Laser plasma accelerator for ultra-high energies

Parallel intense laser beams ω0, k1 and ω1, k1 shone on a plasma with frequency separation equal to the electron plasma frequency ω/sub pe/ are capable of creating a coherent large longitudinal electric field E/sub =/ = mcω/sub pe//e of the order of 1 GeV/cm for a plasma density of 1018 cm-3 through the laser beat excitation of plasma oscillations. Accompanying favorable and deleterious effects due to intense lasers and/or plasma response are discussed in the context of application of the process to high energy accelerators. These include questions of laser beam propagation, self--trapping, filamentation, longitudinal dephasing, plasma turbulence/noise effects, etc. Advanced concepts to circumvent some of the above problems are proposed, such as the plasma fiber accelerator