Formation and Dynamics of Relativistic Electromagnetic Solitons in Plasmas Containing High and Low-Energy Electron Components

We present theoretical and numerical studies of the nonlinear interactions between intense electromagnetic waves in plasmas containing high and low-energy electron components. Such plasmas are frequently observed in laser-plasma experiments, where the hot electron component is created by the acceleration of electrons by strong electrostatic waves that are created by the laser induced Raman forward and backward instabilities. The two-component electron plasma is described by the Vlasov equation for the hot electrons and the hydrodynamic equations for the cold electrons, which are coupled nonlinearly with the electromagnetic wave equation and the Poisson equation for the potential. The present nonlinear system is shown to admit electromagnetic solitary waves correlated with a positive potential and trapped electron islands from the hot electron population.