Generation of Low-Frequency Nonlinear Currents in Plasma by an Ultrashort Pulse of High-Frequency Radiation

A kinetic theory of low-frequency currents induced in plasma by an ultrashort high-frequency radiation pulse is developed. General expressions for the currents flowing along the propagation direction of the pulse and along the gradient of the field energy density are analyzed both analytically and numerically for pulse durations longer or shorter than or comparable with the electron collision time in plasma. It is demonstrated that the nonlinear current flowing along the gradient of the field energy density can be described correctly only when the modification of the isotropic part of the electron distribution function is taken into account.