Starting from a first-order approximate field description function for laser pulses, the method currently used to approximate chirped laser pulse (CLP) substitutes frequency and wave vector related variables with spatiotemporally varying functions. We investigated the error involved by calculating the relative deviation from Maxwell equations. Errors for the electric and magnetic fields are analyzed separately, and behaviors related to parameter changes (that is, in laser width, pulse duration and chirp parameter) were studied. Results show that aberration associated with currently used field-description functions for CLP increases monotonically with chirp parameter, and the deviation introduced by chirping is proportional to the relative frequency span of the laser. Simulations based on these functions will lead to considerable error, especially for laser pulses with large chirping.
Influence of strong magnetic fields on laser pulse propagation in underdense plasma
