Interactive dynamics of two copropagating laser beams in underdense plasmas

The interaction of two copropagating laser beams with crossed polarization in the underdense plasmas has been investigated analytically with the variational approach and numerically. The coupled envelope equations of the two beams include both the relativistic mass correction and the ponderomotive force effect. It is found that the relativistic effect always plays the role of beam attraction, while the ponderomotive force can play both the beam attraction and beam repulsion, depending upon the beam diameters and their transverse separation. In certain conditions, the two beam centers oscillate transversely around a propagation axis. In this case, the ponderomotive effect can lead to a higher oscillation frequency than that accounting for the relativistic effect only. The interaction of two beams decreases the threshold power for self-focusing of the single beam. A strong self-trapping beam can channel a weak one.