beam propagation. The stability boundary may be used as a comprehensive guide for inertial confinement fusion designs. Well into the stable regime, an analytic expression for the angular diffusion coefficient is obtained, which provides an essential correction to a geometric optic approximation for beam propagation.
- Received 19 November 2003
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.255003
©2004 American Physical Society